Testimony of Robert J. Garrity, Jr., Acting Assistant Director,
Records Management Division, FBI
Before
the House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform
July 10, 2003
"The
FBI's VISA Name Check Process"
Mr. Chairman
and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting Director
Mueller here today to testify in this hearing, in which the
Committee is examining problems of delayed entry for aliens
traveling to the United States for legitimate business practices.
I am here to discuss the challenges of ensuring security without
unduly disrupting legitimate commerce. Unfortunately, Director
Mueller could not be here today, so I have been designated
to provide testimony in his stead. My name is Robert Garrity,
and I have served as an FBI Special Agent since 1976. I currently
serve as the acting Assistant Director of one of the FBI's
newest divisions, the Records Management Division (RMD). Here
with me today is David Hardy, who serves as the Chief of the
Record/Information Dissemination Section, the section within
the RMD responsible for the National Name Check Program. My
goals today are to inform you of the FBI's visa name check
process; provide you with an accurate assessment of how well
this process is functioning; and describe to you the measures
the FBI is taking to continually improve this process.
First,
I want to emphasize to you that the FBI is sensitive to the
impact that delays in visa processing may have on business,
education, tourism, this country's foreign relations, and
worldwide perceptions of the United States. With these considerations
in mind, the FBI is working diligently with the Department
of State toward the common goal of improving the expediency
and efficiency of the visa clearance process. At the same
time, the consequences of the FBI's mission on homeland security
requires that our name check process be primarily focused
on an accurate and thorough result. This means that there
are instances when the FBI's review of a visa request must
require as much time as needed to obtain an unequivocally
correct result.
National
Name Check Program
The National
Name Check Program (NNCP) has the mission of disseminating
information from the FBI's Central Records System in response
to requests submitted by federal agencies, congressional committees,
the federal judiciary, friendly foreign police and intelligence
agencies, and state and local criminal justice agencies. For
all except law enforcement requests, the program is to be
operated on a fee-for-service basis, with the beneficiary
of the name check paying for it, not the American taxpayers.
The Central Records System contains the FBI's administrative,
personnel and investigative files. The NNCP has its genesis
in Executive Order 10450, issued during the Eisenhower Administration.
This executive order addresses personnel security issues,
and mandates National Agency Checks (NAC) as part of the pre-employment
vetting and background investigation process. The FBI is a
primary NAC conducted on all U. S. Government employees. From
this modest beginning, the NNCP has grown exponentially, with
more and more customers seeking background information from
FBI files on individuals before bestowing a privilege - -
Whether that privilege is government employment or an appointment;
a security clearance; attendance at a White House function;
a Green card or naturalization; admission to the bar; or a
visa for the privilege of visiting our homeland; more than
70 federal and state agencies regularly request an FBI name
check. Two specific visa request categories, Visa Condor and
Visa Mantis, are relevant to the hearing today. In addition
to serving our regular governmental customers, the FBI conducts
numerous name searches in direct support of the counterintelligence,
counterterrorism and homeland security efforts of the FBI.
Exponential
Growth
Prior
to September 11, 2001, the FBI processed approximately 2.5
million name check requests per year. In FY 2002, that number
increased to 3.2 million. For FY 2003, the number of requests
to date already exceeds 5.6 million and is expected to reach
9.8 million requests. That represents an increase in excess
of 300%. Attachment A illustrates this explosive increase.
This year, the FBI will process approximately 200,000 visa
name check requests, including approximately 75,000 Visa Condor
requests and 25,000 Visa Mantis requests.
Over
Burdened System
I can
tell you, Mr. Chairman, that with the advent of new visa screening
requirements in late 2001, specifically the Visa Condor program,
the FBI was overwhelmed by the increase in names to be checked.
We did experience a backlog, and visas requested in the spring
and summer of 2002 were delayed beyond the time period travelers
had anticipated. We have all but eliminated the backlog, and
have worked together with the State Department to ensure that
any old visa requests have been accounted for and processed.
The days of what some people would characterize as an unreasonable
delay have now passed us by. I would now like to explain the
process the FBI uses to conduct name checks on these visa
requests.
FBI
Name Check Process
It may
be helpful to the Committee to follow along with Attachment
B, a flow chart of the FBI visa name check work process. Consular
officers worldwide determine whether a visa request falls
into one of the special visa categories requiring additional
scrutiny. Two of these categories are Visa Condor, relevant
to certain individuals who are from designated countries and
who satisfy additional criteria which may make them worthy
of additional scrutiny, and Visa Mantis, relevant to certain
individuals who will have access during their visit to American
special technologies. The consular officer will submit their
name check requests by cable, simultaneously to both the FBI
and State Department headquarters.
In the
next step of the process, the FBI communications center forwards
the batches of names to be checked electronically to the name
check program. The name is electronically checked against
the FBI Universal Indices (UNI). The searches seek all instances
of the individual's name and close date of birth, whether
a main file name or reference. By way of explanation, a main
file name is that of an individual who is, himself, the subject
of an FBI investigation, whereas a reference is someone whose
name appears in an FBI investigation. References may be associates,
witnesses, conspirators, or a myriad of other reasons may
exist to explain why an FBI Agent believed it important to
index a particular name in an investigation for later recovery.
The names are searched in a multitude of combinations, switching
the order of first, last, middle names, as well as combinations
with just the first and last, first and middle, and so on.
It also searches different phonetic spelling variations of
the names, especially important considering that many names
in our indices have been transliterated from a language other
than English.
If there
is a match with a name in a FBI record, it is designated as
a "Hit", meaning that the system has stopped on
a possible match with the name being checked, but now a human
being must review the file or indices entry to further refine
the names "Hit" on. If the search comes up with
a name and birth date match, it is designated an "Ident."
An "Ident" is usually easier to resolve.
Resolution
Rate
Approximately
85% of name checks are electronically returned as having "No
Record" within 72 hours. A "No Record" indicates
that the FBI's Central Records System contains no identifiable
information regarding to this individual. By agreement with
State, partially due to our concern about the time factors
in approving most visa requests, a No Record equates to a
No Objection to the issuance of a visa. The substantive investigative
divisions in the FBI, (i.e., Counterterrorism Division (CTD),
Counterintelligence Division (CD), Criminal Investigative
Division (CID) and the Cyber Division (CyD)) do not review
visa requests where there is no record of the individual.
Duplicate submissions (i.e., identically spelled names with
identical dates of birth submitted within the last 120 days)
are not checked and the duplicate findings are returned to
State.
Because
a name and birth date are not sufficient to positively correlate
the file with an individual, additional review is required.
A secondary manual name search usually identifies an additional
10% of the requests as having a "No Record", for
a 95% overall "No Record" response rate. This is
usually accomplished within a week of the request. The remaining
5% are identified as possibly being the subject of an FBI
record. The FBI record must now be retrieved and reviewed.
If the records were electronically uploaded into the FBI Automated
Case Support (ACS) electronic recordkeeping system, it can
be viewed quickly. If not, the relevant information must be
retrieved from the existing paper record. Review of this information
will determine whether the information is identified with
the subject of the request. If not, the request is closed
as a "No Record."
The information
in the file is reviewed for possible derogatory information.
Less than 1% of the requests are identified with an individual
with possible derogatory information. These requests are forwarded
to the appropriate FBI investigative division for further
analysis. If the investigative division determines there is
no objection to the visa request, the request is returned
to the name check dissemination desk for forwarding to the
State Department. If there is an FBI objection to the visa
request, the investigative division will prepare a written
Security Advisory Opinion (SAO) and forward it to the State
Department. In reviewing these visa requests, the FBI has
identified individuals attempting to enter the United States
who are of serious concern to the FBI.
Processing
Times
As in
the name checks processes for 70 other agencies, the name
check system accurately monitors the status of visa requests
in the name check process. The system's metrics are a dynamic
tool, allowing the FBI to identify when to add additional
personnel to process visas. The metrics also provide an accurate
tool to determine whether the name check process is causing
delays for visa requests.
The FBI's
goal is to have all requests completed within 120 days. Attachment
C illustrates the current status of Visa Condor names checks,
and Attachment D illustrates the same for Visa Mantis name
checks. This status was taken on July 3, 2003. For example,
for Visas Condor, the FBI received 7384 requests during the
month of June 2003. The FBI resolved all but 649 of these
requests, for a 92% resolution rate. In the month of May 2003,
the FBI received 5,059 Visa Condor requests and has resolved
all but 105 of these requests for a 98%resolution rate (See
Attachment C). For Visas Mantis, the FBI received 2589 requests
in the month of June 2003 and resolved 2226, or 86% of them
(See Attachment D). Visas Mantis are particularly difficult
to resolve due to the predominance of requests from China
and the commonality of Asian names.
A common
question we receive is, How long does it take to complete
a visa request name check? As shown on these graphs, 86 to
92% are completed in 30 days. For both types of visa requests,
98-99% of the requests are resolved in 120 days.
Most
name check requests that are over 30 days old are the result
of the time required to retrieve and review field office record
information. Some delay occurs at substantive analysts' desks,
but this is to be expected. These analysts are assigned to
the investigative divisions and are primarily assigned to
the analysis of intelligence reports from around the world
in order to support on-going investigations, or to support
the flow of intelligence to policy makers. These are the best
professionals, however, to review information in our records
and to then make an informed decision on whether a requester
of a visa represents a threat to our homeland, or is interested
in illegally acquiring our targeted technology. Nevertheless,
as I stated earlier, the FBI's resolves 99% of all types of
visa requests within 120 days.
These
numbers provide you accurate information to assess whether,
both in time and in numbers, the FBI name check process for
visa requests unduly disrupts the legitimate commerce of this
nation.
Process
Improvement
As I
have said, during the spring and summer of 2002 the FBI was
unable to adequately account for visa request processing times.
This is no longer the case. This was accomplished through
clarification of the FBI name check database, software modifications
that allowed development of detailed metrics, and the development
of an internal FBI tracking system for SAO opinions. With
these metrics, the FBI can allocate resources as necessary
to meet requirements. And, as I have also already said, the
FBI worked closely with State on visa name check procedures.
These past six months have seen considerable improvement in
the coordination of visa name check processing.
Improperly
formatted cables are an obvious weak point in the visa submission
process. The State Department submits their names by cable,
whereas other agencies submit their requests by disc or tape
and formatting errors are returned on disc to the requesting
agency. This allows the requesting agency to identify and
correct the errors in an electronic format. The State Department
is working hard to resolve this problem by developing a system
whereby visa requests will be submitted on disc through State
as opposed to the current system of separate cables directly
to the FBI. The FBI fully supports this effort. Currently,
in anticipation of submission of visa requests by disc, the
FBI and State Department's Visa Processing Center are developing
common procedures and formats. Recognizing the need for interim
measures until the time that State can submit all visa requests
on disc or tape, the State Department is batching unresolved
cables held within their database and submitting them to the
FBI. In order to avoid the duplicate name problem, the FBI
has developed special codes and manipulates the name check
application for each submission. This is a time consuming,
but necessary process to support State's efforts. This week
alone the FBI is running thousands of names submitted by State
from State's database.
Personnel
Dedicated to NNCP
The FBI
recently increased name check personnel from 75 employees
to 125 employees. This 65% increase was taken from within
existing Records Management Division resources and designed
to address the projected increase in name check requests since
September 11. We also reorganized the unit, dividing it into
two units, one for Personnel Security name checks and one
for Homeland Security name checks. The new homeland security
unit will allow us to better focus on sensitive name check
programs such as visa requests. To clear older cases, the
FBI brought in additional personnel from the field on a temporary
duty (TDY) basis and authorized substantial overtime work.
The number of cases in excess of 120 days has been all but
eliminated. The FBI is continuing these efforts by bringing
in additional support employees to collect file information
from the field. The FBI's Counterterrorism Division is temporarily
assigning additional Agents to conduct SAO reviews. Visa Condor
and Visa Mantis have been given the highest priority in processing
name check requests.
However,
the FBI recognizes that the explosion in numbers of requests
necessitates development of even more efficient processes
in order to sustain the current pace of processing name check
requests. The FBI is in the process of developing interim
improvements to minimize manual submissions by all agencies
and increase efficiency within the name check unit. The FBI
has developed high-level functional requirements for a new
name check application compatible with the new FBI information
systems in development. These new information systems, over
time, will eliminate dependence on the retrieval of paper
files. The development of this new name check application
is now undergoing review within the FBI's Investment Management
Process.
Decentralized
Recordkeeping System
I have
touched upon our IT systems shortcomings, but now I want to
discuss the primary factor in any delay in the FBI responding
to a visa name check. When the NNCP systems produces a "Hit"
or an "Ident" that requires further review, the
analyst must consult the actual file. If he or she is lucky,
the file has been uploaded into our electronic recordkeeping
system, ACS, and can be instantly accessed from her workstation
computer. This system only came on-line in October 1995, so
often the full text of the information has not been uploaded
and the analyst must resort to the paper record. Paper records
are divided into two basic file categories: active files and
closed files. Active files are, as the name suggests, current,
on-going investigations, analytical projects, or administrative
functions. Closed files are records of past investigations
or functions, now inactive, but for which the FBI is required
to retain the records, either in satisfaction of statutory
authority or regulations, or because the information contained
in the closed file represents a key component to FBI's intelligence
base.
FBI files
are currently stored at one of approximately 265 locations,
including the FBI's Headquarters facility, several warehouses
around the Washington Metropolitan area, in records centers
either operated by the NARA or commercial concerns, four large
Information Technology Center facilities on the east and west
coast, at each of the 56 field offices, many of the larger
of our 400 resident agencies, and at legal attaché
offices worldwide. This equates to approximately 1.8 million
cubic feet of decentralized records storage, which provides
some unique challenges to our efforts to be optimally effective
and efficient. While the FBI's decentralized paper records
management process does ease field investigations and local
prosecutions - a process that may have sufficed before September
11, 2001 - those terrorist attacks have forced the FBI to
shift from parochial investigations to nationwide intelligence
gathering and sharing.
In addition,
statutory authorities for domestic law-enforcement and international
intelligence agencies have been expanded (e.g., USA PATRIOT
Act), increasing the number of agencies requesting FBI information.
As the FBI is called upon to share and/or jointly investigate
complex cases, it must share information internally and with
other cooperating organizations. Currently, analysts conducting
research on terrorism or intelligence topics who develop leads
based on information indexed in files located outside Washington,
DC must request those files be retrieved from the shelves
and shipped to FBI Headquarters. The decentralized records
management system hinders timely nationwide investigations
and information sharing, since much time and effort is expended
simply locating and shipping files across the United States.
Beyond file retrieval delays, records security and document
safety are also a growing concern.
Delays
have resulted from NNCP personnel identifying a file's location
then requesting the file from a field office. Time delays
mount as field office staff search file rooms and then ship
the needed file or a prepared summary to FBI Headquarters.
This process repeated for many tasks, not only dilutes
the FBI's responsiveness, but also limits information sharing
a critical success factor in working counterintelligence
and counterterrorism cases. The name check delays have significant
consequences to FBI customers and stakeholders. The delays
impede hiring or clearing skilled workers; completing government
contracts; student enrollment, and as is the interest of this
Committee, clearing requested visas for business visits to
the United States. More importantly than all of the foregoing,
these processing delays can also diminish counterterrorism
effectiveness.
One possible
solution to these problems the FBI is exploring would be a
central records repository where all of our closed paper files
could be located, and our active files stored electronically.
Our frequently requested closed files could be scanned and
uploaded into our electronic record-keeping system, so that
Agents and analysts world wide would have instant, electronic
access to the information they need to do their jobs.
Conclusion
All of
these efforts reflect the FBI's recognition of the importance
of accurate and timely name check processing. I want to emphasize
to you, this issue has the full attention of Director Mueller.
The FBI appreciates the interest of the Committee in this
matter. I thank you for your invitation to speak to you today
and look forward to working with you in the future. I am prepared
to answer any questions the Committee may have.
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