WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback today joined U.S. Sens. Kennedy, Feinstein, Kyl, Hatch, Leahy, and other colleagues in introducing the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001, a bill to address immigration concerns following the terrorist attacks.

“I am pleased to introduce today, along with my colleagues Senator Kennedy, Senator Feinstein, Senator Kyl, and others, legislation that looks specifically toward strengthening our borders and better equipping the agencies that protect them,” Brownback said. “The ‘Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001’ represents an earnest, thoughtful, and bipartisan effort to refine our immigration laws and institutions to better combat the evil that threatens our nation.

“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 of these people enter lawfully and mean us well. 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 goodwill to their home countries.

“However, the unfortunate reality is that a fraction of these people mean us harm, and we must take intelligent measures when it comes to immigration policy.

“This legislation 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 national security. This bill requires that the agencies tasked with screening visa applicants and applicants for admission, namely the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), be provided with the necessary law enforcement and intelligence information that will enable them to identify alien terrorists. By directing better coordination and access, this legislation will bring together the agencies that have the information and those that need it. With input from the Office of Homeland Security, this bill will make prompt and effective information-sharing between these agencies a reality.

“In complement to the USA Patriot Act, this legislation provides for necessary improvements in the technologies used by the State Department and the INS. It provides funding for the State Department to better interface with foreign intelligence information and to better staff its infrastructure. It also provides the INS with guidance on the implementation of the Integrated Entry and Exit Data System, pointing the INS to such tools as biometric identifiers in immigration documents, machine readable visas and passports, and arrival-departure and security databases.

“To the degree that we can realistically do so, we should attempt to intercept terrorists before they reach our borders. Accordingly, we must consider security measures 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, in consultation with Office of Homeland Security, to examine, expand, and enhance screening procedures to take place outside the United States, such as preinspection and preclearance. 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 many feel compromises the INS’ ability to screen arriving flights properly. Finally, since we should ultimately look to expand our security perimeter to include Canada and Mexico, 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 each 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. Moreover, to help the Service retain its most experienced people on the borders, this bill provides the INS with increased flexibility in pay, certain benefit incentives, and the ability to hire necessary support staff.

“Finally, this legislation considers certain classes of aliens that raise security concerns for our country: nationals from states that sponsor terrorism and foreign students. With respect to the former, this bill expressly prohibits the State Department from issuing a nonimmigrant 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. With respect to the latter, this legislation would fill data and reporting gaps in our foreign student programs by requiring the INS to electronically monitor every stage in the student visa process. It would also require the school to report a foreign student’s failure to enroll and the INS to monitor schools’ compliance with this reporting requirement,” Brownback said. Brownback is ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration.