Political Quotes

“I would like to raise with the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary, an important issue related to restrictions included in the CJS bill that reform the taking and processing of fingerprints by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for criminal background checks. At the outset, I would also like to thank Senator Gregg for his work on this issue, which has been of significant concern to me as chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee. I know it is also of great concern to the ranking member on our Subcommittee, Senator Kennedy. In fact, I chaired a hearing on this issue earlier this Congress and am considering legislation to address some of the very serious faults in the INS's conduct of criminal background checks. I have also raised this issue with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who expressed serious concerns--in terms of both quality and integrity--with the INS's use of outside entities to take fingerprints. Accordingly, I am pleased that the CJS bill will take us away from the current system, although I know that much remains to be done in this area.”