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I am pleased that Senator Feinstein is holding this hearing on a critical matter
of concern. After the events of September 11, no one can doubt that we need
to do a better job of preventing terrorists from entering our nation, and this
hearing will provide valuable options for the Senate to consider. I would like
to thank all of our witnesses for their testimony today. In particular, I would
like to welcome Commissioner Ziglar, who has certainly endured a baptism by
fire over the last month. First, I would like to point out that one of the major security issues we face
involves our border with Canada. The USA Act, the bipartisan anti-terrorism
legislation that I co-sponsored and the Senate approved Thursday night by a
vote of 96-1, includes important provisions that protect the chronically understaffed
northern border. While the number of border patrol agents along the southern
border has increased over the last few years to more than 8,000, the number
at the northern border has remained the same as a decade ago at 300. This remains
true despite the fact that Admad Ressam, the Algerian who planned to blow up
the Los Angeles International Airport in 1999, and who has been linked to those
involved in the September 11 attacks, chose to enter the United States at our
northern border. It will remain an inviting target until we dramatically improve
our security. The USA Act triples the number of Border Patrol, INS inspectors, and Customs
Service employees in each of the States along the 4,000-mile northern border.
I was gratified when 22 Senators Democrats and Republicans wrote
to the President supporting such an increase, and I am pleased that the Administration
agreed that this critical law enforcement improvement should be included in
the bill. Senators Cantwell and Schumer in the Committee and Senators Murray
and Dorgan have been especially strong advocates of these provisions and I thank
them for their leadership. Now more than ever, we must patrol our border vigilantly
and prevent those who wish America harm from gaining entry. At the same time,
we must work with the Canadians to allow speedy crossing to legitimate visitors
and foster the continued growth of trade that benefits both countries. Beyond increasing security at our northern border, we need to take additional
steps to protect our country. For example, we need to enhance information sharing
between our intelligence agencies and the agencies that determine who gets into
the United States the State Department and the INS. The USA Act gives
the State Department and INS access to the FBI's National Crime Information
Center database, but we must go further to enhance the sharing of information
from other agencies. We also must make sure we develop the best possible biometric technology to
identify potential terrorists entering the United States, such as facial recognition
or fingerprint systems. The USA Act includes a section requested by Senator
Cantwell that requires the Attorney General to report to Congress on the feasibility
of enhancing FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System and
other identification systems to better identify people with foreign passports
or visas who may be wanted in connection with criminal investigations in the
US or abroad. In short, we need to examine the methods the State Department and the INS use
to prevent terrorists from entering the United States, and provide those agencies
with the enhanced resources they may need. We should also remember that although
we need to call those agencies to make necessary improvements, they cannot bear
all of the burden. To prevent future terrorist attacks, we must improve our
intelligence-gathering capabilities, and make sure that intelligence about potential
terrorists is shared with necessary actors throughout the government. I am glad that Senator Feinstein is shedding light on these issues through
this hearing, and I am very interested in hearing the testimony of today's witnesses. # # # # # Share this page | Bookmark this page The leading immigration law publisher - over 50000 pages of free information!
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