Speech #1050080117

I rise in strong support of H.R. 2267. the 1998 CommerceStateJudiciary appropriations bill. My colleague. the gentleman from Kentucky and my colleague. the gentleman from West Virginia have worked hard to draft a fair bill. and I commend them for their efforts. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims. I would like to highlight just a few of the specific programs which this bill funds within the Immigration and Naturalization Service and which I strongly support. First. the bill. for the second year. provides funding for 1.000 additional Border Patrol agents for fiscal year 1998 instead of the 500 requested by the President. These new Border Patrol agents are vital to efforts to stem the flow of illegal drugs. aliens. criminals. and terrorists into the United States. The bill also recognizes that the Border Patrol is not the only key to apprehending and removing illegal and criminal aliens. Additional funds need to be applied to interior enforcement: more investigators and special agents to apprehend illegal and criminal aliens. additional funding for the alien removal process. the expansion of detention space to hold aliens waiting to be removed. and additional funding of the special criminal alien removal program designed to remove criminal aliens as soon as they are released from prison. All of these functions need to be better executed by the INS.