Patrick Leahy: “among the important issues I wish to discuss this morning is an important issue, an international border issue with our…”

“among the important issues I wish to discuss this morning is an important issue, an international border issue with our friends and neighbors in Canada and Mexico, that could have severe implications for the social and economic ways of life for border communities in my own State of Vermont but all across the country. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, a number of new border security measures have been put in place, all with the express goal of preventing another terrorist incident. I worked hard to provide balance and needed resources and to ensure that in the intervening years we did not focus solely on our southern border. I also have tried to convey to the administration and to this body something of the special relationship we have with our northern neighbor, Canada. It is convenient to forget that most of the 9/11 hijackers entered the United States with legal visas. They would not have been stopped at any border. Some were on secret watch lists by this Government, but they were not being watched.”