[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 153 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9477-S9478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CITIZENSHIP APPLICATION BACKLOGS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, following Republican opposition to the 
Senate's effort to pass a comprehensive immigration bill last summer, 
President Bush and other Republicans moved on and away from this 
admirable goal. They chose, instead, to accommodate the most extreme 
views in their party with respect to immigration. Secretary Chertoff 
turned to mass immigration raids and building border walls that have 
consumed millions of taxpayer dollars, tread on the rights of property 
owners along the southern border, scarred the environment and tarnished 
the reputation of the United States around the world.
  One aspect of the immigration debate on which I have continued to 
press this year is the backlog in citizenship applications. Last year, 
the administration insisted on a fee increase for citizenship 
applications and assured us it would cut processing time if authorized. 
That increase, along with the increased enforcement activities, and an 
impending presidential election, combined to result in a surge in 
citizenship applications. In just three months, May, June, and July of 
2007, the immigration agency received over 700,000 citizenship 
applications. By last October, the agency had over 1 million 
citizenship applications pending, and a significant backlog had 
developed. Yet the administration did little. Its response reminded me 
of its preparations for Hurricane Katrina or the current financial 
meltdown. The anticipated surge in applications was not adequately 
planned for but resulted in a crisis before the administration would 
begin to notice.
  In early 2008, Senator Kennedy and I pressed Secretary Chertoff. We 
joined, along with Senator Schumer, in writing to the Homeland Security 
Secretary about this problem in advance of our April 2008 oversight 
hearing.
  At the April hearing, I asked Secretary Chertoff for a firm 
commitment that persons who had applied for U.S. citizenship by March 
31, 2008, would have their applications processed in time to register 
and vote in the upcoming Presidential election. Seven months should 
have been adequate to consider these applications, especially when the 
agency had sold the increase in fees to us by saying it would cut 
processing time to less than seven months.
  When Secretary Chertoff sought to excuse his delays by blaming the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, for being slow to clear name 
checks, we made sure to provide the FBI with additional resources.
  At our most recent FBI oversight hearing with Director Mueller last 
week, I continued to raise the issue. At one point, the backlog in 
citizenship applications was 1 million. By this spring, it was still 
nearly half a million. After the most recent oversight hearing, we were 
told that it has been significantly reduced and now numbers in the tens 
of thousands. I thank the agents at the FBI and U.S. Customs and 
Immigration Services, USCIS, for their hard work.
  The monthly updates we demanded have been helpful not only to us, but 
apparently also to encourage progress within the agency. That is, of 
course, still too many. No one who has been here, working hard, 
following the law, who has applied for citizenship more than 6 months 
ago, ought to be denied participation in the upcoming Presidential 
election because the Homeland Security bureaucracy has been too slow to 
process his or her application.
  Now is the time for the agency to make a final push to process the 
remaining backlog of applications by the end of this month so that 
lawful immigrants will have time to register and will be able to vote. 
It is unacceptable that tens of thousands of people, some of whom have 
been waiting for 2 years to have their applications processed, will be 
left in limbo and unable to participate as citizens during the 
elections in November. So there is still significant work to do.
  The Senate took an important step Wednesday night when it passed S. 
2840, the Military Personnel Citizenship Processing Act. I am pleased 
the Senate has given its unanimous support to this legislation.
  This bill is intended to help the Department of Homeland Security and 
USCIS expedite citizenship applications for members of the Armed Forces 
by creating a liaison with the FBI and by setting processing deadlines 
for these applications. Those who serve in our military and who wish to 
become citizens do not deserve to experience unnecessary bureaucratic 
delays. Their dedication to the United States, and their desire to 
become full participants in the democracy they help defend, ought to be 
met with a process that is as fair and efficient as possible.
  The legislation the Senate passed last night will help to streamline 
the citizenship process for the legal permanent residents who have 
served the country they wish to call their own. I hope that this 
legislation will help move Congress toward seeking additional 
improvements in the citizenship process for everyone. The granting of 
citizenship is one of the most sacred privileges our Nation conveys, 
and only comes to those who have worked hard to achieve it. Ensuring 
that it is carried out with care and efficiency is a goal all members 
of congress should support.
  I thank Senators Schumer and Hagel for successfully moving this 
legislation through the Senate, and thank all Senators for supporting 
this measure.
  I commend Senator Kennedy, Senator Schumer and the other members of 
the Judiciary Committee who have worked with me all year in our 
oversight effort to ensure that the citizenship application backlog of 
1 million would be eradicated. Senator Kennedy, in particular, is 
someone who has been unrelenting in his focus on this issue and 
characteristically fought for fairness, dignity and the rights of those 
least powerful among us. Senator Kennedy is our longtime chairman of 
the Immigration subcommittee, and has led the Senate on immigration 
matters for years. He asked me to express his appreciation to USCIS for 
its progress in clearing up the backlog in naturalization applications 
that otherwise would have deprived over a million eligible citizens the 
opportunity to participate in our democracy during this fall's 
election. He asked me to say that the right to vote is the most 
precious right that American citizens have. He welcomes these new 
Americans, and he urges them to go to the polls this November.
  I hope that as a new administration takes office and begins to help 
this Nation rise above the divisiveness, corruption, and failures of 
the last 8 years, we can renew our commitment to immigration reform. 
The answer does not lie in policies based on fear or isolationism, but 
in a restoration of America's rightful role in the world. It does

[[Page S9478]]

not lie in denying children the opportunity for an education. It does 
not lie in denying American farmers and small business owners willing 
workers, nor does it lie in exploiting foreign labor to disadvantage 
American workers. And the answer does not lie in raiding workplace 
after workplace, tearing apart families, or building walls along our 
borders.

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