House OK's Intelligence reform; Deal speaks against bill

GAINESVILLE - Congressman Nathan Deal of Gainesville spoke to fellow house members Tuesday in opposition to the Intelligence Reform Bill that passed the House hours later.

Deal cited concerns over the removal of immigration reform provisions from the measure. Deal said the bill needs a provision prohibiting illegal aliens from getting driver's licenses.

"We are here today because on September 11, 2001, 19 men, all of whom entered our country illegally, overstayed their visas or obtained fraudulent visas, boarded four airplanes and used them as bombs to kill thousands of our citizens," Deal said.

"The primary identification documents that allowed them to board those airplanes were state drivers' licenses. Nothing in this bill would prevent those hijackers from using those same drivers' licenses to board those same airplanes and repeat the events of 9/11. If we do everything else to tighten our security and do not close this loophole, we have intentionally ignored the very event that brings us to this day."

The House passed the bill overwhelmingly on Tuesday, 336-75 Tuesday night, after President Bush endorsed it and House Republicans satisfied themselves that the measure would not negatively affect the nation's military.

The president "greatly looks forward to Senate passage and ultimately to signing the bill into law," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said late Tuesday as the president flew back to Washington from a visit with Marines at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The Senate, which is expected to approve the measure, may act on the bill as early as Wednesday.

The legislation would:

-Create a new national intelligence director.

-Establish a counterterrorism center.

-Set priorities for intelligence gathering.

-Tighten U.S. borders.

It would implement the biggest change to U.S. intelligence gathering and analysis since the creation of the CIA after World War II.

The bill also included a host of anti-terrorism provisions, which would:

-Allow wiretaps of "lone wolf" terrorists not associated with groups or states.

-Improve airline baggage screening procedures.

-Increase the number of full-time border patrol agents by 2,000 a year for five years.

-Impose new federal standards on information that driver's licenses must contain.

The Sept. 11 commission, in its July report, said disharmony among the nation's 15 intelligence agencies contributed to the inability of government officials to stop the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The new structure should help the agencies work together to prevent such disasters in the future, lawmakers said.

"This legislation is going to make a real difference to the security of our country," said Senate Governmental Affairs Committee chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine. "It is going to improve the quality of intelligence provided to our military and it will help to keep civilians safer here at home."

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)