[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                9/11 RECOMMENDATIONS IMPLEMENTATION ACT

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                               speech of

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 7, 2004

        The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 10) to 
     provide for reform of the intelligence community, terrorism 
     prevention, and prosecution, border security, and 
     international cooperation and coordination, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Chairman, in November 2002, Congress 
authorized the creation of a bipartisan 9-11 Commission to prepare a 
report on the status of our intelligence prior to the terrorist attacks 
on September 11, 2001, the effectiveness of our response to those 
attacks, and to make recommendations to strengthen identified 
weaknesses. I applaud the work of the commission and support their 
recommendations to strengthen our country against attacks at home and 
abroad.
  It is critical to our national security that Congress act quickly and 
thoughtfully to implement the 9-11 Commission's recommendations. I was 
hopeful, therefore, that the Republican leadership would put the 
interest of the country ahead of political considerations and bring to 
the floor a bipartisan bill that would protect our country from 
terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, the bill before us, H.R. 10, as 
currently written, fails to meet this standard, and I must reluctantly 
oppose it.
  H.R. 10 is full of extraneous provisions that have nothing to do with 
the 9-11 Commission recommendations. The Republican leadership has 
added highly divisive immigration-related provisions which have been 
criticized by the chairman and vice chairman of the 9-11 Commission, 
the families of the 9-11 victims, and even the White House. For 
example, the bill seeks to deport people without due process, punish 
those seeking asylum, return victims of torture to cruel governments, 
and prevent hardworking individuals from obtaining basic forms of 
identification.
  The serious problems with H.R. 10 could have easily been avoided had 
the Republican leadership written this bill in a bipartisan manner. 
Instead, they removed provisions that were passed in committee on a 
bipartisan basis. At a time that our country is at war and we are 
threatened on a daily basis by potential terrorist attacks, it is 
unconscionable that the Republican leadership has turned the bipartisan 
recommendations of the 9-11 Commission into a politically divisive 
piece of legislation.
  The Senate has proceeded in a bipartisan manner and passed, by an 
overwhelming vote of 96 to 2, an intelligence reform bill that follows 
the framework recommended by the bipartisan 9-11 Commission. It is my 
sincere hope that the serious problems with H.R. 10 will be resolved 
when the final product emerges. Americans are trusting that Congress 
will push partisan politics aside and unite in support of legislation 
that will truly make this country safer.

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