House Proceeding 02-03-09 on Feb 3rd, 2009 :: 2:27:20 to 2:33:00
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2:27:16 to 2:27:36( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: largest airports to explain the process and answer questions from the traveling public. mr. speaker, this is a good bill. this is a bipartisan bill. i ask that all members join me in supporting this legislation. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from mississippi.

2:27:20 to 2:33:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Yvette Clarke

2:27:37 to 2:27:58( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i yield five minutes to the gentlelady from new york, ms. clke, who has championed this issue ever since her arrival on the homeland security committee, and obviously ts is her bill and we support it. the speaker pro tempe: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for five minutes. ms. clarke: mr. speaker, nearly everyone in the homeland security community agrees that

2:27:59 to 2:28:19( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: having a single comprehensive list of terrorist suspects is an important tool in keeping america safe. however, there are flaws in how the terrorist watch list is maintained and used. over the years this list has grown to have over 1.1 million entries.

2:28:20 to 2:28:43( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: with so many different names on the list, it's not surprising that every single day countless americs are misidentified as terrorists. the errors most commonly occur when an innocent person's name happens to be similar to the one listed in the database. for example, if your name is al smith and there is an a. smith

2:28:44 to 2:29:06( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: on the list, guess what, you're going to be caught. this is even worse for the millions of american residents have names which can have different pronounceations or ways of spelling. this wastes time both for law enforcement because they're using resources investigating innocent people and for the general public who face the

2:29:07 to 2:29:27( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: prospect of being wrongly detained and possibly altogether prevented from going about their business. most commonly, this affects air travelers who are screened against the watch list more often than anyone else. currently each time a reservation is made, airlines must determine whether a

2:29:28 to 2:29:48( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: customer is a potential match based on information from us, from the government. every day thousands of people are pulled aside, required to go through special procedures, detained or even denied boarding altogether at great personal and financial costs to the frustrated travelers who's

2:29:49 to 2:30:10( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: missed flights. for private citizens, this can lead to ruined plans. these practices have in essen begun the process of eroding the foundation on which our civil liberties were built. however, at a time when we're doing everything we can to stimulate the economy, this problem can be catastrophic for

2:30:11 to 2:30:32( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: business travelers and companies. the inability for thousands of people to travel for work puts jobs in jeopardy. and for every employee unable to make a meeting because of being mistakenly denied boarding, companies needlessly lose productivity. this is a waste when congress

2:30:33 to 2:30:53( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: is helping commerce grow. furthermore, because the terrorist watch lists are used by other screening agencies, other people have been impacted by this problem including anyone whose license plates are run by local law enforcement, port workers who have been incorrectly denied work identification cards which is now required to work at port facilities in the u.s.,

2:30:54 to 2:31:14( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: international travelers delayed or denied entry to the country and potential foreign visitors denied visas by the state department. in the future this will likely become an issue as more potentially sensitive activities will be associated

2:31:15 to 2:31:37( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: to the watch list. i'm proud to say the redress act passed the house last year with very strong bipartisan support. unfortunately, despite more bipartisan support in the senate, the other chamber ultimately failed to move this forward. therefore, i have reintroduced this bill in the 111th congress in the hope that this time we can push it through and help millions of people.

2:31:38 to 2:31:58( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: the fast redress act solves the misidentification problems by granting d.h.s. the tools to create department-wide office of redress and appeals a one-stop shop for any individual who feels they are being incorrectly identified as a terrorist whenever they have contact with government. this bill will greatly streamline the process for the countless people who just because of their names are

2:31:59 to 2:32:21( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: regularly misidentified as a terrorist, creating a single highly visible office within the government for everyone who wants to clear their names. i'm glad to see the u.s. house of representatives taking up this bill once again and doing so with such speed demonstrating the strong show of support to help the people afcted by this issue.

2:32:22 to 2:32:43( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: i'm very thankful to chairman thompson and ranking member king for their great bipartisan leadership in pushing the fast redress act forward. congresswoman sheila jackson lee and ranking member, i also thank them. i thank the staff on both sides of the homeland security committee for their hard work and the time they put into this bill, and my own senior

2:32:44 to 2:33:01( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: legislative aide for homeland security, mr. daniel howard, for his hard work, his vigilance and his making fast redress act the law of the land. further, this bill has received strong support from the national business travelers association which has recognized that the problem of