[Vision2020] Rats In The Cheese

[Art Deco]

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   Immigration deal would boost defense manufacturers By Matea Gold, Published:
July 1

The border security plan the Senate approved last week includes unusual
language mandating the purchase of specific models of helicopters and radar
equipment for deployment along the U.S.-Mexican border, providing a
potential windfall worth tens of millions of dollars to top defense
contractors.

The legislation would require the U.S. Border
Patrol<http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/>to
acquire, among other items, six Northrop Grumman airborne radar
systems
that cost $9.3 million each, 15 Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters that
average more than $17 million apiece, and eight light enforcement
helicopters made by American Eurocopter that sell for about $3 million each.

The legislation also calls for 17 UH-1N helicopters made by Bell
Helicopter, an older model that the company no longer manufactures.

Watchdog groups and critics said that these and other detailed requirements
would create a troubling end-run around the competitive bidding process and
that they are reminiscent of old-fashioned earmarks — spending items that
lawmakers insert into legislation to benefit specific projects or
recipients. In the past several years, Congress has had a moratorium on
earmarks.

The language was included in a $46 billion border security package the
Senate approved last week as part of a comprehensive immigration bill. The
so-called border surge — an additional $38 billion in spending — was added
in the final week of negotiations to attract more GOP support for the
measure, which passed with 68 votes, including 14 from Republicans.

The legislation would spend $30 billion over the next decade to hire more
than 19,000 new Border Patrol agents, an undertaking that would double the
size of the force and that many immigration experts consider wasteful and
unnecessary.

The measure also would devote $7.5 billion to build 350 miles of fencing
along the U.S.-Mexican border and $4.5 billion to buy new border
technology. The legislation would have to be fully implemented, along with
electronic visa and employment verification systems, before immigrants
could receive green cards.

Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.), who co-sponsored the
plan, said the provisions were aimed at assuaging the concerns of
Republicans who are wary about creating a path to citizenship without
tougher border measures.

“I was just trying to work with our caucus to get as many of our guys to
participate,” Hoeven said.

That approach did not win over holdouts such as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.),
who said: “Taxpayer funds should enhance border security, not provide
border stimulus for contractors. Unfortunately, the Senate bill does
exactly that.”

The list of equipment included in the legislation was drawn from a
technological needs assessment developed by the U.S. Customs and Border
Protection agency in 2010, according to a senior Department of Homeland
Security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the
internal process. Agency staff members compiled the list at the request of
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano after she stopped a
virtual-fence project that was plagued by cost overruns and
delays<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011406893.html>
.

Border Patrol officials provided the list to congressional staffers who had
asked what the agency needed to effectively control the border.

In separate interviews last week, Corker and Hoeven said they decided to
add the list to the legislation to help win over GOP senators who did not
trust Napolitano to carry out a border plan.

The two senators noted that the proposal would allow Napolitano to
substitute equivalent brands of technology as long as she notified Congress
within 60 days. “If they want to buy something better, they can,” Corker
said.

But critics said that because the measure prescribes specific products, the
agency probably would not seek alternatives. “Lawmakers have put their
thumb on the scale for particular products and technologies and that is
hard for an agency to ignore,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of the
nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense, which scrutinizes federal spending.

The $4.5 billion set aside for technology would be a boon for defense
contractors, who are looking for opportunities as the United States
continues to reduce its presence in Afghanistan.

The parent corporations of the companies that manufacture the products
listed in the bill and their employees have given nearly $11.5 million to
federal candidates and campaigns since 2009, according to the nonpartisan
Center for Responsive Politics. About half of that came from Northrop
Grumman.

Neither Corker nor Hoeven has received substantial donations from the
companies or the defense sector overall.

“We’re proud of our long partnership with the Department of Homeland
Security and are honored they have repeatedly chosen to acquire our
helicopters for their important missions,” said Ed Van Winkle, law
enforcement sales manager for American Eurocopter. “We stand ready to
produce and deliver additional aircraft customized to Customs and Border
Protection requirements should Congress authorize and fund their
procurement.”

Representatives of Northrop Grumman, Sikorsky and Bell declined to comment.

Most of the equipment required by the legislation is identified by
category, not by brand. Among other items, the bill calls for 4,595
unattended ground sensors, 104 radiation isotope identification devices and
53 fiber-optic tank inspection scopes — and specifies how many should be
deployed in each Border Patrol sector. It also requires the purchase of
four new drones, on top of 10 unmanned aircraft that the Border Patrol
already owns.

The items listed by name were identified that way on the border agency’s
wish list, according to Senate staff members involved in drafting the plan,
who discussed the process on the condition of anonymity. They said the
proposal would not override contracting rules that require competitive
bidding.

But government watchdogs said it would be difficult to have an open bidding
process for equipment identified by brand and model.

“The agency is statutorily required to buy the specific items from the
listed vendors,” said Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on
Government Oversight, an independent group that works to expose
overspending and corruption. “I’m unsure how an agency could hold a
competition.”

One big-ticket item on the list is the VADER radar system, an airborne
technology operated from drones that Northrop Grumman developed for the
Pentagon’s research arm. The Border Patrol has been testing one of the
systems on loan from the Defense Department to detect migrants attempting
to cross the border illegally, officials said. This year, the agency
received $18.6 million to buy two of the radar systems , and the
immigration bill would add six more.

The Black Hawk helicopters required under the plan include five of the
latest high-tech models with digital cockpits. As for the American
Eurocopter aircraft, the patrol would be required to add eight AS-350
models to the 85 it already has in its fleet.

The legislation spells out how new border patrol agents would be deployed,
requiring the agency to assign 38,405 officers to the U.S.-Mexican border
by Sept. 30, 2021.

The Border Patrol employs a record 21,000 agents, up from about 10,000 in
2004. In its most recent budget request, the department did not seek new
agents.

Many experts on border security say that doubling the force is impractical
and a poor use of resources and that the money could be better spent on
workplace inspections or the E-Verify system that employers can use to
check the citizenship of applicants.

“There is a lot in this border security plan that is fighting the last
war,” said Doris Meissner, who was a top Clinton administration immigration
official.

Homeland Security officials are confident that they can recruit and train
the surge of agents required under the bill. Spokesman Peter Boogaard said
the measure would “build on this administration’s historic border security
gains.”

Hoeven and Corker said they settled on hiring 20,000 agents in large part
because the number fell midway between proposals from other GOP senators.

“I wish I could tell you it was scientific,” Corker said, adding, “We felt
like this was something that would get the job done.”

* *

Alice Crites contributed to this report.




-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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