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Department perform screening and data mining: instead, a government-wide
team of border and transportation officials should be working together.A mod-
ern border and immigration system should combine a biometric entry-exit sys-
tem with accessible files on visitors and immigrants, along with intelligence on
indicators of terrorist travel.
Our border screening system should check people efficiently and welcome
friends. Admitting large numbers of students, scholars, businesspeople, and
tourists fuels our economy, cultural vitality, and political reach. There is evi-
dence that the present system is disrupting travel to the United States. Over-
all, visa applications in 2003 were down over 32 percent since 2001. In the
Middle East, they declined about 46 percent.Training and the design of secu-
rity measures should be continuously adjusted.
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Recommendation: The Department of Homeland Security, properly
supported by the Congress, should complete, as quickly as possible,
a biometric entry-exit screening system, including a single system for
speeding qualified travelers. It should be integrated with the system
that provides benefits to foreigners seeking to stay in the United
States. Linking biometric passports to good data systems and deci-
sionmaking is a fundamental goal. No one can hide his or her debt
by acquiring a credit card with a slightly different name.Yet today, a
terrorist can defeat the link to electronic records by tossing away an
old passport and slightly altering the name in the new one.
Completion of the entry-exit system is a major and expensive challenge.
Biometrics have been introduced into an antiquated computer environment.
Replacement of these systems and improved biometric systems will be
required. Nonetheless, funding and completing a biometrics-based entry-exit
system is an essential investment in our national security.
Exchanging terrorist information with other countries, consistent with pri-
vacy requirements, along with listings of lost and stolen passports, will have
immediate security benefits.We should move toward real-time verification of
passports with issuing authorities. The further away from our borders that
screening occurs, the more security benefits we gain. At least some screening
should occur before a passenger departs on a flight destined for the United
States.We should also work with other countries to ensure effective inspection
regimes at all airports.
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The international community arrives at international standards for the
design of passports through the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO). The global standard for identification is a digital photograph; finger-
prints are optional.We must work with others to improve passport standards and
provide foreign assistance to countries that need help in making the transition.
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WHAT TO DO? A GLOBAL STRATEGY
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