Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, at every confirmation hearing of every Cabinet position, and probably a lot of other positions as well, a Cabinet nominee is invariable asked a question similar to this: Will you come when you are called to a committee meeting for a hearing, and will you answer inquiries made by members of the committee to certain questions you might be asked? Invariably--and I don't know an exception to this--we get the answer that, yes, they will respond to our communiques.

Well, I come to the Senate today to ask why Secretary Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security hasn't answered inquiries we have made that ought to have been answered by now. And the answers ought to have been made by now because we are dealing with the legislation to which the questions refer.

On April 23, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing to discuss immigration reform and the bill presented by the Gang of 8. Secretary Napolitano was the only witness. The hearing lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes, and most members were able to ask her 5 to 10 minutes' worth of questions. We also submitted questions for the record, which means we submitted questions to her in writing for her to answer. Committee members were given just 24 hours to turn around those questions to present to her. But it has been over 7 weeks--that is more than 49 days--since we submitted those questions to Secretary Napolitano, and we have yet to get answers to those questions.

The questions I asked were genuine and related to the implementation of the bill if it were to be signed into law. I asked questions of the Secretary because she will be responsible for carrying out Congress's intentions. I wanted to know about costs and feasibility, and I asked for data and specifics. So I am concerned I have yet to receive responses.

Keeping information from Congress and the American people is not helpful to ensuring we have the best product coming out of the Senate. Since this bill is right now before the Senate, it is important for Members of this body to have the answers to the questions I am going to describe that I submitted to her.

I will take this opportunity to discuss some of the questions I asked of Secretary Napolitano, although not all of them. Right now I will focus on nine questions I asked about border security because border security is an issue before the Senate as part of this 1,175-page bill. I may discuss other questions later in the week.

Question No. 1 to Secretary Napolitano: You have emphasized that apprehensions at the border are down and in doing so praised the administration's record on border security; however, Customs and Border Protection has just released numbers showing that apprehensions increased 13 percent over the last year. Does the fact that border apprehensions are up mean that the border is becoming less secure?

That was question No. 1 to Secretary Napolitano.

Obviously, is the border more secure or isn't the border more secure? That was the whole basis of the debate over the last week in this body.

Question No. 2 to Secretary Napolitano: The bill only calls for establishing an entry-exit system for air and seaports before implementing the path to citizenship. Aside from cost, what impediments are there to instituting the system at land ports?

Question No. 3: The bill requires your department to establish a strategy to identify where fencing should be deployed along the southern border. During the hearing, you indicated the administration believes that sufficient fencing is in place and that you would prefer not to increase fencing along the southern border. So my question: Do you anticipate that your study will call for any additional physical fencing?

Now that seems to me to be a pretty important question at this time when border security is very basic to whether there will be any legalization. We have not received an answer yet.

Question No. 4: During the hearing we discussed the fact that the northern border was not part of the trigger and did not need to be secured before green cards are distributed. You said the northern border is a different border but that it is a part of the discussion. Can you elaborate? Can you describe how the northern border is ``different''? Please provide a list of ``other than Canadians'' who have crossed the northern border illegally in the last 10 years, including their country of origin.

Question No. 5. Section 1102 of S. 744 requires the Secretary to increase the number of CBP officers by 3,500; however, it does not specify how many of those agents will be used to secure the physical border versus customs enforcement and other mission requirements. How do you envision this section being implemented and how would the Department make decisions with regard to determining how many agents are hired to secure the physical borders?

Talking about border security, that seems to me to be a legitimate question that ought to have been answered by the Secretary a long time before we even started debate on this bill but surely before we get done with it.

The sixth question: Section 1104 provides funding for only the Tucson sector of the southwest border region. Does the administration support only resources to this sector? Are there other sectors that should be included? If so, please provide details.

Seventh question: Section 1105 relates solely to the State of Arizona. Should this provision be expanded to all of the southwest border States?

Question No. 8: Section 1107 provides for a grant program in which individuals who reside or work in the border region and are ``at greater risk of border violence due to the lack of cellular service'' can apply to purchase phones with access to 911 and equipped with GPS. Does the administration believe the Southwest border region is safe and secure, rendering this grant program unnecessary?

Question No. 9, and my last question I will discuss tonight, does the administration have any views on section 1111 on the use of force, including the requirement that the Department collaborate with the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice?

Those are the nine questions that I think are very pertinent to just the part of the bill we spent the last week debating and we are going to spend a few more days debating. Is the border secure? That is very basic to everything else that goes on in this piece of legislation.

As I said, the questions I have asked the Secretary are meant to ensure that we pass the best bill possible. We ought to know how she will carry out the bill if it is signed into law. I hope she will provide answers to these and the other questions I submitted on April 24.

I yield the floor.

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