Photo: AP/Gerald Herbert, File
The U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing last Wednesday regarding the security breach that occurred when reality tv wannabes Michaele and Tareq Salahi allegedly crashed a November 24, 2009 White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Committee hearing featured a contrite U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, who explained that the Salahis were not on the guest list for the state dinner, and the Secret Service therefore should never have let the Salahis into the White House. However, missing from the hearing were the Salahis themselves, who were invited but not subpoenaed to testify.
For those with the patience to watch the above-linked video of the hearing rather than just seeing filtered highlights on cable news channels, the hearing featuring Sullivan as the lone witness is very enlightening. In most cases, the representatives on the Committee can be seen doing what they are paid to do -- sharply question Sullivan to determine how and why the Salahis were able to enter the White House and get in close proximity to Vice President Joe Biden and others at the state dinner when, according to Sullivan, the Salahis were not on the guest list. Sullivan, the Secret Service Director since 2006, repeated that the White House breach was entirely the fault of the Secret Service, as several Secret Service officers failed to follow established protocols and made poor judgment calls in allowing the Salahis to enter. Sullivan stated that White House officials were available on a roving basis at the event to assist with any issues regarding entry by guests, but that, in the case of the Salahis, the Secret Service officers involved never called or radioed the White House staff. Sullivan also confirmed that the Secret Service is undertaking a full investigation of the White House security breach, which includes a criminal investigation regarding the Salahis' actions. Unfortunately, a few of the Republican Committee members engaged in grandstanding in what appeared to be an attempt by them to embarrass White House officials.
Photo: AP/Haraz N. Ghanbari
California Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman, a member of the Committee who represents coastal areas of Los Angeles County from Venice to the Port of Long Beach, made an interesting comparison. Harman related her experience regarding security and crowd control at a recent Bruce Springsteen concert, saying that, with modern technology such as bar code scanning for each ticket, the processing of many thousands of people at the Springsteen concert went extremely smoothly. Harman asked Sullivan whether it would be helpful for the Secret Service to be using more modern equipment and technology at White House events. However, Sullivan reiterated that the problem at the recent state dinner was old-fashioned human error on the part of the Secret Service.
© 2009 Matthew Emmer -- All Rights Reserved
Enjoy this article? Receive email alerts when new articles have been published. Just click on the "Subscribe" button above.
Comments
In fairness to the Secret Service, however, these people seem to have a lot of experience conning others. And I think the IRS will want to start looking into them now, so maybe it was a good thing after all.
One congressman on the panel said exactly that it was a good thing, and at least one other said that it was a blessing in disguise in illustrating a flaw in the S.S. methods.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!