William F. Smith: “I thank my colleague on the Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) and the chairman of the…”

“I thank my colleague on the Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this global war on terror resolution. The war on terror is being fought on two fronts, both abroad and here at home. We applaud the diplomatic and military achievements overseas, but we also need to remain vigilant here in our own country. Until the terrorists are defeated, Americans will continue to be their targets as long as we stand for freedom and democracy. One of our weapons in the war on terror is the USA PATRIOT Act. That bill, which originated in the Judiciary Committee, gives law enforcement officials and intelligence officials the ability to cooperate during investigations. More than 250 people in the United States have been charged with crimes tied to international terrorist investigations and have been convicted or have pled guilty because of the USA PATRIOT Act. In response to the events of September 11, 2001, we also passed legislation that created a Director of National Intelligence so that all of our intelligence capabilities would be coordinated by one official. We passed the REAL ID Act which contains several antiterrorism provisions, including one that makes certain foreign nationals deportable because of their ties to terrorism.…”