[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1960]
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. KEVIN BRADY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 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:

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this 
measure which would reform and improve our security and intelligence 
structure.
  The Houston area, of which I represent part of, meets every single 
criteria for critical infrastructure terrorist targets--14 of 14--we 
are a perfect storm of terrorist targets. Texas shares about half of 
its borders with International interests--Mexico and The Gulf of 
Mexico--leaving us even more vulnerable and facing some unique security 
needs.
  Houston and surrounding areas are ripe for trade, are magnets for the 
petrochemical industry, have been thriving agriculture regions and 
remain the center of activities for the energy, banking and many other 
industries. We have ports and airports large and small, NASA, many 
tourist attractions, and an environment that invites businesses large 
and small. All these things make our area wonderful to live in but at 
the same time make it a higher potential target for terrorism and 
disasters. Greater risk area because of our size, population, not only 
in urban core but also in outlying areas geographically and population 
density.
  H.R. 10 is about protecting our interests at home and abroad and 
protecting our way of life. It would be irresponsible to not act. I'd 
like to take a few minutes to talk about a few provisions in this bill 
which I think are particularly important:
  Taking serious action to strengthen our borders--doubling border 
patrol agents--trippling immigration agents.
  To seriously restructure our intelligence community and truly making 
the way we do business more intelligent.
  Sending more targeted First Responder grants to where the real 
threats are and supporting the folks on the ground who are our own 
front line. Our colleges and community colleges and first responders 
throughout the state and their ability to quickly respond to local 
needs make our area an excellent model for delivery of training.
  Treating terrorists like terrorists and not giving them free U.S. 
vacation visas and asylum.
  Cracking down on terrorists--whether acting alone or state sponsored 
or some guerrilla regime--knocking the wind from their sails and taking 
our country--our way of life--back.
  We stand for freedom and democracy and terrorism targets these 
values--the things this nation hold most dearly. We need to act now to 
protect our families and our way of life.

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