http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5557967

Democrat wants better border information sharing

WASHINGTON -- The ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee wants congressional investigators to determine whether border officers are getting the information they need to thwart potential terrorism threats.


Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., asked the Government Accountability Office to determine what information that federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officers need to guard the nation's borders. He also asked the GAO to find out how the federal government is helping and whether it can do more.

Thompson said in a letter sent Wednesday that the federal government has launched a number of multibillion-dollar programs designed to secure the U.S. borders, but resources are limited.

Developing intelligence based on information shared among border officers would help ensure money is correctly spent, he said. Thompson said border officers need information on potential threats and what areas pose the highest risks to do their job.

"This committee recognizes that we have limited and competing resources for this homeland security vulnerability and that we thus need to use those resources most effectively, addressing the highest risk border vulnerabilities first," Thompson said in the letter.

The $34.8 billion appropriations bill for homeland security approved by Congress includes $2.2 billion for Border Patrol; $4 billion for immigration enforcement, investigations and detention beds; $3.1 billion for the Coast Guard; and $1.2 billion for fencing and other barriers on the U.S-Mexican border.