Motion To Go To Conference On H.R. 1, Improving America's Security Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

MOTION TO GO TO CONFERENCE ON H.R. 1, IMPROVING AMERICA'S SECURITY ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 17, 2007)

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, as you know, the House has passed its own language as it relates to the issuance of the TWIC cards. We have negotiated for the last 2 months with our Senate colleagues and, for the most part, we have a bipartisan agreement on the issuance of the transportation security cards to convicted felons.

That agreement talks about many of the things my colleague referenced in the report. It talks about treason, it talks about sedition, it talks about espionage, all those things.

Therefore, I think carrying it to the level that my colleague would want to carry it is not in the spirit of the conference report that we are negotiating with our colleagues in the Senate.

It is bipartisan. We have been meeting for 2 months to craft a language. It's good language.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, for the record, I would like to say to my colleague from Tennessee, this bipartisan agreement was worked out in the spirit of making sure that those individuals who work in various capacities in high-risk areas, that they are, in fact, not security risks. So what we have done, we have taken espionage, we have taken sedition, we have taken treason, any felony crime of terrorism, crime involving a transportation security incident, improper transportation of hazardous material, unlawful possession, use, sale, distribution, manufacture, purchase, receipt, transfer, shipping, transporting, import, export, storage of or dealing with an explosive device, we have gone into great detail in defining those disqualifying areas.

In addition to that, we have laid out interim disqualifying criminal offenses that go toward unlawful possession, sale, manufacture, purchase, distribution of firearms; extortion, bribery, smuggling, immigration violations; distribution, possession with intent to distribute or importation of controlled substance; arson, kidnapping, rape, assault with intent to kill; robbery, conspiracy, fraudulent entry into a seaport, a violation of the Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organization Act. Mr. Speaker, we have gone in great detail to list as many offenses as we could.

Now, from what I understand from the gentlelady's motion that we are debating, the only issue is that you don't want the Secretary of Homeland Security to have the ability to look at these things and say whether or not they should be modified. Now, if we are wrong in our interpretation, that is fine, but as we look upon what you have before us today, that is the only thing.

If we can't trust the people who run the Department to make certain administrative decisions, then who can we trust? And it is in this spirit that we left that particular modification language there for the Secretary to look at any unforeseen crime that may or may not have been excluded in this disqualifying criminal offense.

So clearly, Mr. Speaker, it was a bipartisan effort, and we wish to offer it.

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

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Our Secretary of Homeland Security is appointed by the President. I would think that he would appoint the best qualified person, someone who would have the interests of this country at heart every second that he or she may be in that position. So to take the ability of an individual who is running a department from making certain decisions is not in our best interests.

We should not micromanage the Department of Homeland Security. We should let the Secretary of Homeland Security run the Department. He should have the administrative authority to do it. This would not be in the best interests of us. We do not do this in other secretarial departments.

And so, again, Mr. Speaker, in the interest of identifying crimes that are disqualifying, but notwithstanding the fact that the Secretary should have some discretion over running his or her Department regardless of what that Department may be, this is the bipartisan spirit in the conference that we reached.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette).

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