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96–175 PDF 2004

THE HOMELAND SECURITY TECHNICAL

CORRECTIONS ACT OF 2003

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SELECT COMMITTEE ON 

HOMELAND SECURITY 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON RULES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION 

ON 

H.R. 1416

MARCH 28, 2003

Serial No. 108–2

Printed for the use of the Select Committee on Homeland Security

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house
SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

Christopher Cox, California, Chairman 

Jennifer Dunn, Washington 

C.W. Bill Young, Florida 

Don Young, Alaska 

F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., Wisconsin 

W.J. (Billy) Tauzin, Louisiana 

David Dreier, California 

Duncan Hunter, California 

Harold Rogers, Kentucky 

Sherwood Boehlert, New York 

Lamar S. Smith, Texas 

Curt Weldon, Pennsylvania 

Christopher Shays, Connecticut 

Porter J. Goss, Florida 

Dave Camp, Michigan 

Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida 

Bob Goodlatte, Virginia 

Ernest J. Istook, Jr., Oklahoma 

Peter T. King, New York 

John Linder, Georgia 

John B. Shadegg, Arizona 

Mark E. Souder, Indiana 

Mac Thornberry, Texas 

Jim Gibbons, Nevada 

Kay Granger, Texas 

Pete Sessions, Texas 

John E. Sweeney, New York 

Jim Turner, Texas, Ranking Member 

Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi 

Loretta Sanchez, California 

Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts 

Norman D. Dicks, Washington 

Barney Frank, Massachusetts 

Jane Harman, California 

Benjamin L. Cardin, Maryland 

Louise McIntosh Slaughter, New York 

Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon 

Nita M. Lowey, New York 

Robert E. Andrews, New Jersey 

Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia 

Zoe Lofgren, California 

Karen McCarthy, Missouri 

Sheila Jackson–Lee, Texas 

Bill Pascrell, Jr., New Jersey 

Donna M. Christensen, U.S. Virgin Islands 

Bob Etheridge, North Carolina 

Charles Gonzalez, Texas 

Ken Lucas, Kentucky 

James R. Langevin, Rhode Island 

Kendrick B. Meek, Florida 

JOHN GANNON, Chief of Staff 

UTTAM DHILLON, Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director 

STEVEN CASH, Democrat Staff Director 

MICHAEL S. TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk

(II) 
CONTENTS 

MEMBERS STATEMENTS 

The Honorable Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Representative in Congress From 

the State of Florida, and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Rules ............ 4 

The Honorable Christopher Cox, a Representative in Congress From the 

State of California, and Chairman .................................................................. 1

The Honorable Donna M. Christensen, a Representative in Congress From 

the U.S. Virgin Islands .................................................................................... 4

The Honorable Jennifer Dunn, a Representative in Congress From the 

State of Washington ......................................................................................... 5

The Honorable Bob Etheridge, a Representative in Congress From the 

State of North Carolina .................................................................................... 5

The Honorable Barney Frank, a Representative in Congress From the 

State of Massachusetts .................................................................................... 5

The Honorable Jane Harman, a Representative in Congress From the State 

of California ...................................................................................................... 3

The Honorable Sheila Jackson-Lee, a Representative in Congress From 

the State of Texas ............................................................................................. 6

The Honorable Louise McIntosh Slaughter, a Representative in Congress 

From the State of New York ............................................................................ 4

The Honorable Jim Turner, a Representative in Congress From the State 

of Texas, and Ranking Member ....................................................................... 9

Smith ..................................................................................................................... 2

WITNESS 

Michael Dorsey, Director of Administration, Department of Homeland Security ..................................................................................................................... 7

(III) 

(1)

THE HOMELAND SECURITY TECHNICAL 

CORRECTIONS ACT OF 2003 

FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2003 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, 

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 8:30 a.m., in room 

345, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Cox (Chairman) presiding. 

Members present: Representatives Cox, Dunn, Diaz-Balart, 

Istook, Linder, Shadegg, Thornberry, Turner, Frank, Harman, 

Slaughter, Andrews, Pascrell, Christensen, Etheridge, Gonzalez, 

Lucas, Langevin, and Meek. 

Chairman COX. This legislative hearing of the Select Committee 

on Homeland Security will come to order. 

The committee is meeting today to hear testimony on H.R. 1416, 

making technical corrections to the Homeland Security Act. This 

should be a relatively brief hearing. 

Chairman COX. Under committee rule 3, members who are now 

present can make opening statements of 5 minutes. I recognize myself for 5 minutes, although I intend to make a much more brief 

opening statement. 

I would like to welcome the members who are here punctually. 

We are rewarding you by beginning on time. 

Thank you, Mr. Dorsey, for being here, for agreeing to appear before the committee to testify. 

Our Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness and Response 

yesterday held a joint hearing with the Energy and Commerce’s 

Subcommittee on Health, but this is the first legislative hearing of 

the full Committee on Homeland Security. The bill we are hearing 

testimony on will likely be the first legislation passed out of this 

new committee. 

It was just a few months ago that the Homeland Security Act 

created the Department of Homeland Security. One of the principal 

reasons Congress created this Select Committee on Homeland Security was to oversee implementation of the new act and, of course, 

the creation of the new Department. H.R. 1416 is the first important step in this process. 

Whenever a major bill is passed, there are errors and oversights 

that can negatively impact the bill and its administration and hamper or delay proper implementation of the law. This is especially 

the case with the Homeland Security Act which, due to the urgent 

threat against our Nation, was drafted under intense time pres-
2

sure. H.R. 1416 is designed to correct the smallest and most technical and most obvious of these errors. 

The changes made are not controversial in any way. Mr. Dorsey 

is here with us today simply to walk us through these fixes. The 

process of fine tuning the Homeland Security Act will be ongoing 

throughout the 108th Congress. In the future we will be making 

more substantial changes to make the new Department as effective 

as possible, but that process begins here today. 

The Chair now recognizes Mr. Turner, the ranking Democratic 

member, for any statement he may have. 

Mr. TURNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is good to be here this 

morning at this second meeting of our select committee. 

I was pleased, as you were, Mr. Chairman, with the joint subcommittee hearings that we had yesterday with the Energy and 

Commerce Committee. I think it is a very important and timely 

subject that was discussed, Project BioShield, and I think it was 

clear from the hearing that there are questions that need to be answered. We know we need to move with dispatch on that very important issue. So I hope we will have an opportunity as the committee to look at the various options that should be examined on 

the best way to produce the vaccines and the medicines necessary 

to face the very serious threat of bioterrorism. Yesterday’s hearing 

was a good one and a good first step in that effort. 

Also, I am pleased that we have started with a piece of legislation that is constructed in the way I think the chairman pledged 

to us it would be. It is a purely technical corrections bill, and I 

would anticipate that we could move this bill forward with unanimity. 

I also want the committee to know, on our side, we have solicited 

ideas for future hearings, Mr. Chairman. Each of our subcommittee 

ranking members are talking with their members, and we will put 

together a good list of suggestions. I hope you and I could sit down 

and work through those because I know you feel, just as I do, that 

we have a heavy responsibility; and inasmuch as we are in perhaps 

the most perilous time of threat to our homeland security, we want 

to be very vigilant in moving forward on all of these critical issues 

as quickly as we possibly can. 

So, it is good to be here at this second meeting; and I look forward to continuing to work on the very important matters that we 

have before us. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman COX. Thank you. 

Does any other member wish to be recognized? 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman COX. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I just want to acknowledge, as you already have, that this is a 

very auspicious beginning for a great committee, it being the first 

hearing of the Homeland Security Select Committee. I appreciate 

not only the hearing, but the fact that you are chairing this particular committee. 

Mr. Chairman, two comments that aren’t really an opening statement. One is, I know these are proposed technical changes, but it 

might be helpful in the future if we do have testimony and I know 

it might not be necessary today but if we could get advance copies 
3

of testimony in the future, I think that would be helpful to members. 

The second is and this is something we can discuss with your 

staff—I have a technical amendment I would like to see added to 

the list. It involves nothing more than inserting the number 7, and 

we can talk about that in more detail. But I would hope that that 

would be considered by the staff as we move forward. 

I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman COX. Your cryptic description of the proposed amendment is intriguing. We are anxious to find out what it means. 

Ms. Harman? 

Ms. HARMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman COX. Gentlelady is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Ms. HARMAN. I would like to echo some of the comments of the 

ranking member about the urgent need to go beyond technical 

issues in this committee and focus on some of the big ones, and I 

would like to put out there just a few that occur to me. 

As we meet this morning, U.S. troops are approaching Baghdad, 

Iraq; and reinforcements are on the way. That war may take some 

time, and there may well be the possibility of attacks in our country as that war continues. There may well be the possibility of attacks in our country even without the war. I am one who thinks 

we are very vulnerable. But it seems to me critically urgent that 

we focus in this committee on many of the things that we can help 

achieve, such as accelerated disbursement of funds that are already 

at the Department of Homeland Security and designated for our 

first responders. There are several funding streams in place. Some 

of them take longer than others. I would like all of them to take 

24 hours or less. 

That is obviously a flip comment, but my point is I think most 

of our first responders know precisely what they need. Some of 

them, like the city of Los Angeles, are writing their own checks this 

weekend so that they can purchase the equipment that they need; 

and I think we could help accelerate that funding. That would be 

one. 

Second, for the private sector, which has developed cuttingedge 

technology that I think is the key to making much of our homeland 

security efforts successful, we can make sure that they know where 

the front door is to the Homeland Security Department and they 

can get their technology evaluated and purchased if that technology 

turns out to be suitable. 

Third, we can do what I think Mr. Turner mentioned, which is 

expedite consideration of not just BioShield but all the other ways 

in which we can make certain that we are protected from a bioweapon or a chemweapon attack. We read in the newspaper this 

week that technology transfers from Russia to Iraq have aided tremendously that nation’s ability to produce those weapons, and Iraq 

is not the only place producing those weapons. So it seems to me, 

again, that is another urgent area for us to address. 

My basic point, in conclusion, is that there are bigticket items 

that this committee has jurisdiction over; and we have a membership that is keenly interested in them; and I would echo the comments of the ranking member and urge you to move out quickly 

and address the issues that confront our Nation. 
4

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman COX. Any member on this side wish to be recognized? 

Gentleman from Florida. 

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

I waive my opening statement. Thank you. 

Chairman COX. Any other member on this side? 

Ms. Slaughter is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Thank you. I won’t take nearly that time. 

I want to echo what Ms. Harman just said. The area that I represent, just outside of it, is where we are hearing in Federal Court 

now the case of the Lackawanna Five, which have already become 

Lackawanna Seven, apparently, with more to come. It was a fairly 

active al Qaeda cell that worked there, and we really need the first 

responder money desperately. That is the one issue I think we talk 

about constantly up on the border between United States and Canada. I saw a mayor last night who put it most succinctly that he 

is not going to be able to finance what he needs to do for homeland 

security by holding bake sales. 

So I am very pleased to be on this committee and look forward 

to the work and hope that we can expedite some of these things 

for our citizens to give them security and some sense of hope that 

we are getting somewhere with this. 

Thank you very much. 

Chairman COX. Thank you. 

Dr. Christensen. 

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman COX. The gentlelady is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I do have a written statement that I submit 

for the record, and I share many of the concerns also that Ms. Harman already voiced. But, as you can imagine, as I came onto the 

committee, one of my main concerns would have been that the territories be adequately covered; and I am satisfied that wherever 

the word State appears that it does include the territories of the 

United States. 

But the other concern that I had is with respect to the Native 

American areas of our country. I think that there could be some 

improvements that I think would be considered technical to this 

bill, and I would like to be able to offer some technical amendments 

that will clarify this bill with respect to Native American reservations at an appropriate time.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN 

Thank you Mr. Chairman for the opportunity to make this opening statement. I 

am pleased that we are finally getting the opportunity to meet as a committee for 

the first time. Our constituents and indeed the American public in general, are anxious for our work to begin on the very important work of overseeing and guiding 

the efforts of the administration to protect our homeland. 

Yesterday, we joined the Subcommittee on Health of the Energy and Commerce 

in hearing from Secretary Thompson on the Bush Administration’s Bioshield proposal. While that meeting was a good start, we have much to do to craft an appropriate proposal that will fast track the various countermeasures that will be needed 

to prepare, protect or respond in the event of a bio-terrorism attack. As several of 

us pointed out yesterday, it is equally important that we ensure continuing research 

into the antibiotics, vaccines and other therapies needed to address the illnesses 

that plague our people every day, and that we repair and not further exacerbate 

the current deficiencies in our public health system. 
5

Mr. Chairman, as to the bill before us today, which would make technical amendments, my concerns as I began my service on this committee are to ensure that the 

U.S. offshore areas and Native American reservations were fully included in all of 

the programs and protections of the underlined Homeland Security Act of 2002. 

After my initial review of the underlined legislation, I am satisfied at present, that 

the definition of ‘‘state’’ includes the offshore areas, but I believe that we need to 

make some technical amendments with regard to the areas under the jurisdiction 

of the Native American tribes in our country. I would like to offer those amendments at the appropriate time. 

In conclusion Mr. Chairman, I want to note, that in addition to ensuring that the 

Territories and commonwealths are included in our Homeland Defense, I am also 

very concerned that we are not providing our first responders with the kind of support that they need to do the best job possible to protect us all. As was pointed out 

by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, since September ll additional homeland security 

costs impact cities across the country, large and small. Exasserbated by the weak 

economy, which continues to severely pressure the budgets of local governments in 

all our districts there needs to be ‘‘an effective and cooperative partnership with 

Washington on homeland security—and that means direct financial assistance.’’ I 

want to make sure that the Act is clear in this regard as well, 

I look forward to working with you Mr. Chairman and my colleagues in making 

this a reality. Thank you.

Chairman COX. Thank you. 

The gentlelady from Washington is recognized. 

Ms. DUNN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I will be brief. 

I am happy to welcome you, Mr. Dorsey. We are eager to hear 

your testimony and also to welcome Pam Turner. We are very 

pleased that you moved over to Homeland Security and look forward to working with you. 

Chairman COX. Thank you. 

Mr. Etheridge. 

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I won’t take all that 

time. I will be very brief, and I welcome our witnesses this morning. 

Let me echo some of the comments that have been made, because 

I think it is important. 

I met last Saturday at the dedication of the fire department and 

EMS. One of the things they impressed on me greatly, and I hope 

we will pay an awful lot of attention to it not only just in New 

York, Los Angeles and Washington but in a lot of small towns 

where things are very vulnerable, they need the resources to have 

the things to respond with. Because if a catastrophic thing should 

happen along a major interstate or a crossing of an interstate, we 

could have serious problems in this country and not have the ability to respond. I trust we will spend some time there and get the 

resources as quickly as we possibly can, and I hope this committee 

will hold hearings and do things in that regard. 

Second, as relates to one of the issues—a lot of companies in this 

country, private companies, really do want to help; and we ought 

to provide an avenue that they can participate. I know that is not 

what this hearing is about, but I do hope we will make that opportunity available to them. They aren’t profiteers. They are great 

Americans who want to help and make a difference. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman; and I yield back. 

Chairman COX. Thank you. 

Is there any other member who wishes to be recognized? 

Mr. Frank, the gentleman from Massachusetts. 

Mr. FRANK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I apologize for my lateness. 
6

I am glad that we are beginning this very difficult process, and 

I agree that it is important for us to act on these corrections and 

make sure that everything is in order. I hope that will prepare the 

way for us to deal with very important substantive issues. 

One that I want to note that is particularly important is the 

great stress we are putting on the higher education system of this 

country by the dysfunction in the new student visa program. It is 

a new program, and it has been complicated by a transfer of authority. I would like to point out, we would like to protect our borders, but we are talking here I think about harm that is being inflicted on higher educational institutions which is wholly unnecessary from the standpoint of security. 

One of the things that foreign students do on the whole is to pay 

full tuition, and the absence of foreign students would have a very 

negative effect on the financial situation at many of our universities. Those of us who are concerned with the ability of people of 

more limited economic means in America to pay for college should 

understand that, to the extent that we dry up the pool of foreign 

students, we are going to put more financial pressure on the students from America. The foreign students on the whole are a significant source of economic help, but I think it is very important 

for this country to have that flow of ideas. 

I saw the Secretary of State’s comments the other day saying 

that one of the things we will need to do is to repair the incorrect, 

excessively harsh image of America many of them have. Colin Powell is the ideal person to do that. But one way we do that is to have 

young people from other cultures come here and see our country at 

its best at the university level. So I would hope we would give immediate attention in a hearing fairly soon and try to get them to 

fix that up. 

We have a semester starting in September; and, as I said, I just 

hear why spread the stress on universities over bureaucratic and 

other snarls, some of which are inevitable. But I hope we give a 

high priority of straightening that out. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman COX. Any other member wish to be recognized?

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE SHEILA JACKSON-LEE 

One of my priorities is to ensure that the Homeland Security Department has 

adequate funding to meet the needs of its immigration components. At this point, 

we cannot determine the funding levels available to immigration operations because 

of the lack of specificity in funding allocations and the fact that this is the first 

budget that combines 22 agencies within the new department. I note in particular 

that some customs operations have been combined with immigration operations, 

which also makes it difficult to determine whether immigration operations will have 

adequate funding. 

The Department separates immigration operations into two new organizations, 

the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security and the Bureau of Citizenship and an Immigration Services. The success of these organizations, however, depends in part on coordinating the operations of the two organizations. Such coordination receives inadequate attention in the new law and needs to be addressed 

through oversight and practice. 

Equal emphasis needs to be placed on improving service, as well as on effective 

and fair enforcement of our immigration laws. Direct Congressional appropriations 

must supplement user fees to ensure the effective, efficient, and fair provision of 

services. 

Officials charged with organizing our immigration functions and leading these divisions within the new department should understand immigration policy, recognize 
7

the importance of both adjudications and enforcement, and work to ensure the necessary coordination of the separated adjudications and enforcement functions. I hope 

that these officials will be accountable and will be willing to address problems that 

result from this massive reorganization. 

The new law is silent on how our immigration functions will operate at our ports. 

It is critical that those responsible for inspections at our entry points be fully aware 

of, and educated about, the policies and practices of the Bureau of Citizenship and 

Immigration Services. To ensure consistent and fair border adjudications, key responsibilities should reside with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services personnel present at each port. 

Local offices must be staffed by knowledgeable people capable of making crucial, 

often life and death, decisions. These offices must be accessible to the communities 

they serve and operate within a clear chain of command. These offices must be adequately funded because expertise, accountability, and accessibility alone cannot 

solve the pervasive financial crisis and resulting backlogs. 

It is essential that visas be denied to those who mean to do us harm, but we cannot allow the need to exclude our enemies to interfere with the access of people who 

come to our country for legitimate purposes. We must balance our national security 

and economic security needs in recognition that the United States is tied to the rest 

of the world economically, socially, and politically. 

It also is essential that we do not lose sight of civil rights in addressing our security needs. I hope that the civil rights officials in the department are given the authority they need to effectively protect civil rights and liberties. Such authority is 

vitally needed, given the scope and authority of the department. 

I am pleased that the department will have a national and local ombudsmen with 

authority to identify and report problems with recommendations on addressing 

them. This is another crucial function. It will assist in ensuring that the important 

goals of the department are achieved. 

Thank you.

Chairman COX. If not, we will proceed to the business of this 

morning’s hearing. 

I want to join with the vice chairman in welcoming you again, 

Mr. Dorsey, and also welcoming Pam Turner. I want to—introduce 

Pam, if you would stand to the rest of the members of the committee—the new Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs. We 

have a big committee of 50 members. You have a much bigger Department of 177,000 people. So our liaison with you is going to be 

very important. But I think the President and the Secretary are 

very well served, and we are very pleased that you are in this position, and we look forward to working with you in the days ahead. 

Mr. Dorsey, thank you for being here. As you can infer from the 

opening statements of members, the breadth of the Department’s 

responsibilities are matched by the breadth of the interests of our 

members. We do not want to put a burden on you this morning—

we are pleased that you are here in your role as Director of Administration. We don’t want to put a burden on you this morning to 

respond to questions outside the scope of the purpose of the hearing, which is the technical amendments that we are making. We 

know you are prepared on that subject. 

If you would, please run us through these technical amendments, 

which I think we all appreciate are noncontroversial, so that we 

have an understanding of why each of these is necessary and what 

we are doing in this very brief piece of legislation. 

The chairman now recognizes Mr. Dorsey for your testimony.

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL DORSEY, DIRECTOR OF 

ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

Mr. DORSEY. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Congressman Turner, distinguished members of the committee. It is a distinct pleas-
8

ure to be here today as the first Department of Homeland Security 

witness to appear before the Select Committee on Homeland Security. Thank you for this honor and the opportunity to answer questions from the committee on the proposed Homeland Security Technical Corrections Act of 2003. 

The Department has only recently received this version of the 

bill and, as I am sure you understand, has had very limited time 

to fully consider it. As a result, the administration has not yet 

taken a position on the legislation. 

There is new language in the bill. We are evaluating the new 

provisions and look forward to working with your staff on these 

items. I would be pleased to respond to your questions relating to 

technical corrections. 

Mr. Cox, you asked about walking through; and I would be glad 

to do that at this time. 

Section 1 of the bill is just the title. 

Sections 2, 3 and 4 are strictly typographical amendments. 

Section 5 clarifies the role of the Secretary of Homeland Security 

and Secretary of Defense with respect to the Coast Guard, and our 

understanding is that it does not change the roles of the Secretary 

of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security but simply clarifies those roles. 

Section 6 is simply a technical correction to a statutory reference. 

Section 7, the Department is evaluating the language of section 

7; and we would like to work with your staff on revisions to the 

language. We are not prepared to do that this morning, but we will 

be very quickly. 

Section 8 simply corrects the typographical error. 

Section 9, the references in the rest of section 1204 of the Homeland Security Act references the Secretary of the Department of 

Transportation, but this particular section references simply the 

Secretary and then says the Secretary will provide a report. This 

technical correction would clarify that the Secretary reference is to 

the Secretary of the Department of Transportation. 

Section 10 is a typographical reference. There is a reference to 

section 6, and this would correct it to the appropriate section, section 1406. 

Section 11 adds this committee as a committee to receive reports 

from the Department; and, of course, we are glad to cooperate with 

Congress and provide the reports that you are requesting. 

And section 12 is simply the effective date. 

So those are the provisions as we see them, and I would be glad 

to answer any other questions that the committee may have. 

Chairman COX. Thank you, Mr. Dorsey, for your testimony. 

As advertised, this is in fact a very straightforward and technical 

amendment to the act. 

The Chair will now recognize any member for questions on this. 

I should add that, prior to bringing this piece of legislation before 

us to the hearing today, the majority and the minority have worked 

together on this; and I think, speaking for myself and the ranking 

member, on both sides, we were comfortable with what is in this 

legislation. 

Mr. Frank. 

Mr. FRANK. Thank you. 
9

I had a question raised by this particularly dealing with the jurisdictions in the immigration area, which is the area that I had 

the hardest time sorting out exactly what we are doing. One of the 

changes does relate to jurisdiction about immigration, and there 

was a question suggested by some of our staff as to what this does 

to the Bureau of Citizenship. Could you clarify that? Can you explain what the effect of that will be on the division of immigration 

duties? 

Mr. DORSEY. Congressman Frank, that is the area where the administration has not taken a position; and we are looking at that 

language and have some concerns and would like to work with you 

and the rest of the members of the committee to clarify that. 

Mr. FRANK. That language in the bill did not come from the administration? 

Mr. DORSEY. I don’t know. 

Chairman COX. If the gentleman would yield, the purpose of the 

provision in the technical corrections bill is to change references to 

the Attorney General to the Secretary and likewise references to 

the Commissioner of INS to the Director. Because the structure in 

the new Department of Homeland Security does not perfectly 

mimic the structure at the Department of Justice and INS, there 

is an opportunity—the translation is not completely technical, and 

that is why. 

Mr. FRANK. I appreciate that. I do have a lot of people who would 

like me to mimic the Department of Justice, but that is not what 

we are doing here. Do I understand that this then completes the 

transfer of authority over these immigration issues to the Homeland Security Department from the Department of Justice? It 

changes some references—presumably some authority from the Attorney General to the Secretary? Is that in pursuance of completing 

that transfer of authority? 

Chairman COX. It is elsewhere in the statute that transfer is 

made. What we are trying to do is make sure that the statute in 

its four corners is internally logically consistent. 

Mr. FRANK. In the absence of the gentleman from Wisconsin, I 

will make that go easier this morning, I assume. 

Chairman COX. To be entirely clear, there are a number of substantive issues about what is in and what is out of the Department 

of Homeland Security that not only could be taken up but that will 

be taken up by this committee. It is our aim to take up none of 

those issues in this piece of legislation. What we are aiming to do 

now with both the Department and OMB, which is conducting their 

separate review, and our own process here is to purge from this 

legislation—

Mr. FRANK. Thank you. I apologize for bringing a substantive 

issue. I hope there will be a time we can do that. 

Chairman COX. The ranking member is recognized. 

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Dorsey, on this same section, I wanted you to 

take a look at this and be sure that this section accomplishes your 

intent. The Homeland Security Act created, as we all know, two entities that have authority over immigration, the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security, which is in charge of Border Patrol and other functions, and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services is responsible for naturalization and other citizen-
10

ship services. When you read section 7, it gives the Secretary of 

Homeland Security the authority to delegate all authority exercised 

under the Immigration and Naturalization Act to the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security without mentioning 

the Director of Citizenship and Immigration Services. I was curious 

as to whether or not that was an oversight or whether that is intended to be that way. I would ask you to try to take a look at that 

as we discuss the other issues that have been raised. 

Mr. DORSEY. That is the issue we are looking at, Congressman 

Turner. 

Mr. TURNER. Another issue I would like your comments on relates to the technical correction in section 2. As you are aware, this 

section was the subject of considerable debate in the Congress because there were many who were sensitive to the erosion of the 

Freedom of Information Act that potentially could occur under this 

section. This provision, as you recall, allows private companies, private industry to disclose to the Department certain information 

about critical infrastructure and for that information, once conveyed, to be maintained in a confidential form by the Department. 

In the technical corrections bill, it says, the term ‘‘critical information’’ ‘‘means information not customarily in the public domain 

and related to the security of critical infrastructure or protected 

systems.’’ We add, ‘‘insofar as such information pertains to,’’ and it 

goes on, ‘‘any actual, potential or threatened interference with or 

attack on or compromise of or incapacitation of critical infrastructure of protected systems,’’ et cetera. 

I want to be sure that the language that we have inserted here 

in no way expands the provision and ensure that we do not construe the provision any more broadly than we have to. I think it 

is a very important consideration here, considering the history of 

the debate of this issue in Congress, to ensure that companies do 

not utilize this provision to keep from the public information that 

otherwise should be available to them under the guise of national 

security. 

So when I look at the language ‘‘insofar as such information pertains to’’—a question was raised in my mind as to whether language could be—‘‘directly relates’’ rather than the language chosen, 

in order to be sure that this provision is construed as narrowly as 

possible by the Department. 

Mr. DORSEY. I am not here to interpret the statute this morning, 

but my understanding is that we were simply trying to correct a 

grammatical structure of the sentence. We weren’t trying to change 

the meaning of the section itself at all. 

Mr. TURNER. Well, I hope that is the case and certainly want 

that to be the case. 

The other item I wanted to mention in passing is section 5. That 

amendment in section 5 implies that the Secretary of Homeland 

Security has statutory warfighting responsibilities with respect to 

his authority over the Coast Guard. It would be interesting I think 

for us to hear your thoughts on some examples of how the Secretary might utilize that authority I would also want to be assured 

that the Department of Defense concurs with the language that we 

have chosen in this technical corrections bill. Do we know if the 
11

Department of Defense has reviewed this section and concurs with 

it? 

Mr. DORSEY. The administration has not taken a position on this 

legislation at this point. It is being reviewed. I don’t know if the 

Defense Department has provided comments yet, but it has not 

cleared. 

Chairman COX. If the gentleman would yield on that point. The 

reason this is a technical amendment is that elsewhere in the act 

it is made very clear that the responsibilities of the Department of 

Defense remain the Department of Defense’s responsibilities, and 

none of those is being assumed by the Secretary or the Department 

of Homeland Security. 

In the existing statute, the Coast Guard can be placed under the 

control of the Secretary of Defense, although heretofore the Coast 

Guard has been under the control of the Secretary of Transportation. That requires, among other things, a declaration of war 

from the Congress. In all other circumstances, the Coast Guard has 

been under the control of the Secretary of Transportation; and so 

we are creating the perfect analog here. In fact, it was already created in the statute. We are simply making it clear that there is no 

possibility under any circumstances that is ever assumed by the 

Department. 

But, likewise, there is not any question about who is in charge 

of the Coast Guard so long as they are not operating under preexisting statute under the control of the Secretary of Defense. Then 

they are under the control of the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

The technicality here is to ensure that there is no time when the 

Coast Guard is under the control of no one. 

Mr. TURNER. I thank the chairman for that clarification. And, 

Mr. Dorsey, if you wouldn’t mind, please make sure that the Department of Defense concurs with the language we have there. 

Mr. DORSEY. Absolutely. And the chairman is consistent with our 

interpretation of this. This language is not intended at all to 

change the roles. It is just to clarify the roles. 

Mr. TURNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman COX. Does any other member wish to be recognized? 

I want to thank you for your testimony and the members for 

their excellent questions. 

Members of the committee may have additional questions. To the 

extent that members do have additional questions, you may submit 

them in writing; and the hearing record will be open for 10 days 

for these responses. 

If there is no further business before the committee, I will excuse 

our witness; and the Chair wishes to make announcement. Thank 

you again, Mr. Dorsey. 

As you know, we have a markup scheduled of this legislation for 

next week on Monday. I have been working with the ranking member, with our staff and with the administration to find the earliest 

opportunity for members of this committee to be briefed by FBI 

and CIA on the threat assessment that they have recently completed for the terrorist threat to the domestic United States. That 

is apparently going to be possible. This will not be the last opportunity but the first opportunity for members, and we want to make 

it as convenient as possible. 
12

We are trying to do it immediately after the markup that we 

have scheduled on Monday, and I am working right now to see if 

we can’t provide you dinner as part of that. Of course, providing 

dinner in a secure room at the same time introduces some logistical 

challenges for us. The briefing is more important. So, if necessary—

Mr. FRANK. Will we have tasters, Mr. Chairman? 

Chairman COX. Those members who request it may ask other 

members on their side of the aisle to taste for them. 

So we are going to email your offices with further information on 

this. But I think that this is an excellent opportunity for us to 

segue immediately from what has been purely technical to what 

will be purely substantive and get us started very quickly on the 

more urgent business of this committee. 

I want to thank—our witness. The Committee will Markup this 

bill at 3 o’clock on Monday. 

This hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 9 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]

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