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on Terrorism Listen to Senator Durbin's views on:
Terrorism
In the aftermath of September 11, we must continue to protect, defend, and strengthen the United States in those areas where we may be vulnerable to terrorist attack. I will continue to work to protect the people of Illinois and the nation from terrorist attacks, including improving the safety of our food supply to protect against bioterrorist attacks, ensuring full implementation of the aviation security bill, protecting other critical infrastructure, and improving the integrity of drivers licenses as accurate identification. As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I have been appointed to a joint House-Senate investigation into intelligence issues related to the September 11th attacks. Over the next several months, we hope to determine how the US intelligence structure might be improved to prevent future attacks. I supported the Democratic bioterrorism emergency funding proposal, which sought to substantially increase federal funding to strengthen the public health infrastructure, help protect against bioterrorist incidents, and increase readiness and emergency response if an attack occurs. Now the President is requesting a large increase in spending for homeland security and Congress will work with him on these same priorities. I continue to lead the fight to strengthen the federal food safety system to protect against terrorist attempts to contaminate the food supply, and cosponsored legislation providing for the creation of a National Pharmaceutical Stockpile that would include vaccines and other necessary medications to respond to terrorist attacks. As Chairman of the Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on the Oversight of Government Management, I held hearings on airport security immediately following the September 11 attacks. I cosponsored a number of bills to strengthen security at home and protect our critical infrastructure by providing greater security at our nation's seaports and railroads, supplying block grant funding for state law enforcement, and enhancing security at our borders. I am also an original cosponsor of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001. This bipartisan bill would authorize funding to hire and train additional border patrol agents, U.S. Customs officials, and INS personnel. It also would fund and implement a "Smart Visa" system that would facilitate the electronic transmission of visa files to aid in tracking visa recipients from foreign consulates to U.S. ports of entry. The bill fills the gap in information-sharing between U.S. agencies by providing for development and implementation of new methods to do so. This information sharing would help these agencies determine whether to issue a visa, and whether to admit or deport an individual. The bill would also require the Justice Department, in consultation with the State Department, to monitor the admission of foreign students. Schools would be required to notify the INS if a student has not reported for his or her educational program within 30 days of the beginning of the academic term. The INS and the State Department would be required to conduct periodic reviews of educational institutions and exchange visitor programs, to ensure they are complying with record keeping and reporting requirements. Foreign students studying in the U.S. are valuable to our nation, their home country and our world. But we have every right and obligation to make certain they are truly students and pose no threat to our nation. In addition to supporting the additional funding the Pentagon needs to fight the war on terrorism, I have taken action to support Reservists and members of the National Guard who have been called up to fight the war overseas and to protect our airports at home. I cosponsored a bill to provide the same re-employment protections and benefits for National Guard soldiers guarding our airports and nuclear power plants - considered as being on "state duty"- as they would receive if they were on "national" active duty. I also introduced my own bill to allow federal employees who are called up to serve in the National Guard and Reserves to continue to be paid the difference between their military salaries and their federal salaries so their family finances do not suffer from their service to the country. The State of Illinois and many private employers already do this, and I believe this would encourage federal employees to serve in the National Guard and Reserves. I voted for the anti-terrorism bill Congress passed in 2001, which tripled the number of patrol agents along the northern border of our country and strengthened the standards for the issuance of visas. The bill met the nation's law enforcement needs without sacrificing our civil liberties. The bill updated wiretap and electronic surveillance laws to account for modern communication via the Internet and cell phones. By adding sunset provisions to these laws, we left Congress the opportunity to evaluate the effects of broader law enforcement powers in the future before making them permanent. Protecting civil liberties is paramount in America's mission to band together in this time of crisis. To that end, I supported several resolutions condemning physical attacks and discrimination against Muslim Americans and Arab Americans. I held a roundtable discussion in Chicago on discrimination within the community to bring media attention to the matter and to offer my assistance. I introduced a Senate resolution, which became law, condemning bigotry and violence against Sikh-Americans and spoke at a Sikh religious gathering in Palatine to express my support for the community. The terrorist attacks also showed that the United States needs to do a better job of educating our children in areas that will support our national security - especially in teaching foreign languages. Many federal agencies have scrambled to find enough people to fill jobs requiring knowledge of foreign languages and areas that we need in the Defense Department, the intelligence and law enforcement community and even our courts. I introduced the Homeland Security Education Act to strengthen national security by encouraging and assisting in the expansion and improvement of educational programs to meet critical needs at the elementary, secondary, and higher education levels. We need to fill the holes in our criminal justice and public health system. With better coordination between agencies we can stop illegal activity and boost communication on health matters. September 11 brought this issue to the forefront but I have long been working on initiatives to further this goal. I was original cosponsor of successful legislation enacted in 2000 that makes it more difficult for terrorists or criminals to obtain fake IDs, by closing loopholes that allow sale or distribution through the Internet or e-mail of computer software templates and files needed to make fake IDs, and by making it easier to prosecute such crimes. I am currently working on amending this legislation to cover a broader range of criminal conduct, and to enhance the penalties for such crimes. In 1999, I cosponsored the Public Health Threats and Emergencies Act, which was signed into law in a large legislative package in January 2000. The bill strengthened our nation's capacity to address bioterrorist attacks, outbreaks of infectious diseases, and other public health threats and emergencies by giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services authority to take appropriate action to respond to public health emergencies. I also passed legislation, signed into law as part of the 1998 Omnibus Appropriations bill, barring people entering the United States on tourist visas (known as nonresident aliens) from obtaining firearms in the United States unless they first demonstrate that they do not have a criminal background overseas as well as in the United States. |
SENATOR DICK DURBIN'S LEGISLATIVE
AGENDA |