In 2005, the issue of information sharing (IS) for homeland security was placed on a high-risk list of fed. functions needing broad-based transformation. Since then, the govt.¿s progress has been monitored in resolving barriers to IS. This testimony discusses 3 key IS efforts: (1) the actions that have been taken to guide the design and implementation of the IS Environment and to report on its progress; (2) the characteristics of state and local fusion centers and the extent to which fed. efforts are helping to address some of the challenges that centers reported; and (3) the progress made in developing streamlined policies and procedures for designating, marking, safeguarding, and disseminating sensitive but unclassified information.

The attacks on 9/11 underscored the fed. government¿s need to facilitate terrorism-related info. sharing among gov¿t., private sector, and foreign stakeholders. In response, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act mandated the creation of the Info. Sharing Environment (ISE), which is an approach for the sharing of terrorism-related info. A Program Manager oversees ISE development with assistance from the Info. Sharing Council, a forum for 16 info. sharing officials from fed. agencies and dep¿ts. This is a report on: (1) what actions have been taken to guide the design and implementation of the ISE; and (2) what efforts have been made to report on progress in implementing the ISE. Includes recommendations. Illustrations.

The fed. gov¿t. is the world's largest and most complex entity, with about $3 trillion in outlays in FY 2008. Reports on high-risk areas bring focus to areas needing attention due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. These reports also identify areas needing transformation to address major economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. This 2009 update presents the status of high-risk areas listed in 2007 and identifies new high-risk areas. Solutions to high-risk problems offer the potential to save billions of dollars, dramatically improve service to the public, strengthen confidence and trust in the performance and accountability of the U.S. gov¿t., and ensure the ability of gov¿t. to deliver on its promises. Illus.

Unauthorized disclosures of classified intelligence are seen as doing significant damage to U.S. security. This is the case whether information is disclosed to a foreign government or published on the Internet. On the other hand, if intelligence is not made available to government officials who need it to do their jobs, enormous expenditures on collection, analysis, and dissemination are wasted. These conflicting concerns require careful and difficult balancing.Investigations of the 9/11 attacks concluded that both technical and policy barriers had limited sharing of information collected by different agencies that, if viewed together, could have provided useful insight into the unfolding plot. A consensus emerged that U.S. intelligenceagencies should share information more widely in order that analysts could integrate clues acquired by different agencies in order to "connect the dots." This report focuses on information acquired, analyzed, and disseminated by agencies of the U.S. Intelligence Community, but these concerns also affect classified information outside the Intelligence Community. Contents: (1) Background; (2) Changes Undertaken in Response to 9/11: The Information Sharing Environment; (3) Limitations and Risks of Information Sharing: Detroit Bomb Attempt; Fort Hood Shooting; WikiLeaks; (4) Conclusion. This is a print on demand report.

The Dec. 25, 2009, attempted bombing of flight 253 raised questions about the federal government's ability to protect the homeland and secure the commercial aviation system. This statement focuses on the government's efforts to use the terrorist watchlist to screen individuals and determine if they pose a threat, and how failures in this process contributed to the Dec. 25 attempted attack. This statement also addresses the Transportation Security Admin.'s (TSA) planned deployment of technologies for enhanced explosive detection and the challenges associated with this deployment. Charts and tables.