[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 25, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H5818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        VENEZUELA AND TERRORISM

  (Mr. ROYCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, last week, the Subcommittee on International 
Terrorism that I chair held a hearing on Venezuela's link to terrorism. 
On May 15, the State Department designated Venezuela as not cooperating 
fully with U.S. anti-terrorism efforts. Mr. Speaker, from what we heard 
from the Department officials, it is not that Venezuela is not 
cooperating fully; it is that Venezuela is not cooperating at all.
  Disconcerting was the testimony we heard from the State Department 
that Venezuelan passports can be forged with child-like ease, and that 
the U.S. is detaining at our borders an increasing number of third-
country aliens carrying false Venezuelan documents. According to a 2003 
U.S. News report, thousands of Venezuelan identity documents are being 
distributed to foreigners from Middle Eastern nations, including Syria, 
Pakistan, Egypt and Lebanon.
  We know that travel documents are as important as weapons for 
terrorists. Mr. Speaker, post-9/11, it is reckless not to view our 
immigration policy as national security policy.

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