Jane Harman: “Turning to my amendment, in August, 2001, the FBI was frantically looking for two men who became part of the terrorist…”

“Turning to my amendment, in August, 2001, the FBI was frantically looking for two men who became part of the terrorist suicide team on 9-11. Had we been able to find Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khaled al-Mihdhar, we may have been able to unravel the plot for 9-11. At least we would have stopped these two individuals from participating in it. The problem, it turns out, was that the State Department and INS watchlists, which included their names, were not available to the FAA and the airlines. So the hijackers were freely allowed to board the ill-fated American Airlines Flight 77. Two years later, the Federal Government still has as many as 50 databases used for tracking international terrorists and international terrorist organizations. Just recently, the GAO highlighted 12 watchlists run by nine agencies. This is shocking. Information contained in one database need not be connected to information in another. Vital data that could help prevent the next terrorist attack could be missed. We must consolidate or at least ensure the interoperability of government watchlists, and my amendment pending before this House to this intelligence authorization bill addresses this.”