Date: 2016-04-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. let me start by saying that this is evidence of the important commitment that the Judiciary Committee has to the issues of criminal justice. but as well recognizes the title of this committee that covers crime. terrorism. homeland security. and investigations. So I want to thank the chairman. Mr. GOODLATTE. for working with me and his staff. along with Mr. CONYERS. the ranking member. and his staff. and. of course. Mr. RATCLIFFE for his support for my legislation. H.R. 4240. the No Fly for Foreign Fighters Act. I particularly want to thank the staff because as they well know. my late staff. Tiffany Joslyn. worked very hard with staff members as well on this legislation. So here we are today with an important initiative coming out of the Judiciary Committee working collaboratively. and I believe that is extremely important. As a senior member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and the ranking member of the House Committee on the Judiciarys Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations. the topic of threats to homeland security has always been of particular concern to me. But over the last couple of months. maybe over the last couple of years. as we have seen ISIL raise its ugly head. we have heard of Americans going for the fight. joining and being a part of the caliphate. We have heard of ISIS members moving around. particularly in Europe. moving from country to country. Some may say that they are crossing in a number of modes of transportation. but we also know they are using aviation modes of transportation. Therefore. they pose a serious threat. I initially introduced the No Fly for Foreign Fighters Act after the investigation of an attempt to detonate explosives on a Northwest Airlines Flight on Christmas Day. 2009. Yes. Mr. Speaker. that was a long time ago. An investigation of the incident revealed that counterterrorism agencies had information that raised flags about this individual referred to as the "underwear bomber." but the dots were not connected and he was not placed in the Terrorist Screening Database. or the TSDB. This incident shone a light on potential gaps in our watching and screening process. and that resulted in significant improvements. That said. questions about the system remain. In fact. it is not uncommon to see news of a flight being diverted or an emergency landing because a passenger happened to be on the nofly list. but there was a delay getting that information. Mr. Speaker. we are here today to really ensure that we get it right because one wrong time again jeopardizes maybe hundreds of thousands of lives. It is even more common to read articles about the frequency of false positives and individuals being mistakenly identified as being on the list. causing them and their fellow passengers significant delay and frustration. I remember. having been on the Committee on Homeland Security since the heinous and tragic terrorist acts of 9111. in those early days. Members of Congress. United States Senators. and others were on the nofly list. While it may. after the fact. be a little bit humorous. it is not. So we must get it right. The issue of false positives is something that I know many of my colleagues on the committee are particularly interested in. as well as groups such as the ACLU who was kept very busy by so many people being on wrongly. In light of the events of the last 12 months. however. the issue of homeland security and. in particular. the accuracy of our screening and watch listing process has become even more significant to me. More than 30.000 foreign fighters from at least 100 different countries have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight with ISIL since 2011. I want to say that number again: 30.000 foreign fighters have traveled. That means they may return and move throughout Europe or attempt to come to the United States. In the last 18 months. the number of foreign fighters traveling to Syria and Iraq has more than doubled. If those individuals try to go throughout places in Europe or elsewhere or to the United States. the mode of transportation would be aviation. In the first 6 months of 2015. more than 7.000 foreign fighters have arrived in Syria and Iraq. Of those traveling to Syria and Iraq to fight for the Islamic State terrorist group. it is estimated that at least 250 hold U.S. citizenship. Mr. Speaker. my colleagues. we only need one. The accuracy of our terrorist screening tools is more critical now than ever before. That is why I worked with the chairman. Mr. RATCLIFFE. and