[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 174 (Tuesday, November 25, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15948-S15949]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INVESTIGATION INTO THE LACK OF COORDINATION BETWEEN FEDERAL AGENCIES

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, last week NBC News aired a report 
indicating that suspected terrorists had been granted American 
citizenship or permanent residency at the same time they were under 
investigation by the FBI for their involvement in terrorism. This well-
researched piece reached the warranted and troubling conclusion that 
this occurred despite advance knowledge within the Department of 
Justice.
  The NBC report revealed an alarming and dangerous lack of 
coordination between Federal agencies. The NBC piece parallels credible 
allegations that first came to my attention in January.
  As the chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, to followup 
on these allegations, I have made repeated requests of the Department 
of Justice for information that would allow my committee to assess this 
potentially serious threat to our national security.
  We have a saying up in Maine: You can't get there from here. You may 
have heard it, Mr. President. But when it comes to travel in my home 
State, it is not really true. The roads may be winding, and the route 
may not be all that direct, but with persistence and patience, you can 
always get where you need to go.
  However, when it comes to dealing with the Department of Justice on 
this very serious matter, it seems that you cannot get anywhere. I have 
been persistent, but my patience has pretty much run out.
  The allegations that I received in January were these: In the course 
of investigating foreign-born individuals for terrorism-related 
offenses, the FBI learned that some of these individuals were in the 
process of applying for naturalization or permanent residency.
  FBI agents requested permission to share that critical important 
information with the INS. Their FBI supervisors, however, refused those 
requests. This information has been confirmed by NBC News's chief 
investigative reporter, Lisa Myers, in her thoroughly researched piece 
that aired last week.
  My requests to the Department of Justice for information that would 
define the size of this alleged hole in national security and of this 
possible gap in interagency cooperation have been refused repeatedly.
  I have modified my requests in order to accommodate the specific 
objections raised by the Department. My modified requests have also 
been refused due to new objections or, in some cases, old ones simply 
rephrased.
  Here is a brief travelogue of my 10-month journey in the bureaucracy 
of the Department of Justice: On January 21, shortly after these 
allegations came to my attention, I wrote to the FBI Director, Robert 
Mueller, and asked that he provide the committee with the names, dates 
of birth, INS registration numbers, and start dates of investigations 
of all persons who have been the subjects of terrorism investigations 
from September 10, 1991, through September 10, 2001, in the 15 largest 
FBI field offices. I asked to have this information delivered to my 
office by February 4.
  Well, I received no response at all until February 28, when I 
received a reply from the Department categorically denying my request. 
The primary reason cited was that the Department had a longstanding 
policy of not providing Congress with information about people who have 
been investigated but not prosecuted.
  Among the other supporting reasons were the separation of powers 
and--I am not making this up, Mr. President--a concern that providing 
Congress with information that could help it understand and remedy a 
situation so potentially damaging to our Nation's security could, and I 
quote, ``gravely damage the nation's security.''
  The Department did offer, at that point, to work with me to see if 
there was an alternative. I eagerly took the Department up on that 
offer, and I wanted to try to accommodate whatever legitimate concerns 
the Department might have.
  Thus, my staff talked repeatedly with the Department during the next 
few months to craft a mutually agreeable alternative approach.
  On May 21, I submitted another much narrower request proposing that 
the Department of Justice would conduct its own review, a review I 
would think that the Department would be very eager to conduct once 
this threat was brought to the Department's own attention. Moreover, 
the length of the review would be reduced from a decade to 5 years, and 
the scope would be reduced from 15 field offices to just 5.
  Now, by this time, of course, the INS had been moved from the 
Department of Justice to the new Department of Homeland Security.
  It had been renamed as the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration 
Services. I suggested the FBI provide the results of its internal 
review to the BCIS so it could determine who had been granted 
citizenship or permanent residency while they were being investigated 
for terrorism. Again, I would think the Department would be very 
concerned about the serious breakdown and lapse in communication and 
would be eager to review its own files to quickly uncover the names of 
individuals who might have become citizens or permanent residents while 
they were under investigation for terrorism-related activities.
  After months of negotiations between my staff and the Department's 
staff, I believed I had finally come up with a solution that addressed 
all of the Department's concerns.
  On July 3--keep in mind how much more time has yet elapsed--I 
received a reply. Much to my astonishment, the answer once again was 
no.
  Two new concerns were raised: First, when the FBI and the INS were 
part of the same overall Department of Justice, they could share 
information for this purpose legally; although, as we well know, they 
didn't. Now that they are in two different departments, the Justice 
Department claims the Privacy Act prevents the sharing of this critical 
information.
  The second reason advanced was the FBI simply did not have the time 
or resources to review its own files. Again, keep in mind how important 
it is for the Department to know how many people were in this situation 
where they were under investigation for terrorism and yet received 
either American citizenship or permanent residency. I would think the 
FBI, on its own volition, would be eager to retrieve that information.
  At this point some of my Senate colleagues may be asking themselves a 
few questions, if they have had some experience with congressional 
oversight. First, hasn't the Justice Department many times in the past 
provided Congress with information such as interview summaries and 
documentary evidence related to individuals who have been investigated 
but not prosecuted? Second, does this refute the Justice Department's 
argument about a supposedly sacrosanct longstanding policy? Would such 
a policy, if it existed and were adhered to as strictly as the Justice 
Department now asserts, exempt the Justice Department from effective 
congressional oversight? The answer to these questions is obvious.
  Although the Justice Department would not review its own files to 
discover the extent of this problem and to document whether terrorists 
had been granted citizenship or permanent residency, its officials have 
indicated in writing to me that this likely occurred.
  Let me expand on that point. The Justice Department is not refuting 
the basic premise. In a July 3 letter I received from the Department, 
from which I want to quote, it says:


[[Page S15949]]


       We appreciate the Committee's interest in the question of 
     whether individuals were naturalized or received permanent 
     residence status while they were subjects of foreign 
     counterintelligence investigations and, in fact, we have 
     indicated in conversations with Committee staff our belief 
     that this likely occurred prior to September 11, 2001. We do 
     not have data to support this view, but based upon our 
     knowledge of how Bureau and then-Immigration and 
     Naturalization Services systems interfaced, we do not 
     dispute the premise.

  This is serious. In other words, suspected terrorists most likely 
received citizenship or permanent residency in the country they swore 
to destroy because the FBI and the INS did not talk to each other. This 
is extraordinary.
  During my negotiations with the Department of Justice, I had 
suggested the Privacy Act concern the Department raised could be dealt 
with if the FBI passed the sealed findings of their review through my 
committee which then could, in turn, pass the findings along to the 
BCIS. That wouldn't work, Justice said, because it would violate--you 
got it--their longstanding policy against providing information to 
Congress about investigations that did not result in prosecution.
  If you think we have been driving around in circles, you are right. 
The Justice Department refuses to provide my oversight committee with 
information because of a ``longstanding policy.'' We suggest a way 
around that longstanding policy, and the Department cites the Privacy 
Act. We suggest a way to avoid the Privacy Act concerns, and we find 
ourselves back to the longstanding policy.
  This is simply unacceptable. We know some terrorists and supporters 
of terrorism seek out the protective guise of American citizenship. We 
know a lack of coordination between the relevant agencies allowed this 
unacceptable situation to occur. What we don't know is how many times 
it has happened, how broad this problem is, how many people are 
involved and, most important of all, what has been done to stop it, to 
close that communications gap.
  The Committee on Governmental Affairs will pursue this matter by 
continuing its investigation. I have again written to the FBI Director 
to request the records needed by the committee. I have now focused my 
request on those individuals who were named in the NBC report. It is 
not a burdensome request. It is not an onerous request. It is a request 
that is very specific, time limited, and narrow in scope. There is no 
reason for the Department of Justice not to promptly turn over these 
documents to the committee.
  I want to acknowledge those courageous FBI agents who wanted to do 
the right thing, tried to do the sensible thing, who said: Let's share 
this critical information, when they discovered suspected terrorists 
were trying to become American citizens or permanent residents. It is 
deeply disturbing that in some cases their supervisors did not listen 
to them. It is deeply disturbing that bureaucracy trumped national 
security and common sense.
  I invite those agents to step forward again to make their concerns 
known by contacting my committee. We will listen, and we will act.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________