CRS report via FAS – The Terrorist Screening Database and Preventing Terrorist Travel, Jerome P. Bjelopera, Specialist in Organized Crime and Terrorism, Bart Elias, Specialist in Aviation Policy, Alison Siskin, Specialist in Immigration Policy,  November 7, 2016.

“After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal government developed a unified regimen to identify and list known or suspected terrorists. The regimen has received repeated congressional attention, and this report briefly discusses for congressional policymakers how the U.S. government fashions and uses the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) to achieve such an end. It also discusses how the federal government engages in two travel-related screening processes—visa screening and air passenger screening. Both processes involve subsets of the Terrorist Screening Database.”