Hearing Of The Senate Committee On Homeland Security And Governmental Affairs - The Lessons And Implications Of The Christmas Day Attack: Securing The Visa Process

Statement

Today's hearing will examine the fundamental question of why the
Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was allowed to retain
his visa, even after his father had informed the American Embassy in Nigeria
of his Islamist extremist connections.
From my perspective, the State Department had sufficient information
to revoke Abdulmutallab's visa. State Department officials already had
decided to question him about his ties to extremists if he chose to renew his
visa. That he could have been deemed a threat to the United States in the
future based on his extremist ties, but not a sufficient current threat defies
both logic and common sense. Had the State Department taken this action, it
would have prevented him from traveling to the United States. This was a
missed opportunity to stop the terrorist more than a month before his flight.
At the very least, Abdulmutallab should have been required to come to
an embassy and explain his activities before he was allowed to travel to the
United States. The State Department has this authority. In fact, the
Intelligence Reform Act protects the Department from lawsuits when its
officials revoke a visa for a visa holder overseas. But the State Department
failed to act.
Visa holders with possible connections to terrorism should shoulder
the burden of proving they do not intend to harm this nation or its citizens.
If they cannot meet this burden, then we cannot take the risk of permitting
them the privilege of traveling to our country.
Following the attempted attack on Christmas, the Intelligence
Community has reviewed the visas of all persons listed in the broadest
terrorist database, known as TIDE, to determine whether or not they should
be permitted to retain their visas. In my judgment, they should keep their
visas only in exceptional circumstances that are carefully considered by the
State Department, Intelligence Community, and Department of Justice.
Essential policy questions include: Is there now an ongoing policy to
check the TIDE list for individuals who hold U.S. visas? What is the
Administration's current policy on the revocation of the visas held by these
individuals? What is the policy on visa revocation for individuals on the
terrorist watchlist?
Revoking the visas of suspected terrorists is, however, only the first
step. The Department of Homeland Security also should confirm the validity
of the visa of every foreign passenger who attempts to board an airplane to
this country rather than waiting until his arrival in our country. There does
not appear to be a technological barrier since DHS already confirms whether
a passenger is on the No Fly or Selectee list in this manner.
I also want to know how the State Department will ensure that minor
misspellings do not prevent its officers from discovering immediately that a
suspected terrorist has a valid visa, as initially happened with
Abdulmutallab. Computer algorithms have been around for decades that
can find close name matches to uncover a misspelling, and the State
Department should expeditiously adopt such tools.
In general, the Department of Homeland Security must provide greater
oversight of the visa issuance and revocation process, as it was authorized
to do in the Homeland Security Act of 2002. That Act required DHS to
deploy trained visa security officers to overseas consular posts, but DHS has
only reached 14 of the 57 high-priority foreign posts -- with plans to reach
another four. Why has the joint effort of DHS and the State Department to
expand this program been so slow?
One important way that DHS is enhancing the security of the visa
process is through the implementation of a requirement that Visa Waiver
Program travelers receive an electronic travel authorization by providing
information to DHS for vetting in advance of travel. This additional step
should add a security layer for travelers from countries that currently are
not required to obtain a visa.
As we know, terrorists will continue to seek to exploit any
vulnerabilities in our visa system. We must continue to strengthen our visa
issuance and revocation process. Since this is a primary means of
preventing terrorists from traveling to our nation, it must work effectively.

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