	DHS Continues to Implement and Strengthen Its Mission Functions, but Key Operational and Management Challenges Remain

		Progress Implementing and Strengthening DHS’s Mission Functions

Since DHS began operations in March 2003, it has developed and  implemented key policies, programs, and activities for implementing its  homeland security missions and functions that have created and  strengthened a foundation for achieving its potential as it continues to  mature. We reported in our assessment of DHS’s progress and  challenges 10 years after the September 11 attacks, as well as in our  more recent work, that the department has implemented key homeland  security operations and achieved important goals in many areas. These  included developing strategic and operational plans across its range of  missions; hiring, deploying, and training workforces; establishing new, or  expanding existing, offices and programs; and developing and issuing  policies, procedures, and regulations to govern its homeland security  operations. DHS issued the National Response Framework, which outlines  disaster response guiding principles, including major roles and  responsibilities of government, nongovernmental organizations, and  private sector entities for response to disasters of all sizes and  causes. After initial difficulty in fielding the program, DHS developed and  implemented Secure Flight, a passenger prescreening program  through which the federal government now screens all passengers on  all commercial flights to, from, and within the United States. In fiscal year 2011, DHS reported data indicating it had met its interim  goal to secure the land border with a decrease in apprehensions. Border Patrol officials attributed this  decrease in part to changes in the U.S. economy and achievement of  Border Patrol strategic objectives. We found that DHS could reduce the costs to the federal government  related to major disasters declared by the President by updating the  principal indicator on which disaster funding decisions are based and  better measuring a state’s capacity to respond without federal  assistance. DHS Can Strengthen the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Its Operations by Continuing to Address Cross-cutting Issues That Have Impacted Its Progress

Our work on DHS’s mission functions and crosscutting issues has  identified three key themes—leading and coordinating the homeland  security enterprise, implementing and integrating management functions  for results, and strategically managing risks and assessing homeland  security efforts—that have impacted the department’s progress since it  began operations. For example, DHS can  help reduce cost overruns and performance shortfalls by strengthening  the management of its acquisitions, and reduce inefficiencies and costs  for homeland security by improving its research and development (R&D)  management. DHS made progress and has  had successes in all of these areas, but our work found that these themes  have been at the foundation of DHS’s implementation challenges, and  need to be addressed from a department-wide perspective to effectively  and efficiently position the department for the future. Although DHS has made important progress, more work remains. However, DHS has not always effectively executed or  integrated these functions. DHS concurred with our  recommendations and reported taking actions to address some of  them. In addition, DHS has made efforts to improve employee morale,  such as taking actions to determine the root causes of morale  problems.
What GAO Found

Since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began operations in 2003, it has implemented key homeland security operations and achieved important goals and milestones in many areas to create and strengthen a foundation to reach its potential. As it continues to mature, however, more work remains for DHS to address gaps and weaknesses in its current operational and implementation efforts, and to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of those efforts. In its assessment of DHS's progress and challenges 10 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as its more recent work, GAO reported that DHS had, among other things, developed strategic and operational plans across its range of missions; established new, or expanded existing, offices and programs; and developed and issued policies, procedures, and regulations to govern its homeland security operations. However, GAO also identified that challenges remained for DHS to address across its missions. Examples of progress made and work remaining include the following:
Aviation security. DHS developed and implemented Secure Flight, a program through which the federal government now prescreens all passengers on all commercial flights to, from, and within the United States. However, DHS did not validate the science supporting its behavior detection program before deploying behavior detection officers at airports, including determining whether such techniques could be successfully used to detect threats.
Border security/immigration enforcement. DHS reported data indicating it had met its goal to secure the land border because of a decrease in apprehensions, attributed in part to changes in the U.S. economy and achievement of DHS strategic objectives. However, DHS has not developed a process to identify and analyze program risks, such as a process to evaluate prior and suspected cases of fraud, in its Student and Exchange Visitor Program, a program intended to, among other things, ensure that foreign students studying in the United States comply with the terms of their admission into the country.
Emergency preparedness and response. DHS issued the National Response Framework, which outlines disaster response guiding principles. However, GAO reported that DHS could reduce the costs to the federal government related to major disasters declared by the President by updating the principal indicator on which disaster funding decisions are based and better measuring a state's capacity to respond without federal assistance.
GAO has identified three key themes--leading and coordinating the homeland security enterprise, implementing and integrating management functions for results, and strategically managing risks and assessing homeland security efforts--that DHS needs to address from a departmentwide perspective to effectively and efficiently position the department for the future. DHS has made progress in all three areas by, among other things, providing leadership and coordination. However, DHS has continued to face challenges in all of these areas. For example, GAO reported that improving research and development could help DHS reduce, among other things, cost overruns and performance shortfalls by reducing inefficiencies and costs for homeland security.

What GAO Recommends

While this testimony contains no new recommendations, GAO has previously made about 1,800 recommendations to DHS designed to strengthen its programs and operations. DHS has addressed more than 60 percent of them, has efforts underway to address others, and has taken additional action to strengthen the department.