Homeland Security

HOMELAND SECURITY -- (House of Representatives - June 27, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to also thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent) for managing this important debate on probably what is the most important issue facing this Nation today. As we heard the names of the men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan who paid the ultimate sacrifice just a few minutes ago in this Chamber, I say to the families, we remember. We thank you. We will never forget.

Every day I meet, it is part of our job, we meet with the families who have lost loved ones over there. And they all tell me the same thing, and that is, finish the job; I do not want my son to have died in vain. And finish the job we will. We thank you for your sacrifice fighting this war on terror abroad so that we do not have to face it here at home. And it has made this Nation more secure in our homeland.

Back home, this Congress has moved faster than ever in passing legislation, which, among other things, fulfills the 9/11 Commission's recommendations by bolstering the security along our borders and sending the badly needed funding to those areas of our Nation that terrorists still see as targets. Indeed, recently the Homeland Security Committee visited Ground Zero. The tragic events of 9/11 are still very much alive and well in that city. We met with the police commissioner. We met with the Liberty Street Firehouse, the fallen heroes, the families who survived that tragic day, who lost so many people. And I can tell you, you can feel it. It is as if it happened just yesterday.

And everything we do in this Congress is to provide the tools necessary to ensure that another 9/11 never happens again in this country. The need for this hard-hitting legislation comes from the United States grave and growing problem with undocumented aliens. An estimated 8 to 12 million undocumented aliens are here in the United States, and it is also estimated that two slip across the border for every one that is apprehended. That means that almost 3 million undocumented aliens enter our country every year; to put it in perspective, roughly the size of the city of Dallas. And in the post-9/11 world, these figures no longer represent just an immigration problem, but rather one of national security.

This Nation is being compromised by our inability to identify those who are coming into our country. And I am convinced that the first step we need to take to solve this problem is to secure our borders and to better enforce the laws currently on the books. Congress knows that immigration plays a major part in our national security. Accordingly, we have provided more than $1.5 billion in spending for border protection, immigration enforcement, and related activities in the 109th Congress.

When combining the homeland security authorization and appropriations bill that the House has passed, Congress has supplied funding for all 2,000 new border patrol agents that were recommended by the 9/11 Commission and fully authorized by last year's intelligence reform bill. These agents will have greater authority to detain and incarcerate illegal immigrants, instead of sending them back into our communities with a notice to appear in court, something very few abide by.

Indeed, we do not have to look too far back in history to see an example of this when Ramsey Yusef entered our country in 1992 and was apprehended. He too was given a notice to appear. He too failed to show up to the hearing, and instead he joined his fellow colleagues from the bin Laden academy to join the first al Qaeda cell in the United States. He then conspired to blow up the World Trade Center. Fortunately, he was not successful. But that day would come later and his dream would be realized with Osama bin Laden's dream to bring down the towers that fateful day.

But I say to you, the days of this catch-and-release policy are numbered. Congress has also worked hard to ensure that when border patrol agents catch undocumented aliens, we now have somewhere to hold them before they are extradited. Congress has funded over 4,000 new detention beds to help our Federal law enforcement uphold our Nation's immigration laws.

Our Federal law enforcement officers are being stretched too thin and being asked to do too much. According to current law, immigration laws can only be enforced by Federal law enforcement officials. Couple that with existing sanctuary policies in most of our big cities and one can easily see why our Federal officers have such a difficult time enforcing the laws on our borders.

This is why I offered an amendment to the Homeland Security Authorization Bill that would fund local law enforcement training at Federal facilities in order to create a force multiplier so that our Federal law enforcement gets the assistance it needs.

These additions will crack down on illegal immigration in between our borders and ultimately lessen the threat of terrorism.

Congress has also passed legislation to make America's first responders more expeditious and more effective by improving the process by which they receive their resources. The Faster and Smarter Funding For First Responders Act guarantees that the States with the biggest risk and the greatest threats receive the necessary funding to protect their communities. My home State of Texas, for example, currently ranks last in the amount of homeland security dollars received per person. And that in a State which claims an international border, the Western White House, and a prominent State capital.

Texas and other States like New York should be receiving more money than those other States with fewer targets. And by closing these gaps in the defense of our homeland, we have learned what our weaknesses are and how to better prepare for, defend against, and preempt a terrorist plot.

Those like al Qaeda who wish to do harm to America have a track record of being patient and conspiring until they succeed in their terrorist agenda.

In my former job, I was chief of counterterrorism in the Justice Department, I had the Mexican border, the State capital, I had the President's ranch. I can tell you the threat is very much still alive in this country, and we need to give law enforcement every tool necessary to protect us and to fight this war on terror not just abroad but at home.

And with that in mind, this body has moved to address that threat. The House passage of the 2006 Homeland Security Authorization and Appropriations Act and Faster and Smarter Funding For First Responder Act send a clear message to our enemies that we will not stand idly by while they plot to do harm to our Nation.

As the President stated, we will not waiver, we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov