For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 14, 2002
President Signs Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act
Remarks by the President at Signing of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act
Presidential Hall
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building
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,
Brownback, and Kennedy, Feinstein, and Hatch for being here, as 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 -- you can stand up. Thank you for
coming. (Applause.) Arlene gave me her son, George's badge, and --
as a reminder of the evil the 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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.
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
five 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 this 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 common sense 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. (Applause.)
(The bill is signed.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. (Applause.)