DATE=5/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGRESS/SECURITY (L)
NUMBER=2-262821
BYLINE=PAULA WOLFSON
DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Congressional investigators have evidence of
new security problems at key government offices and
two busy American airports.  They include buildings
housing the Departments of Justice, State, Energy and
Defense, as well as the F-B-I and the Central
Intelligence Agency.   V-O-A's Paula Wolfson has
details.


TEXT:  Armed investigators posing as law enforcement
officers were able to bypass security checkpoints.
They carried fake credentials, and were simply waved
in.

They easily entered secure areas without screening - -
sometimes getting close to the offices of top
government officials.

            ///Hast tease act////

      Our undercover agents were 100 percent
      successful in penetrating 19 federal sites and
      two commercial airports. (Reagan National and
      Orlando Airport)


            ///end act////

Robert Hast is an official with the General Accounting
Office, the investigatory arm of the U-S Congress.  He
released the G-A-O's findings to members of the House
Subcommittee on Crime.

            ///Hast act////

      At no time during the undercover visits were our
      agents' identification challenged by anyone.


            ///end act ///


The subcommittee requested the probe.  The panel asked
the General Accounting Office to focus on the security
risk posed by fake law enforcement credentials.

Florida Republican Bill McCollum is the subcommittee
chairman:

            ///McCollum act///

      I've been concerned with the fact that stolen
      and counterfeit police badges are readily
      available on the internet and from other
      commercial sources and that they can be used by
      criminals, terrorists and foreign intelligence
      agents for illegal purposes.


            ///end act///

Mr. McCollum says the fake identification cards used
in the investigation were created on a computer with a
common graphics program.

            ///second McCollum act///

      They are not perfect counterfeits by any means.
      They were not intended to be perfect copies of
      the real thing.  That fact alone is very
      disturbing. What these agents did, a lot of
      people could do.


            ///end act////

Affected federal agencies were informed of the results
of the General Accounting Office probe before they
were made public.  The Justice Department immediately
tightened building security.  The Department has
always offered easy access to its headquarters as a
courtesy to state and local law enforcement officers.
Now, they too must go through a security screening
before entering the building.  (Signed)



NEB/PW/ENE/PT




25-May-2000 17:11 PM EDT (25-May-2000 2111 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.