WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts joined Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today to introduce legislation to close critical security gaps in our current visa screening process, which, had they been addressed prior, could have prevented Nigerian terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from boarding the plane to Detroit Christmas day. Sen. Cornyn’s legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA; Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Johnny Isakson, R-GA; George LeMieux, R-FL; Pat Roberts, R-KS; and David Vitter, R-LA.

“As President Obama said, the Christmas day terror plot was the result of an unacceptable failure to connect the dots by our intelligence, homeland security, and State Department officials. To ensure this never happens again, we must take every possible step to close the serious security gaps and communication lapses that allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board an American-bound plane with explosives that could have killed 300 passengers.

“My legislation, supported by several colleagues, would do just that. It would immediately jumpstart the dialogue and allow us to move a bill that addresses these security lapses and gives DHS the authority needed to move out immediately to high-risk visa posts this fiscal year,” Sen. Cornyn said.

“Delays and inattention allowed for the Christmas terror plot to come too close to its objective, which was the mass killing of Americans; we must not delay any longer on plugging these serious security gaps.”

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA: "This bill will make our country safer by ensuring that those visitors who have their visas revoked due to suspected terrorist involvement will not be able to remain in the United States to endanger our citizens."

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas: “The gaps in our visa screening process that allowed the Christmas Day bomber to board a plane to the US are absolutely unacceptable and must be closed immediately. These security lapses run up and down the system from the Homeland Security Department to the State Department. This legislation can help close the loopholes that allowed this terrorist to head to the United States,” said Sen. Hutchison.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-GA: “The attempted terror attack on Christmas Day was a frightening reminder that there are still those who remain intent on harming Americans and that our national security system is still lacking,” Isakson said. “It is essential that we do everything we can to prevent this kind of incident from ever happening again. This legislation would go a long way toward correcting the flaws in our visa system that allowed this man to board a plane in the first place.”

Sen. George LeMieux, R-FL: “The Christmas Day bomber should have never been on the plane,” LeMieux said. “All of the red flags were there but the connection was never made to deny this terrorist a visa to board that plane bound for the U.S. This legislation will streamline the process and make us safer by giving DHS the authority to deny and revoke visas of individuals deemed a threat to our nation.”

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-KS: “We saw again on Christmas Day that these terrorists have not stopped targeting our country,” Sen. Roberts said. “We need to put in place better safeguards to prohibit future breaches of security. This legislation would allow DHS to revoke a visa based on security interests, resulting in improved communication and security policies to better protect Americans.”

Sen. David Vitter, R-LA: “While we narrowly escaped a potential tragedy on Christmas Day, the airplane bomb scare is a reminder that terrorism is still a very real threat to our homeland. It is with great urgency that we must do everything we can to foil future terrorist attacks, including strengthening the visa screening process and closing security gaps that currently exist,” said Vitter.

This legislation would:

· Require the Department of Homeland Security to deploy personnel to conduct on-site visa reviews in high-volume visa posts and high-risk countries.

· Clarify that DHS has the ultimate authority to revoke any visas in the interests of our national security.

· Require updates to law enforcement and consular databases of revoked visas.

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