FAIR Legislative Update

October 3, 2001

House Judiciary Committee Leaders Agree on Compromise Anti-Terrorism Package

House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and ranking Democrat Representative John Conyers (D-MI) agreed to a compromise Anti-terrorism package to be considered by the committee today, and by the entire House next week. The House compromise will become a framework for negotiations with the Senate and the administration. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said that the Senate and House bills "will largely complement each other.

The House compromise differs from Attorney General John Ashcroft,s proposal in its detention powers. The House Compromise would allow the government to detain any foreigners (in the country legally or illegally) suspected of terrorist activity for up to seven days without filing charges or giving them an opportunity to ask a judge to release them. After that time, the government would either need to file criminal charges, begin deportation proceedings or release the suspects. Ashcroft,s proposal sought detention powers without any particular time limit by granting the Attorney General the power to detain foreigners until they are deported, as long as they are certified by the Attorney General or INS commissioner as someone who may further facilitate acts of terrorism or harm the national security. The House compromise also differs from the Ashcroft proposal by extending judicial review to certification or detention of terrorism suspects. Such judicial review shall include review of the merits of the decision to certify an alien as a terrorist.

New House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security Gears Up for Action

Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) selected Representative Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) to take the lead on House anti-terrorism efforts as chairman of the new House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security. The objective of this new Subcommittee is to evaluate terrorist threats, American vulnerability, counter-terrorism resources and capabilities across the government, and all matters of domestic preparedness.

Members of the new Subcommittee include: Representatives Jim Gibbons (R-NV), Ray LaHood (R-IL), Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), Richard Burr (R-NC), Jane Harman (D-CA), Gary Condit (D-CA), Tim Roemer (D-IN) and Alcee Hastings (D-FL).

Lawmakers Push for Better Screening and Tracking of Visa Holders

Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) is planning to introduce legislation this week to place stricter controls on immigration to tighten loopholes that contributed to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The majority of Bond,s proposals deal with visas for students and others visiting the United States. Among his proposals:

· Improve visa screening by creating a 30-day waiting period in foreign countries for all visa applicants to allow U.S. embassies and consulates to perform background checks,

· Place bar codes or digital thumb prints on visas that link them to their holder,

· Create a Visa Control Office, a law enforcement agency within the INS charged with locating, tracking, and apprehending visitors who have "deliberately exceeded their visa deadlines,

· Make educational institutions, including flight schools, accountable for informing the INS within 30 days if student visa holders fail to appear within two weeks of classes beginning,

· Establish stricter standards for the visa-waiver program, which allows people from 29 countries to come to the United States without visas. The proposal states that this is in recognition that sophisticated terrorists have the means of infiltrating the U.S. by stealing passports from the 29 visa-waiver program countries.

Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) is considering introducing legislation that would halt issuance of new student visas for six months to give the INS time to put in place a new system to facilitate background checks and track foreign student once they are in the United States. Feinstein was initially planning to introduce her legislation soon, but recent reports are that she may reconsider introducing the legislation.

Amendment to Allow Military Assistance Along Border Passes in House

On September 25, the House of Representatives voted 242-173 to approve a proposal by Rep. Jim Traficant (D-OH) that would authorize the military to help at the border with drug-interdiction and counter-terrorism activities. The proposal came in the form of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2586).

If passed in the Senate, the amendment would grant the Secretary of Defense authority to assign members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps to assist the Immigration and Naturalization Services and United States Customs Service in anti-terrorism and anti-drug efforts.

As part of the National Defense Authorization bill, the amendment has passed in the House the last three years, but failed in the Senate. At a minimum, if approved, the amendment would serve as a force multiplier as the INS begins examining how to fortify the border patrol on the northern and southern borders.