Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA) today issued the following statement in support of the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010.  The bill passed the House by a vote of 307 to 114.

Eight years after 9/11, there remains a very real, very serious threat of another attack on U.S. soil.  The recent series of arrests – in Dallas, Chicago, Denver and New York City – underscores the need for continued resolve.  The safety of the American people relies upon multiple layers of security – from intelligence to local police to the technologies that help us identify potential threats.  Our duty as lawmakers is to ensure that all of these pieces are properly in place and constantly reevaluated.

A New York Times report this week highlighted a gaping hole in one of these layers – we still have no system in place to verify whether foreign visitors have left this country.  Congress and DHS have known about this hole.  In March, Secretary Napolitano joined me for a tour of one of the nation’s top airport terror targets: Los Angeles International Airport, part of which is in my Congressional District.  We walked through customs to observe the collection of foreign visitors’ fingerprints upon entry and I pointed out the absence of an exit program.  Secretary Napolitano committed her Department to addressing this issue in a timely fashion. 

Work is already underway.  DHS just completed a pilot project to test exit systems and will soon release a report on their findings.  This bill provides $50 million to put an air exit system in place.  It is imperative that DHS do so.

By collecting fingerprints when foreign passengers exit, we can match them with those collected upon entry and cross-check them with a range of databases – from the State Department to the FBI.  This isn’t just data for the sake of data.  It builds situational awareness and makes it easier for terrorism investigators to connect the “dots.”  This kind of capability is a vital tool in the ongoing struggle to prevent the next attack on American soil. 

It’s true that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies successfully thwarted recent plots, but that’s no guarantee that they’ll detect the next plot.  A biometric system will provide them with better information that can more quickly identify potential threats.  Four of the 9/11 hijackers overstayed their visas.  It is exactly this type of thing that exit data will help us detect.

I would also like to thank the Conferees for including a one-year waiver of the port security grant matching requirement.  Since 2006, the SAFE Port Act has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to secure U.S. ports.  But tough financial times—and a decline in shipping—have made it difficult for ports to meet the 25 percent cost-sharing requirement.  Officials at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have repeatedly told me just how burdensome the requirement is.  It creates a disincentive for ports to apply for grants, without which fund vital efforts to mitigate threats cannot be funded.