[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 26, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S10110]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HOMELAND SECURITY

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the importance 
of national and homeland security and specifically to ensure that we 
enact the key legislation that we have under consideration necessary to 
protect our great Nation.
  While we have achieved a great deal since 9/11 in the area of 
homeland security, and we need to acknowledge what we have 
accomplished, and while we are making great strides, there is still 
more left to do. The terrorists we are dealing with are not going to 
cease planning attacks against our country, which is why we are working 
hard to continually improve the national security of the United States. 
The fact that there has not been another terrorist attack on domestic 
soil since September 11, 2001, shows that we have been successful to 
this point.
  To date, we have implemented 37 of the 39 9/11 Commission findings. 
We have enacted 71 laws on homeland security. We have increased the 
terrorist watch list to 400,000 persons. We have disrupted at least 15 
major terrorist plots or potential plots against America. We have 
required that every visa holder be fingerprinted before entering the 
United States. We have frozen nearly $1.5 billion in terrorist assets. 
We have convicted 261 accused defendants in terrorism-related cases, 
and we have killed or taken prisoner a number of al-Qaida leaders 
around the world, particularly in Iraq, including Al Zarqawi, who was 
the No. 1 al-Qaida leader in Iraq; including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 
whom we have captured and from whom we have received very valuable 
information. We have to remember that he was the mastermind of the 9/11 
plot.
  In the area of port security, Georgia has three ports and is one of 
the top five States in the handling of some 11 million containers that 
reach our Nation's shores every year. Georgia plays an important role 
in the commerce of this country, and that is why I am pleased that 
Congress has completed a comprehensive port security conference report, 
which will continue to improve the security of our seaports all around 
America.
  This bill improves a layered security approach to cargo screening and 
scanning. In Georgia, we will begin augmenting the existing cargo 
security detection equipment with radiation portal monitors next month 
to ensure the screening of high-risk containers to stop the illicit 
import of nuclear and radiological materials. This important piece of 
legislation also provides for the development of a plan to ensure the 
successful resumption of shipping in the event of a terrorist attack. 
In addition, it mandates a plan to determine when it is feasible to 
scan containers prior to their reaching the United States. With our 
national security at stake, we will continue the necessary steps to 
protect our citizens and, at the same time, balance the flow of 
commerce.
  In the closing weeks of this session, I think it is especially 
important to ensure that we have the opportunity to take final action 
on the Defense appropriations bill and the Defense authorization 
conference report. These vital pieces of legislation will continue to 
ensure that our military personnel involved in the global war on 
terrorism, as well as our National Guard personnel at home, have the 
necessary equipment and resources to do their jobs. We need to ensure 
that our Guard personnel stationed on the U.S. border can continue in 
their homeland security and defense roles, enhance the efforts of 
Border Patrol agents, and be available to support Governors in the case 
of any natural disaster that may arise.
  The Defense appropriations conference report which we will be 
considering later this week provides $86 billion for military 
personnel, $120 billion for operations and maintenance, $80 billion for 
procurement, and $75 billion for research and development, all to 
ensure that our Nation's military has the resources they need to carry 
out the responsibilities that we as a nation have asked of them.
  I would also like to ask the leadership in both the House and the 
Senate to make every effort to take final action on the national 
Defense authorization conference report this week. It would be a shame 
on our part not to provide these urgent policies and funding for our 
troops who so valiantly are defending our Nation today.
  In closing, I would like to remind my colleagues what is at stake as 
we consider these bills and urge them to work to pass legislation this 
week in support of our Armed Forces. In Iraq, the combined coalition on 
Iraqi operations continues to target and eliminate al-Qaida operations. 
Since August 30, over 150 operations have been conducted, resulting in 
66 terrorists being killed and over 830 suspected terrorists being 
detained. On September 12 alone, there was a series of 25 raids in and 
around Baghdad targeting al-Qaida and Iraqi activities. These raids 
resulted in the capture of over 70 suspected terrorists, including an 
associate of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the new head of al-Qaida in Iraq. The 
associate was a leader of assassination, kidnapping, and I.E.D cells in 
Baghdad. Iraqi and coalition forces continue to make tremendous 
progress in clearing suspect buildings, seizing weapons, moving trash 
out of neighborhoods, improving electricity, wastewater disposal, and 
educational opportunities for the Iraqi people.
  On the military front, by the end of this month the Iraqi Ground 
Forces Command, which recently became operational, will assume control 
of a second Iraqi Army division. And later this month, the Government 
of Iraq plans to assume control of the Dhi Qar Province. These are the 
activities that we are funding and supporting by doing our job in the 
Senate. I commend the work of our military personnel, the 
Appropriations Committee, and the Armed Services Committee for 
completing these bills, and I urge my colleagues to adopt them 
expeditiously.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Hampshire is 
recognized.

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