Congress is, gradually, dealing with the consequences of a federal terrorist watchlist that in four years has swelled to 860,000 records. Today, New York Democrat Yvette Clark proposed the Fair, Secure and Timely Redress Act of 2007 that would provide a "one-stop shop" for U.S. citizens erroneously put on the burgeoning watchlist.

"There is now a single, comprehensive terrorist watch list," Clarke reasoned at a Capitol Hill press conference today. "So it only makes sense to have a comprehensive 'clear' list." The bill. expected to be co-sponsored by House Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, would require the Department of Homeland Security to develop a consolidated database of people who have been mistakenly put on the list.

Whether Clarke's legislation is the right solution, recent government reports make clear that she is not dealing with an isolated problem. A Justice Department Inspector General's report found that of the 99,000 instances where a citizen crossing the border or boarding a plane matched a name on the Terrorist Screening Center's watchlist, 43 percent were cases of mistaken identity.

Of these "false positives" 16,000 have formally asked to be removed from the list and DHS, in concert with the Departments of State and Justice, has adjudicated 7,400 cases. Deciding that someone is, in fact, not a terrorist or associated with a terrorist takes an average of 67 days. According to the Inspector General's report, the Department has yet to define a reasonable timeframe for dealing with these redresses.

Handling complaints, however, is only the tip of the iceberg in dealing with a database that has gotten out of hand. DHS accepted the inspector general's assertion that the screening center lacks a procedure to monitor the accuracy of watchlist records or the ability to review the database and subsequently remove names.

The Department also accepted criticism by a Government Accountability Office report that, "The government lacks an up-to-date strategy and implementation plan-supported by clearly defined leadership or governance stucture-for enhancing the effectiveness of terrorist screening, consistent with presidential directives." In other words, no one knows how to use the data.

But the question of whether government can ever create an effective database that doesn't cause civil liberties violations and severe headaches remains taboo. Kathleen Kraninger, Director of the Screening Coordination Office at DHS, concluded that the watchlist has been part of successfully preventing a post-9/11 terrorist attack and, well, you can't prove her wrong.

And at a hearing today, Indiana Republican Mark Souder grew visibly nervous when problems surrounding the watchlist were being discussed a little too in-depth. "Asking how we might get the watchlist fixed is something that maybe shouldn't be done in a public forum," Souder argued. "We might be giving tips."

Souder was referring to aiding terrorists but hopefully the hearing and companion legislation will be less nefariously used to clean up a spiraling bureaucratic mess.

Comments (8)

1. Maybe no one ready the last chapter of The Terrorist Watchlist Guide for Dummies, entitled "Clearing The Falsely Accused From The List".

   or...

   We have 860,000 terrorists in our country!! We could just do as Paul Williams in "The Dunces of Doomsday" suggests and put them all in concentration camps, rather than go through the beurocratic hassle of all that nasty paperwork...

   Posted by MATTMAN at 11/08/2007 @ 7:50pm

2. "Kathleen Kraninger, Director of the Screening Coordination Office at DHS, concluded that the watchlist has been part of successfully preventing a post-9/11 terrorist attack and, well, you can't prove her wrong."

   I feel compelled to reprise a favorite anecdote.

   We once had a corgi/beagle/WTF mutt that my dad used to tell the curious was the baddest Kangaroo Hound in all of Maryland.

   When the inevitable happened, and it was pointed out that there were no kangaroos in Maryland, he simply replied,

   "See what I mean?".

   Posted by drhammer at 11/08/2007 @ 9:50pm

3. Could it have been that....Bush was right (atleast this once and for a while, before he caved)?

   Remember he initially opposed a "Department of Homeland Security".

   Posted by Mask at 11/08/2007 @ 10:14pm

4. We have 860,000 terrorists in our country!! We could just do as Paul Williams in "The Dunces of Doomsday" suggests and put them all in concentration camps, rather than go through the beurocratic hassle of all that nasty paperwork...

   Posted by MATTMAN 11/08/2007 @ 7:50pm

   THIS MAY BE NO JOKE...

   I've read that the Department of Homeland Security is already busy building camps....

   Posted by w_m_bear at 11/08/2007 @ 11:15pm

5. Posted by W_M_BEAR 11/08/2007 @ 11:15pm

   Come on, BEAR...don't go RESE/PLUNGER on us, now!

   Posted by Mask at 11/09/2007 @ 09:03am

6. Posted by W_M_BEAR 11/08/2007 @ 11:15pm

   Posted by MASK 11/09/2007 @ 09:03am

   In defense of the RESE/PLUNGER crowd, the $385m Halliburton detention center contract is a matter of public record, and the cached pictures of the Wyoming site came straight off the Halliburton website.

   Posted by drhammer at 11/09/2007 @ 09:52am

7. Posted by DRHAMMER 11/09/2007 @ 09:52am

   Hmm-hmm.....say Doc, how BIG is this camp? And how many "detainees" will it hold?

   Posted by Mask at 11/09/2007 @ 12:48pm

8. Posted by MASK 11/09/2007 @ 12:48pm

   Who cares? How many American citizens would be too many?

   Eric

   Posted by Malcontent at 11/10/2007 @ 3:01pm