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27–442 PDF 2006

S. HRG. 109–390

CONFIRMATION HEARING ON THE NOMINATIONS

OF JAMES O’GARA, TO BE DEPUTY DIRECTOR

FOR SUPPLY REDUCTION, OFFICE OF NATIONAL

DRUG CONTROL POLICY; JULIE MYERS, TO

BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR IMMIGRATION

AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT

OF HOMELAND SECURITY; AND EMILIO GONZALEZ, TO BE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU

OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES,

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

OCTOBER 18, 2005

Serial No. J–109–41

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

(

(II)

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania, Chairman 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa 

JON KYL, Arizona 

MIKE DEWINE, Ohio 

JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama 

LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina 

JOHN CORNYN, Texas 

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts 

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware 

HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin 

CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York 

RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois 

DAVID BROG, Staff Director 

MICHAEL O’NEILL, Chief Counsel 

BRUCE A. COHEN, Democratic Chief Counsel and Staff Director 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS 

Page

Cornyn, Hon. John, a U.S. Senator from the State of Texas ............................... 1

Grassley, Hon. Charles E., a U.S. Senator from the State of Iowa, prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 216

Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont, prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 218

PRESENTERS 

Martinez, Hon. Mel, a U.S. Senator from the State of Florida presenting 

Emilio Gonzalez, Nominee to be Director of the Bureau of Citizenship 

and Immigration Services ................................................................................... 2

Ros-Lehtinen, Hon. Ileana, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Florida presenting Emilio Gonzalez, Nominee to be Director of the Bureau 

of Citizenship and Immigration Services ........................................................... 3

STATEMENTS OF THE NOMINEES 

Gonzalez, Emilio, Nominee to be Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and 

Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security ............................... 53

Questionnaire .................................................................................................... 54

Myers, Julie, Nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security .................................... 19

Questionnaire .................................................................................................... 20

O’Gara, James, Nominee to be Deputy Director for Supply Reduction, Office 

of National Drug Control Policy .......................................................................... 5

Questionnaire .................................................................................................... 6

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

Responses of James O’Gara to questions submitted by Senators Biden, Grassley, Kennedy and Leahy ...................................................................................... 75

Responses of Julie Myers to questions submitted by Senators Grassley, Kennedy, Kyl, Leahy and Schumer ........................................................................... 167

Responses of Emilio Gonzalez to questions submitted by Senator Kennedy ...... 214

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 

Roberts, Hon. Pat, a U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas, statement 

in support of Julie Myers, Nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement ........................................................................... 225

Ros-Lehtinen, Hon. Ileana, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Florida in support of Emilio Gonzalez, Nominee to be Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, prepared statement ............... 226 

(1)

NOMINATIONS OF JAMES O’GARA, TO BE DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR SUPPLY REDUCTION, 

OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY; JULIE MYERS, TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS 

ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; AND EMILIO GONZALEZ, 

TO BE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2005 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:31 p.m., in room–

226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Cornyn presiding. 

Present: Senators Cornyn, Coburn, and Leahy. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN CORNYN, A U.S. 

SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS 

Senator CORNYN. [Presiding] The Committee will come to order. 

I want to thank Chairman Specter for scheduling today’s hearing. This hearing involves three very important positions, and this 

is the first step to getting those positions filled. If confirmed, each 

of these nominess will fill a vital position in our Government, and 

I hope we can get these nominations voted out of the Committee 

in the near term and to the Senate floor as soon as possible. 

The Homeland Security nominations are particularly relevant in 

light of the hearing held this morning by Chairman Specter, which 

concerned the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. And of 

course the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and 

the Secretary of the Department of Labor, Secretary Chao, testified. At that hearing we heard about the need to restore integrity 

and the rule of law to the U.S. immigration system. And while 

there is a growing consensus that the system is badly broken, there 

is not yet a consensus on the path ahead. 

What we can all agree upon is that if these nominees are confirmed, that they will play critical roles in implementing the reforms that Congress adopts and in evaluating any proposal from 

the standpoint of the resources and capabilities of the Department 

to respond to Congress’s mandate. 

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With that background, I look forward to discussing with each of 

the nominees the challenges that they would face as well as the 

role that immigration reform will play in either hurting or helping 

your respective agencies’ abilities to accomplish their missions. 

What I want to do is say a few words about Ms. Myers by way 

of introduction, then I would like to recognize my colleagues, Senator Martinez and Ms. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, to say a few words 

about Mr. Gonzalez. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s mission—ICE—is to 

prevent acts of terrorism by targeting the people, money, and materials that support terrorists and criminal activities. This is the 

largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. 

If confirmed as Assistant Secretary for ICE, Ms. Julie Myers would 

oversee a budget of several billion dollars and manage approximately 20,000 employees. She would be responsible for coordinating a wide range of enforcement efforts, including alien smuggling, financial crimes, and the apprehension, detention, and removal of illegal aliens. 

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee recently approved the nomination of Ms. Myers to be Assistant Secretary. Ms. Myers’s nomination is supported by the Fraternal Order of Police and by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. She also has the support of Senator Warner, the 

former Secretary of the Navy and the current chair of the Senate 

Armed Services Committee, as well as Larry Thompson, the former 

Deputy Attorney General of the United States. 

Ms. Myers has served as a senior official within the administration for the past 5 years. Her professional experience includes both 

work as a prosecutor and manager over several sections within the 

Department of Treasury’s Office of Enforcement. As Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Treasury, she supervised both 

the counter-narcotics and international money laundering sections 

of the Department of Treasury. She then worked as the Assistant 

Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Department of Commerce, 

where she oversaw a law enforcement agency whose mission is to 

combat the illegal export of sensitive U.S. technology. She has also 

served as chief of staff to Secretary Chertoff when he was at the 

Criminal Division at the Department of Justice. 

As I indicated, I would now like to recognize my colleague, Senator Martinez, for any introductory comments he would care to 

make. 

PRESENTATION OF EMILIO GONZALEZ, NOMINEE TO BE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, BY 

HON. MEL MARTINEZ, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF 

FLORIDA 

Senator MARTINEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a real honor 

and privilege to be here with you today, and thank you for allowing 

me a few moments to share with you the great honor I feel in being 

here today to introduce my good friend Emilio Gonzalez to the 

Committee. The President has chosen a great person to lead our 

Nation’s Citizenship and Immigration Services. Emilio Gonzalez 

3

will bring a great deal of depth of international and domestic policy 

experience to this position. 

His dedication to our Nation began early in his life when, many 

years ago, as a young man, he enlisted in the military, in the 

United States Army, making the rank of colonel. As the Director 

for Western Hemisphere Affairs for President Bush, he served as 

a key national security advisor and trusted advisor to both President Bush and Dr. Condoleezza Rice, who served as National Security Advisor at the time. I mention this point out of the fact that 

Mr. Gonzalez, through his hard work, has already earned the trust 

of the President and his key advisors and will be able to hit the 

ground running in this very, very important position. 

As an immigrant to this country himself, Mr. Gonzalez and I 

share a common heritage, both of us immigrating here from Cuba 

at early ages. I understand from my own life experience that he 

understands the meaning and the value of a United States citizenship, the meaning and the value of what it means to live in a society that is free and that is open and, at the same time, also understands the national secretary requirements that go hand in hand 

with immigration and citizenship policies. He will know how to balance this important responsibility with compassion and understanding. Emilio is a man of character and competence. He is also 

a man committed to his faith and to his wonderful family that is 

here with him today. 

We are currently debating and discussing, as the Chair pointed 

out, the very important issue of immigration reform. Our country 

is at a point where we need to address the immigration issue in 

a way that recognizes the economic contributions that immigrants 

are making and have made to this country, while at the same time 

also balancing the very important need for strong border enforcement and the enforcement of the rule of law. 

I know that Emilio, a colleague during our time in the administration and also a friend of mine, will serve our country well in this 

position and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to join me in a 

swift confirmation of Mr. Gonzalez to this very important post. 

Thank you. 

Senator CORNYN. Thank you, Senator Martinez. 

Representative Ros-Lehtinen, we will be glad to hear from you. 

PRESENTATION OF EMILIO GONZALEZ, NOMINEE TO BE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, BY 

HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA 

Representative ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much. Thank you, 

Mr. Chairman and thank you to my dear friend, the good doctor. 

I have had the privilege of serving with him in the House. He ignored me then, too. 

[Laughter.] 

Representative ROS-LEHTINEN. I am so pleased to be here today 

with our wonderful Senator from the State of Florida, Mel Martinez, to support a constituent of my Congressional district and a 

dear friend, Dr. Emilio Gonzalez, in his nomination to the position 

4

of Director of Bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

at the Department of Homeland Security. 

As you heard from Senator Martinez, throughout his professional 

career Dr. Gonzalez has remained committed to protecting and defending our National security. He completed a distinguished military career with the rank of colonel, spanning nearly three decades 

in the U.S. Army, and is considered one of the most accomplished 

foreign area officers in the Department of Defense. Dr. Gonzalez 

also served as Director of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council during President George W. Bush’s first administration. And it is in this capacity that he served as a key national security and foreign policy advisor to President Bush and to 

then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. So clearly, Dr. 

Gonzalez’s experience is beyond that of an average nominee. 

His predecessor, the current U.S. Ambassador to Spain Eduardo 

Aguirre, made significant and measurable progress at the Agency 

toward eliminating the immigration backlog, improving customer 

service, and enhancing national security. I am certain that Dr. 

Gonzalez will not only continue in Ambassador Aguirre’s tradition 

of excellence but that he will propel the Department of Homeland 

Security to new heights by bringing his expertise in foreign affairs, 

his knowledge of international security policy issues, and his unwavering professionalism to the position of Director of the Bureau 

of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

President Bush has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to 

nominating outstanding members of the Hispanic community to 

Federal posts and he continues to do so by recommending an individual, Emilio Gonzalez, who is so devoted to protecting our precious homeland. So it is therefore my honor to join President Bush 

and my friend Senator Martinez in offering my utmost support for 

Dr. Emilio Gonzalez—a gentleman, a scholar, and a true patriot. 

And he is joined here today by his wife, Gloria, and his daughters 

Gigi and Vicki. It is a pleasure to have them here. 

Thank you, Emilio. 

Thank you, Senators. 

Senator CORNYN. Thank you very much for those introductions. 

I know members of Congress on both sides of the Capitol have a 

lot of conflicting commitments, so we will be glad to excuse you if 

you will then let us proceed now. 

As our colleagues leave, let me say a few words by way of introduction about the third nominee, who has been nominated to be 

Deputy Director for Supply Reduction at the Office of National 

Drug Control Policy, Mr. James O’Gara. 

Mr. O’Gara is the President’s nominee to be the Director for Supply Reduction for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. This 

position is charged with implementing the President’s national 

drug control strategy in the area of supply reduction. If confirmed, 

Mr. O’Gara will focus his efforts on disrupting the market for illegal drugs in the United States and abroad by working with his 

counterparts at other agencies, including the departments of State, 

Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, and Treasury, as well as the 

Central Intelligence Agency. 

Mr. O’Gara currently serves as Special Assistant to the Director 

of National Drug Control Policy and is responsible for advising the 

5

Director on matters of intelligence, interdiction, and international 

affairs. For the last 4 years, Mr. O’Gara has been the principal 

drafter of the President’s national drug control strategy, with responsibility for soliciting input from Congress, executive agencies, 

State and local governments, as well as the private sector, in the 

development of the strategy. He is also a former Judiciary staff 

member for Senator Hatch. And we won’t hold that against you. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CORNYN. I know Senator Leahy is going to be here in 

just a moment, the Ranking Member, but I would be happy to recognize Senator Coburn if he has any preliminary remarks he would 

care to make. 

Senator COBURN. I don’t have an opening statement, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator CORNYN. Thank you, Dr. Coburn. 

May I please ask the nominees each to come forward and have 

a seat. And if you will, before you sit down, raise your right hand 

and repeat after me. 

I, James O’Gara, Julie Myers, Emilio Gonzalez, do solemnly 

swear that I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 

the truth, so help me God. 

Thank you very much. Please have a seat. 

Mr. O’Gara, you are the first nominee up, and we will be glad 

to hear any opening remarks that you would care to make. 

STATEMENT OF JAMES O’GARA, NOMINEE TO BE DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR SUPPLY REDUCTION, OFFICE OF NATIONAL 

DRUG CONTROL POLICY 

Mr. O’GARA. Thank you very much, Chairman Cornyn. Senator 

Coburn. I would like to thank Chairman Specter and Ranking 

Member Leahy for holding this hearing today. 

I would like to thank the President and Director Walters for giving me this opportunity to be part of the team that is helping to 

drive down drug use in the United States—17 percent, over the 

past 3 years, reductions among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. The 

Office of Drug Control Policy, where I serve, is in fact a creation 

of this very Committee. I would like to thank Senator Hatch, whose 

quick action during the 1990’s saved the office from elimination, 

and I would also like to thank Senator Biden for his intellectual 

authorship of the law that created the Office in the first place. 

From my time at the Drug Enforcement Administration to the 

Committee staff that you alluded to, to my time at ONDCP, I 

learned that when we push back against the drug problem, we can 

make it smaller. My focus, if confirmed, will be our international 

drug control efforts in Colombia and the Andes, in the Transit 

Zone, in Mexico and Afghanistan. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I look forward to 

answering your questions. 

[The biographical information of Mr. O’Gara follows.]

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Senator CORNYN. Thank you, Mr. O’Gara. 

Ms. Myers, we will now turn to you for any opening statement 

you care to make. 

STATEMENT OF JULIE MYERS, NOMINEE TO BE ASSISTANT 

SECRETARY FOR IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

Ms. MYERS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Coburn. I am 

honored to appear before you today. 

I want to begin by thanking the President for his faith in me and 

for nominating me for this position. I also want to thank Secretary 

Chertoff, with whom I’ve had the privilege of working with in the 

past and, if confirmed, I would look forward to working with again. 

ICE is a tremendous agency. I know this because I have worked 

with the agents first-hand, as an Assistant United States Attorney, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Treasury Department, as chief 

of staff for the Criminal Division, and most recently, as Assistant 

Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Commerce Department. I 

have seen first-hand what ICE can do, but there is much more that 

must be done. 

If confirmed, here is my vision for ICE: 

First, to echo the Secretary’s comments this morning, ICE must 

effectively engage in interior enforcement and removal of aliens. I 

hope very much that Congress passes comprehensive immigration 

reform. But if confirmed, I will not wait for that to begin enforcing 

all the laws on the books and streamlining our removal processes. 

Second, part of the reason that the Department of Homeland Security was created was to connect the dots to ensure that we were 

harnessing all available intelligence. If confirmed, I would work to 

make sure that ICE is using all the intelligence data bases that it 

has, all the information that it has to track those who want to 

harm our country. 

Third, I would work to expand ICE’s great work in terms of strategic investigations and financial investigations. They have done 

great things there in the Cornerstone Program and others, but 

much more must be done. 

And finally, but very importantly, I would work on Agency-building to build a new ICE culture. Much must be done in the way of 

building morale, improving infrastructure both financial and otherwise to make ICE into the truly great agency it will become. 

I thank the Committee for its consideration of my nomination, 

and I will be pleased to answer any questions that you have. 

[The biographical information of Ms. Myers follows.]

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Senator CORNYN. Thank you, Ms. Myers. 

Dr. Gonzalez? 

STATEMENT OF EMILIO GONZALEZ, NOMINEE TO BE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION 

SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

Mr. GONZALEZ. Thank you, Senator Cornyn. 

I would like to thank Chairman Specter, Ranking Member 

Leahy, and other members of the Committee for allowing me the 

opportunity to appear before you today as you consider the President’s nomination of me to be the next Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. And I also want to thank you for 

affording me such an expeditious hearing date. In addition, I would 

like to thank President Bush and Secretary Chertoff for the trust 

and confidence that they have placed in me to lead U.S. CIS. 

I would also like to acknowledge and thank my wife of 27 years, 

Gloria, and my daughters Gloria and Victoria, who flew up from 

Florida to be with me today. 

I also want to thank Senator Mel Martinez and Ileana RosLehtinen for their kind introductions. Both are dear friends who 

have served this great Nation with honor and distinction, and their 

public praise, particularly in this special setting, means more to me 

than they will ever know. 

I am humbled by the opportunity to be here, in part because I 

am a product of the U.S. immigration system. My parents came to 

this country in 1961 fleeing the horrors of Fidel Castro’s rule in 

Cuba. Immigration is not new to my family. My grandfather left 

his home in Spain in the early 1900’s, so therefore I am the third 

generation of my family to have lived in as many countries. 

My parents arrived in Tampa, Florida, with little more than the 

clothes on their backs but with high hopes for a better future for 

their then-7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son—a son who sits 

before you today. I am and always will be an immigrant, an American not by birth but by choice. For me, the President’s nomination 

to be Director of U.S. CIS is more than just an honor. It is an opportunity to return to a life dedicated to public service that began 

when I was 20 years old and commissioned as 2nd lieutenant in 

the United States Army. For almost three decades I served in a variety of roles that included troop leader, staff officer, intelligence 

analyst, intelligence collector, instructor, military attache, personnel manager, regional specialist and policy advisor. I later 

served on the President’s National Security Council. 

Should I be confirmed, I would look forward to bringing my leadership skills, understanding of national security, and my own personal immigrant experience to bear on the issues that lay before 

U.S. CIS and the Department of Homeland Security. 

For the sake of brevity, I will end it here, Senator, and I will 

submit the remainder of my remarks for the record. 

Senator CORNYN. Without objection. 

[The biographical information of Mr. Gonzalez follows.]

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Senator CORNYN. Very good. We will proceed now with the 

rounds of questioning, although given the fact that there are only 

two of us here, we will take a little bit of liberty with that. As I 

always tell nominees, the fact that we don’t have a full phalanx of 

Senators up here is not necessarily bad news. Some might regard 

it as good news. 

But let me begin first with Ms. Myers, we have heard an awful 

lot of testimony, and you alluded to it in your comments, about the 

expedited removal program, this morning from Secretary Chertoff. 

I was delighted to hear him say that it had to end—the catch-andrelease program, that is—and that we had to make sure that the 

deterrence effect of expedited removal was real. 

So I would like to hear from you. We have gone from roughly 90 

days through the ordinary process down to in the 30’s, but we still 

have 20 days just for giving the proper travel documentation and 

other what I would call more bureaucratic requirements. Do you 

have any suggestions for us or any thoughts on how we can reduce 

that time even further to a shorter period of time so that the threat 

of detention and removal is a real deterrent? 

Ms. MYERS. Thank you, Senator Cornyn, for that question. I certainly agree with your sentiment that the threat of detention and 

removal should not be a threat, it should be something that we are 

actually able to enforce. When we detain someone, we should be 

able to remove them at the end of the day. 

In terms of cutting down that time period, I think it is important 

to look at the business cycle of removal and look at where are there 

choke points, where are we as the U.S. Government, ICE, the Border Patrol, other points, taking too long in doing our parts of the 

job, and where are our other partners in the system, such as foreign governments, taking too long or taking too many days to respond to certain requests. 

I think that the Department’s first look at streamlining this has 

some good potential for progress. One of the things that they are 

doing is looking into video conferencing. Many countries require an 

in-person interview with a consular officer before they will issue 

travel documents. Can we do this interview on video conferencing? 

I am pleased to say that Honduras has agreed to video conferencing. That can significantly cut down the amount of delay. 

Obviously, video conferencing cannot be it alone. We need to look 

at every single piece, every single place along the way and search 

for improvements there. 

I would like to just add that I don’t think expedited removal can 

handle this alone. In instances where we will have to release individuals, we should look for alternatives to detention that actually 

work. We should take a look at the intensive supervision appearance programs, electronic monitoring, or other methods. And finally, we should look at what are the incentives and disincentives 

for people to abscond if they are released. I think if we looked comprehensively at our bond situation, that might be an area we could 

improve. If people knew that if they absconded they would be removed back home very quickly if they were caught, that might be 

an area we could also improve upon. 

Senator CORNYN. Ms. Myers, I know that management experience is one important qualification for the position that you have 

67

been nominated to. You have quite an accomplished resume and 

you have held several high-profile and important positions, and it 

appears you have excelled in all of them. 

Ms. MYERS. Thank you, Senator. 

Senator CORNYN. But can you assure the Committee that you 

have the experience necessary to take on a job of this magnitude 

with the responsibility for such a large part of our law enforcement 

efforts at the Department of Homeland Security? 

Ms. MYERS. Absolutely, Senator, I can assure you that my experience qualifies me for this job. First, in terms of law enforcement 

experience, I have had the opportunity to manage a nationwide law 

enforcement agency—not only any law enforcement agency, but one 

that dealt with sophisticated cases, in fact, enforcing a form of border security, our export control laws. 

In addition to my work at the Commerce Department, when I 

served as chief of staff to Secretary Chertoff, I had the opportunity 

there to manage very sophisticated cases and show the kind of 

judgment and skill that is needed in order for ICE— 

Hello, there, Ranking Member Leahy. I appreciate hosting this 

Committee on my behalf and on behalf of the other nominees. 

While I was serving as chief of staff for Secretary Chertoff, I had 

the ability to manage a large number of sections in the Criminal 

Division and to move the agenda forward, and to do this in a short 

time. I am someone that, when put in place, will find out what consensus is, find out what the agenda needs to be, and achieve results. I have done that at the Commerce Department, at the Justice Department, at the Treasury Department, and I was successful 

as an AUSA. If confirmed as Assistant Secretary for ICE, I would 

do the same thing there. 

But management experience alone is not enough. One of the additional reasons that I should be confirmed as Assistant Secretary 

is my vision for the Agency, as described previously in my opening 

statement, and I would be happy to answer any additional questions you have about that. 

Senator CORNYN. Well, thank you very much. There will be some, 

I am sure, some additional rounds, since 5 minutes goes by very 

quickly. So we will come back for additional—I will have additional 

questions of Mr. O’Gara and Dr. Gonzalez. 

At this time, I will turn to our distinguished Ranking Member, 

Senator Leahy. 

Senator LEAHY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It has been a tad 

busy today. We are trying to work out a schedule for another major 

nomination in the next few weeks or months. I was thinking of 

that when I saw your name, Ms. Myers, but your name is spelled 

differently. 

Let me ask you about the Law Enforcement Support Center. I 

am sure you expected that I would ask a question about LESC. It 

started off as a pilot project in one county in Arizona and now it 

fields more than a half million calls annually from law enforcement 

officers around the Nation seeking information about the legal status of immigrants. It is manned 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. 

The reason, Mr. Chairman, that I am somewhat interested in this, 

is that it is located in— 

Senator CORNYN. Vermont. 

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Senator LEAHY. Yes. 

ICE has assigned the LESC to work on the Absconder Apprehension Initiative, tracking down the aliens who have been ordered to 

leave the country, but fled instead. Operation Predator, focused on 

alien sex offenders issued 16,000 detainers last year. The government is trying to cross-link LESC with NCIC at the FBI. How do 

you envision using the LESC? 

Ms. MYERS. Thank you, Senator, for that question. I agree with 

you that LESC has really been one of the great successes in ICE’s 

short history. As you mentioned, it has answered more than 

500,000 calls in the past year alone. I think that LESC has been 

effective as serving as a major point of contact, but I think we can 

really expand it working, for example, through the new Fugitive 

Operations Support Center, which is proposed and we hope to be 

fully up and running by the end of calendar year 2005. 

If confirmed, I would work to ensure that the LESC, as well as 

the Fugitive Operations Support Center, get all the support that 

they need and are known as a single point of contact to State and 

locals throughout the country. They should know where to call, who 

to contact, and know that they can reach someone on the other end 

of the line. 

Senator LEAHY. Thank you. 

Dr. Gonzalez, I look at your record in public service, including 

your 25 years in the military. I am looking for expertise in immigration matters. When did you work in the White House with the 

National Security Council? 

Mr. GONZALEZ. Sir, that was in 2002 and 2003. 

Senator LEAHY. Were you on detail from the Army? 

Mr. GONZALEZ. I was, sir. 

Senator LEAHY. The Web site of your current employer states you 

were the Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National 

Security Council. What were the responsibilities in that position? 

Mr. GONZALEZ. Sir, I had the responsibilities for—the way we 

were divided up is geographically and functionally. So I had responsibilities for Central America, the Caribbean, and I also had 

functional responsibilities for defense issues and also immigration 

issues, matters such as temporary worker status, planned/unplanned migrations, particularly Haiti, Cuba. 

Senator LEAHY. Is that the sum of your immigration experience? 

Mr. GONZALEZ. Sir, my immigration experience—from your perspective, that would be it. My immigration experience happens to 

be the fact that I am a product of the U.S. immigration system. So 

not only do I bring my personal story to bear on this position 

should I be confirmed, but also the fact that I have 30 years of progressive management experience throughout my career. I am not 

an immigration attorney, no, sir. 

Senator LEAHY. I was going to say my maternal grandparents 

emigrated here from Italy not speaking any English, but I don’t 

consider myself an expert in handling the Immigration Service. I 

will have other questions for you, especially about the St. Albans 

Service Center that I am sure you are aware of, and what they 

have done to reduce backlogs and to make other improvements. I 

hope that you would work closely with them to ensure that those 

improvements continue. 

69

Mr. GONZALEZ. Sir, I can tell you that in all the briefings that 

I have been—I don’t want to say ‘‘subjected to,’’ but that I have 

had, only the highest comments have been made about the service 

centers in Vermont. And if confirmed, I look forward to visiting 

there. 

Senator LEAHY. I will go with you. 

Mr. GONZALEZ. Yes, sir. It would be my pleasure. 

Senator LEAHY. Thank you. 

Senator CORNYN. Senator Coburn, if you have any questions? 

Senator COBURN. I do. I had some confusion about the scheduling 

that we had arranged. Are we needing to do that or not? 

Senator CORNYN. My conflict has not yet arisen, so we will play 

that by ear. 

Senator COBURN. Thank you very much. 

Well, I don’t have any questions for Ms. Myers. She came before 

the Homeland Security Committee and I chaired the Subcommittee 

that had that. So I will direct most of my questions to Dr. Gonzalez 

and Mr. O’Gara. 

I am really interested in Plan Colombia and what it has really 

accomplished. It has been a tremendous cost to this country. Can 

you kind of summarize what the American taxpayer has gotten for 

Plan Colombia? 

Mr. O’GARA. Thank you, Senator. I think we have gotten a tremendous amount. The Plan Colombia, which has received tremendous support from bipartisan majorities in the Congress on both 

sides of the Capitol, has done a number of things in Colombia—

which I will come back to in a minute—because our charge from 

the President on down has been to focus on the narcotics piece. 

In 2001, the last full year before President Uribe took office, Colombia produced over 900 metric tons of export quality cocaine, 

mostly destined for export to the U.S. Through an aggressive program involving the Department of State, obviously the Colombia 

national police and the military in the lead, and the United States 

Agency for International Development, we have been able to reduce 

that through an aggressive eradication program to just over 500 

tons. That is about a 33 percent reduction in four years. 

Another positive development as a result of Plan Colombia has 

been the ability to finance interdiction efforts off the north coast 

and the Pacific coast of Colombia, which have interdicted increasing amount sort of cocaine bound for the U.S. Of that 515, roughly, 

tons available for export last year, we seized 248 tons en route to 

the United States. And that is seizures in Colombia, off the coast 

of Colombia, and in the Transit Zone. 

So we have had, I think, tremendous success, and a lot of it, 

frankly, has been the dedication and aggressiveness of the Uribe 

administration, which has really taken this mission very seriously. 

Senator COBURN. Is there a balloon effect to the other countries 

that neighbor Colombia, and what are we doing about that? 

Mr. O’GARA. Well, that is an excellent question. I mean, the balloon effect—and Senator Biden has talked about this at length—

is something we need to be very mindful of. The balloon effect, obviously, being when you push down somewhere, it pops up somewhere else. The neighboring cocaine-producer countries of Bolivia 

and Peru produce, respectively, on the order of 100 and 165 metric 

70

tons of cocaine a year. And we’ve been able to keep that relatively 

stable. I think Peru was down a little bit last year, Bolivia was up 

a little bit. Ninety-nine percent of Bolivia’s cocaine doesn’t come to 

the U.S. market, and in the case of Peru it is only about 16 percent, so we have been able to, I think, protect our market from 

being accessed by those. 

We have to be very careful. We have seen evidence of Mexican 

trafficking groups making inroads into the Peruvian market. We 

need to keep on top of that. But so far, so good. 

Senator COBURN. One followup question. One of my concerns is 

we spend a lot of money in interdiction and stopping the flow of 

drugs, but we don’t spend the same amount of money in terms of 

drug treatment programs. One of the ways you stop demand for 

drugs is to get people off drugs, and one of the things that I would 

like to see us doing—I would like to see more emphasis placed by 

the administration, is that we know very well-run drug treatment 

centers free about 65 to 70 percent of the people for life from their 

drug addiction. And, you know, one of the ways to decrease demand 

is to do that. 

What are your thoughts on drug treatment as a component of decreasing the demand for the product that you are trying to destroy? 

Mr. O’GARA. Absolutely. I mean, we see it as a virtual circle, 

where drug treatment reduces the demand and therefore the impulse of the American drug consumer to bring the drugs into the 

country, law enforcement can make drug treatment work better by 

referring people to mandatory treatment through drug courts, 

interdiction makes the drug more expensive and makes it harder 

for people to use as much as they want. So we think that they all 

work together. The President’s request for fiscal year 2006 contained—I want to say 23 percent drug treatment. It was probably 

the second-biggest single element of that, including the access to 

recovery initiative, which is $100 million, to give access to community, faith-based, and other groups to provide drug treatment services. 

But you are absolutely right. Drug treatment is a key element 

of a successful strategy, and one that is balanced. 

Senator COBURN. Mr. Chairman, I will yield back for another 

round, if we have it. 

Senator CORNYN. Mr. O’Gara, let me ask you about the connection between illegal drug trafficking and terror. As I have looked 

more and more into human smuggling and that sort of organized 

crime activity that we know occurs south of our border but literally 

internationally, I have been impressed with the fact—or should 

say, maybe, depressed—with the fact that, more and more, these 

organized crime syndicates are really just concerned about making 

money. And they will smuggle drugs, they will traffic in people, 

they will traffic in weapons and the like. 

Can you enlighten us any about the connection that you have observed between illegal drug trafficking and terror? 

Mr. O’GARA. Mr. Chairman, indeed there is a connection. It varies. I think the Department of State identifies 40 listed FTOs at 

this time. Our last scrub identified 12 of them, which had some significant role in either producing drugs, guarding cultivation, traffic, 

and so forth. The connection is perhaps clearest in Colombia, where 

71

you have three foreign terrorist organization groups, the ELN, the 

FARC, and the AUC. All of them are heavily involved in the drug 

trade—cultivating, monitoring cultivation and processing, in some 

cases even off-continent distribution of those drugs. 

With respect to the FARC, I think the U.S. Government supports 

the efforts of the Colombian Government to target and marginalize 

and take back Colombia. One of the ways we have done that—and 

I don’t think anybody really saw this coming—was, frankly, by hitting them in the pocketbook as aggressively as we have. We have 

cost them hundreds of millions of dollars annually in drug revenues. Similar with the AUC and similarly with the ELN. 

In terms of other terrorist groups, there have been linkages that 

have been frightening to many. Certainly the al Qaeda-affiliated 

group that perpetrated the Madrid bombings, they made their 

money by selling hashish. So it comes in different forms and contexts. 

Senator CORNYN. Thank you. I will have some other questions in 

writing for Ms. Myers and Mr. O’Gara, and I just have a couple of 

questions for Dr. Gonzalez and then I am going to turn the gavel 

over to Senator Coburn. 

Dr. Gonzalez, what steps do you plan to implement, if confirmed, 

that will achieve the President’s goal of 6-month processing times 

for all immigration benefit applications? 

Mr. GONZALEZ. Thank you for the question, sir. 

The backlog reduction which you are talking about is obviously 

something that is key to everybody that works in U.S. CIS. And I 

think we can safely say that so far the backlog reduction has been 

a good-news story. We are not where we need to be, we need to 

work harder to get to the President’s stated goal, but at the same 

time I think that the accomplishments to date have been noteworthy. Personnel have already been shifted to locations that have 

the greatest influx of documents, resources have been dedicated, 

new technologies are coming online soon, which will help facilitate, 

create efficiencies. 

But at the same time, sir, as much as everybody wants to talk 

about backlog reduction and everybody wants to achieve that as an 

end state because the 6-month period, I think, is a fair and acceptable period, I don’t think we want to do that at the expense of security. And I think we need to balance good customer service, letting 

an individual, a client who submits his paperwork, have a feeling 

about how long it is going to take. And I think that is a fair request of a client. 

But at the same time, there is a national security imperative, 

and I would just as soon come here at a future date to have to explain to you why we did not meet a particular target because there 

were Homeland Security imperatives than have to come here and 

explain to you why we naturalized somebody that we shouldn’t 

have, or why we adjudicated in a positive way somebody that was 

unworthy of that benefit. 

Senator CORNYN. I appreciate your answer, but you realize that 

Congress is getting ready to make a hard job probably even more 

difficult. 

Mr. GONZALEZ. Yes, sir. 

72

Senator CORNYN. If we take the 10 or 11 million people who are 

currently living here out-of-status, who come here in violation of 

our laws, and if we create some legal mechanism for a temporary 

worker program and have to some way—and I don’t know exactly 

how we are going to do it yet—transition that population out of the 

shadows into the mainstream of American life, and obviously all 

without granting amnesty, you are going to have a huge challenge, 

not just dealing with the current population that you have to deal 

with in terms of immigration applications, benefit applications, but 

obviously a tremendous challenge in terms of trying to correct what 

I think is a lack of attention that this country, and particularly the 

Federal Government, has historically given to this immigration 

problem, which has now risen to crisis proportions. 

I am not going to ask you for a definitive answer on how you are 

going to do that today, but I will ask you to respond to a question 

I will submit to you in writing that I would like to get the benefit 

of your thoughts in that regard. 

I will turn the gavel now over to Senator Coburn. 

Senator COBURN. (presiding) I just have a couple of questions. 

With unanimous consent we will enter into the record a statement by Senator Pat Roberts in terms of the support of Julie 

Myers. 

I also would note that the record will be left open for 1 week for 

written questions by other members of the Committee or other Senators. It will close next Tuesday, the 25th, at 5 p.m. 

Dr. Gonzalez, you were asked a minute ago—or it was implied 

you weren’t an attorney. I think that is great. Being a physician 

myself, I like to see something besides attorneys in some of our positions. 

Mr. GONZALEZ. So do I, sir. 

Senator COBURN. I don’t think it is necessarily a deficit. And that 

is not to reflect negatively on attorneys. I love my son-in-law. 

What challenges do you see in front of the Bureau of Citizenship 

and Immigration Services in the future? You are looking at this. 

If confirmed, you are going to have to measure and assess those 

challenges. What do you see as those challenges, and what are your 

answers to them? 

Mr. GONZALEZ. Sir, in no priority, but some priority, I think we 

just discussed the backlog reduction. I think that is a key challenge 

across the board. But I don’t want at least people in U.S. CIS at 

some point to feel that that is what it is all about, that we are only 

here to do backlog reduction and we are not here to do other things 

or we are not concerned with other matters. 

Again, the backlog reduction is being addressed. Resources and 

technologies are being dedicated. We hope to get there by the end 

of September of next year. If confirmed, I will be tracking that 

progress regularly just to make sure that we not only get there, but 

we get there the right way. And we don’t need to sacrifice national 

security just to be expedient. I think we can do both and we should 

do both, and we should hold ourselves to that standard. 

Another would be IT modernization and transformation. Quite 

frankly, from what I have been exposed to, the IT systems at U.S. 

CIS are very, very antiquated. In addition to what the Senator just 

said before he left, if you layer on top of that some kind of temVerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:49 May 19, 2006 Jkt 027442 PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\27442.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC
73

porary worker program, I don’t think the systems—in fact, I know 

the systems that exist right now wouldn’t be able to handle it. So 

as a result, getting the right technology, using the very best technology available to be able to capture all that information for whatever piece of this temporary worker program is allotted to U.S. 

CIS, I think, is important. Again, that is being addressed as we 

speak, although obviously, when you are talking about IT modernization, it is a very expensive situation to have to undertake. 

But that having been said, it is a priority for me and a concern 

which I will follow up, if confirmed. 

The other thing I would like to also address is fraud detection. 

U.S. CIS has fraud detection capabilities, and I think it is incumbent on all of us as professionals—and again, I come from a national security background—I think we should service customers 

that come to us in a dignified and honorable way. For many of 

these people, U.S. CIS is the first real face of American bureaucracy that they experience. In fact, most people that come to this 

country are fleeing oppressive bureaucracies somewhere else. So I 

think it is incumbent on us to have a very, very professional staff. 

But just like I would require the staff at U.S. CIS to handle 

themselves with decorum and integrity, I think I would also require clients to handle themselves the same way, with making sure 

that the documentation that they give is correct; if it is not correct, 

to produce a correct document; if it is a fraudulent document, to do 

what we need to do at that point. But again, I want to not just emphasize customer service, but I want to emphasize the national security aspect of the mission that U.S. CIS has. 

And the other has to do with the temporary worker program. 

Whatever comes down the pike in whatever fashion, shape, form, 

label, whatever we want to call it, if there is a piece—which I will 

be—for U.S. CIS, we need to start preparing for that now, as opposed to waiting four, five, six, 7 months from now. 

Senator COBURN. All right, thank you. You might be surprised to learn that in 2004 the Federal Government spent $66 billion on IT. 

And we don’t have what we should to show for it. So I will promise 

you that you will get to come before the Federal Financial Management Committee in terms of how you spend your money on IT—

which happens to be my Subcommittee—so we can make sure that 

we get our value for what we are spending on that. 

Mr. GONZALEZ. Yes, sir. 

Senator COBURN. And I think your comments in terms of starting 

to plan now for some type of way on a temporary worker program, 

it is incumbent so that you will be ready when the changes—The 

changes are coming. The Congress is going to do it, the American 

people demand it, it is going to happen. We are going to control the 

border. We are going to repatriate those people to their home countries who are here illegally, and then we are going to work out 

something for those positions in our country that can’t be filled by 

American workers, the opportunity for others to come here and 

work. 

Mr. GONZALEZ. And we would hope to position U.S. CIS to be 

able to undertake whatever missions Congress sets out for us. 

Again, whatever piece of that pie will go to U.S. CIS, we want to 

be ready. 

74

Senator CORNYN. All right. Thank you. 

I have no additional questions. We have no other members here. 

The record will be left open until Tuesday, the 25th, at 5 p.m. 

I thank each of our nominees for being before the Committee and 

I look forward to working with you in the future. 

The hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:19 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

[Questions and answers and submissions for the record follow.]

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