Two Disputed Construction Projects Holding Up Homeland Security FY 2010 Appropriations

Disputes between House and Senate versions of the FY 2010 appropriations measure for the Department of Homeland Security remain unresolved as the end of the fiscal year approaches, and are not likely to get solved in the next two days. The Senate version of the funding measure requires Homeland Security to build 700 miles of reinforced double layered fencing along the Mexican border, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of about $4.55 billion, to be completed by December 31, 2010. The House version of the bill does not provide funds for the fence construction.

The second dispute is over a much smaller appropriation of $36.3 million to build a Kansas State University laboratory for biological weapons defense and defense against attacks on American agriculture. The House version of the appropriation measure prohibits funding of the facility until completion of a risk assessment from outside the Homeland Security Department, while the Senate version is satisfied with the Department's internal analysis of project risks.

In an exchange of remarks on the House floor, Congressman Harold Rogers of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee blamed Obama administration politics for the delay. "Instead of actually doing our work and fulfilling the security needs of our nation, we are placing a priority on Congress' own budget, putting Homeland Security spending on ice, taking the next few Mondays and Fridays off and basically waiting around until October until we get further direction from on high." House Appropriations Chairman David Obey responded that "We can't bring a conference bill back to this House until we've reached agreement on all of those differences."

Homeland Security SBInet Construction Critiqued As Wasteful, Ineffective

A just released report by the GAO concludes that spending by the Department of Homeland Security on construction of border fencing, guard posts and surveillance facilities, under stimulus appropriations and under the Department's Secure Borders Initiative, dubbed SBInet, is both wasteful and probably ineffective in keeping illegals from crossing into the country. The report points out border fencing construction so far has cost $2.4 billion, remains incomplete, will likely cost an additional $6.5 billion to maintain for the next 20 years, and cannot be shown to have reduced illegal border crossings.

The cost of building traditional border fencing in the Southwestern desert has increased from $4 million per mile to $6.5 million per mile since 2005, mostly due to increased costs of land acquisition for fence lines, patrol posts and surveillance camera towers. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota has questioned allocation by Homeland Security of $128 million to build upgrades at little used checkpoints along the Canadian border in his state, leading Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to put a hold on those projects pending a review of how the construction sites were selected under stimulus appropriations. House Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Loretta Sanchez said at a Congressional hearing today that "I am particularly concerned by the SBInet program's ongoing struggle with transparency and the pattern of delaying planned deployments." Speaking about Chicago based Boeing's $1.1 billion, three year contract to build SBInet, Sanchez added, "As a member of Congress who is very concerned about fiscal responsibility, it is hard for me to believe that DHS would award a contract of $1.1 billion over three years and continue to award task orders without viable results."

Even the DHS cash saving efforts under the SBInet program have gone awry. DHS used bulk steel purchases for the border barrier construction in an effort to save funds, but delays in the actual erection of the prepurchased steel have produced increases in steel storage costs which ate up most of the bulk purchase savings. Is there no critical path schedule for this work?

Homeland Security Department IG Investigation Delayed

Homeland Security's Inspector General told congress this week that it won't be until August that an investigation into alleged improprieties in the site selection of Kansas State University for the $720 million high containment biodefense lab facility can begin, due to the demands of other Congressional requests for information from the Homeland Security Department. Between the federal lawsuit filed last week and this delay in internal investigation, a lot of Kansas trade contractors will be sitting on their shovels this summer.