The
Administration commends the House leadership and the Chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee on reaching agreement on H.R. 2975. This
bill contains, in some form, virtually all of the proposals made by
the Administration in the wake of the terrorist attacks perpetrated
against the United States on September 11th. The Administration strongly
supports passage of this bill.
The
Administration's initial proposals, on which H.R. 2975 is based,
were designed to provide Federal law enforcement and national security
officials with the tools and resources necessary to disrupt, weaken,
and counter the infrastructure of terrorist organizations, to prevent
terrorist attacks, and to punish and defeat terrorists and those
who harbor them. H.R. 2975 includes the provisions proposed by the
Administration in three main areas: (1) information gathering and
sharing; (2) substantive criminal law and criminal procedure; and
(3) immigration procedures. The Administration strongly supports
passage of these provisions.
Information
Gathering and Sharing
Existing
laws fail to provide national security authorities and law enforcement
authorities with certain critical tools they need to fight and win
the war against terrorism. For example, technology has dramatically
outpaced the Nation's statutes. Many of the most important intelligence
gathering laws were enacted decades ago, in and for an era of rotary
telephones. Meanwhile, the Nation's enemies use e-mail, the Internet,
mobile communications and voice mail.
H.R.
2975 contains numerous provisions that address this problem by helping
to make the intelligence gathering and surveillance statutes more
"technology-neutral." Specifically, the bill updates the pen-register,
trap-and-trace, and Title III-wiretap statutes to cover computer
and mobile communications more effectively, while ensuring that
the scope of the authority remains the same, i.e., that no
more or less information is obtained from use of a computer or mobile
phones than is obtainable now from telephones. The bill also provides
for nationwide scope of orders and search warrants, and other practical
changes that will enable law enforcement to work more efficiently
and effectively. The bill includes a five year sunset on certain
information gathering authorities. In addition, the bill contains
important updates of foreign intelligence gathering-statutes, with
the identical goal of making the statutes technology-neutral. Even
more important, the bill contains provisions to reduce existing
barriers to the sharing of information among Federal agencies where
necessary to identify and respond to terrorist threats. The ability
of law enforcement and national security personnel to share this
type of information is a critical tool for pursuing the war against
terrorism on all fronts.
Substantive
Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure
H.R.
2975 contains important reforms to the criminal statutes designed
to strengthen law enforcement's ability to investigate, prosecute,
prevent, and punish terrorism crimes. The bill would remove existing
barriers to effective prosecution by extending the statute of limitations
for terrorist crimes that risk or result in death or serious injury.
The bill also creates and strengthens criminal statutes, including
a prohibition on harboring terrorists and on providing material
support to terrorists, and provides for tougher penalties, including
longer prison terms and higher conspiracy penalties for those who
commit terrorist acts. These provisions will help to ensure that
the fight against terrorism is a national priority in our criminal
justice system.
Border
Protection and Immigration Procedures
H.R.
2975 also contains a number of provisions that would enhance the
ability of immigration officials to exclude or deport aliens who
engage in terrorist activity and improve the Federal government's
ability to share information about suspected terrorists. Under the
bill, those who contribute to or otherwise support terrorist organizations
and terrorist activities would be denied admission to or deported
from this country, and the Attorney General would be authorized
to detain deportable persons who are suspected of terrorist activities
pending their removal from the United States. In addition, the bill
provides for access by the Department of State and the Immigration
and Naturalization Service to criminal history records and related
information maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Pay-As-You-Go
Scoring
Any
law that would increase direct spending is subject to the pay-as-you-go
requirements of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act. Accordingly, H.R. 2975, or any substitute amendment in lieu
thereof that would also increase direct spending, will be subject
to the pay-as-you-go requirement. OMB's scoring estimates are under
development. The Administration will work with Congress to ensure
that any unintended sequester of spending does not occur under current
law or the enactment of any other proposals that meet the President's
objectives to reduce the debt, fund priority initiatives, and grant
tax relief to all income tax paying Americans.
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