Conference Report on S. 2845, Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004

Floor Speech

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Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in opposition to the conference report for S. 2845, the ``Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.'' The necessary immigration reform provisions in the House-passed intelligence reform bill, H.R. 10, are not included in this conference report, leaving critical recommendations of the 9/11 Commission undone.

H.R. 10 includes key provisions necessary to securing our Nation, and I voted in favor of the bill, along with 282 members of the House. Unfortunately, the conference report we will be considering today is different from the House passed bill and leaves a hole in the security which our citizens demand in a post-9/11 environment. The 9/11 Commission report exposed how the 19 terrorists who attacked America on that terrible day obtained over 60 driver's licenses between them to breach our homeland security. Improving document security is a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, but the conference report deletes a key provision that would ban illegal aliens from obtaining a driver's license.

Proponents of this conference report will try to argue that the immigration proposals are a peripheral issue that should not be addressed in S. 2845. To the contrary, the immigration proposals included in the House passed legislation are essential to securing our borders from terrorists. This conference report closes the front door to terrorists, but leaves a key under the back door mat. Once terrorists enter this country, they will continue to have opportunities to easily obtain false documentation and travel comfortably within our borders. These opportunities will be available because this Congress failed to address them when we had the chance.

If we do not include the necessary immigration provisions in this conference report, I can promise you they will not be addressed at all. The critics who oppose including immigration reform in this legislation have zero interest in advancing true immigration reform. How many times do we have to be attacked by terrorists with false documents before we enact the reforms necessary to stop them? The 9/11 attacks have taught us to be proactive, but Congress is regressing back into a reactive state of mind with the passage of this conference report--September 10 thinking in a post-9/11 world.

Border security is an essential component of Homeland Security. America won't be truly secure until Congress makes the tough policy decisions necessary to curb illegal immigration and restore the integrity of our borders.

I want to thank my colleagues who have joined me in opposition to this legislation, including House Judiciary Chairman JAMES SENSENBRENNER, whose leadership has brought this critical issue to the attention of the American people and raised the level of debate. I urge my colleagues to vote against this well intended, but incomplete, conference report.

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