Next Generation Border and Maritime Security Technologies

Opening Statement By Chairman Bart Gordon

I’d like to thank Chairman Wu for calling today’s hearing and commend Ranking Member Hall on his bill, which takes important steps towards improving the capabilities of the Border Patrol to prevent criminal activity at and around our nation’s borders.

Border Patrol agents are responsible for securing nearly seven thousand miles of land borders to the North and South, as well as ninety-five thousand miles of shoreline. While our current corps of border patrol agents is doing a commendable job, their job is daunting.

Technology can play a vital role in extending observational capabilities, helping border patrol agents locate suspects and monitor the border more effectively.

Mr. Hall’s bill authorizes important programs to enhance the border patrols ability to carry out its mission by supporting short and long term research priorities.

Additionally, it ensures that new technologies will be useful to border patrol agents by mandating that DHS work to meet cost and training needs of end users when developing these technologies.

This bill is a concrete step towards solving a complex issue: how to secure our Nation’s borders against those who would do us harm.

I look forward to working with Ranking Member Hall on this bill as we move forward.

Opening Statement By Chairman David Wu (Technology and Innovation)

I want to thank everyone for attending today’s hearing on Next Generation Border and Maritime Security Technologies.

The mission of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is one of the most difficult within the Department of Homeland Security. CBP officials are responsible for securing the movement of people and goods by air, land, and sea across our nation’s borders. That job is part law enforcement, part first responder, part diplomat, and part detective. And the scope of its job is enormous. Nearly 1.2 million people come through legal ports of entry every day. In addition, illegal activity – including unlawful border crossings, drug smuggling, and human trafficking – is persistent. The State Department estimates that nearly 18 thousand people are smuggled into the U.S. every year for the purpose of forced labor. They also report that nearly 90 percent of cocaine and a majority of the heroin in the U.S. comes across our Southern border.

The House has voted to increase the number of Border Patrol officers by 3000, and it is clear that these agents need the help of new technology to do their jobs better and to make our borders more secure. Technology acts as additional eyes and ears for Border Patrol agents, allowing for observation of broad areas 24 hours a day. Innovative technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles, infrared sensors, and motion detectors help border agents identify where illegal activity might be taking place, multiplying the effectiveness of existing and added CBP staff.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate supports R&D to meet the technology needs of the Department’s components, including CBP. There are some promising technologies that have been deployed, but the enormous scope of the border security challenge requires a long-term strategic plan that has not yet been developed. Without a specific plan for border security technology research, long term basic research will be disconnected from the real life challenges of coming years and decades.

Additionally, short term priorities must be more responsive to the needs of end users. When he appeared before this Subcommittee in March, Under Secretary Cohen outlined measures that DHS S&T is taking to involve end users in setting research priorities, including Integrated Product Teams and web-based means of soliciting opinions. But DHS must do more than simply identify capability gaps that need to be filled with technology. End users should be able to provide feedback on cost, robustness and other characteristics that determine whether a technology will be adopted or whether it will sit on the shelf. This is especially true for border security technologies, which are often used by agents without significant technical training in harsh environments.

I want to thank the Ranking Member of the full Committee, Mr. Hall, for introducing H.R. 3916, which we will be discussing today. That legislation addresses these crucial issues and brings up some important questions. Do we have the technology we need to help CBP do its job? Do the new technologies developed by DHS meet the needs of end users in terms of cost and ease of use, and other important parameters? And, more generally, how is the DHS Science and Technology Directorate determining priorities for R&D?

I’m eager to hear our witnesses’ thoughts on the answers to these questions. I am especially interested to hear our DHS witnesses’ comments on how they will work to meet the technology needs of the border patrol in the short and long term. We need to do a better job of aligning research to the needs of end users, and I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues to promote innovative technology to support our nation’s hardworking border patrol.

Opening Statement By Vice-Chair Harry Mitchell (Technology and Innovation)

Border security is an issue that truly hits home. Illegal immigration affects Arizona more than any other state – more than half of illegal crossings over the U.S.-Mexico border happen in Arizona.

When the federal government fails to live up to its responsibility, Arizona pays a hefty price. Illegal immigration fosters violent drug and human smuggling crimes, and burdens our local law enforcement and emergency rooms.

These illegal crossings threaten our national security. We must do better.

We can start by ensuring that these border agents have all the tools necessary to protect our borders. Stopping people from crossing the border is not as simple as building a fence. These people sneak across the border daily by going to under-patrolled areas, jumping over fences, and building underground tunnels.

I am proud to cosponsor Chairman Hall’s legislation, H.R. 3916, which will help provide our border guards with technologically advanced equipment to monitor the borders. Significantly, this bill will improve border security by advancing technology for tunnel detection as well as aerial monitoring of the border.

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on how this legislation will help secure our borders.

I yield back.

Witnesses

Panel

1 - Mr. Robert Hooks
Director of Transition Science and Technology Directorate Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate Department of Homeland Security
Download the Witness Testimony

2 - Mr. Ervin Kapos
Director of Operations Analysis Science and Technology Directorate Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate Department of Homeland Sec
Download the Witness Testimony

3 - Dr. Brian Jackson
Associate Physical Scientist, Science and Technology Policy Institute RAND Corporation RAND Corporation
Download the Witness Testimony

4 - Mr. Jeff Self
Division Chief U.S. Border Patrol Department of Homeland Security U.S. Border Patrol Department of Homeland Security
Download the Witness Testimony