Speech #1090152478

Chairman. my amendment increases funding for the FBI by $40 million to conduct security background checks. Since the attacks of September 11. the FBIs National Name Check Program has remained dangerously underfunded and has accumulated a significant backlog of uncompleted required security checks. Backlogs in security checks requested by the Immigration Service have led to major delays in the processing of immigration applications and. therefore. to a very real national security risk. If some of these applicants pose a genuine national security risk. they need to be found. arrested and deported immediately. Instead. there is a backlog of over 116.000 applications for permanent residency in the New York district office alone awaiting FBI background checks. In fiscal year 2006. the National Name Check Program received 3.3 million requests for background checks. but it has only 125 people to process them and an anemic operating budget of $12.4 million.