CONTACT: Mary Ellen Grant (202) 225-6676
RELEASE:  May 8, 2002
WEEKLY COMMENTARY

SECURING OUR BORDERS 

    One of the most daunting challenges we face in the ongoing effort to secure our nation against terrorist attacks is tightening control of our borders. Allowing law-abiding immigrants and travelers into the United States while keeping the bad guys out requires top-notch border personnel and better technology.

    Last week, the House voted to split the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) into two separate agencies, thus improving the overall management of the system. Today, the House took another important step that provides additional tools for improving security at our borders by unanimously passing the final version of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act of 2002. The Senate passed the bill with amendments on April 18th and the President is certain to sign it. The legislation will require that by October 26, 2004, the State Department must issue tamper-resistant and machine-readable visas and travel documents to aliens. The documents must include biometric identifiers such as retina scans and fingerprints. By the same date, the INS must supply scanners to read these biometric documents at all points of entry. The INS must implement an integrated entry and exit system containing arrival and departure information from these documents. This system will help to combat counterfeiting, identify fraud, and provide a more reliable measure of identifying visitors who overstay their visas.

    Since the terrorist attacks of September 11^th, international travel and commerce has slowed significantly. At high-traffic crossings on both the Mexican and Canadian borders, efforts to increase security have resulted in long delays. Our border security system simply was not designed to allow border agents to thoroughly inspect the travel documents of each person entering the United States. With nearly 10,000 agents patrolling 8,000 miles of United States borders with Mexico and Canada, we need to provide our border patrol agents with improved technology to handle this challenge as well as increasing the number of agents and improving their training.

    The bill addresses these needs by increasing the number of INS inspectors, investigative personnel and Customs Service inspectors over the next four years. It will increase pay and training for INS personnel, including Border Patrol, and will beef up consular offices at U.S. embassies. The bill also will require:

• Educational institutions to report the acceptance of all foreign students. Also, since several of the hijackers involved in the September 11^th attacks were here on student visas but were not actually attending any schools, educational institutions will now be notified by the INS of all foreign students who have stated an intention to attend their institutions.
  
• U.S. embassies and consulates to create terrorist lookout committees to ensure that the names of known terrorists are routinely brought to the attention of consular officials.
  
• Nationals of countries that are sponsors of terrorism be barred from receiving temporary visas unless it has been determined that the aliens do not pose a threat to the safety of Americans or the national security of the United States.
  
• An electronic data system that will improve information sharing among consular offices, the INS, U.S. law enforcement agencies, and the intelligence community.

    In addition to securing our ports of entry on land, we must also ensure that security at our sea ports is improved. As the gateway for much of the nation’s trade through the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, our area must also consider the security risks involved with trade goods entering the ports. With only 1 to 2 percent of incoming containers receiving security checks, our ports remain vulnerable to terrorist activity. With this in mind, Congress approved $93.3 million to provide grants for port security enhancements. In March, the House Transportation Committee, on which I serve, passed a bill that would authorize $225 million over three years to improve security at America’s ports. Protecting our ports is critical to the nation’s and our region’s safety, and I am pleased that Congress and the President have made this important part of homeland security a high priority.

    These vital improvements to our border security system and at all points of entry into the United States will help us to identify and apprehend potential terrorists before they enter the country. The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act will go a long way toward protecting our nation from future terrorist attacks.