Cord Byrd: “as we strive to respond to the new challenges of terrorism, we must be cognizant of the essential component of public…”

“as we strive to respond to the new challenges of terrorism, we must be cognizant of the essential component of public trust. Without the confidence of the people, our efforts to improve domestic security, including our efforts to tighten our border defenses, cannot succeed. To help ensure that we do not undermine the public's confidence in our efforts to secure our borders, we must set realistic mandates--that is, guidelines and time frames that are measurable and achievable. This bill, in two separate instances, sets an October 26, 2003, deadline for the Attorney General and the Secretary of State to meet two separate mandates. Section 303(b)(1): Not later than October 26, 2003, the Attorney General and the Secretary of State shall issue to aliens only machine-readable, tamper-resistant visas and travel and entry documents that use biometric identifiers. Section 303(b)(2): Not later than October 26, 2003, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall install at all ports of entry of the United States equipment and software to allow biometric comparison of all United States visas and travel and entry documents issued to aliens, and passports issued pursuant to subsection (c)(1). A third October 26, 2003, deadline applies to visa waiver countries issuing to their nationals machine-readable passports that are tamper-resistant and that incorporate biometric identifiers.”