A DHS INTELLIGENCE ENTERPRISE: STILL JUST A VISION OR REALITY? HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, INFORMATION SHARING, AND TERRORISM RISK ASSESSMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 12, 2010 Serial No. 111–66 Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 63–090 PDF WASHINGTON : 2011 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi, Chairman LORETTA SANCHEZ, California PETER T. KING, New York JANE HARMAN, California LAMAR SMITH, Texas PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California Columbia MIKE ROGERS, Alabama ZOE LOFGREN, California MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania HENRY CUELLAR, Texas GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida CHRISTOPHER P. CARNEY, Pennsylvania PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan LAURA RICHARDSON, California PETE OLSON, Texas ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona ANH ‘‘JOSEPH’’ CAO, Louisiana BILL PASCRELL, JR., New Jersey STEVE AUSTRIA, Ohio EMANUEL CLEAVER, Missouri AL GREEN, Texas JAMES A. HIMES, Connecticut MARY JO KILROY, Ohio DINA TITUS, Nevada WILLIAM L. OWENS, New York VACANCY VACANCY I. LANIER AVANT, Staff Director ROSALINE COHEN, Chief Counsel MICHAEL TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk ROBERT O’CONNOR, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, INFORMATION SHARING, AND TERRORISM RISK ASSESSMENT JANE HARMAN, California, Chair CHRISTOPHER P. CARNEY, Pennsylvania MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania LAURA RICHARDSON, California PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana AL GREEN, Texas PETER T. KING, New York (Ex Officio) JAMES A. HIMES, Connecticut BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi (Ex Officio) THOMAS M. FINAN, Staff Director BRANDON DECLET, Counsel NATALIE NIXON, Deputy Chief Clerk MEGHANN PETERLIN, Minority Subcommittee Lead (II) C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS The Honorable Jane Harman, a Representative in Congress From the State of California, and Chair, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Shar- ing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 1 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 3 The Honorable Michael T. McCaul, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Infor- mation Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment ............................................. 3 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 5 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 6 WITNESSES Ms. Caryn A. Wagner, Under Secretary, Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 7 Joint Prepared Statement ................................................................................... 9 Mr. Bart R. Johnson, Principal Deputy Under Secretary, Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 13 Joint Prepared Statement ................................................................................... 9 (III) A DHS INTELLIGENCE ENTERPRISE: STILL JUST A VISION OR REALITY? Wednesday, May 12, 2010 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, INFORMATION SHARING, AND TERRORISM RISK ASSESSMENT, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:04 a.m., in Room 311, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Jane Harman [Chair of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Harman, Thompson, Clarke, Richard- son, Green, Himes, McCaul, Dent, and Broun. Ms. HARMAN [presiding]. Good morning. The subcommittee will come to order. We are meeting today to receive testimony on the state of the DHS Intelligence Enterprise and the continuing efforts to improve intelligence and information sharing at the Department. Today’s hearing is entitled, ‘‘A DHS Intelligence Enterprise: Just a Vision or a Reality?’’ I now recognize myself for an opening state- ment. Nearly 8 years ago this—excuse me. Nearly 8 months ago—time flies—this subcommittee received testimony from then-acting Under Secretary Bart Johnson, a career law enforcement officer, about his vision for the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis. The Chairman, who has just joined this hearing, and I were very impressed. In fact, I recall him saying, ‘‘Wow,’’ as Mr. Johnson com- pleted his oral testimony. Mr. Johnson’s testimony set a new tone for information and in- telligence sharing at I&A—one that embraced the key role that State and local police and sheriffs can play in encouraging an alert public to ‘‘See Something and Say Something,’’ or ‘‘iwatch,’’ as the LAPD campaign in my own Congressional district suggests. Mr. Johnson said, ‘‘Every day across the country State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement and other officials gather information in the course of their work of providing emergency and nonemergency services to their communities. This information may serve as the first indicator of a potential threat to our National se- curity.’’ Obviously these words became crystal clear last week with the apprehension of Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber. Mr. Johnson suggested that a number—a number of practical ideas for intelligence sharing, including a comprehensive outreach effort to make sure that intelligence products provide State, local, territorial, Tribal, and private sectors with the information they (1) 2 want, at the time they want it, and in the form they need it. He suggested creating a Single Point of Service program that handles information requests by State, local, and Tribal partners and devel- oping an analytic capability and methodology for assessing sus- picious activity reporting data. Mr. Johnson suggested that I&A should create baseline capabili- ties and help improve analytic capacity at State and major urban area fusion centers in order to support information-driven decision making by State, local, Tribal, territorial, and Federal homeland security and law enforcement officials. He nailed it, and this sub- committee has been waiting to see his vision become reality. Now that an under secretary has been named and confirmed— and I am glad that Caryn Wagner is joining us today—we are meeting to evaluate I&A’s progress. As I am sure is now clear, we believe I&A’s core mission is to ensure not just horizontal sharing among intelligence agencies, but vertical information sharing up and down between the Federal and local government and law en- forcement. This is our vision; I think this was Mr. Johnson’s vision 8 months ago. Yet, the testimony today, in my view, seems more focused once again on I&A’s horizontal relationships with other Federal intel- ligence agencies. I confess I am a bit disappointed, and I wonder whether we are pedaling backwards. We have recent and excellent real-life examples of how informa- tion shared with and by law enforcement can make all the dif- ference. It was a beauty supply shop owner who provided key infor- mation that led to the unraveling of Najibulla Zazi’s plot to blow up the New York subways. As we all know, two alert veterans alerted law enforcement to Shahzad’s smoking vehicle planted in Times Square. An alert public and proactive police force will continue to make the critical difference, especially as terror tactics evolve. After all, they are the ones who know their communities best and will notice first when something odd is occurring. It should be clear that many terrorist groups and, alas, some homegrown terrorists want nothing more than to strike us, to cause physical and economic damage, and to make us fear them. They are not giving up. We will never be able to achieve 100 percent security, but we can certainly improve the odds. That is why we are here today. When Americans are prepared, not scared, they too can play a key role in keeping us safe. So, my question for both witnesses today is, are we going to im- plement the inspired vision we heard 8 months ago from Mr. John- son? How are you both leveraging the eyes and ears of the public and local law enforcement to keep our communities and our coun- try safe in an ever dangerous world? I welcome you both and look forward to your testimony. [The statement of Chair Harman follows:] 3 PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIR JANE HARMAN MAY 12, 2010 Nearly 8 months ago, this subcommittee received testimony from then-acting Under Secretary Bart Johnson—a career law enforcement officer—about his vision for the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis. The Chairman of the full committee and I