Homeland Security replaces head of troubled border program

After coming under heavy congressional fire for technical problems and cost overruns surrounding efforts to build virtual fencing along the nation's borders, the Homeland Security Department has replaced the official in charge of the multibillion-dollar program, CongressDaily has learned.

Sources on and off the Hill said they hope the removal of Gregory Giddens as chief of the Secure Border Initiative will breathe new life into the troubled program.

The most problem-plagued program that Giddens managed was SBInet, which is focused on using both technology and traditional fencing to secure the nation's borders.

For congressional aides, the likelihood Giddens would be removed became clearer when the department stopped sending him to Capitol Hill to testify about SBInet and instead sent top Customs and Border Protection officials.

"Given the problems with the program and the spotlight on it I don't think you'll find a lot of people surprised about them pulling Greg," a congressional aide said. "The program has suffered public blows and they want a fresh start, particularly as they transition it to the next president."

Sources said they were not aware of anything improper that Giddens did. He has been named executive director for facilities management and engineering in CBP's finance office.

The department has named Mark Borkowski as the new executive director for the Secure Border Initiative.

Borkowski has been serving as a program manager for the U.S. Border Patrol and has 25 years of experience in large systems acquisitions and program management for NASA and the Air Force, according to CBP.

"I've heard through the grapevine that's he's a good fixer," an industry source said of Borkowski.

Sources said the decision to give Borkowski the job likely means that Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar is taking more control of the program to ensure it meets the needs of agents in the field.

"On balance, I want to think that it will be very good for the program simply because whoever now comes in can have an opportunity to address the issues that have seemed to make GAO and Congress so disgruntled," another industry source said.

"Sometimes it's good to get a new coach on the team even though there might not be anything wrong with the old coach."

CBP Deputy Commissioner Jayson Ahern praised Giddens in a statement, saying he developed a comprehensive border security strategic plan and built up the SBI program office "to design and deploy the technological systems, tactical infrastructure, and transportation services required to gain control of our borders."

Congressional oversight committees will likely give Borkowski little time to settle into his new post before they pepper him with questions and outline their expectations. Lawmakers will let him know that patience is running thin to correct deficiencies.

"SBInet has encountered numerous setbacks ... I plan to hold the department accountable for getting SBInet back on track and securing our borders," said House Homeland Security Border Subcommittee Chairwoman Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif.

GAO released a report Monday with blistering criticism of SBInet, along with summaries of several reviews it has made of the program.

"Important aspects of SBInet remain ambiguous and in a continued state of flux, making it unclear and uncertain what technology capabilities will be delivered, when and where they will be delivered, and how they will be delivered," GAO said.

"The absence of clarity and stability in these key aspects of SBInet impairs the ability of the Congress to oversee the program and hold DHS accountable for program results, and it hampers DHS's ability to measure program progress," GAO added.

Agencies not complying with record preservation policies

Agencies not complying with
record preservation policies

BY JILL R. AITORO

Agencies are not preserving e-mail records properly because of depleted staffs, an overwhelming volume of messages, and a reliance on an archaic print-and-file storing process, industry and government representatives told a congressional panel on Wednesday.

“Records management in general is afforded low priority across government,” Linda Koontz, director of information management issues at the Government Accountability Office, told a hearing of the House Information Policy, Census and National Archives Subcommittee. “Without a mandate we won’t get too far.”

At the hearing, Koontz released preliminary results from an ongoing GAO study of how four agencies managed e-mail and electronic records. GAO is studying the electronic storage practices at the Homeland Security and Housing and Urban Development departments as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission. Koontz said the agencies print and then file e-mails, but about half of senior officials were not following these procedures, and the e-mails for these officials were maintained in e-mail systems that lacked record-keeping capabilities, such as the ability to group the e-mails using a classification system.

“Unless they have record-keeping features, e-mail systems may not permit easy and timely retrieval of both groupings of related records as well as individual records,” Koontz said.

EPA is implementing an electronic application to preserve e-mails, and DHS and HUD are considering introducing one as well. FTC is not considering any change to its current process, Koontz said.

To provide agencies with more guidance on preserving electronic records, the House is considering the Electronic Communications Preservation Act, which Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.; William Lacy Clay, D-Mo.’ and Paul W. Hodes, D-N.H. introduced on April 15. The bill would strengthen policies for preservation of government records by requiring the National Archivist to establish and regulate standards for the capture, management and preservation of White House e-mails and other electronic communications. The bill also would require agencies to preserve electronic communications in electronic format.

The legislation’s potential cost to agencies could be “astronomical,” said Gary Stern, general counsel for the National Archives and Records Administration, especially when other electronic records brought about by Web 2.0 technologies are included, such as instant messaging, wikis, blogs and other types of records. National Archives spends $450,000 annually to support the deployment of a records management application for e-mail and other electronic records for about 60 employees.

“Extrapolating our costs -- and our anecdotal understanding of [records management applications] costs in other agencies -- across the federal government results in potential astronomical outlays by federal agencies if they were to be required to create and provide ongoing support for such [records management applications],” Stern said in testimony.

He also noted the bill’s requirement that the National Archives would maintain authority over the White House’s electronic records might be unconstitutional. “Up until now, under the Presidential Records Act, we’ve worked closely with presidential administrations on issues, but we’ve had no formal responsibility,” Stern said. “This bill would insert NARA [for] overseeing records management in the White House over the president. It’s not clear whether that would be permissible under the Constitution.”

Without the bill, officials with open government advocacy groups are concerned that the White House won’t be held responsible in preserving electronic records. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed a suit under the Federal Records Act against the White House Office of Administration concerning missing White House e-mails, because the group cannot sue under the Presidential Records Act, said Patrice McDermott, director of OpentheGovernment.org, which counts CREW among its coalition members.

“I understand the constitutional issues, and I don’t have a good answer for that,” she said. “But one of the concerns is that there is no way to enforce accountability [of] records management in the White House. We understand it’s a difficult dance [for NARA]. They’re there at the invitation of the White House in many cases, but there needs to be some way for the outside community to hold the White House accountable.”