William F. Smith: “the Barbara Jordan INS Immigration Reform and Accountability Act, which is supported by the Administration, provides a…”

“the Barbara Jordan INS Immigration Reform and Accountability Act, which is supported by the Administration, provides a long-awaited solution to the problems within the INS. At the end of 2001, the INS had a backlog of 4.9 million applications and petitions. With those numbers, no one should be surprised at the recent mishandling of terrorist visas. In fact, if the INS had been following their own policies, Mohammed Atta would have never been allowed even to enter the United States. For years INS officials have promised reform--but have given us only talk with no action. This bill will provide that much-needed action. H.R. 3231 will abolish the INS and replace it with two agencies--one to handle security and one to handle services. This will not only give immigration security the attention it deserves, but also will improve the quality of services provided to immigrants. No longer will we hear of cases where an immigrant waited in line for 2 days to get a form and was never told that they could obtain it by simply calling a 1-800 number. No longer will we have student visas approved six months after the fact for the very terrorists who attacked our nation. No longer will we have criminal aliens mistakenly or intentionally released. We must act before it's too late. Ensuring we have an effective immigration system is vital to our homeland defense. We must pass this bill today. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.”