Christopher Shays: “because I believe our country could face a chemical, biological, radioactive, or, heaven forbid, nuclear attack by…”

“because I believe our country could face a chemical, biological, radioactive, or, heaven forbid, nuclear attack by well-organized groups of fanatic terrorists, I rise in strong support of the PATRIOT Act. I believe this bill is necessary, and we have no time to waste. Mr. Speaker, in particular, I want to offer my praise for a section of this legislation designed to ensure the State Department has access to U.S. criminal databases before permitting aliens to enter the United States. Last year, the Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, which I chair, began a series of meetings and briefings to discuss inter-agency data-sharing. On July 24th of this year, our Subcommittee held a hearing on Federal Interagency Data Sharing and National Security. That hearing taught us effective border security begins with our embassies, where U.S. visas are issued. Unfortunately, the State Department currently lacks the ability to access the FBI's National Criminal Information Center's Interstate Identification Index database. That means an alien can come into our country, commit a crime, leave, and get a reentry visa from our State Department or cross the border without being stopped.”