Security
Senators Grill Ridge On Privacy, 'First Responders'
by William New
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Wednesday faced tough questions on issues surrounding privacy and technology, as well as funding for "first responders" to emergencies and the status of departmental programs.
"The public and certainly Congress is in the dark when it comes to data mining" being done by the federal government, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on the fiscal 2005 request for Homeland Security. "And there are no privacy rules."
"I can assure you nothing we are doing in the Department of Homeland Security has been designed to collect information or spy on Americans," Ridge said in response to Wyden's questioning about data-mining activities. "We are getting access to personal information and to some extent, proprietary information."
Ridge said the department would not proceed on a pre-screening program for airline passengers without congressional approval and is waiting for a General Accounting Office report on the matter. Wyden requested a list of all data-mining activities and related costs where Homeland Security is involved.
In an interview after the hearing, Wyden called the administration "clueless" on data-mining issues. "Nobody is in charge, nobody knows how many programs involve data mining, nobody knows how much money is being spent, or how many agencies, and no one knows whether there are any privacy protections," he said.
He also asked about a requirement in the 2002 law that created the Homeland Security Department to establish a centralized technology clearinghouse to evaluate new technologies for possible government procurement. "It is not as complete as you want it to be," Ridge said. "We're in the process of streamlining that."
"That is something we hear again and again from small businesses as they traipse around Washington" trying to offer their products, Wyden replied.
Wyden also asked about a requirement in the 2002 law to set up a National Emergency Technology Guard, or NET Guard, of volunteer science and technology experts to respond to terrorist attacks. Ridge said he does not know the status and vowed to get back to Wyden.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles, R-Okla., challenged the Bush administration's budget request for first responders and the plan to give states and localities funds based on threats. Nickles raised numerous examples of city programs using funding intended for homeland security activities for unrelated purposes. He warned Ridge that the committee would carefully scrutinize the department's budget request for fiscal 2005.
"I want to be your ally but can also be your enemy if I find there is waste," Nickles said.
Ridge acknowledged there have been "undesirable" outcomes to the provision of federal funds to states and localities but said the department is just one year old, adding that it is a "shared responsibility and shared accountability" between the federal and state governments.
Ridge also said efforts are incomplete on developing ways for local governments to communicate with their citizens if television and radio are knocked out and was questioned on whether emergency responders have compatible communications systems, among other issues.
Security
Republicans, Democrat See Security Progress Differently
by Greta Wodele
Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday highlighted progress made at the nearly one-year-old Homeland Security Department while also criticizing their Democratic colleagues for not working with them to address security concerns.
Committee Chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif. -- who was flanked by Vice Chairwoman Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash., and subcommittee chairmen -- said at a news conference that the "scale of change" since the department's inception has been "impressive."
Cox and the other lawmakers touted new technologies and programs underway at the department that have had "remarkable" results, including a system to track foreign visitors to the United States, unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the borders, a national center for cyber security, and the information analysis and infrastructure protection division, among others.
Cox also said a recently released strategy report from the department would provide "needed direction" for its mission in the future. The chairman said he would follow the report when the committee drafts an authorization bill this year.
Although the legislators said department officials would need to do more to protect the country from another terrorist attack, they also characterized Democrats on the committee as taking a "half-glass empty" approach.
The minority, led by ranking Democrat Jim Turner of Texas, held their own press conference on Wednesday to release a report on ways to solve "security gaps" not filled by the Bush administration.
"In many critical areas -- our borders, our ports, bioterrorism preparedness, chemical-plant security, equipping first responders and down the line -- security gaps are placing Americans at risk," Turner said in a statement about the report.
The Republicans appeared to condemn Democrats' actions. "We need to work together constructively" rather than "finger-pointing," said Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.
Nevada Republican Jim Gibbons also said the "real issue" is not an inability of the department to connect the dots but rather "collecting the dots," referring to the 22 different agencies that were transferred into the department last year.
When asked by a reporter if Democrats are playing political football with homeland security during an election year, Cox acknowledged that "everything is on the table" but that the minority had "blindsided" the majority with the latest report and previous reports.
"I'm not satisfied with the process," he said, adding that he had a "long" discussion with Turner Tuesday about not conducting the studies with the majority. Cox also pledged to continue to work with Democrats during this year's legislative session.
Turner's office declined to respond to Republican charges of partisanship.
Budget
Homeland Security Science Chief Defends Fiscal 2005 Budget
by William New
Charles McQueary, head of the Homeland Security Department's science and technology directorate, testified Wednesday about the president's fiscal 2005 budget request.
Testifying before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Science and Research and Development, McQueary defended the administration's budget choices such as directing the most funding in his directorate toward defense against biological attacks rather than areas like cyber security. He used the opportunity to highlight accomplishments of his directorate one year after its inception.
Having highlighted the directorate's work in developing standards for bio-detection equipment, McQueary was asked about whether there would be standards for cyber security one year from now. He said he could not make that prediction, calling it "very complex" and "premature to speculate." Federal agencies such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology are working on cyber-security standards, he noted.
Full committee ranking Democrat Jim Turner of Texas questioned the directorate's process for making budget decisions. He said the directorate's budget would be flat if not for a sizeable increase for biodefense and probed whether $18 million for cyber security is too low. "I'm not certain I'm very comfortable with the process that leads us to conclude that $18 million is sufficient for cyber," he said.
McQueary said that the department's directorate on information analysis and infrastructure protection is responsible for cyber security and that the $18 million would be enough for his directorate.
He also said the choice to emphasize biodefense was based on "knowing in [his] heart" that it is the highest and most likely type of attack to occur. He acknowledged, however, that the nine-point process for determining the budget is based largely on "human-to-human" factors.
Subcommittee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said decisions about what security technologies to buy is one of five top areas of concentration for the department this year. "We are safer than we were a year ago, but we are not nearly as safe as we should or will be," he said.
In response to questioning by Zoe Lofgren of California, the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, McQueary said the plan to work most closely with government labs had sparked a "firestorm." The program, which creates "internal" and "external" labs, was intended to ensure that all labs get a piece of the R&D pie, he said, adding, "We thought we were doing something beneficial."
He said he has volunteered to have an independent review team look at the process and said he would look at options for changing it, though not at this time.
Full committee Chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif., raised concern about the small number of companies that have applied to take advantage of an administration proposal to limit the liability of companies providing homeland security technologies in the even that they malfunction during an attack. "When bad things happen, lawyers are sure to follow," Cox said.
He said one reason for the small turnout might be that "undue burdens" might be placed on companies, creating barriers to entry. McQueary said the final rules are due in March or April.
Budget
White House: Science Agencies Would Be 'In Good Shape'
by Greta Wodele
A White House official told House lawmakers at a Wednesday hearing that while the fiscal 2005 budget proposed by President Bush would put pressure on science and technology programs, it still would provide adequate funding to accommodate the administration's policies.
"There is a lot of pressure on this budget," John Marburger, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, told reporters after the hearing. He said his office was not satisfied with many of the funding proposals but added that if Congress were to enact the president's proposal, innovation would not be adversely affected. "We'd be in good shape," he said.
New York Republican James Walsh, chairman of the Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, asked the director whether he is "satisfied" with the proposed 1 percent to 2 percent increases in funding for the National Science Foundation in previous budgets and with the proposed 3 percent raise, or $6 billion, for fiscal 2005.
Marburger said that there has been "sustained pressure" on the science budget but that Bush's decision not to reduce funding acknowledges the importance of the science programs. The president proposed a 5 percent increase, or $132 billion, for all research and development programs, which would be split in half for security and non-security initiatives.
The director also highlighted areas of technology that are expected to produce the best return on the government's R&D investment, including nanotechnology, information technology and biomedical research.
In the short term, Marburger said nanotechnology would foster memory and protection devices, among other technologies. He also said his office would participate in addressing safety, health and environmental concerns with the technology. Nanoscience, which aims to develop applications based on the atomic and molecular levels, produces new substances that are like chemical substances.
When asked to characterize a group of scientists in the Union of Concerned Scientists, which issued a critical report of the administration's science policy recently, Marburger called it a "liberal" coalition but added that he does not attach a "value" to that observation.
On other science priorities, the director said the president's proposal includes funding to "accelerate the pace" of developing advanced telescopes and high-end computing. Marburger noted that although the president's proposal does not identify "new money" for supercomputing, several agencies have "reallocated" resources in existing budgets to help accomplish goals.
On the budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration the lawmakers questioned if the president has proposed enough money for his space-exploration program. Marburger said Bush's proposal adds "modestly" to the existing budget but provides enough funding for a "sustainable and affordable" program.
He added that society would "not stand for" more spending and that the government needs to fund other areas of science to "sustain global competitiveness."
Intellectual Property
Committee Tensions May Arise Over Database Bill
by Drew Clark
In a surprise move that could re-ignite tensions with the House Judiciary Committee, the chairman of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Tuesday introduced a rival measure to Judiciary's database-protection bill and on Wednesday had his panel approve it.
Florida Republican Cliff Stearns, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, introduced a "committee print" that would create a narrow federal ban on the misappropriation of databases.
Subcommittee members unanimously approved the measure during a sparsely attended session that lasted 21 minutes. It is significantly different from a bill, H.R. 3261, introduced by Howard Coble, R-N.C., and co-sponsored by Judiciary Committee leaders and W.J. (Billy) Tauzin, R-La., former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
"The bill makes misappropriation of a database an unfair or deceptive act or practice" under the FTC's authorizing statute, Stearns said at the markup. "It provides a federal misappropriation remedy with competent agency oversight and enforcement," creating a five-factor test that must be met before someone who reuses "highly time sensitive" factual data could be found liable for misappropriating data.
Database companies, realtors and newspaper companies have driven support for the Judiciary Committee's measure. For eight years, they have sought protection for collections of factual information from individuals who copy and republish the data.
But a large coalition of technology, telecommunications, brokerage and business groups -- who in the past few years have joined librarians and scientists in opposition to such legislation -- aggressively oppose that bill. The battle between the rival forces has been channeled through the Judiciary and Commerce committees, and the committees were deadlocked until Tauzin signed on to H.R. 3261 in October.
But Stearns continued to oppose that measure and said after the Wednesday markup that he wants members of Congress to have the opportunity to vote on the House floor for his bill as an amendment or alternative to H.R. 3261.
The Judiciary Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property approved that measure on Oct. 16, and the full Judiciary Committee followed suit on Feb. 11.
The bill also has been referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Stearns said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the incoming chairman of the full committee, must make any decision about that measure. The bill has not been scheduled for a floor vote.
"There is some way to go to make the Judiciary bill more palatable to the people supporting our bill," Stearns said in an interview. "I had about 10 different significant groups in my offices outlining their concerns."
Supporters of the Judiciary Committee bill were stunned. "There had been a deal between the two committees, and it looks like it is being jettisoned," said Eric Massant, director of government affairs for Reed Elsevier.
"The House has been working constructive together on a bill that reflects sponsorship of both committees," said an industry lobbyist supporting significant database protection. "People are scratching their heads about how [the Wednesday markup] jives with the leadership's expectation that the two committees are working together."
Politics
Internet Caucus' House Chairmen Outline Top Priorities
by Ted Leventhal
The House co-chairmen of the Congressional Internet Caucus on Wednesday outlined their technology and telecommunications priorities and outlook for the year in a briefing with National Journal Group reporters.
Virginia Reps. Rick Boucher and Bob Goodlatte promoted their legislation on copyright law, database protection, stock options and class-action legal reform, and they expressed support for other initiatives on sales taxes and patent reforms.
Boucher, a Democrat, said he welcomed the ascendancy of Joe Barton, R-Texas, to chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, noting that Barton differs from former Chairman W.J. (Billy) Tauzin, R-La., in style but not substance. "In terms of philosophy, in terms of positions on key issues, I think you can expect Joe to be consistent with the course that Billy has charted," Boucher said.
Privacy and copyright issues may be the exceptions. Boucher described Barton as a "major privacy advocate" and a possible supporter of a bill, H.R. 1636, on consumer privacy protection.
Barton also co-sponsored Boucher's copyright bill, which would let consumers transfer digital media among devices without triggering penalties. Freer use of digital media will make it more valuable, not less, expanding the market and increasing profits for content owners, who do not support the bill, Boucher said.
Boucher said the committee also will hold hearings this year toward the goal of re-examining major telecom law in the next Congress. New legislation is needed to address the solvency of the fund designed to aid delivery of telecom services to all Americans and to address issues surrounding the delivery of voice services over the Internet.
He predicted that most telephone traffic to end users will be voice-over-Internet protocol a decade from now and added that rules governing charges to access telecom networks, as well as for emergency 911 service and for law enforcement access to networks, must be addressed.
Boucher and Goodlatte, a Republican, disagreed over the best approach to employee stock options and database protection. Boucher said he is "still trying to decide" whether firms should be required to record stock options on their balance sheets. Goodlatte called stock options available to all company employees "a worthwhile public concern that should be protected."
On database protection, Boucher said the Commerce Committee will offer a substitute bill to meet concerns raised by opponents to legislation approved by the Judiciary Committee, which Boucher characterized as overly broad and "a solution in search of a problem."
Goodlatte disagreed. He said he supports "the notion that the digital environment has created a different situation, lowering the barriers to theft of content" that should be addressed.
The lawmakers agreed that extending the Internet tax moratorium is less important than efforts to recoup sales taxes lost to online commerce. "This is probably the single-most advertised piece of legislation with the least amount of substance attached to it that I've seen in nine years in Congress," Boucher said of the moratorium.
Goodlatte agreed, noting that since the moratorium in November, states and localities have not moved to tax Internet access.
Business
Austin Rallies Support For Global Technology Conference
by Maureen Sirhal for Technology Daily
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas leaders are giving a "down home" welcome to an upcoming conference of global technology leaders scheduled for Austin in two years.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry, state and local lawmakers, and educational and private-sector business leaders on Tuesday night officially rang in the start of a process that will culminate in the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) in 2006, which is expected to bring together more than 2,000 IT, business and political leaders for five days in Texas' capital city.
Perry announced that he would authorize $1 million from the Texas Economic Development Fund to help the conference's nonprofit organizing committee -- WCIT 2006 -- pay the costs of hosting the event. The congress is a held every two years in locations worldwide and serves as a forum for international discussion of technology issues and how technology can impact social and economic policy.
Perry told audience that the venue choice "confirms Texas's status as a technology powerhouse in the 21st century."
In late 2001, a group of Austin business leaders began organizing the bid for the 2006 event. During the 2002 conference, held in Adelaide, Australia, the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), a consortium of 53 world IT associations, chose Austin as the conference venue over Anchorage, Alaska, Chicago, Phoenix and Fairfax County, Va., as well as cities located throughout North and South America.
"It was one of those classic 'Oh shoot' Texas moments, when we thought we bit off more than we could chew," said Nick Fox, chairman and president of WCIT 2006 and a lawyer with Vinson and Elkins.
Fox's organization estimates that roughly $10 million will be needed to orchestrate the event. So far, the group has raised $1.5 million from sponsors, which include companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, Dell and SBC Communications.
The group anticipates raising the rest of the funds from private-sector contributors, registration fees and government grants.
The city of Austin is slated to receive $400,000 from the federal government, thanks to a provision pushed in the fiscal 2004 budget by Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. City officials also hope to provide more than $200,000.
Austin Mayor Will Wynn said the city and surrounding areas would benefit tremendously from the $44 million in business that the conference is expected to generate.
Perry and others, including University of Texas President Larry Faulkner, took the opportunity to promote Texas as a key location for technology enterprises.
"Texas is an ideal location for high-tech growth because we have low taxes, a reasonable regulatory climate, a skilled workforce and new lawsuit reforms that are putting a stop to a top job killer: lawsuit abuse," Perry said.
The 2004 World Congress on Information Technology will be in Athens, Greece, in May.
Budget
Key Appropriators Steer Forensics Money Back Home
by Drew Clark
Major universities in the states and congressional districts of key Appropriations Committee members received some of the largest technology grants for bolstering their forensic-science and computer-forensics programs through earmarks in fiscal 2004 spending.
West Virginia University in Morgantown and Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., for instance, received $4 million and $3.3 million respectively to strengthen their forensic science programs. The Web sites for the programs both highlight their efforts to use information technology to better automate fingerprint recognition.
The FBI's largest fingerprint-collection center is already housed in the Mountain State, which is home to both Senate Appropriations Committee ranking Democrat Robert Byrd and Alan Mollohan, the top Democrat one of the House Appropriations subcommittees.
Clifton Bishop, director of the West Virginia University program, said the earmarks helped fund "high-risk" research, like his own successful effort to time-date forensic information like blood or saliva. "I realize that a lot of it is written up as pork, but I think a lot of useful things are coming out of it."
In the related field of computer forensics, the University of Louisville in Kentucky received a $3 million earmark to establish a regional computer-forensics program in conjunction with the Kentucky State Police. The grant is intended to strengthen the state police's knowledge of computer crimes and provide research on criminals' use of computers, said Adel Elmaghraby, chair of the university's department of computer engineering and science.
"We have started in the last few years to work on computer security and homeland security," Elmaghraby said. "One of the things we have developed is research in computer forensics," together with an increased focus on the law of computer crime.
"We were hoping that we would have a regional lab that will help the community because the police have a lot of backlogs" in computer crime and computer forensics, Elmaghraby added.
News of the grant was featured in a university press release and on the Web site of Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, chairman of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.
"The University of Louisville continues to be a leader in the fields of science, technology and medicine," McConnell said, referring to a total of $14 million he won for the school. "I am happy to have secured these funds so that the University of Louisville can continue their advanced research in bioterrorism, cardiac diseases and homeland security."
All told, universities received at least $14.7 million in grants because of earmarks related to computerizing traditional forensics analysis -- like fingerprints -- and to the study of the forensics of computer crime. That total exceeded the $10 million available to forensics laboratories and study programs through its normal grant program, said Catherine Sanders, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice.
In the fiscal 2004 budget, Justice also has allocated $116 million for traditional forensics activities tied to specific tasks like DNA testing or DNA backlog reduction, Sanders said. But "for improving equipment, and making sure you have all of what you need," the grant is the principal non-earmark vehicle, she said.
Today's Feature:
International Roundup
Elected officials from the European Union and United States met last week in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss legislative developments related to the Internet in what has become an annual meeting. Every Thursday, read the International Roundup by Senior Writer William New.
|
E-briefs
White House: Technological innovation is key to a strong U.S. manufacturing industry, President Bush said in a Wednesday executive order. He called on the heads of departments and agencies with one or more Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs to make manufacturing-related research and development a top priority. They must submit reports about their progress to the administrator of the Small Business Administration and the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and those reports will be used to issue guidelines and directives on maintaining a strong manufacturing industry.
Labor: Presidential hopeful John Kerry, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, on Wednesday outlined his plan for combating the effects of companies that move their operations overseas. Kerry called for companies to give workers at least three months notice before they are laid off if their positions are to be relocated abroad to and inform the Labor Department, state unemployment agencies and local government officials of their plans. Labor then would have to compile statistics on the phenomenon and issue an annual report to Congress and the public. Kerry also said U.S. federal contracts should be performed by American workers, a policy that would be monitored by Kerry's Cabinet secretaries if he is elected president. He also called for customer-service call centers to inform callers of where the centers are located and promised to end tax credits that give corporations breaks for moving offshore.
Taxes: House Democrats on Wednesday sought to extract a political price for divisions among Republicans that have stymied action on a corporate tax bill needed to avert European Union trade sanctions that will begin March 1. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, Ways and Means ranking Democrat Charles Rangel of New York and Trade Subcommittee ranking Democrat Sander Levin of Michigan charged that House leaders were putting manufacturing jobs in peril in order to push a bill authored by Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., that would steer about $32 billion in tax breaks to multinational companies. "The Bush administration has shown no leadership. They have fiddled while manufacturing jobs burn," Rangel said. The lawmakers also filed a petition to force a vote on a competing bill sponsored by Rangel and Levin, a move that is largely symbolic because no Republicans are expected to sign it.
Broadband: Developing a national plan for high-speed Internet deployment is critical in order to avoid a "broadband chasm" between the haves and have-nots, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said Wednesday at a policy and law symposium hosted by Michigan State University. He urged the private sector to be the "lead locomotive for broadband deployment" but warned that Internet technologies "will only reach their potential if the infrastructure is there to support it." A section of the 1996 Telecommunications Act gives the FCC the right to take action if broadband deployment is delayed, and Copps urged the commission to update a two-year-old report it has on that issue via "expert panels, community roundtables, congressional discussions and a national dialogue." Also at the symposium, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens of Alaska reiterated that should he become chairman of the Commerce Committee, he would support a "major revision" of the telecom law.
Exports: House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter on Wednesday hailed a recent General Accounting Office (GAO) report that found deficiencies in the U.S. export-control system. GAO's findings demonstrate the importance of strengthening the Commerce Department process of verifying that shipments of commercial goods that also could have military uses arrive at the intended destinations and are used for stated purposes, the California Republican said. That must be done before the U.S. government permits the export of additional technologies and materials that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction, Hunter added. "Weak export controls in general represent a vulnerability in the U.S.-led global war on terrorism because of the ease with which items may be transferred to third parties," he said in a statement. If post-shipment verifications cannot be done, "there is no guarantee that American know-how will not ultimately be used against our own citizens and armed forces."
Intellectual Property: Judge Stephen McGuire on Tuesday publicly released his decision on a government case that accused Rambus of violating antitrust rules when it patented a common standard in most microchips. The FTC alleged that Rambus concealed patents for more than four years in the 1990s while participating in industry-wide talks that helped develop a new set of memory-chip standards. McGuire had dismissed the federal complaint on Feb. 17 in a brief court order that said the FTC failed to "sustain its burden of establishing liability for the violations alleged." McGuire elaborated his reasoning in the full decision and noted that Rambus' conduct did not result in any anticompetitive effects.
|
