National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 - Continued

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
Oct. 6, 2004

NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE REFORM ACT OF 2004-CONTINUED

Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I rise to discuss the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Report that deal with the integrity of our borders and visitor access to America.

In the decade before 9/11, al-Qaida studied how to exploit gaps and weaknesses in the passport, visa, and entry systems of the United States and other countries. Al-Qaida actually set up its own passport office in Kandahar and developed working relationships with travel facilitators-travel agents, document forgers, and corrupt government officials.

Since 9/11, some important steps have been taken to strengthen our homeland security. While these efforts have made us safer, we are not safe enough. A real world example was reported this past Saturday by the Washington Post. Peru and the U.S. intercepted a criminal network with possible al-Qaida links that smuggled Arabs into America after receiving false papers in Lima. Keeping Americans secure means being diligent on all fronts, at home and abroad.

The amendment that I am offering ties directly to two important recommendations of the Commission Report prohibiting terrorist travel to our country.

The first is the Commission recommendation that "Targeting travel is at least as powerful a weapon against terrorists as targeting their money. . . Better technology and training to detect terrorist travel documents are the most important immediate steps to reduce America's vulnerability to clandestine entry."

Americans need to know that every reasonable step is being taken to ensure that those who would harm our country and our citizens do not travel freely and easily into the United States. This is a task that deserves our full attention when the vast number of travel documents handled in our embassies, consulates, and border stations is considered. Specialists must be developed and deployed in consulates and at the border to detect terrorists through their travel practices, including their documents.

Last year there were about seven hundred consular officers stationed overseas in 211 posts. In addition to processing six million non-immigrant visa applications and nearly 600,000 immigrant visa applications, they provided a full range of services to American citizens. Chronic understaffing has led to an over-reliance on foreign workers to screen and review visa applications, jobs that normally would be handled by American officers. This process leaves too many gray areas; one mistake or intentional oversight in a foreign nationals review of an application could mean the lives of thousands of innocents. My amendment goes a long way to bolster the visa application process by mandating that American consular officials review and approve each and every immigrant and nonimmigrant visa application.

Over the last 2 years the State Department has hired an average of 65 new consular officials. That number has not proven enough. My amendment provides the State Department the authority to increase the number of consular officials by 150 each year for 4 years, ensuring that trusted American resources are responsible for reviewing all visa applications.

Currently, consular officers only receive an overview in fraudulent document training. My amendment mandates that these consular officers are suitably trained in detecting fraudulent documents and document forensics, prior to beginning their service.

Our due diligence cannot stop here.

The second Commission recommendation that relates to my amendment states that we should ". . . raise U.S. and border security standards for travel and border crossing over the medium and long term . . ." The Commission goes on to say that "It is elemental to border security to know who is coming into the country. Today more than 9 million people are in the United States outside the legal immigration system."

Pre-9/11 the INS had only about 2,000 agents for interior enforcement and only 9,800 border patrol agents. With the priorities of the agency concentrated on immigration and narcotics, our northern border was often neglected and no major counterterrorism effort was underway. These gaps in our security created a weakness that allowed the loss of over 3,000 innocent citizens. More robust enforcement of routine immigration laws could have made a difference.

We must have the resources to be able to detect and, if need be, detain terrorists who seek entry through our borders. My amendment makes providing the necessary personnel for border security and immigration enforcement a top priority. It provides authority to increase the number of border patrol agents by 1,000 each year for a 5-year period. It also increases the number Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators by 800 per year for a period of 5 years.

The Commission found that many of the 19 9/11 hijackers, including known operatives, could have been watchlisted and were vulnerable to detection by border authorities; however, without adequate staff and coordinated efforts, the evildoers were allowed unhampered entry.

The world has changed dramatically since 9/11 when the evil doers used our open and trusting society against us. We can not allow a repeat of that tragedy. This amendment will allow those who guard our frontiers the tools they need to ensure the safety of the citizens of the United States of America.