The #FBI is dedicated to supporting the TSC’s administrative functions and providing most of its workforce to help keep Americans safe from national security threats. Learn more about the TSC’s work 20
New York – Rashad Alkhader – Free Yemen Eye – From News – FBI
Established after 9/11 to share information across government agencies, the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) aggregates information for the federal terrorism watchlist. This information is provided to authorized investigative, intelligence, and screening agencies to respond if a known or suspected terrorist is encountered within the United States, at its borders, or overseas.
The #FBI is dedicated to supporting the TSC’s administrative functions and providing most of its workforce to help keep Americans safe from national security threats. Learn more about the TSC’s work 20 years into their efforts: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/20-years-at-the-tsc
20 Years at the TSC
Terrorist Screening Center marks two decades of interagency collaboration
The Terrorist Screening Center sits on a quiet street in Northern Virginia. It’s a nondescript white building that would be easy to overlook as you drive past.
Three flagpoles stand in front, each flying the American flag and one of the state flags of New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. A nearby plaque says that these flagpoles were recovered from the site of the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and now stand “as a memorial to those whose lives were taken, those who sacrificed themselves selflessly, and as a testament to our nation’s resilience andenduring liberty.”
The Terrorist Screening Center, or TSC, was established in direct response to 9/11. Previously, various U.S. government agencies had maintained their own watchlists to further their unique missions, but there was no mechanism in place to share that information across agencies. A 2003 presidential directive required the U.S. Attorney General to establish an organization that would consolidate terrorism screening within the U.S. government and create one federal terrorism watchlist.
The TSC began operating in December 2003 as an interagency center staffed by multiple U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of State, and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), among others. The FBI supports the TSC’s administrative functions and provides most of its workforce.
“We are truly interagency here,” said Michael Glasheen, director of the TSC and an FBI assistant director. “DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are embedded on the watch floor. NCTC and State Department are here. The key to TSC’s success is leveraging the authorities of the supporting federal agencies to negatively impact our adversaries.”
The mission of the TSC starts with aggregating information across agencies into the federal terrorism watchlist. This information is provided to authorized investigative, intelligence, and screening agencies to respond if a known or suspected terrorist is encountered within the United States, at its borders, or overseas.
