Prepared by: Kate Brentzel Index: Type bundle index here

Date: 12/07/01 DOC Library: Type library name here

3b Code: 320087 DOC Number: Type document number here

Entrance Conference
State Department
Reviewed by: Type reviewer name here
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Record of Interview

Purpose To present the scope of work, preliminary objectives, and project

timeframes to the State Department.

Contact Method In-person conference

Contact Place State Department, Room 7427

Contact Date December 6, 2001

Participants GAO: John Brummet, Judy McCloskey, Kate Brentzel, Jody Woods

State: See attached list

Comments/Remarks John Brummet opened the conference with a brief description of the
requested work and a description of the research that the team has done
to date. He then outlined our five preliminary objectives and the type of
initial data we would need for each objective.

1. How did the terrorists responsible for September 11 attacks

obtain visas to enter the United State, and what scrutiny and
controls were applied during the visa process?

We asked if State had a report on how the 19 hy ackers from September 11

entered the U.S. Although Consular Affairs (CA) has information on the 19
hijackers' visas, it has not compiled a report on this. Mr. Lannon said that
CA has sent visa records to INS and the FBI but not received any
information or feedback from these agencies. He said that State could
provide us with the replicated data sheets for the 19 hijackers. Senator
Shelby has also requested a report on the lujackers and the visa
procedures in place at the consulates where the visas were issued.

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Mr. Lannon said that the 19 terrorists from September 11 most likely used
their true identities when they applied for visas and that they were all
issued either a Bl or B2 visa. None of the hyackers produced a "hit" when
their names were checked in the Consular Lookout and Support System
(CLASS). Mr. Lannon said that the CIA passed along the names of two of
the terrorists to the FBI but that the names were never given to State or
put into CLASS.

State has been fighting for 10 years to get information from the FBI and
the CIA. The CIA has quadrupled the number of names it has provided for
TIPOFF1 since September 11 but State said that a lot of them are old
names or duplicates. Very few names have been put into CLASS through
the Visa Viper program - and not one name in Saudi Arabia went into the
system. The Patriot Act and the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Taskforce may
alleviate the lack of information sharing between agencies.

2. Are State's policies and procedures for screening visa applicants

reasonable given the risks, and what actions has State taken to
tighten procedures since September 11, 2001?

We asked for a briefing or documents that would describe changes made

to the visa process since September 11. Mr. Lannon said that State has a
good visa process in place. He said that there is a mystique surrounding
the consular interview - that an officer would be able to look at an
applicant and know that he or she is a terrorist is unlikely. The interview
is useful in stopping economic migrants, the group that State has
historically denied visas to. But for other groups, such as terrorists, State
has looked to law enforcement agencies to provide it with enough
information to stop these groups from obtaining visas.

Catherine Barry said that the short answer to question 2 is that nothing
has changed since September 11. CA has sent out reminders to consular
officers to be aware of procedures but it has not changed any of those
procedures or mandated that all applicants be interviewed. She said that
State has continually improved its visa systems over the years. CA has
improved its Arabic and Hispanic name algorithm and introduced a Slavic
algorithm. When Justice requested that all 16-45 year old men from
Islamic countries wait 20 days for a background check, it was easy for
State to implement this. The qualifiers were put into the visa computer

TIPOFF is the International Terrorist and Criminal Namecheck System and Data
Exchange. From State's website: "The Department of State's TIPOFF systems play a
pivotal role in U.S. border security by serving as an interface between the highly classified
holdings of the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities concerning terrorists
and international organized crime members, and consular personnel abroad and port-of-
entry inspectors."

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system so that these visas cannot be issued unless the 20-day waiting
period and a background check has occurred.

3. Do consular operations have the trained staff, resources,

information and technology to make the right decisions on the 9
million visa applications received annually?

We described this as a "catch-all" question for training and technology

concerns, including best practices from other countries. Mr. Lannon said
that Commissioner Ziglar had agreed to have CLASS installed at all ports
of entry by January 2002, although it is currently in use in only two ports.

We asked if CA had data to show how many terrorists were denied visas.
They said that the Bureau for Intelligence and Research (INR) could
provide us with this information.

Mr. Lannon said that there might be some staffing changes forthcoming.
There are 135 consular associate positions worldwide that CA would like
to convert into Foreign Service officer (FSO) positions. Consular
associates are usually family members of FSOs. CA is ready to finance 300
new consular positions (this includes the 135). However, there are
problems with the plan. State's human resources department cannot hire
and clear new FSOs fast enough to fill the new positions and many
embassies simply lack the physical space to accommodate more staff.

4. How do the Departments of State, Justice, and other agencies

ensure Canada and the 29 countries participating in the visa
waiver program have sufficient controls in place to justify the U.S.
policy of not requiring a visa for citizens of these countries to
enter the U.S.? Should the visa waiver program be scaled back?

The Departments of State and Justice are currently investigating six visa
waiver countries to assess whether they should still be included in the
program. Teams have completed tours of two countries but have not
drafted reports yet. Action based on those reports could take even longer.
The implication for staffing would depend on the country, hi the case of
Argentina (initial reaction from the team that went to Argentina is that it is
on a slippery slope due to economic instability), it would not be too
difficult for consular services to begin issuing visas again. The amount of
visas issued in Argentina was never very large and many Argentines still
hold valid 10 year multiple entry visas. The impact would be greater in
high-volume posts. State did an impact study last year, which concluded
that in other countries it could take 3 years before they could engage in
visa issuance again.

Mr. Lannon said that proposed legislation by Senators Kennedy, Feinstein,

and Kyi might make the visa waiver program a moot point. The bill would
require the visa waiver countries to issue tamper-resistant, machine-
readable passports in one year. Furthermore, the bill would require that,
after 2 years, all countries that participate in the program include

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Facial Recognition
Biometric Data
Documents/Briefings
Requested
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biometric data on their passports. The U.S. would set this biometric
standard, although there does not seem to be agreement on what type of
data to include. The State Department favors facial recognition biometric
data.
State was already experimenting with facial recognition software before
the September 11 attacks. It tested the utility of facial recognition for the
Diversity Visa program in an attempt to catch applicants who applied for a
DV more than once. State also used facial recognition in some high fraud
posts to see if applicants who were denied visas applied again. Facial
recognition has worked well when a limited number of photographs are in
the system but it breaks down if millions of photographs have to be
processed. Since key facial features such as hairlines must be visible in
the photographs, headdresses must be removed before the photographs
are taken.
5. How is the State Department participating in interagency
forums to improve border security and is it effectively supporting
the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department of
Justice?
We did not discuss this objective in detail.
Ms. Barry will set up several briefings for us. She will get Jean Louis in
INR/IC to demonstrate how Visa Viper leads feed into TIPOFF. Ms. Louis
can also provide us with data on the number of terrorists that have been
denied visas and she will show us the new visa foil. We will also see
demonstrations of the facial recognition software and CLASS. We should
contact Michael Chang in the H bureau to get the replicated data sheets on
the 19 hijackers and also for the report that is being prepared for Senator
Shelby.
The primary contact for our work will be George Lannon.
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