One FReeper's analysis of the Homeland Security Act, HR 5710

11/18/2002 | dirtboy and some congressional staffer

[dirtboy]

Well, after all the spin, thunder and smoke regarding H.R. 5710, the Homeland Security Act, I up and printed out the dang thing to read it for myself (killed a toner cartridge in the process). So far, my initial conclusions are:

The claims by a Philly radio talk show host that refusing to be vaccinated upon the orders of the Secretary of HHS could lead to losing your home are not supported by the bill ("covered persons" is the key here).

And Safire was full of it when he claimed HSA created a central database where all credit card transactions would be collected.

I'm only up to page 144, but I found a distinct positive on that page:

VISA ISSUANCE PROGRAM FOR SAUDI ARABIA - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the date of the enactment of this Act all third party screening programs in Saudi Arabia shall be terminated. On-site personnel of the Department of Homeland Security shall review all visa applications prior to adjucation.

There are some other good steps in Section 428 as well, which starts on page 134, including steps to correct the problems that allowed many of the 9/11 hijackers to get visas after initially being declined. So it's good to see that Congress is addressing that particular issue in this bill.

I'll continue to read through this beast over the next few days. One claim made by critics of HSA is that the bill would allow the feds to search financial records without a warrant, and that is one of the primary issues I am looking for and have not found. If anyone else figures out an answer on this, I would greatly appreciate their posting it here. We are not served by wild speculation regarding this bill - unlike Safire, we need to rely on facts if there are any significant problems with H.R. 5710. If anyone else is masochistic enough to read through this bill, please post your comments here for the benefits of interested freepers.

[dirtboy]

Another positive in Section 429:

(a) IN GENERAL.-Whenever a consular officer of the United States denies a visa to an applicant, the consular officer shall enter the fact and the basis of the denial and the name of the applicant into the interoperable electronic data system implement under Section 202(a) of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act 2002...

[Fred Mertz]

Thanks for your diligent pursuit of the facts amid the mountains of details, dirtboy.

Should I tell Poohbah or should you?

I wonder if the Saudis will protest mildly.

[dirtboy]

Thanks for your diligent pursuit of the facts amid the mountains of details, dirtboy.

Thanks in turn for the kind words, Fred. My initial impression is that this bill is pretty mild compared to the PATRIOT Act. I really can't say that I've seen anything terribly objectionable so far. One can argue that some of these federal functions are unconstituional - but the feds were doing these functions before this act and will continue to do them after this act, so the act itself really doesn't change things all that much, except to consolidate and reorganize. There are a lot of provisions for data sharing, but IMO a lot of those are a good idea.

Should I tell Poohbah or should you?

Go ahead and tell our Pooh-bear. I would hate to deny you that fun.

I wonder if the Saudis will protest mildly.

The Saudis can go suck eggs for all I care :^)

[RandyRep]

Good work - thanks for the info.

My hunch is that we will find out that the Safire salvo is a mole hill - I think that the Feds and law enforcement can get a warrant now to search for all of those things in a criminal investigation.

Someone at DARPA likely proposed creating the master database from available data rather than have to hunt up each scrap. This would have to be the world's biggest database - and there would never be enough manpower to monitor everybody. In the end, they will have to get a warrant to search whatever databases there are - a master one, or many smaller ones. Just like today.

[moodyskeptic]

thanks for doing this.

[Balding_Eagle]

I was hoping someone would wade through that thing.

Thanks so very much.

If you've got a ping list, put me on it.

[dirtboy]

A lot of this stuff is just brain-numbing detail. Here's a good example on Page 156:

(4) Managerial Rotation Program.-

(A) IN GENERAL.-Not later than 1 year after the effective date specified in section 455, the Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services shall design and implement a managerial rotation program under which employees of such bureau holding positions involving supervisory or managerial responsibility and classified ... [blah][blah][blah]

In a way, although mundane, this section is indicative of the inherent problems with a bill of this magnitude - the desire of Congress to micro-manage the process of running this newfangled department.

[dirtboy]

Someone at DARPA likely proposed creating the master database from available data rather than have to hunt up each scrap.

That approach won't achieve what the feds are looking for, which is some kind of magical petabyte database where they can run a few models that will spit out a manageable list of potential terrorist suspects. I just don't see how they can do it.

[aristeides]

I wonder how much of this is congressional micromanagement. Isn't the bulk of a bill like this one in fact written by the executive branch?

[dirtboy]

I wonder how much of this is congressional micromanagement. Isn't the bulk of a bill like this one in fact written by the executive branch?

That's a good question, I don't know the answer.

[BuddhaBoy]

Nice work. You are correct, regarding Safire as well.

Safire's phone was tapped during the Watergate era, and he never got over it.

He is terribly paranoid these days, because it actually happened to him.

[dirtboy]

Backtracking a bit, here is a classic example of where more research is needed outside the text of H.R. 5710. From Page 132, Section 426:

(2) Membership.-Section 115(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended-

(A) by striking paragraph (G);

(b)by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (F) as subparagraphs (B) through (G), respectively; and

(c) by inserting before subparagraph (B) (as so redisignated) the following:

"(A) The Secretary of Homeland Security or the Secretary's designee.".

Hard to tell exactly what they're doing here unless you also root around in the relevant United States Code.

[dirtboy]

If I find anything of particular interest, I'll ping you and anyone else who has responded to this thread. It'll probably take me a few nights to get through this stuff - I'm stopping for the night at page #172.

[Grut]

...where they can run a few models that will spit out a manageable list of potential terrorist suspects. I just don't see how they can do it.

They can do it very easily. Just keep in mind that the object of government programs is to appear to do something - anything! - not to do useful things well. So: database > sorting program > list. Voila!

[xNavspook]

I've read through a lot of it too and I have to agree. All of the "bad" stuff is in the Patriot act. From what I see, it's pretty standard assigning job functions, etc. I'll be interested if you find anything else.

[xNavspook]

SEC. 880. PROHIBITION OF THE TERRORISM INFORMATION AND PREVENTION SYSTEM.

Any and all activities of the Federal Government to implement the proposed component program of the Citizen Corps known as Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information and Prevention System) are hereby prohibited.

[m1911]

Thanks for all the work guys

[dirtboy]

TIPS is dead. Kewl. Last thing the feds need is another database that they can't even figure out how to query.

[No.6]

Ah, was just gonna put that one up (880)

How about:

"Subtitle B--Transfer of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to the Department of Justice"

I know, I'd rather the whole thing went away, but bringing it from its present state as an 'independent' (read rogue) agency to Justice is one step closer to saying "hey, this is redundant, let's get rid of BATF"