Coburn questions the value of terrorism prevention centers

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said a new report fails to show that terrorism prevention centers are worth the federal funds used to run them.

“The fact that after seven years, we still cannot tell whether fusion centers are keeping us any safer means that DHS needs to take a long, hard look at whether it needs to stop funding projects that don’t advance its mission,” Coburn said Monday.

{mosads}Coburn’s comments came as he released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that showed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to track the effectiveness of the millions spent to set up state fusion centers to combat terrorist threats.

“I am concerned that this report finds similar problems to those that were discovered following a bipartisan investigation into the effectiveness of fusion centers from two years ago,” Coburn said.

The federal government started funding the DHS projects more than seven years ago, but Coburn said he still hasn’t seen proof that the 78 fusion centers prevent international or homegrown terrorism.