Despite not having a clearly defined conception of what security along the border should look like, the government has spent billions of dollars each year causing some to begin wondering what metrics can be used to define success for these various programs; as Congress battles to find cost savings and cut ineffective programs, it will become increasingly critical to have clear assessments of the efficacy of large expenditures like border security programs; Border Patrol is expected to begin trials with new metrics in October of this year and GAO indicates that these new metrics will help Border Patrol become more cost effective