A recent media report that said the Government Printing Office put national security at risk by relying on foreign companies to process the latest U.S. biometric passports “mischaracterized and misstated the facts significantly,” according to GPO’s inspector general.
On March 26, The Washington Times posted on its Web site an article that questioned whether GPO had placed ” cost savings … ahead of national security” because the agency outsourced some e-passport production processes to overseas companies. The article referred to an “internal Oct. 12 report” from the GPO inspector general’s office, saying the report noted “significant deficiencies with the manufacturing of blank passports, security of components and the internal control for the process.”
“No internal or external October [2007] report exists,” said GPO Inspector General J. Anthony Ogden. He said that the quote about “significant deficiencies” was from a March 31, 2005, GPO inspector general report that outlined concerns with legacy operations used to process passports.
“All of those security concerns, which predate the electronic passports, were addressed at the time they were brought to the agency’s attention [and] will be closed out with this reporting period,” Ogden said. “The agency has continued to cooperate with our office and has asked for our assistance in oversight because we both take the passport operations seriously. The Washington Times article frankly has mischaracterized and misstated the facts significantly.”
Congress, watchdog probe passport security
Assembly of Components of the U.S. Passport
Q: Describe the State Department’s role, if any, in the decision by the Government Printing Office to use a factory in Thailand for assembling the components of U.S. passport. Can the Department reject a manufacturer selected by the GPO?
A: GPO and Department of State employees jointly evaluated proposals from several companies to supply the unprinted passport cover (which contains the chip and antenna and the only part of the passport not produced or assembled by GPO). The GPO/State evaluation committee recommended the two companies selected as there were no American manufacturers who could provide the needed product. GPO signed the contracts with these companies on behalf of the U.S. Government.
Q: When the Department began its e-passport program, were there any American companies that produced the electronic chips needed for those passports?
A: We are not aware of any U.S. companies that made the chips that could satisfy the requirements of the e-Passport Request for Proposal at the time we launched our e-Passport program and we received no acceptable proposals from them.
