[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 108 (Monday, July 21, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2004 AND 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 15, 2003

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1950) to 
     authorize appropriations for the Department of State for the 
     fiscal years 2004 and 2005, to authorize appropriations under 
     the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act of 
     1961 for security assistance for fiscal years 2004 and 2005, 
     and for other purposes:

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition to the 
Hostettler/Gallegly amendment. The purpose of this amendment is to 
require the Secretary of the Department of State to regulate the 
issuance of consular identification cards by foreign missions in the 
United States. It directs the Secretary to issue regulations requiring 
foreign missions to issue consular identification cards only to bona 
fide nationals of the issuing country, to maintain accurate records of 
all such cards issued, to require recipients of such cards to notify 
the missions of address changes, to notify the Secretary of each such 
card issued in the United States, and to make records of such cards 
available for audit and review by the State Department at the 
Secretary's request.
  In other words, this amendment would require the State Department to 
decide what the consulates of other countries can and cannot do with 
respect to consular identification documents, above and beyond existing 
law. On the face of it, this is not a good idea. Do we want other 
countries to do the same to us? Do we want other countries to tell our 
consulates how they can relate to our own citizens abroad?
  In fact, although this amendment would apply to all consulate offices 
in the United States, it is apparent that the objective of the 
amendment is to regulate the issuance of a particular consular 
document, the Matricula Consular issued by the Mexican consulates. The 
Mexican consulates issue these cards to create an official record of 
its citizens in other countries. The Matricula is legal proof of such 
registration. This registration facilitates access to protection and 
consular services because the certificate is evidence of Mexican 
nationality. It does not provide immigrant status of any kind, and it 
cannot be used for travel, employment, or driving in the United States 
or in Mexico. The Matricula only attests that a Mexican consulate has 
verified the individual's identity.
  This amendment would interfere with the rights of Mexico and other 
sovereign nations to issue whatever identification cards they want to 
issue to their citizens abroad, provided that they meet the 
requirements of the Vienna Convention. Under that convention, consular 
function is established as ``performing any other functions entrusted 
to a consular post which are not prohibited by the laws and regulations 
of the receiving State.'' There is no United States Federal law that 
forbids the issuance of consular identification cards. In fact, the 
Treasury Department has issued regulations under Section 326 of the 
PATRIOT ACT that would allow financial institutions to accept consular 
identification cards as valid forms of identification for the purpose 
of opening accounts.
  The responsibility for carrying out the mandates of this amendment 
would fall on the State Department, but the State Department has an 
Interagency Working Group that is already working to address the issue 
of consular identification cards. The Mexican consulates have been 
issuing Matriculas for more than 130 years. We can wait a while longer 
to give the State Department an opportunity to formulate new policies 
on the basis of the report from that Interagency Working Group.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

                          ____________________