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From: Rosita Choy
Extremely brief update regarding the intelligence reform legislation
(also known as the legislation to implement the 9-11 commission report):
Most of the anti-immigrant provisions of Title III of HR 10 were
NOT included. However the following provisions ARE in the compromise
bill:
1. increase in the number of Border Patrol agents by 2,000 agents a
year for each of the next five years
2. increase in the number of Immigration and Custom Enforcement
(ICE) agents by 800 a year for each of the next five years
3. increase in the number of beds available for immigration
detainees by 40,000
4. The Department of Homeland Security will be required to
establish “minimum standards” for birth certificates and driver’s
licenses — some have called this the first step toward a national ID
card.
Other immigration provisions reported by the Washington Post as
being included in the bill:
1. “increase criminal penalties for smuggling illegal immigrants
and allow deportation of any non-American who received military training
from a terrorist organization” (all words from the Post)
2. “require visa applicants to have in-person interviews”
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Excerpts from “House Approves Intelligence Bill“:
Washington Post, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004
By Charles Babington
The House yesterday approved landmark legislation to restructure the
nation’s intelligence community, creating a director of national
intelligence and a counterterrorism center to better coordinate
government assets and avert the type of intelligence lapses that
occurred prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The House’s 336 to 75 vote puts the long-debated measure on the brink
of enactment…
[The Senate then passed the bill into law that day, 89-2, and adjourned the 108th Congress ? Konrad]Lawmakers concerned mainly about Pentagon prerogatives were assured
that the defense secretary, not the director of national intelligence,
would continue to control spy satellites and aircraft. But those mainly
seeking crackdowns on illegal immigration fared less well, winning only
House leaders’ assurance that immigration issues will be taken up early
next year.
In a 90-minute closed meeting of House Republicans yesterday morning,
the chief advocate of putting more immigration restrictions in the bill
? Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (Wis.) ? implored
colleagues to hold out for a better deal. But with Hastert, DeLay and
others urging lawmakers to embrace the White House-supported bill,
Sensenbrenner could prevent only 67 Republicans from voting aye.
Democrats overwhelmingly supported the measure, with only eight voting
no.
Several lawmakers said the Senate would have had serious reservations
about the proposed immigration provisions, which might have scuttled the
bill. Among Maryland’s eight House members, all voted for the bill
except Roscoe Bartlett (R). Among Virginia legislators, all voted aye
except three Republicans who voted no: Jo Ann S. Davis, Randy Forbes and
Virgil Goode.
The House vote and today’s expected Senate action will save Bush from
the political embarrassment of a Republican-controlled Congress
rejecting a major bill he supports…After the Nov. 20 revolt by House Republicans, which surprised Hastert
and the White House, the administration turned up the heat….”The president and the vice president’s interventions with House
members were absolutely key in moving this bill forward,” said Susan
Collins (R-Maine), the Senate’s chief sponsor.
Although much of the recent debate focused on protecting Pentagon
turf, several House Republicans said the fiercest resistance centered on
immigration questions. The original House version — drafted with no
Democratic input — included numerous provisions to keep undocumented
foreigners from entering the country and to make it easier to deport
visitors who overstay their visas or break laws.
Sensenbrenner repeatedly noted that the 19 hijackers of Sept. 11 had
obtained multiple driver’s licenses, which he said helped them open bank
accounts and board planes. He urged the House to retain language that
would require states to verify the legal status of non-citizens applying
for driver’s licenses.
Opponents, including businesses that rely on low-wage undocumented
workers, state governments and civil liberties groups, said
Sensenbrenner’s proposal would require extensive scrutiny and national
debate. In weeks of House-Senate negotiations over the intelligence
legislation, the driver’s license provision and others were dropped.
In yesterday’s closed GOP meeting, several participants said, Hastert
promised to include immigration provisions in a package of “must pass”
legislation early next year.
Some members, however, said the promise might prove empty. The White
House and Senate, they note, are much less receptive to sharp crackdowns
on illegal immigration than are many House members. “There’s a real lack
of confidence that we’ll get a bill to secure our borders,” said Rep.
Tom Feeney (R-Fla.).
The House vote was a victory for the Sept. 11 commission, whose
hard-hitting 567-page report issued in July became a bestseller and
spurred Congress to hold hearings and start drafting legislation.
Commission Chairman Thomas H. Kean (R), a former New Jersey governor,
and Vice Chairman Lee H. Hamilton (D), a former congressman from
Indiana, lobbied the public and lawmakers to enact an overhaul this
year.
Staff writer Walter Pincus contributed to this report.
