Homeland Security

Another speech – another missed opportunity to level with the American people. Almost five years after 9/11, America is less safe and more divided because of President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld. Enough with slogans and staged speeches calculated to divide here at home while things get worse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and across the Middle East. No more rhetoric while Osama bin Laden is on the loose, homeland security is under funded and our borders are porous. No more speeches from an administration that has shortchanged our soldiers and our veterans. We need leadership that is better at destroying terrorists than it is at talking about terror for political gain.

At this point -- two months before an election, and staged in a hotly contested congressional district -- Senator Allard's immigration hearing is nothing more than an obvious attempt to use taxpayer money to help his party.  This is particularly ironic since the Senate Budget Committee is charged with being a watchdog for taxpayers.
The time for informative field hearings was last year, before the House and Senate passed bills.  At this late stage, field hearings look more like a cheap political stunt than an honest attempt at crafting legislation.  There is too much talking and not enough action on immigration reform.  Both the House and Senate have passed legislation and now it's time to get to work on a compromise bill.

As the deadline for Iran to halt its nuclear enrichment activities approaches, it has become apparent that Iran will remain defiant and continue to pursue its rogue program. This decision is unacceptable and dangerous.

A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat to the United States and world stability. While Iranian leaders claim their nuclear program is "peaceful," unfortunately, they cannot be trusted. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has explicitly called for Israel's destruction and stated "we shall soon experience a world without the United States." Such a leader would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against those he so vehemently opposes.

As the United States continues to explore its options for dealing with Iran, I am pleased the Bush Administration has indicated its willingness to impose sanctions outside the realm of the United Nations. The fate of our nation cannot be left to those who turn a blind eye to Iran's continued defiance of the world's demands.

The United States Senate and the House of Representatives have passed two very different plans to address illegal immigration.  Congress has spent a tremendous amount of time and energy trying to find common ground that could result in a compromise bill supported by both the House and Senate.  Such a resolution is becoming more and more unlikely as the Senate continues to advocate for their “guest-worker Read more...

One year ago today, we watched in horror as Katrina bore down on the Gulf and laid waste to an entire region. Yet as horrific as this storm was, what came next was in many ways worse. Who can forget the thousands of people stranded in New Orleans, waving from roof tops, wading through polluted water and left stranded at the Convention Center and the Super Dome.

The Administration's immediate response to Katrina was marked by chaos, confusion and gross incompetence. The Federal Government left thousands of people stranded in New Orleans for days without basic services or even food and water. The response to Katrina became a great shame for our nation.

In the aftermath of this disaster, President Bush tried to restore people's confidence in his Administration by making many promises of support to the desperate residents of the region. Sadly today, most of those promises have proven to be hollow. Thousands of families are still waiting on FEMA trailers, most homeowners are still waiting on federal loans, less than half of the public schools will open this fall and only three hospitals in New Orleans have re-opened.

While Katrina was not only a natural disaster, the aftermath was a man made one that exposed many ugly truths about how we treat our nation's least fortunate. I was ashamed at the Federal Government's response then and, sadly, I am still ashamed one year later. We must do better.

The United States has an immigration problem.

But it is simplistic to think that we can control our immigration problem simply by controlling our borders.  For years, that has been the line of thinking.  And, for years, we have spent more and more money to reinforce the border.  And, for years, more and more immigrants have come across that reinforced border.  So, we need to do more than apply simplistic analyses to this very complex problem.  Certainly, we need to look at border problems.  But we also need to look at U.S. businesses and their need for labor – both now and in the future.  And we need to look at our need for high-skilled immigrants.  And, clearly, we need to look for a realistic approach for dealing with the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants who have been living and working in the United States for years.

Our Immigration System is Broken.  The root of the current crisis of undocumented immigration is a fundamental disconnect between today’s economic and labor market realities and an outdated system of legal immigration. Undocumented immigration is driven in large part by a U.S. labor market that is creating a higher demand for less-skilled workers than is being met by the native-born labor force or by the current legal limits on immigration. Migration from Mexico in particular has increased over the past two decades as the U.S. and Mexican governments have actively promoted the economic integration of the two countries. As the past decade and a half of failed federal border-enforcement efforts make clear, immigration policies that ignore these larger economic forces merely drive migration underground rather than effectively regulate it.  In short, there is an unsustainable contradiction between U.S. economic policy and U.S. immigration policy, and economics is winning. The problem is not undocumented immigrants, but a broken immigration system that sends the dual messages “Keep Out Read more...

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and I arrived by small aircraft in the 100 degree heat of a Texas summer at a municipal airport near the US/Mexico border.

Harlingen, Texas, is ground zero for the influx of illegal aliens from countries "other than Mexico" (OTMs) and, like San Diego yesterday, has made tremendous progress reducing the flow of human traffic in recent years. Shortly after our arrival we watched as the Coast Guard jet carrying DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff touched down and taxied to the terminal. A huge motorcade pulled up to the aircraft and we were spirited into an oversize van for an immediate briefing and border tour.

Secretary Chertoff is an intense and impressive administrator. He peppered the U.S. Border leadership at our briefing with questions and outlined upcoming strategies with ease. Yesterday, Secretary Chertoff made national news announcing that all OTM's would be subject to the new "catch and remove" policy, ending a long-time policy of allowing illegals to leave custody on a promise to return for a hearing six weeks later. As we left the tarmac, we watched as dozens of OTM' s were escorted to two waiting 737 aircraft for a return trip to their Central American homes. Read more...

From San Diego, California:

The US/Mexico border in southern California is a study in contrasts. Part of the border is a single, rusted wall of corrugated steel. There are clear signs that illegals have climbed over or dug under this barrier. With more than two million residents of Tijuana, Mexico, just a few hundred yards away, this doesn't appear to be much of a national border. Farther to the east, we got a glimpse of the future: A two-layer border fence with video surveillance towers and a patrol road in the middle. It is an imposing sight and, while not completely secure, the new neighborhoods being built just inside the U.S. border attest to the fact that this border is largely secure.

We spent the day touring border areas, detention centers and the largest port of entry in the United States: southern California's San Diego sector. Different from many other areas of the US/Mexico border, this is an area that has seen real progress in border security over the past ten years. In 1995, more than 500,000 arrests were processed in this sector and, after extensive border and personnel changes, that number has dropped to around 125,000 in 2005.

The success of what CBP called "Operation Gatekeeper" is especially important since San Diego is considered the number one point of entry for criminal aliens on the U.S. border. The terrain, population density and numerous transportation options have made this the most attractive arrival point for aliens with criminal intent. Progress here should mean that our families are safer from criminal aliens but, unfortunately, the U.S. border is more than just San Diego.

The discouraging news is that there is evidence that success here has only driven many of the drug and human traffic activities to less secure areas of the border. Read more...

It is time for the United States and the United Nations to call Iran's bluff and impose strict economic sanctions if Iran refuses to meet an August 31 deadline for suspending its nuclear enrichment program. After 11 weeks of delay, Iran formally responded Tuesday to a United Nations incentives package aimed at persuading Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.  Iranian officials offered what they called a "new formula" to resolve the dispute, but they repeatedly vowed to push ahead with their nuclear program.

I have closely monitored developments in Iran as a member of the International Relations Committee and the ranking member of the Terrorism and Nonproliferation Subcommittee. It is clear that the Iranian government has no intention of suspending enrichment by August 31, as required by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1696.

The Iranian tactic is always to offer a glimmer of hope that some settlement can be achieved, and threaten all kinds of counter-measures if sanctions are imposed.  For the past four years, Iran has played that game.  It is high time the Security Council and other concerned countries call their bluff unless Iran verifiably suspends enrichment efforts.

It is time for the Security Council to ready a package of tough economic sanctions should Iran fail to do anything short of a full suspension by August 31.  It also is time for the Bush administration to start using the tools at its disposal.  It is time for the United States to impose an embargo on all Iranian goods, punish any American companies with subsidiaries operating in Iran, and actually enforce the Iran Libya Sanctions Act by imposing sanctions on foreign firms which invest in Iran's energy sector.

The U.S. should remain ready to negotiate with the Iranian government, and we should be willing to offer improved relations with Iran should Tehran agree to abandon its nuclear weapons program and its support for terrorists.
At this point, however, Iran must be forced to take such discussions seriously.  Right now, it is just a game for them.  We should stop playing.

Earlier this year I returned home after serving in the U.S. Navy for 31 years. I decided to run for Congress because the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress are taking our country in the wrong direction. I firmly believe that national security begins at home with the health, education, economic, and defense security of our citizens — securities which have been severely eroded by the policies of this Republican Congress and Administration. I am running to reverse that erosion, and to help establish a new direction for our government and country.

I was extremely honored to be selected to address our nation on national security and world wide security issues. This shows that our message of change in the direction of our national security is one that has resonated in our district and is one that is recognized as resonating throughout America. I believe Iraq was a tragic misadventure and was not a clear and present danger. It distracted us from finishing the work needed to fully secure peace in Afghanistan and undermined our ability to focus on security issues elsewhere in the world. Having served as the first Director of ‘Deep Blue,’ the Navy’s anti-terrorism group after 9/11 and having commanded an aircraft carrier battle group of 15,000 men and women that conducted combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, I know from firsthand experience that we must address the global aspects of terrorism rather than remaining entrenched in Iraq. In fact, for just two days on what we spend in Iraq, we could have 100 percent screening of all air cargo. For five days in Iraq, we can have radiation detectors at all US ports. It’s clear now more than ever we need a change in Washington so we can once again be looked up to for our leadership in the world.