[Senate Hearing 108-195]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 108-195
CONFIRMATION HEARING ON THE NOMINATION OF EDUARDO AGUIRRE, JR. TO BE
DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JUNE 6, 2003
__________
Serial No. J-108-14
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
90-465 WASHINGTON : 1998
_____________________________________________________________________________
For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
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COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah, Chairman
CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont
ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts
JON KYL, Arizona JOSEPH R. BIDEN, Jr., Delaware
MIKE DeWINE, Ohio HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin
JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin
LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York
SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois
JOHN CORNYN, Texas JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina
Bruce Artim, Chief Counsel and Staff Director
Bruce A. Cohen, Democratic Chief Counsel and Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Page
Chambliss, Hon. Saxby, a U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia.. 1
Kennedy, Hon. Edward M., a U.S. Senator from the State of
Massachusetts.................................................. 2
prepared statement........................................... 44
Grassley, Hon. Charles E., a U.S. Senator from the State of Iowa. 3
Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., a U.S. Senator from the State of Utah,
prepared statement............................................. 42
Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont. 9
prepared statement........................................... 49
PRESENTERS
Cornyn, Hon. John, a U.S. Senator from the State Texas presenting
Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., Nominee to be Director, Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland
Security....................................................... 5
prepared statement........................................... 40
Jackson Lee, Hon. Sheila, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas, presenting Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., Nominee to be
Director, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services,
Department of Homeland Security................................ 6
STATEMENT OF THE NOMINEE
Aguirre, Eduardo, Jr., Nominee to be Director, Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland
Security....................................................... 11
Questionnaire................................................ 13
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Responses of Eduardo Aguirre, Jr. to questions submitted by
Senator Kohl................................................... 33
Responses of Eduardo Aguirre, Jr. to questions submitted by
Senator Feingold............................................... 35
NOMINATION OF EDUARDO AGUIRRE, JR., OF TEXAS, NOMINEE TO BE DIRECTOR,
BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
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FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2003
United States Senate,
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:41 a.m., in
room SD-226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Saxby
Chambliss presiding.
Present: Senators Chambliss, Grassley, Cornyn, Leahy, and
Kennedy.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SAXBY CHAMBLISS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM
THE STATE OF GEORGIA
Senator Chambliss. The hearing will come to order.
We are pleased to have Eduardo Aguirre before this
Committee as the nominee to be Director of the Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of
Homeland Security. I would like to welcome his daughter,
Tessie, who is with him this morning.
Mr. Aguirre's nomination is significant because he brings
extensive management experience to a brand-new Bureau. He has
held top-level positions in the banking industry for over 30
years and most recently served as Vice Chairman and Chief
Operating Officer of the Export-Import Bank.
Mr. Aguirre will bring much needed management skills and
qualifications to the Bureau. We all know the problems of the
old INS, some of which were institutional as a product of an
agency with competing demands. For years, Members of Congress
declared the INS was broken and must be reformed. Now that
opportunity is at hand, and I am confident that Mr. Aguirre is
up to the task.
As a young immigrant from Cuba, Mr. Aguirre has experienced
the American dream through hard work in both his business
success and his community service. And he will surely work with
Congress and the various agencies to make that dream a reality
for others seeking opportunities in the United States. I
commend the President for his nomination, and I look forward to
Mr. Aguirre's statement and responses to our questions.
At this time I will turn to my friend, the Senator from
Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy.
STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD M. KENNEDY, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE
STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS
Senator Kennedy. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I
want to express my appreciation to you and to the Chairman of
the Committee for arranging the hearing today. You and I were
both in attendance at the Rules Committee yesterday dealing
with some extremely important matters relating to the
procedures in the Senate, and I am personally appreciative of
having this hearing this morning when we can do justice to our
nominee and to the importance of this office.
It is a privilege to participate in the nomination of
Eduardo Aguirre to be the first Director of the new Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services. As you mentioned, he
brings an impressive background to this position. He has served
as the Acting Chair of the Export-Import Bank, where he
produced an organization more oriented to customer service and
positive results. In the private sector, at the Bank of
America, he made customer and employee satisfaction his highest
priority. And with respect to the Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Service, he has said he intends to make integrity,
respect, and ingenuity the core values of the Bureau.
Mr. Aguirre is also sensitive to the plight of immigrants
and refugees. He came to the United States at the age of 15, a
Cuban refugee with no family, no money, and no ability to speak
English. His plight was very similar to the plight of many of
today's immigrants and refugees. With the help of charitable
organizations--the same organizations that help today's new
arrivals--he overcame many obstacles to become the inspiring
success story he is today. His refugee roots will serve him
well and the Nation well as Director of the Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Overseeing immigration affairs is a major challenge. More
than 500 million citizens, permanent residents, lawful
visitors, students, and temporary workers cross our borders
each year. Hundreds of thousands of applications are processed
for citizenship, permanent residence, asylum, and other
matters.
As the Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Services, Mr. Aguirre will have a major role in
influencing immigration policy, including long-needed
improvements in the services of the Bureau. It is obvious that
we can do more to serve citizens, our visitors, our immigrants,
by reducing unacceptable backlogs and making the customer
service functions more helpful and efficient.
The Bureau will need a strong Director to lead this
transformation and guide the Bureau's integration with the
Department of Homeland Security. The most important
responsibilities of the position are to see that the service
and enforcement functions are well coordinated and that the
service functions are not given short shrift. Without strong
leadership and the insistence on close coordination, the
officials in the various immigration bureaus of the Department
of Homeland Security are likely to issue conflicting policies
and legal interpretations and generate even more disarray.
The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services must be
adequately funded to make this transformation possible.
Reliance on application fees to fund the processing of
immigration applications has not worked, as we know from the
long backlogs and delays facing immigrants who apply for
permanent residence or citizenship.
We also need to make progress on other important areas of
immigration reform. We must find a way to maintain security and
still enable refugees to find safe haven in our country.
We must return to the issue of immigration reform. Earlier
this week, Secretary of State Powell said that we must ``move
forward'' on immigration policies that provide legitimate ways
for persons to enter the country and that legalize hard-working
immigrants.
The status quo is unacceptable. It must be replaced with
sensible reforms that create a manageable and orderly system
where legality is the prevailing rule. We need immigration
policies that reflect economic realities, but also respect our
heritage and history as a Nation of immigrants.
Finally, we must act on the recent findings of the Office
of the Inspector General and the ``significant problems'' he
found in the way that the Justice Department treated September
11 detainees. Although immigration detention is not the
responsibility of the Bureau, many of the persons detained are
eligible for immigration relief and must be allowed to consult
with their families and attorneys.
I look forward to today's hearing and to working closely
with Mr. Aguirre to achieve these important goals. Immigration
is an indispensable part of our Nation, and we must do all we
can to see that our immigration laws are fair and consistent
with the Nation's fundamental values.
I thank the Chair.
[The prepared statement of Senator Kennedy appears as a
submission for the record.]
Senator Chambliss. I now turn to the Chairman of the
Finance Committee and a member of this Committee, Senator
Grassley.
STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE
STATE OF IOWA
Senator Grassley. I will be with you just a short period of
time because of a hearing I have on prescription drugs. But I
do want to take the opportunity to congratulate Mr. Aguirre as
well as expressing some concerns, as Senator Kennedy did, about
the issues of immigration.
Every member of this panel is concerned about the services
that we provide new residents of our United States. We strive
to welcome immigrants in a timely and efficient manner. We are
frustrated, of course, by reports of backlogs and mistreatment.
We have pressured the old Immigration and Naturalization
Service for reforms, and we will continue to monitor the new
Bureau's ability to serve newcomers.
Today, I want to express my strong belief that superior
attention to customer service is necessary despite the Bureau's
mission and functions under a new Department. I would encourage
the Department and the Bureau to bring enthusiasm and
dedication to the duty of providing quality service to our
country's newcomers. The Bureau must be acutely aware of the
demands facing our Nation's newcomers. Such demands necessitate
the highest standard of customer service and professionalism.
First, I would commend the service for making individual
case statuses available online and allowing the public another
avenue to learn about their applications. I know that
improvements to this electronic system will come, and I will
continue to support new efforts to assist the Department's
clients.
Second, complaints about the Bureau's employees have been
passed along to me that I find unacceptable. For example, some
employees find it acceptable to threaten those who are subject
to our confusing laws, and obviously new laws to new people
coming to this country. I hope that the new administrator will
appropriately investigate and address these issues and any
others where the conduct of the new Bureau's employees is
called into question.
Before closing, I would like to mention that I have been
working to obtain more service personnel in the eastern part of
my State of Iowa. Last year, I wrote to Attorney General
Ashcroft and this year I have written to the new person of
responsibility, Secretary Ridge, to request that additional
immigration employees be placed in the Quad Cities of the Iowa
and Illinois area where they have seen such an increase in
immigrants. I am glad that your Bureau has responded by
announcing immigration service hours being held in Davenport,
Iowa, on June 24th. However, this first step must not be the
last.
Mr. Aguirre, you have had experience in shaping
organizations, leading hundreds of employees, and managing
millions of dollars. I hope that your expertise will help the
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services to get off on
the right foot, and I welcome you, as I am sure you welcome
that challenge, and we obviously wish you all well in your new
job, not only to you personally but to the service that you
bring to our new immigrants to this country.
Thank you very much.
Senator Chambliss. Thank you, Senator, and you have been a
busy man the last few weeks, and we appreciate all the great
work you have been doing and all the positive legislation you
have been shepherding through our great institution.
Senator Grassley. You keep talking that way, I will stay
awhile.
[Laughter.]
Senator Leahy. I think you have too many people waiting in
the hall for you, Chuck.
Senator Chambliss. We are now joined by the distinguished
Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, our friend
from Vermont, Senator Leahy, for any comments he might have.
Senator Leahy. Mr. Chairman, I will have a couple comments
about the nominee, but I see both Senator Cornyn and
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee here, and I would be happy to
let them go ahead. But then I would like to make a couple
comments about the nominee.
Senator Chambliss. All right. We will move to the first
panel, which is two of our distinguished colleagues from the
great State of Texas: my former House colleague, Sheila Jackson
Lee, and my good friend and classmate, Senator Cornyn.
Senator Cornyn, we look forward to hearing from you any
comments you have about Mr. Aguirre.
PRESENTATION OF EDUARDO AGUIRRE, JR., NOMINEE TO BE DIRECTOR,
BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY, BY HON. JOHN CORNYN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE
STATE OF TEXAS
Senator Cornyn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is good to be
here today on this side of the table here in this Committee
hearing, of which I am a member, a proud member, and I
appreciate your calling this hearing today and providing me an
opportunity to testify on behalf of a great American, a great
Texan, and, I am pleased to say, a great friend.
It is my pleasure to introduce to the Committee Mr. Eduardo
Aguirre, Jr., nominated to serve as the first Director of the
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the new
Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Aguirre understands deeply how important a role
immigrants have played in our Nation's history. As a fellow
Texan, I am proud of his contributions that he has made to the
State of Texas and to this country, and that he will continue
to make if confirmed by the Senate for this position, as he
surely should be.
As Senator Kennedy has already noted, at the early age of
15, Eduardo Aguirre fled Cuba in search of a better life. His
life story is a success story and a valuable reminder to all of
us that immigrants epitomize the hard work, entrepreneurial
spirit, and thirst for liberty that embodies the American
dream.
As you know, the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau
of Citizenship and Immigration Services provides the services
to immigrants that were once provided by the former INS. The
BCIS has a daunting mission in front of it: to eliminate
substantial backlogs, and to improve immigration services for
all who come to this country in search of a better life. As
Acting Director of BCIS since February, Mr. Aguirre is already
aware of the daunting challenges faced by this new Bureau, and
he has done an excellent job in leading and managing it.
Mr. Aguirre has already enjoyed an impressive career in
management, both in the private and public sectors, and, of
course, management experience is precisely what is called for,
especially at this particular agency and at this particular
time.
He comes to the Department of Homeland Security most
recently from the Export-Import Bank of the United States,
where he has served as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating
Officer. He was confirmed to that post in December 2001 by the
unanimous consent of the United States Senate.
Mr. Aguirre served as the Bank's Acting Chairman until
December 2002. In that capacity, he guided the Bank through its
most recent 5-year Congressional reauthorization and shaped it
into a more customer service and results-oriented organization.
Before moving to Washington, Mr. Aguirre enjoyed a 24-year
career with the Bank of America, including service as president
of International Banking. He has also served as Chairman of the
Board of Regents of the University of Houston System, where he
brought clarity of purpose and direction to the four-university
system and its approximately 50,000-student body.
Mr. Aguirre is not only a leader in Government and
business, but also a civic leader.
He is the founding Chair of the Houston Livestock Show and
Rodeo-Go Tejano Committee, further empowering Houston Hispanics
with access to college scholarships. He has served on numerous
professional and civic boards, including the Texas Children's
Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, the Center for Excellence in
Education, the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade, and
the Houston chapters of the American Red Cross and the
Salvation Army.
Named ``one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the
Nation'' by Hispanic Business magazine, Mr. Aguirre has
traveled extensively in Latin America, Europe, and Asia,
promoting economic growth, international trade, and business
opportunities. He has represented the United States in meetings
with heads of state, cabinet ministers, and other high-ranking
government officials and private sector executives in
discussions related to trade financing.
If confirmed, Mr. Aguirre will face important and
challenging responsibilities. As Director of the BCIS, Mr.
Aguirre will build upon his excellent record of leadership,
management, and service on behalf of all of our Nation's
immigrants and, indeed, on behalf of this entire Nation.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Senator Cornyn appears as a
submission for the record.]
Senator Chambliss. Thank you very much for those great
comments.
Congresswoman Jackson Lee, we are pleased to have you with
us and look forward to hearing from you.
PRESENTATION OF EDUARDO AGUIRRE, JR., NOMINEE TO BE DIRECTOR,
BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF HOMELAND SECURITY, BY HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, A
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS
Representative Jackson Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is
a pleasure to see you and be reminded of the work we did on the
CDC, and all I can say is we are trying to continue that work
for the Centers for Disease Control and continue to work on the
issue of homeland security. In fact, as we speak, the House
Select Committee on Homeland Security is meeting, of which I am
a member, so I would ask the Committee's pardon after I
hopefully share with you my thoughts and feelings about this
great nominee, if you would allow my departure for that
hearing.
Senator Chambliss. Certainly.
Representative Jackson Lee. I thank Senator Kennedy as well
for his leadership in this Committee and certainly Ranking
Member Leahy for his leadership on these very important
matters. And, of course, I am very pleased to be able to not
only speak of a great Texan and American, but might I say, a
great Houstonian that we are also very proud of. And I stand
here representing the constituency of the City of Houston that
appreciates the leadership of Eduardo Aguirre, who has served
us in our community.
I believe the Committee will answer several questions this
morning during this confirmation proceeding. The question will
include what is an American and who can be an American,
actually will be aspects of the job that Mr. Aguirre will be
taking on. I think there could not be a better nominee to
represent that question.
I am proud to call him an American, a Houstonian, a Texan,
and certainly a friend. And I come today to support his
nomination and to encourage the Senate to confirm him as the
Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.
It will not be an easy assignment. While the enforcement side
of the old Immigration and Naturalization Service came under
most of the scrutiny, the service and benefit side also has had
its major problems. I am most familiar with Houston, which
historically has been one of the most overburdened offices. For
instance, immigrants who filed an application for permanent
resident status would have to wait some 3 years before they
would even begin to process the application. But I am confident
that we have the right person, the right man for this
challenge.
I know that this gentleman, along with his family members,
has always had a can-do attitude in our community. I have seen
his work throughout the years, and now as he serves the
President of the United States and the people of the United
States, he brings to us that can-do attitude.
I also believe that he understands the concept that this
Nation was built on the hard work of many, including
immigrants, those who seek access to legalization, and I think
even after 9/11, he realizes that immigration does not equate
to terrorism. I believe that because when Mr. Aguirre spoke at
the University of Houston commencement ceremony in May of this
year, he described himself as a little kid from Havana who
ended up in the administration of the United States President.
He told the graduates that America is a country where there are
no barriers to what an individual can accomplish. He certainly
represents that, and I agree completely.
His experiences are illustrations of the opportunities for
social equality and economic independence that attracts
immigrants to this Nation. I know, however, that it is not easy
to succeed even in this great country. It requires character,
ability, and persistence to overcome the obstacles that
immigrants face when they establish lives or seek to establish
lives for themselves in the United States.
Again, who is an American and who can be an American are
questions that I believe Mr. Aguirre can answer very aptly.
Mr. Aguirre comes to this position with the skills and
experience that are needed to complete the reorganization of
the service and benefit operations from the former Immigration
and Naturalization Service. During his tenure as head of the
Export-Import Bank, he guided the Bank through its most recent
5-year Congressional reauthorization. In fact, he got a
successful vote in the House on the reauthorization of the
Export-Import Bank, even with those who desire to express their
opposition to that particular entity.
I am particularly pleased to relate to you that he shaped
the Bank in a more customer service and results-oriented
organization. The Aguirre transformation of the Bank included
the implementation of streamlined customer procedures, the
implementation of quality assurance standards, oversight, and
initiatives designed to facilitate customer interaction--the
very skills that will be needed for this new Bureau to focus on
immigration services, but also to encourage those who are
seeking legalization, doing the right thing, attempting to be
documented, to have the process effectively utilized.
I look forward to seeing him apply his experience and
expertise to the customer relations area, to the management of
the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. His
intentions in this regard were expressed in a recent newspaper
article which conveys a message from Mr. Aguirre to the dozens
of immigrants who line up outside of the old Immigration and
Naturalization Service office in Houston at 5:00 a.m. every
morning and then wait hours for the chance to spend a few
minutes talking to a Government officer. His message is he is
on your side. He is very conscious of the fact that the lines
have to be reduced. He is also good at listening to the
immigrants who waited years to get their applications processed
and the thousands more who have written letters to the old INS
that were never answered.
The same focus on customer service can be seen in the
record of his employment prior to joining the Export-Import
Bank. As you have heard, he served as president of
International Private Banking for the Bank of America, and
during his 24-year career with the Bank of America, he led the
integration of new teams and corporate cultures into a unified
structure responsive to customers, shareholders, and the
community at large.
In addition to running a highly profitable unit of this
50,000-employee world-class bank, his team was consistently
ranked in the areas of customer and employee satisfaction, and
I expect him to do the same here.
We have served together on the State Bar of Texas where he
was the first non-attorney. That is a great credit to him. We
all know the bias of attorneys, but he was a breath of fresh
aid amongst us in serving the Texas State Bar.
As I see Judge Eric Endel here in the audience, I know that
he can attest to the importance of civilian work, working with
attorneys and making sure that we follow our rules of ethics
and, of course, serve our customers, our clients.
He was a wonderful leader of the Texas Bar Foundation, a
nonprofit agency, and under his leadership, thankfully we
raised $500,000. He has been named three times by Hispanic
Business magazine one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in
the United States. He has traveled extensively. He knows the
importance of relationships internationally. And I think he
will be a good friend to not only the Nation but the world in
working to show the world of our concern about those who
immigrate to this Nation.
I work with him on the Houston Livestock Show, and if any
of you are aware of what goes on in February every year in
Houston, Texas, everyone is a cowboy. But what the Houston
Livestock Show stands for is raising scholarship dollars for
young people. And it was the leadership of Mr. Aguirre on the
Go Tejano Committee that inspired me to help found the Go Black
Texan Committee that helped to raise scholarship funds for
inner-city youngsters. And we have worked together.
He has done great work for the Texas Children's Hospital,
St. Joseph's, and many other organizations. But, frankly, I
believe this gentleman comes to you with that can-do attitude
and a love and understanding of the values of America that we
all can be proud of. We all represent one great Nation loving
democracy and sharing, and so it is with great pleasure that I
hope that this Committee will certainly confirm initially his
seeking the position of the Director of this Bureau and that he
will move quickly to the United States Senate.
I thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide this
insight.
Senator Chambliss. Well, we appreciate very much and I know
Mr. Aguirre appreciates very much you being here showing a
bipartisan spirit in support of his nomination. Thanks for all
you do with our colleagues on the House side, and we appreciate
your leadership. Again, thanks for being here and thanks for
your comments.
Representative Jackson Lee. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Chambliss. Before we ask Mr. Aguirre to come up, I
will turn to my friend from Vermont, the ranking member,
Senator Leahy.
STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK LEAHY, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF VERMONT
Senator Leahy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I might to say to the nominee, you ought to just sit there.
You are doing okay so far.
[Laughter.]
Senator Leahy. Here in the Judiciary Committee, it isn't
always this way, so enjoy it, luxuriate in it. The sun is
shining, and I think you have got all of it in here. You are
not doing too bad so far. Even the 101st Senator under the
table here, Senator Kennedy's dog Splash, is wagging his tail
every time your name is mentioned. And he doesn't always do
that.
I am glad that we are having this nomination. I am glad
also, to be serious for a moment, that the nomination was
referred to the Judiciary Committee which continues to have
jurisdiction over immigration legislation and oversight. We had
not considered the nomination of Asa Hutchinson as Under
Secretary, but it is fitting that Mr. Hutchinson has testified
before the Committee since his confirmation and has made
himself available to us.
With this hearing on immigration, I suspect we will have
more as the year goes on. I think that is an important thing to
do. A number of us on both sides of the aisle called for a
hearing on the report released on Monday by the Justice
Department's Office of the Inspector General concerning the
treatment of those aliens who were detained as part of the
investigation into the September 11th attacks.
I think it would be important that we hold that hearing as
promptly as possible because the Inspector General report shows
the severe consequences that can be faced by those immigrants
who fail to maintain their lawful status. Of course, the
responsibility to remain here legally falls upon immigrants,
but there are occasions when immigrants live up to that
responsibility, do all the paperwork, but are sometimes failed
by errors and backlogs on the Government's part. And we want to
prevent that because I think that you especially as an
immigrant know the same thing that my grandparents knew: that
this is a wonderful country and it beckons us. But also when
immigrants come to our shores, we also want to show them the
best face of America, and not make them think, whether
intentionally or otherwise, that we don't want them here.
I wouldn't be here if my stonecutter grandfather hadn't
come here and earned enough money in Vermont to then send for
his wife and children. And I have always remembered that. I
still go back to Italy where all my family is from to meet with
them.
So I hope that you especially will use your position to
battle the perception in many of the immigrant communities that
the war on terrorism has become a war on immigrants.
Now, we are justified to go after terrorists, but we
shouldn't make immigrants think that we are going after them as
a class. We are going after terrorists, not after immigrants.
You have a distinguished career in business. I have talked
with my friends at the Export-Import Bank. They have said
wonderful things about you, and as the Chairman said, we have
two distinguished Members of Congress who have come here and
spoken for you.
You are going to have a demanding portfolio. You have
gotten letters from Members of Congress, including myself, with
concerns about immigration policy. Yesterday we read in the New
York Times how backlogs have stranded 20,000 refugees in what
are described as ``desolate camps in Africa, Asia, and the
Middle East.'' I have been in some of those camps, and they are
awful. We can do a better job.
As Director of BCIS, you are going to supervise many
constituents of mine at the Service Center in St. Albans,
Vermont. They are excellent employees, and I want to commend
you for having already made a trip up there in your acting
capacity. I can tell you from what I have heard from the men
and women there, they appreciated that. They appreciated the
fact that you actually cared because, boy, they are working
hard. You know, they are dedicated Americans, and they want
this Service Center to work.
So keep them in the loop, via me or--I mean, I would be
happy to bring you up there anytime. I would be proud to bring
you up there anytime--again, assuming you are going to be
confirmed, which, of course, you will.
And I think what you are probably going to hear as you have
gone around, many of the former INS employees have been left in
a state of flux as each DHS branch makes its own reorganization
plan. As you reorganize BCIS, I urge you to make assessment
unrestricted cohort use as possible of these Vermonters with
immigration backgrounds. They have a great deal of expertise
and can be available to you, and I would hope you would
consider making Vermont a regional center for your agency. I am
not asking for a commitment, of course. But I hope you would
consider it because these people have so many years of
experience that you couldn't replicate anywhere else.
On the national level, it was a priority for many of us
that immigration services not be overlooked at the Department
of Homeland Security. As I said, immigration is so important to
us, and immigration has to be handled in a fair and orderly
way. So I look forward to hearing your views on that, about the
backlogs in our immigration system. We want to talk about that.
The President has pledged to reduce the average backlog for
immigration petitions to 6 months by 2006. I certainly agree
with that and want to hear your plans on that.
I am heading off to Vermont today, but I delayed my
departure because I wanted to be here to welcome you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Senator Leahy appears as a
submission for the record.]
Senator Chambliss. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Aguirre, we will ask that you come forward to be sworn.
I will ask that you stand and raise your right hand. Do you
solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give before this
Committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth, so help you God?
Mr. Aguirre. I do.
Senator Chambliss. For the record, will you state your
name, please?
Mr. Aguirre. Eduardo Aguirre, Jr.
Senator Chambliss. You are going to need to press that
button there.
Mr. Aguirre. Senator, my name is still Eduardo Aguirre, Jr.
[Laughter.]
Senator Chambliss. Well, we are pleased to have you here
this morning. And Senator Leahy is right; it is not always this
free-flowing and complementary in this room, and that says a
lot about you. And we certainly appreciate the great work you
have done for our country to this point, and we look forward to
hearing from you this morning, and we will accept any opening
statement, and if you would like to tell us about any family or
friends you have with us, it is always our pleasure to hear
about that, too.
STATEMENT OF EDUARDO AGUIRRE, JR., NOMINEE TO BE DIRECTOR,
BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY
Mr. Aguirre. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senators. I am
very pleased to come before you today as you consider my
nomination to be the first-ever Director of the Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services in the newly created
Department of Homeland Security. At the onset, I would like to
thank my wife of 35 years, Maria Teresa Aguirre, for her
continued support in my quest to serve my country through
public life. Representing our family and with me today is my
daughter, Tessie Aguirre, who is a senior at Texas A&M
University and is studying in Washington, D.C., this summer,
and my daughter is right behind me.
Should the Senate act favorably on my nomination, this
would mark my second Senate-confirmed Presidential appointment
service to my adopted country. Almost 42 years ago, I came to
this land of freedom and opportunity as a 15-year-old Cuban
refugee without my family or money or working knowledge of the
English language. Along the way I was sheltered and taught by
Catholic Charities, cared for by the United Way, and helped by
many, many, many others. Later, a very affordable U.S.
Government student loan program allowed me to attend college
and eventually earn a degree from Louisiana State University. I
have overcome real and imagined obstacles on my journey to
realize my version of the American dream. And I am grateful
beyond words. I am extremely proud and humbled to have been
selected by President George W. Bush to serve the United States
in his administration.
The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services is
responsible for providing the right immigration benefits, in
the right amount of time, to the right applicants; and to
prevent the wrong ones from accessing our benefits. The United
States always has, and continues to be, a Nation of immigrants.
On a personal level, I share President Bush's vision of
``welcoming immigrants with open arms...not endless lines.'' If
confirmed, I look forward to working with Secretary Ridge,
Deputy Secretary England, and the rest of the Homeland Security
leadership and staff, in addition to others in President Bush's
administration, to advance our country's immigration agenda,
including a serious focus for the scrutiny and security
responsibilities within our scope. Also, as demonstrated in my
position as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of the
Export-Import Bank of the United States, I welcome the
opportunity to work with the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
I am confident that one and half years in a leadership role
at the Ex-Im Bank, 34 years in commercial banking, and a number
of hands-on civic leadership roles have prepared me to accept
this considerable challenge. Beyond my inherent sensitivity to
immigrant issues, I hope to bring to the job my proven
management and leadership skills, my customer service
background, my broad risk analysis experience, a respectful awe
for the trust placed in me, an open mind, and some measure of
common sense. These skills should be particularly important to
the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services as we face
the unique challenges of the 21st century. My vision is to lead
a world-class Bureau that will excel in customer service and
effective risk management. During my tenure, integrity,
respect, and ingenuity will be our core values.
In closing, I want to acknowledge my family as the bedrock
of my value system. We hard-working, God-fearing people who
recognize and treasure our immigrant roots as we strive to give
back some of the many blessings that have come our way.
Mr. Chairman, Senators, I respectfully ask for your
favorable consideration of my nomination and stand ready to
respond to your questions as you may have them.
Thank you very much for your attention.
[The biographical information follows:]
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Senator Chambliss. Well, thank you very much, and you sure
bring a great story and a great background, personally as well
as professionally, to this position, and we appreciate your
willingness to serve in a public capacity.
I have been to Tigers Stadium on Saturday night, and you
all are not always very kind to my Bulldogs down there. But I
promise you we are not going to hold that against you this
morning.
Mr. Aguirre. Well, thank you, Senator. The bipartisanship
includes our schools.
Senator Chambliss. Let me start off with a question
regarding our visa system. One problem that has certainly been
publicized following September 11, but all of us as Members of
Congress knew that this problem existed well in advance of
that, is the way we track individuals in this country once a
lawful visa has been issued to them, particularly when those
visas expire, whether it is a student visa or just a normal
visa for somebody seeking to come in the country for a
particular valid reason.
How do you envision that you are going to be able to
improve the system of tracking these individuals who are here
legally? And how are we going to make sure that when their visa
expires that they do what is correct, either extend it or go
back to where they came from?
Mr. Aguirre. Thank you, Senator Chambliss. The issue of
people who visit our country can be broadly described as
immigrants and non-immigrants, and perhaps you're referring to
the non-immigrant capacity of many, many of the people that
come to this country with either a visitor's visa, a tourist's
visa, if you will, or student visas, which comprises really the
majority of the 500 million visitors that we receive in this
country.
The other side of the equation is the immigrant population
which comes here either on a permanent or semi-permanent
capacity.
The reason I make that distinction is because our Bureau
actually makes that distinction. Our responsibility in the
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services is to deal with
the immigrant population, and the other parts of our Government
have to deal with the non-immigrant population. And I just want
to make sure I'm responsive to your question.
Many of the non-immigrants that come to this country are
channeled through or handled by either our State Department or
the Bureau of Transportation--the Border and Transportation
Security that Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson handles. Below
him, of course, we have the Bureau of Customs and Immigration,
BTPS, I'm not sure, Border Protection, as well as immigration
enforcement. And they are more the ones that are going to be
tracking the immigrants that perhaps you're referring to.
We, of course, will do our part to cooperate and
communicate with them and make sure that we're adding our value
to the immigrant community that would be mostly those who have
either permanent residency or asylum status or some of the work
permits that also we handle.
Senator Chambliss. Is there going to be interfacing between
your department and those departments, particularly with
respect to computerized information that might be available on
these individuals?
Mr. Aguirre. Yes, sir. We will coordinate with them to the
extent that it's practical and necessary. It's, I think, proper
to note that post-9/11 many strides have been made to make
different computer databases to interface with each other and
communicate with each other. And we have not reached the end of
the line. I think we have a long ways to go to improve our
background checks and things of that nature.
On our side, sir, as we consider the extension of benefits
to those who apply for us, we work with a number of databases
to do the background check to ensure that we're dealing with
the individual as they should and to check on their background
check to make sure that there's no security risk there. So we
do interface with other parts of the Government.
Senator Chambliss. There is some backlog of about 5 million
cases, I believe, that has built up over the years at the
former INS. The President said he wants to reduce that time lag
down to 6 months. Can you tell us sort of where we are with
respect to a reduction of that backlog?
Mr. Aguirre. Yes, sir. I can tell you that I am as dismayed
as I'm sure our President is and most everyone should be on the
backlog that we are experiencing right now. The President's
goal, as stated, brings us to a 6-month turnaround time
sometime in 2006. I am confident that we will reach and
hopefully improve on that particular goal.
We were making great strides a couple of years ago or so,
and then 9/11 came about. And I would say that instead of
having a steady growth in terms of completing the cases, we
have had a dip because we have to--we, meaning the INS, had to
rechannel some of the resources that they were using towards
the backlog to deal with the issue of background checks and
other things that we were doing.
I can tell you that we have created a group that will
return to me within the next 90 days with a recommendation with
specific timelines and action items that will establish a more
orderly decision on the backlog. And that is definitely one of
the three priorities that I have in the big overall sense.
Senator Chambliss. Okay. Senator Kennedy?
Senator Kennedy. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
As you know, you have to depend, particularly with regards
to those that are coming into the country and those we have to
follow in this country because of potential threats to the
Nation, on the CIA sharing the information on that watch list,
and the FBI. And we are in the process of trying, with our
border security legislation, to coordinate with the INS. I
believe your computers are supposed to be up in 2004. Theirs
come earlier. But I would be very hopeful that you would
monitor that and watch it very carefully because that will have
an enormous impact in your ability to track and trace and
follow these. And I would hope that you would let us know on
the Committee any areas where you do need help and assistance
as this moves along. I am sure the Department of Homeland
Security wants it to be done well and done right; the President
does. We want to give you all the help and support. That is
extraordinarily important.
In the areas of the backlog, I am glad that the Chairman
mentioned it because, as you mentioned, you have 500 million
cases and naturalization applications numbering over 650,000.
What happened, of course, as you are familiar with, is that
some of the immigrants detained and placed in removal
proceedings during the NSEERS registration program had pending
benefit applications and would have actually--had their
applications processed--had regularized status here. Because
they weren't able to do that, a lot of them were both detained
and some were deported.
I would hope that as you shorten that time frame, you would
be sensitive to what the penalties would be to some of these
people that are trying to play by the rules, play by the game,
so that while you are trying to catch up so that they are not
unfairly penalized. Because that has happened in the past
through no fault of their own. We don't want that to happen to
them. As you are getting a handle, we want to try and make sure
that you get that job done. But if you could take a look at
that to make sure that they are not unfairly penalized during
that process, that would be important.
And I hope during the period of time as well, if you need
additional kinds of resources--we know you are committed to
whatever the budget says--we can ask you questions about what
you would do if you had additional resources in terms of
speeding up the applications, and we can make some independent
judgments on this. And the Immigration Service has never been
one that has been overly funded, quite frankly, over a period
of time on this.
One of the matters I just might mention in the budget and
resources, when they had the NSEERS program, they took a lot of
staff from working on naturalization and other immigration
applications, and they were diverted to enforcement functions.
So not only do the diversions of the staff and resources result
in delays in applications but also confusion. Personnel is
being shifted.
Also, we are hopeful that you are going to get a recovery
of resources from the Department so that you are not taking a
whack both ways, extending in terms of not being able to move
ahead on naturalization and not being reimbursed for the
personnel. I don't know how that works, but I imagine that you
might just comment about whether you intend to try and gain
that reimbursement. Do you have a plan to try and do that? Are
you going to talk to those in the Department to try to get
reimbursement for funding in that area?
Mr. Aguirre. Yes, Senator. If I may start at the last and
work my way up, we have--we are towards the end of our
negotiations with basically three parties: the Bureau of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was the one that
mostly drew on our resources for the NSEERS program, and the
OMB folks, and I believe we will reach a fair and equitable
assessment of the monetary exchange that needs to take place. I
have no reason to doubt that we are going to get that done in
an orderly fashion.
Of course, this has to do with an appropriation that has
yet to be completed in the Congress, so we are actually dealing
with dollars that are hopefully coming our way but not there
yet.
I thank you for your offer of assistance in the resources
and accept it gladly. We will be happy to share that with you.
It is premature for me to determine whether or not we are
where we need to be. I feel that our budget of almost
approximately $1.8 billion seems to be just about right at this
particular time, but we are working on our 2005 fiscal year
budget, and we will be including there some things that, in
fact, are not there today which I know are of interest to you,
the Refugee Corps and things of that nature. And we'll see when
the dollars are added up that we would fit well within the
Homeland Security structure and then, of course, count on the
President to feel comfortable with it as well.
In terms of the backlog, I mean, clearly, it is one of our
high priorities, and we will get to work with them and are
working on them right away.
And, lastly, in terms of our coordination with CIA and
actually the FBI, we are working with them. We do a number of
background checks through them depending on the level of
benefit applied to. But I must tell you that really the future
in terms of resources and where we need to go is biometrics
because right now when you're using names and other types of
data to identify individuals, it is faulty, at best. And we
will have to work our way into the future of technology so that
biometrics becomes more the standard rather than the exception.
Senator Kennedy. Well, I am glad you mentioned that. I
think in years past, when we were looking at how you are going
to deal with the falsification of documents, it basically comes
down to the birth certificate. If people can falsify the birth
certificate, it is all over. There is no way in the world that
you are going to be able to get a handle on it. And the only
way to try to do it is to try to have a tamper-proof birth
certificate. This is something Senator Simpson understood very
well, and for a while he tried to do it. But the idea that the
Federal Government was going to require tamper-proof birth
certificates in every community, every church, every synagogue,
is completely unrealistic in terms of this country at this
time. It just isn't going to go. He made a very bold attempt at
trying to do it, but once you get beyond that, it is extremely
difficult to ever get tamper-proof. And now we have got new
technology, biometrics, which really gives us a new avenue to
try and sort of deal with these areas. That is enormously
important.
Just a couple of other areas. I want to mention what you
already understand, and that is, immigration involves both the
enforcement and adjudicatory components. That is going to be
enormously important. And the integration with the new
Department and coordination among the three Bureaus are, I
think, two of the biggest challenges that you have. I don't
know if there is anything that you want to tell us about how
that is proceeding and give us any sort of reaction there. And
then I just have, Mr. Chairman, one other question.
Mr. Aguirre. Yes, Senator, I think the issue of
coordination begins at the top, and I can tell you
unequivocally that Secretary Ridge is ensuring that all of us
in Homeland Security, in fact, are coordinating and cooperating
with each other, but, most specifically, I can point towards
Asa Hutchinson and I, who are peers reporting to Deputy
Secretary England, as talking frequently and very specifically
and congenially in terms of making sure that we are working
with each other.
Beyond that, two of his direct reports, Mike Garcia and Rob
Bonner, are individuals with whom our Bureau interfaces with on
a frequent if not daily basis. And my communication with them
is also frequent. And I have yet to discover an opportunity
where we have not come to some agreement, even when we're
dealing with issues that could be difficult.
So at the leadership level, I can tell you that we are
going to work together, but, more importantly, we have shared
some of the resources. At our Bureau we have identified an
individual that will--that is actually a liaison with BICE. Asa
Hutchinson and I actually yesterday were meeting on this, and
we are actually going to identify a liaison as well for his
super structure. In fact, our legal counsel, the legal counsel
for BICE and for my Bureau, at this particular time wears both
hats. So we are sharing some resources. We're making sure that
we're coordinating with each other and nothing falls through
the cracks as we try to disengage the old INS into the new
Bureau of--our Bureau and the other Bureaus as well.
I hope that satisfies your question.
Senator Kennedy. We again want to help you in every way
that we can.
Just last two items briefly. On refugees and asylees, you
know, the President had the figure of 70,000. A year ago--we
only let 27,000 in. A little over a year ago, we had a
conference with Secretary Powell. I think all of us understand
the complexities and the difficulties immediately after 9/11.
And he was saying that we ought to look at the 2-year period,
thinking of last year's 70,000, what we might be expecting this
year and thinking of it policy-wise.
But I am most interested in how you are going to work
through that. It is ambitious, clearly, but this is the
number--we have got the greatest number of refugees now--that
has created enormous kinds of needs. And the ceiling has been
established and has been approved by Congress. I am wondering
whether you intend to give that a priority as well.
Mr. Aguirre. Thank you, Senator. In fact, refugees is one
of our priorities, as stated by the items that we need to
discharge. As a former refugee myself, I have a special
sensitivity to this issue, and I have actually taken quite a
bit of interest in it.
I feel very proud to say that our Bureau and our Nation
will continue to work the issues of refugees to make sure that
we maintain the doors open to those who seek to come here.
Clearly, a number of different factors have come into play
here in terms of our refugee population today. Some
geopolitical changes such as Eastern Europe and the old Soviet
Union are no longer bringing refugees to our shores in the
numbers that used to come. Our most two recent wars have
changed the dynamics, and certainly 9/11 has changed the
dynamics in terms of the background checks that we have to do
of refugees, which, as you very well know, are precisely the
population where a background check is particularly difficult
to do.
We are working with the State Department, and we're working
with other organizations, whether multinational organizations
or NGOs, nongovernmental organizations, to see what we can do
to alleviate the problem. I feel that this is a year which
hopefully will be an anomaly over the long-term period of time,
and hopefully the number of refugees will increase and will
bump up closer to the ceiling than they would be in this
particular fiscal year.
Senator Kennedy. Thank you. Just finally, in the
International Religious--I will send you a note on this because
this is technical--Freedom Act of 1998 required the GAO to
study the effect of expedited removal on individuals, and they
did that. They performed that. But it also authorized the U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom to designate
experts to study the same issue. That had not been done. The
act provided the Commission with access to the expedited
removal process and detention facilities as well as relative
documents.
I think it would be enormously useful, particularly in the
wake of what the IG has had over at the Justice Department, to
ensure that that study, which was authorized and recommended,
is carried through. If you would look into that for me and let
me know.
That is a technical question, so let me write you a note on
it, and you can give me an answer, unless you want to say
something about that now.
Mr. Aguirre. All I can say is I look forward to your note,
Senator.
Senator Kennedy. Okay. Very good.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Chambliss. Senator Leahy?
Senator Leahy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Incidentally, I am glad you have your family here and you
introduced them. Someday when you look in the family archives
and see the transcript of this that you will get, it will note
the fact that they were there, and I know you--like I am with
my family, you must be very, very proud of them.
Mr. Aguirre. Indeed, Senator. Thank you.
Senator Leahy. One of the things I look forward to the most
this weekend is being with my two grandchildren, who totally
wear me out, and I will have a great time doing it.
I talked a little bit before in my opening statement about
the situation in Vermont, and as I said, I really appreciate
and compliment you for taking the time to check that out. There
are more than 2,000 Vermonters who work for the INS, either as
permanent or contract employees. So the reorganization plans of
the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Bureau
of Customs and Border Protection are having a substantial
effect on our State, and, of course, everybody is interested
about it.
What organizational changes basically do you plan for BCIS?
Mr. Aguirre. Thank you, Senator, for that. I'd just like to
preface my comments by saying that--thank you for recognizing
that I did go to Vermont. I went there not only because I
wanted to visit that particular corner of our business, but
because Vermont has been and will continue to be an important
part of our structure. As you well know, it is the site in
Burlington where we have the headquarters for our Eastern
Region, and I wanted to get a sense of not only the leadership,
but particularly the workforce that we have there.
And I commend you, Senator, for the outstanding
professionalism that I found there. I met with essentially
every employee that I could, either in a one-on-one setting or
in a town hall meeting setting, and I was very impressed with
their commitment. I was very impressed with their
professionalism and their determination to work in our Bureau.
As such, I can say that it is my intention to maintain
Vermont as an integral part of our structure. We have not
finished determining how our regions are going to be
structured, and I know that is inherent perhaps in your
question, only because we want to make sure that we will blend
well with the region structure that the Department of Homeland
Security will roll out. And when that--we are part of that
discussion, and we're making sure--and, in fact, Secretary
Ridge is making sure that our concerns are considered in the
overall region structure.
Vermont will be an important part in the overall structure
going forward, simply because we've got the right people there,
they're doing the right job, and we want to leverage them more
rather than less.
Senator Leahy. Thank you. After you get fully settled in,
perhaps you and I could spend a little time together going over
some of the direction. I appreciate very much what you said,
and I will also pass on your words to them about their
commitment. I know that will mean a lot. And I think it's
important that you continue and your office continue to talk to
the people not only in Vermont but in other places, because you
can imagine the basic concern that goes on. Here's a major
enormous shift in the organization of our Government, and you
have dedicated professionals, and they will keep on doing their
job, but they also want to know whether they are going to keep
on paying their mortgage, too. So I appreciate that.
I would also like you to look at the EB-5 Immigrant
Investor Visa program. That is the one that promotes domestic
job creation by encouraging foreign investment in the U.S. It
has been around a little over 10 years now, and in the past,
there seems to be some friction with INS on that. I think last
year only 148 visas were granted, even though we see the
jobless rate going up in the United States, and 148 visas were
granted to those who wanted to create jobs here.
You have had extensive business experience yourself, so I
would hope you would work with us to make sure that program is
working the way Congress intended. We want to create jobs here
in the United States, and I know you do, too.
Mr. Aguirre. Well, yes, Senator. Thank you. I have not
really looked deeply into the numbers issue of the EB-5, but I
have analyzed the alphabet soup of the many programs that we
have, and there are so many of them that all really are geared
towards bringing the right people to our country to participate
in the creation of jobs and improvement of our economy. And, of
course, I look forward to working with you on that to making
sure that we're maintaining that program strong.
Just a quick comment, sir. You mentioned the fact that you
hope I would visit with other parts of the country. I am proud
to share with you that in the first 6 weeks of my tenure, I
have traveled around the country and met with a third of our
workforce, approximately 5,000 of our employees, just to take
their pulse, to get a sense of their morale and their
commitment, and as the leader of the team, to make my own
assessment of whether or not the team was up to the task.
I am pleased to tell you that we are. We have got a great
group of professionals corner to corner. As much as I know
you're proud of your Vermonters, I am just as proud of all the
other employees we have throughout the Nation, and we'll do the
job right, I promise you that.
Senator Leahy. I am extremely proud of all of them, and I
have got to tell you, taking that kind of hands-on approach has
to be the best thing you could possibly do right now. And I
praise you for doing that.
On the EB-5 program, we passed the Department of Justice
authorization act last year, and in that it said the
regulations were to be implemented on the changes within 120
days of enactment. Some others were supposed to take effect
upon enactment. They have not been implemented, and that is
something I would hope that you might take a look at. That was
before your time, but if you could, because--
Mr. Aguirre. Yes, sir.
Senator Leahy. There is a lot of bipartisan interest in
that program.
Mr. Aguirre. Sure.
Senator Leahy. Now, one thing, I mentioned this concern
that the war on terrorism has been perceived by many as being a
war on immigrants. I know you don't feel that it is a war on
immigrants any more than I do.
Mr. Aguirre. No, sir.
Senator Leahy. But with your own background--and I
certainly feel with my family background--I would hope that you
would do everything possible to address that perception. I
think it is necessary. Our Nation, we can use all the
statements that have been made for hundreds of years, ``the
melting pot'' and everything else, but it is true. And our
Nation is strengthened by the people who come from all these
other countries. We offer a great deal. We offer the highest
perceptions and realities of freedom--freedom of speech,
freedom of religion. All these other basic rights in our Bill
of Rights are things that are praised and honored throughout
the world.
You know yourself that in the number of countries that do
not have our freedoms, people look to the United States and say
that is a shining example. And I don't want people in other
countries to think somehow America is different. We have been
attacked before. We have gone through world wars, and we have
gone through civil wars, and we have always come out stronger
for it.
So make sure that torch held high in the New York Harbor is
still what it stands for.
Mr. Aguirre. Yes, Senator. I would like to just share with
you, I feel very comfortable with the leadership that I look to
in terms of President Bush and Senator Ridge--or, excuse me,
Secretary Ridge. We have very much the same core values when it
comes to immigrants, and that is that we need to welcome them.
This is a Nation of immigrants. With the possible exception of
Native Americans, if we all scratch our DNA, somehow or another
immigrants are the core of our being. And that is what makes
America great.
And so it will be my high honor to maintain that standard
and that tradition that we have. And when I first met with
Secretary Ridge, then-Governor Ridge, I didn't know him, and I
told him that the only way I could discharge my
responsibilities would be with respect and dignity, respect and
dignity not only for the immigrants that come before us, but
also my fellow employees. And, of course, he embraced that as
very much his own value.
So I can't speak for how the rest of the world looks at us
through their own historic glasses at times, but we will do our
job to make sure that we can sleep well at night.
Senator Leahy. Well, thank you, and there is nothing more I
could ask of you, and I want you to know that you will have my
support, you will have my vote.
Mr. Aguirre. Thank you, sir. Appreciate that.
Senator Leahy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Chambliss. Thank you, Senator Leahy.
Just in closing, two things, Mr. Aguirre. First of all, I
appreciate your response to both my question as well as Senator
Kennedy's question regarding the issue of making sure that we
do follow people here and follow them in the right way. But
there is one other aspect of that. You talked about information
sharing within the agency and the constant dialogue that is
going on. And I appreciate that, and very honestly, that is one
problem that we saw following 9/11. There was not the kind of
information sharing, either vertically within our Federal
agencies but, more significantly, horizontally across the
agencies.
As Secretary Ridge knows, I have harped on this for two and
a half years now, and we are going to continue to do it. I know
there is a plan in place out there to make sure that we are
sharing this information with other critical Federal agencies.
And there is no more important information to be shared than
the information that you gather, because it is not just keeping
the bad guys out that is important, but once they get here,
anybody who has a suspicious background, once they get here we
need to make sure that everybody is on the same wavelength with
respect to sharing of that information on individuals in the
right way. And I emphasize that. You know exactly what I mean
by that.
Secondly, my office, and I am sure Senator Leahy's office,
gets overwhelmed at times with immigration cases. In my
Congressional office, Social Security was our number one issue.
Now, without question, in my senatorial office, immigration is
the number one caseload that we have.
In the past at the INS, trying to get a status report on
individual cases of constituents has been very, very difficult
and very time-consuming, and the response coming back from INS,
frankly, was delayed in every instance. And I would hope you
would give some concentration to that to make sure that your
people at the lower level out there can be very responsive to
Members of Congress who do make inquiries. Obviously, you have
been there. You know how important it is to these individuals.
And we just need to make sure that they are able to keep up
with the status of their cases.
Mr. Aguirre. Yes, sir. Clearly, our relationship with
Congress will be one of the pillars of our administration. I
will make sure that we are as responsive as we possibly can be
to all Congressional inquiries.
I don't have necessarily a rearview mirror into the old INS
as to why or how things happened, but I do know that some of
our systems are tired and need to be refurbished and need to be
improved. And perhaps that accounts for some of what appears to
be inattention on my colleagues' part, certainly not
intentional. We will work very hard at being responsive, and
hopefully as we improve customer service and reduce backlog,
there will be less people coming to you, sir, looking for
resolution of problems, that they all get resolved under the
normal course of business.
Senator Chambliss. I am sure that will be the case, and I
promise you my staff looks forward to your improving that
turnaround time for these folks.
Senator Leahy, do you have anything else?
Senator Leahy. No, I do not.
Senator Chambliss. I want to introduce Chairman Hatch's
statement for the record, and without objection, it will be
included.
We are going to leave the record open for 7 days. Any other
members of the Committee wishing to submit any statement or
information will have the opportunity to do so.
Again, Mr. Aguirre, we appreciate your being here this
morning, and we appreciate your great service to our country to
this point. And Senator Leahy and all other members of this
Committee, as well as all other Members of the Senate, look
forward to continuing the dialogue and to working with you to
make America a better country in which to live and give hope
and opportunity to other folks the same way that we have all
had, and particularly people like you.
Mr. Aguirre. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Chambliss. Thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 10:52 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
[Questions and answers for the record follow.]
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