The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“REAL ID ACT OF 2005” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E236-E237 on Feb. 15, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
REAL ID ACT OF 2005
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speech of
HON. MICHAEL T. McCAUL
of texas
in the house of representatives
Thursday, February 10, 2005
The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 418) to establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver's license and identification document security standards, to prevent terrorists from abusing the asylum laws of the United States, to unify terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, and to ensure expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence.
Mr. McCAUL of Texas. Mr. Chairman, today I rise in support of the Real ID Act. I would like to thank Chairman Sensenbrenner for his leadership and determination to make America safer through reforms proposed in this legislation.
As the former chief of counter-terrorism in the U.S. Department of Justice for the Western District of Texas, I had jurisdiction over the Texas-Mexican border. I dealt firsthand, with the day-to-day threats our nation faced, and asked the question, ``Why aren't we doing more to secure our borders?''
The House took an initial step toward answering this question when it passed the historic 9-11 legislation last December. Unfortunately, some key border security and immigration reform provisions were not included in that measure. Today we must change that and give our nation more security.
And today we truly have the opportunity to better our border security and political asylum laws.
In 1993 Ramzi Yousef, soon to become the world's most wanted terrorist, arrived at Kennedy airport carrying a fraudulent Iraqi passport and told the INS he was fleeing the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein. He asked for political asylum and was given a summons to appear at a hearing. But instead, this expert bomb maker ignored that order and joined his fellow classmates from the Bin Laden academy to form the first Al Qaeda cell in the United States. On February 26, 1993 Ramzi Yousef and his fellow terrorists detonated a bomb in the World Trade Center. Remarkably, the towers remained standing. They were supposed to fall that day, one toppling over the other killing everyone inside. That day would come later.
Many of those of intent on doing our nation harm claim political asylum as their Trojan horse to gain access to our borders. Yet a majority of those given notices fail to show up at those hearings. We cannot afford or allow another Ramzi Yousef to cross our border. Our laws should not protect terrorists like Ramzi Yousef who hide behind the privileges and rights of political asylum.
This bill will make it easier to deport suspected terrorists.
But we have also seen terrorists take advantage of other holes in our laws. The nineteen hijackers on September 11, 2001 had fraudulently obtained dozens of American visas, passports and driver's licenses, documents used to open bank accounts, establish residency, and yes to fly airplanes. This border security legislation provides the safety measure, that to obtain a driver's license, one of the most commonly used forms of identification in the United States, a person must simply prove they have the legal right to remain in our nation.
For the safety and security of this nation, our families, and most of all our freedom, I urge my colleagues to support these common-sense proposals. The 9-11 commission recommended these ideas,and we owe it to the victims of that national tragedy to pass this legislation. If we fail to do so and another terrorist attack occurs on our soil then we will all be held accountable.
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