Judiciary Committee Chairman
Schedules
Homeland Security Oversight Hearing
DHS Secretary
To Testify
WASHINGTON (Wednesday, March 19,
2008) – The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold the next in a
series of oversight hearings this year when Department of
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff testifies before
the Committee on Wednesday, April 2, Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
announced today.
Chertoff is expected to field
questions about backlogs in naturalization applications at the
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Iraqi refugee
resettlement, and immigration detention practices. Leahy has
signaled he will also seek to discuss the impending expiration
of the
EB-5 Regional Center pilot program.
“The Judiciary Committee will
continue the important oversight work of Congress when we
hearing from the Secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security,” said Leahy. “I look forward to hearing from
Secretary Chertoff about how the Department is making progress
in alleviating the severe backlogs in naturalization
applications in advance of the upcoming November elections, as
well as what the Department is doing to ready itself for further
implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and
REAL ID Act, and about many other issues.”
Leahy led a successful effort last
week to
attach an amendment to the Budget Resolution that creates a
reserve fund for legislation to provide for the timely
adjudication of naturalization applications and FBI name
checks. The backlog, Leahy says, threatens to prevent hundreds
of thousands of people who filed their applications in a timely
manner from voting in the upcoming national elections. The
USCIS last year announced an 80 percent fee increase for
naturalization applications, causing an influx of applications.
The USCIS has recently stated that applications filed after June
2007 could take 14 to 16 months to process, thwarting the
expectations of many who wish to vote in the November
elections.
Also last week, Leahy and Senate
Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.)
introduced legislation to make permanent the EB-5 Regional
Center pilot program, which also included measures intended to
improve the program. Regional Centers, including one located in
Vermont, bring jobs and investment capital to state economies,
while providing eligible foreign investors with a legal path to
citizenship.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has
already held two oversight hearings this year for the Department
of Justice and for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The
Department of Homeland Security oversight hearing will be held
April 2 at 10:00 a.m. in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office
Building.
# # # # #
Witness List
Hearing before the
Senate Judiciary Committee
on
“Oversight of the
Department of Homeland Security”
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Hart Senate Office Building Room
216
10:00 a.m.
The Honorable
Michael Chertoff
Secretary
United States Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC
# # # # #
