WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today is asking Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to reverse the misguided decision to deny extra visa screening assistance from the Department of Homeland Security for the Jerusalem, Israel post.
Grassley said that Congress gave clear authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to station onsite personnel at every State Department post to strengthen the visa issuance processand that the State Department’s action undermined the intent of the law.
“This appears to be a simple power play by the State Department. The American public won’t stand for these turf battles when it comes to national security,” Grassley said. “The wake-up call on December 25 when the Christmas Day bomber attempted to blow up an American passenger plane reminded us that every day we are a target and every day we must work to keep terrorists off American soil.”
On January 15, Grassley led a group of senators asking for answers from Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, about why pending applications for Visa Security units in several high risk countries had yet to be approved. Shortly following the letter, the Visa Security Units were approved (the VSUs still had to be approved by the Department of State).
Here is a copy of the text of Grassley’s letter to Clinton. A copy of the State Department cable can be found by clicking here.
February 18, 2010
Via Electronic Transmission
The Honorable Hilary Rodham Clinton
Secretary
U.S. Department of State
2201 C. Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Clinton:
On January 14, 2010, I joined my Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee asking Secretary Napolitano to explain delays in approving National Security Decision Directive-38s (NSDD-38) to place Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Visa Security Units (VSUs) in Frankfurt, Germany; Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv, Israel; Amman, Jordan; and Sana’a Yemen. The Christmas Day bombing attempt highlighted the need for expedited action by DHS and your Department to place law enforcement personnel at high-risk posts immediately.
DHS approved the NSDD-38s for these countries on January 19, 2010, and transmitted them to State Department for final approval. I was very disappointed to learn yesterday that the Jerusalem embassy refused to approve the NSDD-38. The recent attempted Christmas Day bombing highlighted obvious gaps in the visa issuance and security screening process as well as lapses in communication between our homeland security agencies. Given these problems and the ongoing national security threat, it is unacceptable for the State Department to delay deployments of DHS personnel to these high-risk posts any longer. Bureaucratic squabbling over office space should not impede the implementation of a VSU at any State Department post designated as high risk by DHS.
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 vests clear authority in the DHS Secretary to station onsite DHS personnel at every State Department post to strengthen the visa issuance process (6 U.S.C. § 236(e)). The types of policy arguments put forward by the State Department in its cable denying this request have already been considered and rejected by Congress.
For example, when Congress adopted the provisions giving the DHS Secretary authority to station personnel in diplomatic and consular posts, it was fully aware that the Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security had Regional Security Officers and Assistant Regional Security Officers in many such posts. Nevertheless, Congress did not consider that to be sufficient in light of the 9/11 attacks, which had been perpetrated by hijackers who gained entry into the United States by permission of State Department despite their sloppy and incomplete applications. Lawmakers recognized that major reform of the visa issuance process was imperative and determined that granting DHS authority to station personnel in State Department posts would provide an additional layer of security without being unnecessarily duplicative.
The NSDD-38 process should not be used to thwart the intent of Congress and undermine the Homeland Security Act by putting up roadblocks to implementing VSUs at posts where the DHS Secretary determines that they would promote homeland security. Simply put, a Presidential Directive from 1982 does not supersede the law passed by both Houses of Congress and signed by the President in 2002.
Accordingly, I ask that you immediately reverse the decision by the Jerusalem post denying the NSDD-38 and work with DHS to implement a VSU there as well as in Frankfurt, Germany; Tel Aviv, Israel; Amman, Jordan; and Sana’a Yemen as soon as possible.
Please provide a detailed explanation of your decision by no later than March 4, 2010. Please have your staff contact Jason Foster at (202) 224-4515 if you have any questions regarding this letter.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Grassley
United States Senator