Faisal Shahzad, the suspected Times Square bomber, really was on a government watch list before being arrested May 4, confirmed a senior Homeland Security Department official during a May 12 congressional hearing.

In response to question from Rep. Paul C. Broun, (R-Ga.), DHS Under Secretary and Chief Intelligence Officer Caryn Wagner said that Shahzad had been previously listed on the Traveler Enforcement Compliance System. TECS is a joint Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement database and case management application. Wagner testified before the House Homeland Security intelligence, information sharing and terrorism risk assessment subcommittee.

CBS News had reported that information about Shahzad was stored in TECS before 2010 due to him traveling with approximately $80,000 in cash or cash instruments into the United States.  

When Shahzad re-entered the United States this past February after a five month trip to Pakistan, he was pulled aside for additional questioning.

Asked if Shahzad would have been placed on TECS if he had brought money from abroad through a prepaid card, DHS officials said they don't know.

"I don't know the answer to that question," Wagner said.

"We're aware of that new type of way to transmit [money], but I concur with Ms. Wagner that I don't have a specific answer to that question," said Bart Johnson, DHS principal deputy under secretary for intelligence and analysis.

TECS began an modernization effort in 2008; legacy TECS dates from the 1990s and utilizes technology no longer supported by vendors, according to a 2010 DHS review of the modernization effort. CBP and ICE will undertake independent but parallel modernizations of TECS, the review states. CBP is in charge of modernizing core components that both agencies utilize.

According to spending data, DHS has spent $139.5 million during fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010 on the modernization effort; the total cost is an estimated $362 million.

"TECS is being modernized because it does not facilitate sharing of information with other border and law enforcement agencies within DHS and external to DHS nor does it support the technological, statistical and performance reporting requirements of today's investigations," states the business case that DHS submitted to the Office of Management and Budget as part of its fiscal 2011 budget request. DHS wants $76 million for TECS modernization in the coming fiscal year.

DHS's ability to modernize TECS has come under question by the chairs of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, who wrote a March 23 letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) noted that CBP allowed a blanket purchase agreement used for vendor TECS modernization support expired without a successor vehicle being in place.

CBP extended the incumbent's contract and has decided to break up contracted support for the modernization effort into five contracts, the letter states.

"Given that CBP had trouble completing a new competition before the BPA expired, we are concerned that the program office lacks adequate staff to integrate five different contracts," the senators added.

For more:
- go the Homeland Security subcommittee's web page on the hearing, which includes recorded video
- see the DHS fiscal 2011 business case for TECS modernization (.pdf)
- read the internal DHS assessment of TECS management (.pdf)
- read Sens. Lieberman's and Collin's letter about TECS

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