Don't Play Games With Our Security

Washington, D.C.— The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 is still zero for 19 in defending us from the terrorist hijackers. 

On September 11, 2001, 19 men, possessing 364 aliases and 63 drivers' licenses, found their way into our country, devastated the families of over 3,000 people and forever changed the way Americans view their own security. Eight of these men were registered to vote in the United States. 

For three years and three months, there has been an urgent desire of lawmakers and the American people to ensure that what happened on that day will never happen again.

As lawmakers, our very first responsibility in the aftermath of 9/11 was to identify how the 19 hijackers came into this country. Our second responsibility was to determine how they were able to stay.  

On September 10, only three of the 19 hijackers were here illegally. The solution to this problem has proved not easy to find, but we must and we will determine how to prevent the lawful presence of people with murderous and terrorist intent.  

The Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, of which I am a member, considered these questions, held hearings and markups, and passed legislation from the Committee to the full House, where H.R. 10, the House bill, passed by a large majority.  

S. 2845, the final bill that passed both chambers of Congress this week, does not contain the solutions to these problems.  The "open borders" lobby stripped away virtually every substantive national defense component of the bill related to border control and immigration.  

Provisions of H.R. 10, washed from the final bill, were intended to close loopholes for terrorists looking to enter the country. Those provisions would have kept illegal aliens from obtaining drivers' licenses, prevented terrorists from exploiting asylum loopholes, required that all people entering the U.S. provide secure verification of their identity and citizenship and ensured that those wanting to cause harm to our country be detained or removed.  

After that bill's demise in Conference Committee, the number of House Republicans who opposed the bill rose by 800%. I joined 75 of my House colleagues in voting against the bill in hopes that we could pass a bill that contains all the requirements necessary to truly protect Americans.  

Still today, in one-fifth of the United States, any illegal alien can go to a DMV and obtain a de facto national identification card, in the form of a driver's license, allowing them to move freely within our country, obtain additional drivers' licenses, go to work, rent an apartment, buy weapons and board a plane. Further, anyone can walk into our country, without any identification whatsoever, from anywhere in the Western Hemisphere except Cuba, by simply making a "credible allegation" that they are an American citizen. 

Settling for this weak policy is like sending a personal invitation to terrorists to exploit our law, live in our country and plot another devastating attack.  I will work with my colleagues, including House Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner, to ensure that we plug these loopholes that remain gaping. The American people must win this match, nineteen to zero.