WASHINGTON - As coauthor of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act (H.R. 3525), U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback today spoke at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining the need for the legislation. The senate will begin consideration of the bill today.

"September 11th has shaken the public's confidence in the laws and institutions that guard our borders," Brownback said. "There are nagging concerns about whether our government is fully prepared to intercept and prevent terrorist threats as they seek to cross our borders. That is why, last fall, my distinguished colleagues, Sen. Kennedy, Sen. Kyl, Sen. Feinstein, and I combined our efforts to craft legislation that would close the security gaps in our immigration system and make needed reforms to our visa practices. We assembled the legislation before us, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act of 2001, to address several critical weaknesses in our border security. Let me underscore this point: our legislation does not make desirable changes to our laws and practices; it makes essential changes.

"This legislation has widespread support in the Senate, including the majority leader, the minority leader, the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, the chairman and the ranking member of the Immigration subcommittee, and the chairman and ranking member of the Technology and Terrorism subcommittee. This legislation has ringing endorsements from a wide array of interests in the public, including family groups, business groups, law enforcement, and academic institutions. We have extensively consulted experts both within the Executive branch and outside it. In short, we have utilized the insights of the affected agencies and the affected public. Even though the legislation may contain some tough provisions, the people and entities affected by this legislation see the wisdom in it.

"This bill has broad, bipartisan support for a reason: it carefully balances all the competing interests in the immigration equation. Our nation receives millions of foreign nationals each year - persons who come to the United States to visit family, to do business, to tour our sites, to study and learn. Most enter lawfully; they are our relatives, our friends, and our business partners. They are good for our economy and, as witnesses to our democracy and our way of life, become our ambassadors of good will to their home countries. We do not want terrorists to shut our nation's doors to the people we want to visit.

"At the same time, we must take intelligent measures to keep out the small fraction of people who mean us harm. This legislation requires such measures and makes them possible.

"The terrorists of September 11th exploited our lack of information and governmental coordination. The Border Security bill recognizes that the war on terrorism is, in large part, a war of information. To be successful, we must improve our ability to collect, compile, and utilize information critical to our safety and our national security. This bill therefore requires that the agencies tasked with screening visa applicants and applicants for admission to the United States, namely the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, be provided with the law enforcement and intelligence information necessary for them to identify terrorists. By directing better coordination and access, this legislation will bring together the agencies that have the information and those that need it, making prompt and effective information-sharing between these agencies a reality.

"We should seek to intercept terrorists well before they reach our borders. We must therefore consider security measures to be placed not only at domestic ports of entry, but also at foreign ports of departure. To that end, this legislation directs the State Department and the INS to examine, expand, and enhance screening procedures to take place outside the United States, such as 'pre-inspection' and 'pre-clearance.' It also requires international air carriers to transmit passenger manifests for pre-arrival review by the INS. Further, it eliminates the 45-minute statutory limit on airport inspections, which compromises the ability of the INS to screen arriving flights properly. Finally, this bill requires these agencies to work with our neighbors to create a collaborative North American security perimeter.

"While this legislation mandates certain technological improvements, it does not ignore the human element in the security equation. This bill requires that 'terrorist lookout committees' be instituted at every consular post and that consular officers be given special training for identifying would-be terrorists. It also provides special training to border patrol agents, inspectors, and foreign service officers to better identify terrorists and security threats to the United States.

"Finally, this legislation considers certain classes of aliens that raise security concerns for our country: nationals from states that sponsor terrorism and foreign students. This bill expressly prohibits the State Department from issuing a non-immigrant visa to any alien from a country that sponsors terrorism until it has been determined that the alien does not pose a threat to the safety or national security of the United States. As for students, this legislation fills data and reporting gaps in our foreign student programs by requiring the INS to electronically monitor every stage in the student visa process. It also requires a school to report a foreign student's failure to enroll and the INS to monitor schools' compliance with this reporting requirement. "We certainly must be careful not to compromise our values or our economy. However, we must take intelligent steps to enhance the security of our borders, and we must do so now. This legislation - which was already urgent when it was introduced in the fall - does just that. I urge the swift passage of this critical legislation," Brownback said.

Brownback is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration.