F oreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007

FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2006 AND 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 20, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment No. 20 offered by Mr. Issa:

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, before we take up amendment 20, I would like to step back to amendment 6 of yesterday. I had submitted an amendment made in order under the rule to strike proposed changes to U.S. economic and military aid to Egypt yesterday. I decided not to offer this amendment.

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. ISSA. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, we are prepared to continue to work with the gentleman from California and the administration in order to protect the national interests broadly considered and help Egypt achieve the economic and political reform it needs.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. ISSA. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, the chairman and I are prepared to deal with all members of the committee on their ideas. We have explored the issue of the appropriate level of economic and military aid to Egypt; and the committee, as well as the House, has acted on this matter. But as with all matters, we have an open mind to discuss additional and new ideas.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman from California. I appreciate the offer by the chairman and ranking Democrat to look at this, and I look forward to working with them and the administration on this matter.

On that, Mr. Chairman, I would like to move to amendment No. 20.

Amendment 20 was made in order because it is dealing with an important matter. This amendment takes the necessary and commonsense steps to enhance the security of American passports. It will help to eliminate three major loopholes currently present in the passport acquisition process that have been exploited by criminals, especially over the last 5 years.

First, it requires the Secretary of State to submit a report that describes the weaknesses of identification documents, including birth certificates, required for the issuance of passports. This report will lay out the minimum acceptable criteria for birth certificates issued by State and county governments in order for the certificates to be accepted by the State Department for the purpose of obtaining a passport.

Second, the amendment establishes a requirement that all passport agents undergo background investigations and comprehensive training programs to improve fraudulent document detection and thereby reduce fraud. This will make it harder for insiders to sell passports to criminals and terrorists and easier for government authorities to discover those who do. The Secretary of State would be authorized to determine requirements for both background checks and oversight of these agents.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, and without a doubt most importantly, this amendment expands the authority of the United States Government to investigate cases of illegal sales of passports and visas by U.S. Government personnel. It authorizes the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia to issue warrants in such cases and authorizes special agents under the direction of the director of the Diplomatic Security Service to execute such warrants.

It will also require foreign service officers and other personnel serving abroad in diplomatic positions, including ambassadors, to waive any challenge to the Federal court jurisdiction over matters involving the illegal sale of a passport or a visa or any other matter involving official corruption. The waiver would include any legal challenges to the diplomatic security conducting investigations for the same.

This will resolve the current impasse that happens in a significant number of foreign countries when local magistrates and police officials are barred under respective local laws from allowing investigations by anybody into the homes of diplomats.

Mr. Chairman, the requirements laid out in this amendment will raise the State Department's ability to detect and eliminate passport fraud. It is critical for our Nation's security that we implement the measures I have laid out.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, in closing, I would like to offer my assurances to the ranking member that it was never the intention of this amendment to eclipse the postal service's good efforts; and the portion of the amendment that deals with State Department developing in no way, shape, or form is intended to stop the training from being conducted by the appropriate agency in the appropriate place. I look forward to working with the ranking member to clarify that in any language necessary.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I do not oppose the amendment.

The Acting CHAIRMAN (Mr. Latham). Without objection, the gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes.

There was no objection.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support and to help offer this amendment along with my colleague the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson). We have worked together in the past to address these issues of intellectual property theft, and I look forward to continuing to work with her to address these issues in the future.

Intellectual property theft continues to be one of the biggest threats to American companies doing business abroad. While we have begun to focus on the biggest offenders, China and Russia, where intellectual property theft costs American companies billions of dollars each year, we cannot afford to ignore the copyright piracy taking place in other regions of the world.

This amendment would direct the funding to activities in countries that are not members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, under the auspices of the State Department's Economic Bureau. These funds will be used for a wide range of activities, including assistance in procuring equipment to combat piracy, posting intellectual property experts abroad to help train foreign officers and to improve local enforcement of intellectual property laws.

This amendment will help ensure that the State Department has the adequate tools to engage with foreign governments and to assist them in developing an infrastructure to enforce their laws. I urge my colleagues to support the Watson-Issa amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov