[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 20 (Monday, May 20, 2002)]
[Pages 820-822]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks on Signing the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform
Act of 2002
May 14, 2002
The President. Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you all for
coming. I'm honored today to sign a bill that is an important step in an
effort to secure our border, while promoting trade and commerce. It's a
good piece of legislation. It's bipartisan legislation. And I want to
thank the members of both parties who have worked hard to get this bill
to my desk.
I want to thank Tom Ridge, who's here. Where are you, Tom? Oh,
you're Tom Ridge, yeah. [Laughter] At least that's what some of the
Members are saying. I particularly want to thank Senators Kyl and
Brownback and Kennedy, Feinstein, and Hatch for being here--fine, fine
Members of the United States Senate. I want to thank you for coming. I
also want to appreciate Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner and George Gekas as
well. These Members worked hard on this legislation. I want to thank the
members of my administration who are here.
I also want to say hello to Arlene Howard. Ms. Howard, it's good to
see you. A lot of folks might remember--you can stand up. [Applause]
Thank you for coming. Arlene gave me her son, George's, badge and--as a
reminder of the evil that had been done to our country. You look great.
I remember when I went over to Yankee Stadium to throw out the ball
there at the World Series, Arlene's--one of Arlene's other sons was
there. Where is he? Oh, there he is. Thanks for the advice--aim high.
[Laughter]
I want to thank Peter Johnson, who was George's partner for 12
years. Peter, thanks for coming. It's good to see you. I appreciate you
being here. Thank you, sir.
I want to welcome you all. I was looking at Arlene and the brave
folks here; it reminds me of what was done to us there on September 11th
and how important it is that we remain tough and strong and diligent as
we seek justice, as we chase down these killers, one by one, and bring
them to justice.
And that's a major responsibility of all of ours, and it's a
responsibility we take seriously. The country is united in our drive for
justice. This Nation is determined, and we're patient, much to the
chagrin of the enemy. It must make them really worried to know that we
don't have a calendar that says, on such and such a date we're going to
quit, that when it comes to our freedoms--defending our freedoms and
securing our homeland and protecting our innocent Americans and never
forgetting what happened on September the 11th, we are some kind of
tough. And that's the way it's going to be.
We've got responsibilities here at home as well, and it starts with
our borders. Our borders process an incredibly huge number of people. It
may come as a surprise to some of you, but there's--over 500 million
people a year enter America, and half of those are our own citizens that
may have been traveling. We have 11 million trucks come across our
borders. We have 51,000 foreign ships call into our ports. It reminds us
that no nation can be totally secure or more secure, unless we're well-
protected and unless our borders are well-screened. We must know who's
coming into our country and why they're coming. We must know what our
visitors are doing and when they leave. That's important for us to know.
It's knowledge necessary to make our homeland more secure.
America is not a fortress; no, we never want to be a fortress. We're
a free country. We're an open society. And we must always protect the
rights of our law--of law-abiding citizens from around the world who
come here to conduct business or to study or to spend time with their
family. That's what we're known for. We're known for respect.
[[Page 821]]
But on the other hand, we can do a better job of making our borders
more secure and make our borders smart. We must use technology and be
wise about how we use technology, to speed the flow of commerce across
our borders and to identify frequent travelers who pose no risk. We
should be directing resources to risk. We ought to be routing out
smugglers and focusing on criminals and, of course, stopping terrorists
from coming into the country.
The bill I sign today enhances our ongoing efforts to strengthen our
borders. The purpose of this bill is to help our country do a better job
of border security. It authorizes 400 additional inspectors,
investigators, and other staff on the INS over the next 5 years. We're
adding manpower, obviously. It makes it easier for the INS and other
Federal agencies to get better information about people and products
that come into America. It requires every foreign visitor desiring
entrance into the United States to carry a travel document containing
biometric identification--that would be fingerprints or facial
recognition--that will enable us to use technology to better deny
fraudulent entry into America.
It strengthens the requirements that all commercial passenger ships
and airplanes entering the United States provide a list of passengers
and crew before arrival, so that border authorities can act immediately
to prevent someone from entering the country if he or she poses a threat
to our citizens. It makes a lot of sense to do that. We should have
probably been doing it a long time ago.
These new measures will only be effective if Federal authorities
have access to important information. One of the things we've learned is
how to better share information. Right now, the FBI and the CIA do a
good job of sharing information. Information is getting better shared
from the Federal to the State to the local levels. But we've got to do a
better job of sharing information and expanding information to the INS
and the State Department and Customs agents and throughout the
intelligence community. We've just got to do a better job.
This bill enables us to modernize our communication, so the
information flows freely and quickly. The legislation requires law
enforcement and intelligence communities to continue to develop a list
of suspected terrorists and to maintain that list and to make it readily
available, so that nobody is granted entry into the United States that's
on the list.
In other words, we're beginning to gather information overseas in a
much better way. We've got a vast coalition of nations that are still
with us. They heard the message, either you're with us, or you're not
with us. They're still with us. And we're sharing information, and we
can use that--better use that information with our own agencies here at
home, to make sure that we really button us up, that we do our job, the
job the American people expect.
The bill didn't have everything I wanted. I wanted a temporary
extension of 245(i) in the bill, which basically allowed certain
immigrants, sponsored by their families or employers, to become legal
residents without having to leave the country, so that families can stay
together. I thought that made sense. It's not a part of the bill. I
intend to work with Congress to see if we can't get that done here
pretty quick.
Yet, the commonsense measures will help us meet the goal, and that's
important. It will help us meet the goals of legitimate commerce and
important travel. And at the same time, it will help us keep the country
secure. Basically what we're saying is, this is part of a--legislative
part of a national strategy. Tom's worked on the national strategy. He's
worked with our respective agency heads. And Congress has been a great
partner in this strategy. This is good work.
You know, sometimes in Washington we actually are able to put our
political parties aside and focus on what's best for the country. And
we're able to say, let's make sure America comes--is the first priority
of all of us. And this has happened in this bill.
So it's my honor to welcome both Republicans and Democrats from the
legislative branch of Government here as I sign this important
legislation.
Thank you all for coming. God bless.
[At this point, the President signed the bill.]
The President. Thank you all very much.
Note: The President spoke at 3:29 p.m. in Presidential Hall in the
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he
referred
[[Page 822]]
to Officer George G. Howard, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,
who was killed in the World Trade Center collapse on September 11, 2001,
and his mother, Arlene; and Officer Peter Johnson, Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey. H.R. 3525, approved May 14, was assigned Public Law
No. 107-173.