[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 4, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      H.R. 5005, ESTABLISHING THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 4, 2002

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, for the past two days, the 
House of Representatives has debated legislation establishing a 
Department of Homeland Security. The need for this important federal 
department resulted from the cruel and unprovoked surprise attack on 
America that occurred in the morning hours of September 11, 2001.
  Let me begin by saying that I strongly support protecting our 
borders; I strongly support protecting our citizens in their daily 
lives; I strongly support the President, in the authority which 
Congress gave him to battle terrorism at home and abroad to protect the 
American way of life. However, I cannot support these protections if we 
weaken individual civil liberties, limit the ability of citizens to 
know what our government is doing in their name, and gut worker rights 
to accomplish these objectives.
  I was very encouraged by the initial steps taken by the various House 
Committees as we began crafting the legislation to implement the 
President's proposal for the new department. Unfortunately, the final 
product of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security bypassed 
much of the early outstanding bipartisan work of the House.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill considered and passed by the Select Committee 
that we consider today does not include many sound and sensible 
provisions passed by the committees with expertise. In addition, the 
Select Committee added a number of flawed and controversial provisions, 
which were neither proposed by the President nor considered by the 
committees of jurisdiction. Creating a brand new cabinet level 
Department of Homeland Security is something that should require months 
and months of research, committee work, and understanding to properly 
ensure initiatives are in place to reduce risk and respond to 
terrorists' attacks.
  These last two days have been very frustrating. Although a bipartisan 
group has tried to correct many of H.R. 5005's shortcomings, the 
leadership has decided not to improve this bill. We repeatedly tried to 
fix this bill so that a nearly unanimous majority could support final 
passage. Unfortunately, that will not be the case.
  Mr. Speaker, there are several troublesome provisions in this bill, 
H.R. 5005, which raise questions as to its ability to secure the 
homeland, its ability to keep Congress and the American people 
adequately apprised of governmental activities, and its ability to 
protect the rights of the department's new employees.
  The House defeated an amendment to protect the civil service rights 
of the nearly 170,000 federal employees who will move to the new 
department. H.R. 5005 also failed to protect federal whistle-blowers 
that might uncover problems or inadequacies in the new department. We 
also have reduced access to government documents for average Americans 
by restricting Freedom of Information Act requests, which are critical 
to our open form of government. We also failed to approve a provision 
to strike an extension of the airline baggage-screening deadline.
  I believe we in Congress must do everything in our power to 
strengthen our borders and take the necessary steps to ensure that the 
events of September 11th never occur again. However, the bill before us 
takes many unnecessary steps in the name of Homeland Security. 
Unfortunately, for these and other reasons, I cannot support final 
passage of this legislation.
  Our efforts during these last two days were not done in vain. What we 
were able to do, Mr. Speaker, is highlight many areas of this 
legislation that must be improved during Conference.
  We tried to protect our tradition of open and accountable government. 
We opposed efforts to gratuitously protect irresponsible corporations, 
including those that incorporate offshore to avoid paying their share 
of the war on terrorism and those who knowingly make faulty products.
  We opposed efforts to retain the President's plan to dismantle civil 
service protections and guaranteeing that the new department will not 
have the best possible workforce.
  We opposed efforts to create a huge, costly, and inefficient 1950s 
style government bureaucracy that will likely take years before it 
functions properly.
  The attempts to strengthen this legislation were undertaken to make 
the American people safer and ensure that those Americans who work each 
day in this new Department have the tools, securities, and worker 
protections in place, as other federal workers, to battle terrorism and 
keep the homeland safe.
  I am hopeful that when Congress reconvenes in September that the 
Conference Committee will return to both chambers a Homeland Security 
bill that is the product of strong bipartisan effort. I believe we can 
and we must create an effective Department of Homeland Security that 
simultaneously protects the homeland, protects workers, and protects 
our basic freedoms and civil liberties.

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