House Judiciary Committee Request for Information
on
DOJ Implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act
June 13, 2002
The Honorable John D. Ashcroft
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Ashcroft:
As the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on
the Judiciary, it is our responsibility to conduct oversight of
the Department of Justice's implementation of the USA
PATRIOT Act ("Act"), signed into law by President Bush
on October 26, 2001. The Act gave the government new investigative
tools to combat new terrorist threats against the United States
made all too evident by the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The Committee is interested in hearing from you and FBI
Director Robert F. Mueller concerning the Department of Justice's
use of these new tools and their effectiveness. In light of the
broad scope of the Act, we are initially seeking written responses
to the following questions, and we plan to schedule a hearing in
the near future to allow further public discussion of these and
other issues relating to the Department of Justice's
activity in investigating terrorists or potential terrorist
attacks.
Unless otherwise indicated, please provide data to the
Committee current through May 31, 2002. In addition, if any answer
requires the disclosure of classified material, please provide
those answers under separate cover to the Committee in accordance
with appropriate security procedures.
Please respond to the following questions:
1. Section
103 of the Act authorizes funding for the FBI Technical Support
Center originally authorized by section 811 of the Antiterrorism
and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-132).
What is the status of the Technical Support Center and what plans
are in place or being developed to establish the FBI Technical
Support Center?
2. Section
106 of the Act authorizes the President to confiscate property of
foreign persons, organizations, or countries involved in armed
hostilities. According to press reports, the President has ordered
on several occasions the confiscation of property pursuant to that
section. How often and under what circumstances has the President
exercised that authority? Has the President's exercise of
that authority been challenged in court? If so, please identify
the case(s) and provide the status of any proceeding involving the
exercise of that authority?
3. Section
203 of the Act authorizes disclosure of grand jury information
consisting of certain foreign intelligence or counterintelligence
information to (A) other federal law enforcement officials; (B)
intelligence officials; (C) protective officials; (D) immigration
officials; (E) national defense officials; or (F) national
security officials pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P.
6(e)(3)(C)(i)(V).
A. How
many times has the Department of Justice made such disclosures?
B. For
each disclosure, indicate whether the information related to a
matter involving foreign intelligence or counterintelligence (as
defined in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50
U.S.C. §401a)) or foreign intelligence information (as
defined in Rule 6(e)(3)(C)(iv)).
C. How
many separate grand juries were the source of such
information?
4. Section
203 of the Act also requires that the court supervising a grand
jury be notified within a reasonable time when certain foreign
intelligence or counterintelligence information is disclosed
pursuant to that section. How many notices have been filed with
U.S. courts pursuant to this requirement? What has been the
average time period between the disclosure and the notice to the
court? What has been the longest time period? What has been the
shortest time period?
5. Section
203(b) authorizes disclosure of Title III electronic, wire, and
oral intercept information consisting of certain foreign
intelligence or counterintelligence information to (1) Federal law
enforcement; (2) intelligence officials; (3) protective officials;
(4) immigration officials; (5) national defense officials; or (6)
national security officials. How many times has the Department of
Justice made such disclosures under this authority?
6. Section
203(c) of the Act requires the Attorney General to establish procedures for
disclosures to the court of grand jury foreign intelligence or
counterintelligence
information and electronic wire and oral intercept information
that identifies
an American citizen or a permanent resident alien. Have those
procedures been
established? Please provide a copy of them to the Committee.
7. Section
203(d) of the Act authorizes the disclosure of certain foreign
intelligence or counterintelligence or foreign intelligence
information to (1) Federal law enforcement; (2) intelligence
officials; (3) protective officials; (4) immigration officials;
(5) national defense officials; or (6) national security
officials. How many times has the Department of Justice disclosed
such information?
8. Section
206 of the Act authorizes the FISA court to issue an order that
can be used to obtain assistance and information from any common
carrier, landlord, or custodian when the court finds that the
target of the surveillance may take actions that "may have
the effect of thwarting the identification of a specified person"
to assist in effectuating a FISA order. How many times has the
Department of Justice obtained such "roving" orders
9. Section
212 of the Act authorizes any electronic communications service
provider to disclose communications if it reasonably believes that
an emergency involving immediate danger of death or physical
injury to any person requires disclosure. How many times has the
Department of Justice received information under this authority?
In how many of those cases did the government, not a private
person, submit the information suggesting immediate danger of
death or physical injury?
10. Section
214 authorizes the Department of Justice to obtain orders
authorizing the use on facilities used by American citizens and
permanent resident aliens of pen registers and trap and trace
devices in foreign intelligence investigations. How many times has
the Department of Justice obtained orders for use on facilities
used by American citizens or permanent resident aliens? What
procedures are in place to ensure that such orders are not sought
solely on the basis of activities protected by the First Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution?
11. How
many applications and orders, pursuant to Section 215 of the Act,
have been made or obtained for tangible objects in any
investigation to protect the United States from international
terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities? What procedures
are in place to ensure that such orders are not sought solely on
the basis of activities protected by the First Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution? How many total applications have been made and
of those, how many applications were made by FBI Assistant Special
Agents in Charge, rather than a higher ranking official? How many
orders have been issued upon the application of FBI Assistant
Special Agents in Charge?
12. Has
Section 215 been used to obtain records from a public library,
bookstore, or newspaper? If so, how many times has Section 215
been used in this way? How many times have the records sought
related to named individuals? How many times have the records
sought been entire databases? Is the decision to seek orders for
bookstore, library, or newspaper records subject to any special
policies or procedures such as requiring supervisory approval or
requiring a determination that the information is essential to an
investigation and could not be obtained through any other means?
13. How
many roving pen register and trap and trace orders have been issued under
section 216 of the Act? How many "Armey" notices,
reporting on the
details of the installation of roving pen registers or trap and
trace devices,
have been filed with U.S. courts pursuant section 216 of the Act? How many
"Armey" notices were related to a terrorism investigation?
14. Since
enactment of the Act, how many FISA surveillance order
applications certifying under section 218 of the Act that "a
significant purpose" of the surveillance was the collection
of foreign intelligence information could not have certified,
pursuant to prior law, that "the purpose" was the
collection of foreign intelligence information?
15. How
many U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents have been subject
to new FISA surveillance orders since enactment of the Act? How
many U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents were subject to
such orders during the same period in the prior fiscal year?
16. How
many single-jurisdiction search warrants have been issued pursuant
to Rule 41(a)(3) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure as
amended by section 219 of the Act?
17. How
many search warrants for electronic evidence have been served
under section 220 of the Act in a jurisdiction other than the
jurisdiction of the court issuing the warrant?
18. Have
any claims been filed against the United States or has any
official of the Department of Justice been sued or disciplined
administratively pursuant to section 223 of the Act for violations
of Title III, chapter 121, or FISA?
19. Has
the sunset provision in section 224 of the Act hampered the DOJ in
its efforts against terrorism or any other criminal or
intelligence investigation?
20. Have
sections 205 (relating to employment of translators by the FBI),
908 (relating to training government officials regarding
identification and use of foreign intelligence), 1001 (relating to
certain duties of the Inspector General of the Department of
Justice), 1005 (relating to assisting first responders), 1007
(relating to DEA Police Training in Southeast Asia), 1008
(relating to a study of biometric identifiers), 1009 (relating to
study of access) of the Act been implemented? If so, please
provide an explanation of the steps that have been taken to
implement these provisions and the results. If these provisions
have not been implemented, please explain why they have not been
utilized?
21. Please
explain how the amendments made by sections 207, 214, 215, and
218, of the Act and section 314 of the Intelligence Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107-108) have helped
intelligence investigations both operationally and
administratively?22. Section
211 of the Act was intended to clarify what information cable
companies could disclose to law enforcement authorities. How has
this provision operated in practice?
23. Have
sections 310 and 313 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107-108) been complied with and if
not, why not?
24. FBI
Director Mueller, in an April 19, 2002 speech before the
Commonwealth Club of California, stated that the FBI's
investigation, among other things, "ha[s] helped
prevent more terrorist attacks." The Committee is extremely
interested in learning about terrorist attacks that have been
prevented and cooperation with our partners both at home and
abroad. Therefore, please advise the Committee as to how many
terrorist attacks have been prevented since September 11, 2001,
how (in general terms without divulging classified sources and
methods) were they prevented, and where were these terrorist
attacks planned to have taken place? Please describe what
authorities in the Act were used and how they helped to prevent
these attacks.
25. Were
any authorities in the Act used in the investigations of Zacarias
Moussaoui, John Walker Lindh, Richard Reid, Jose Padillo, and Abu
Zubaydah? If so, which authorities were used and, without
compromising evidence in pending cases or sources or methods, what
leads or evidence did they produce?
26. Some
public officials have complained that shortly after the September
11 attacks, the Department of Justice improperly detained hundreds
of potential suspects and kept their names secret from the public.
What authorities, if any, under the Act were used to detain these
individuals and keep their names secret? If no authorities under
the Act were used, please explain on what authority these
individuals were detained and their names kept secret?
27. How
many FISA applications for "roving" surveillance
authority and how many FISA applications for "roving"
search authority have been approved since enactment of the Act?
How many surveillances and how many searches have been conducted
pursuant to those approved applications?
28. The
Department of Justice promulgated regulations that permitted in
certain cases listening to conversations between prisoners and
their lawyers. What authority, if any, under the Act was used to
promulgate that regulation? If no authority under the Act was
used, please explain the authority used to promulgate the
regulation.
29. Section
401 authorizes the Attorney General to "waive any FTE cap on
personnel assigned to the Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) on the Northern Border."
A. How
many Border Patrol Agents have been assigned or reassigned to the
Northern Border under the authority conveyed by this provision?
B. How
many Inspectors have been assigned or reassigned to the Northern
Border under the authority conveyed by this provision?
C. How
much do you estimate that this provision has cost?
30. Section
402 authorizes appropriations to triple the number of INS Border
Patrol Agents and Inspectors in each state along the Northern
Border, and also authorizes appropriations to provide necessary
personnel and facilities to support such personnel.
A. What
steps has the INS taken to hire additional Inspectors at the Ports
of Entry along the Northern Border?
B. Has
the INS been actively recruiting additional Inspectors for the
Northern Border?
C. Has
the INS reassigned other Inspectors from the other Ports of Entry
to the Northern Border Ports? If so, how many Inspectors has it
reassigned, and what has it done to replace those Inspectors?
D. Has
the INS needed to expand its training capacity to accommodate
additional Inspectors? If so, what has it done, and what has this
cost?
E. What
steps has the INS taken to hire additional Border Patrol Agents to
serve along the Northern Border?
i. Has
the INS been actively recruiting additional Border Patrol Agents
for the Northern
Border?
ii. Has
the INS reassigned other Border Patrol Agents from elsewhere in
the United States to the Northern Border? If so, how many agents
has it had to reassign, and what has it done to replace those
Border Patrol Agents?
iii. Has
the INS needed to expand its training capacity to accommodate
additional Border Patrol Agents? If so, what has it done to expand
training capacity, and what has this cost?
31. Section
402 also authorizes the appropriation of $50,000,000 to the INS
and the U.S. Customs Service to make improvements in technology
for monitoring the Northern Border and acquiring additional
equipment for the Northern Border.
A. What
improvements in technology has the INS undertaken along the
Northern Border using the appropriation in section 402 of the Act?
Has the INS seen any improvement in its ability to monitor the
Northern Border as a result of undertaking those improvements?
B. What
additional equipment has the INS acquired for use at the Northern
Border under the authority conveyed by section 402 of the Act? Has
the INS seen any improvement in its ability to monitor the
Northern Border as a result of adding that equipment?
32. Section
403 requires the Attorney General and the Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to provide the State Department and
the INS access to criminal history record information contained in
the National Crime Information Center's Interstate Identification
Index (NCIC-III), Wanted Persons File, as well as to any other
files maintained by the NCIC that may be mutually agreed upon by
the Attorney General and the agency receiving the access, for the
purpose of determining whether or not a visa applicant or an
applicant for admission has a criminal history record indexed in
any such file. Access is to be provided by placing extracts of the
records in the automated visa lookout or other appropriate
database. In order to obtain access to full records, the
requesting entity must submit fingerprints and a fingerprint
processing fee to the FBI.
A. What
steps have been taken by the Department of Justice to implement
this
section?
B. What
has been the cost of implementing this provision?
C. Has
the Department of Justice agreed to provide access to other files
maintained
by NCIC to either the INS or State Department? If so, which files, and to
which entity have you provided access?
D. Have
any applicants seeking admission or seeking visas who have
criminal histories been identified under this provision thus far?
If yes, how many? How many of those aliens would not have been
identified in the visa or admission application process if access
to NCIC-III had not been provided to the identifying entity?
33. Section
404 waives the overtime cap on INS employees in the Department of
Justice Appropriations Act, 2001 (as enacted into law by Appendix
B (H.R. 5548) of Public Law 106-553 (114 Stat. 2762A-58 to
2762A-59)) of $30,000 per employee per calendar year.
A. Do
you anticipate that any INS employees will be paid more than
$30,000 in overtime this fiscal year?
B. If
so, how many INS employees do you anticipate will be paid more
than $30,000 in overtime this calendar year?
C. How
much do you anticipate that this provision will cost this fiscal
year?
34. Section
405 requires the Attorney General, in consultation with the
Secretaries of State, the Treasury, and Transportation, as well as
other appropriate agency heads to report to Congress on the
feasibility of enhancing the FBI's Integrated Automated
Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) and other identification
systems to better identify aliens wanted in connection with
criminal investigations in the United States or abroad, before
those aliens are issued visas or are admitted to or allowed to
leave the United States. The section authorizes an appropriation
of $2,000,000 for this purpose.
A. Has
the Justice Department started to evaluate the feasibility of
using IAFIS and other databases to identify aliens wanted on
criminal charges?
B. What
steps has the Justice Department taken in response to this
provision?
C. Is
the Justice Department devising a comprehensive database to
identify criminal aliens before they enter the United States? If
so, what barriers do you anticipate Justice will encounter in
achieving this goal?
Subtitle B of Title IV of the Act, captioned "Enhanced
Immigration Provisions," amends the terrorism provisions of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), gives the Attorney
General additional authority to detain certain suspected alien
terrorists, and improves systems for tracking aliens entering and
leaving the United States and for inspecting aliens seeking to
enter the United States.
35. Section
411 amends the INA to broaden the scope of aliens ineligible for
admission or deportable due to terrorist activities. This section
also defines "terrorist organization" and the
term "engage in terrorist activity."
A. Has
the INS relied upon the definitions provided under section 411 to
file any new charges against any aliens in removal proceedings? If
so, how many times has it used each provision?
B. Has
any alien been denied admission on these new grounds of
inadmissibility? If so, how many?
C. What
effect have the amendments to the INA in section 411 of the Act
had on ongoing investigations in the United States?
D. As
amended by section 411 of the Act, section 212(a)(3)(B)(i)(VI) of
the INA renders inadmissible any alien who has used his position
of prominence within any country to endorse or espouse terrorist
activity or to persuade others to support terrorist activity or a
terrorist organization, in a way that the Secretary of State has
determined undermines United States efforts to reduce or eliminate
terrorist activities. Has the Secretary of State made such a
determination under this provision?
E. Section
212(a)(3)(F) of the INA, as amended by section 411 of the Act,
renders inadmissible any alien who the Attorney General determines
has been associated with a terrorist organization and intends
while in the United States to engage solely, principally, or
incidentally in activities endangering the United States. Has the
Attorney General made such a determination with respect to any
alien thus far?
F. Have
there been any challenges to the constitutionality of the charges
added to the INA by section 411 of the Act? If so, please identify
the case(s) and the status of any proceeding.
36. Section
412 of the Act (1) provides for mandatory detention of an alien
certified by the Attorney General as a suspected terrorist or
threat to national security; (2) requires release of such alien
after seven days if removal proceedings have not commenced, or if
the alien has not been charged with a criminal offense; (3)
authorizes detention for additional periods of up to six months of
an alien not likely to be deported in the reasonably foreseeable
future if release will threaten our national security or the
safety of the community or any person; and (4) limits judicial
review to habeas corpus proceedings in the U.S. Supreme Court, the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, or any
district court with jurisdiction to entertain a habeas corpus
petition; and (5) limits the venue of appeal of any final order by
a circuit or district judge under section 236A of the INA to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
A. How
many times has the Attorney General issued a certification under
section 236A(a)(3) of the INA?
B. If
the Attorney General has issued certifications under this
provision, how many of the aliens for whom certifications have
been issued have been removed?
C. How
many aliens for whom the Attorney General issued certifications
are still detained? At what stage of the criminal or immigration
proceedings are each of those cases?
D. What
were the grounds for those certifications?
E. How
many of the aliens who were certified have been granted relief?
How many of those aliens are still detained?
F. Have
any challenges to certifications under section 236A(a)(3) of the
INA been brought in habeas corpus proceedings in accordance with
section 236A(b)? If so, please identify the case(s) and the status
of each proceeding?
G. Has
the Attorney General released any aliens detained under section 236A of the
INA because the alien was not charged with a criminal offense or
placed into
removal proceedings within seven days?
37. Section
413 authorizes
the Secretary of State, to share, on a reciprocal basis, criminal-
and terrorist-related visa lookout information in the State
Department's databases with foreign governments.
A. Has
the authority provided under section 413 been used?
B. If
that authority has been used, has it uncovered relevant and
material information on any pending or ongoing immigration
matters? Has that authority led to the discovery of relevant and
material information on suspected activity?
38. Section
414 of the Act declares the sense of Congress that the
Attorney General should: (1) fully implement the integrated entry
and exit data system for airports, seaports, and land border ports
of entry with all deliberate speed; and (2) begin immediately
establishing the Integrated Entry and Exit Data System Task Force.
It also authorizes appropriations for these purposes, and requires
the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, in developing the
integrated entry and exit data system, to focus on the use of
biometric technology and the development of tamper-resistant
documents readable at ports of entry.
A. What
steps has the Department of Justice taken to implement the
integrated entry and exit data system for airports, seaports, and
land border ports of entry?
B. How
soon does the Justice Department think that the integrated entry and exit
data system for airports, seaports, and land border ports of entry will be
implemented? Will it be implemented for air-, land-, and seaports
at the same
time, or will it be implemented sequentially?
C. How
much will it cost to implement an integrated entry and exit data system for
airports, seaports, and land border ports of entry?
D. How
many meetings has the Entry and Exit Data System Task Force held
since the enactment of the Act?
E. What
was the agenda of those meetings and what has been the outcome of
those
meetings?
39. Section
415 amends the Immigration and Naturalization Service Data
Management Improvement Act of 2000 to include the Office of
Homeland Security in the Integrated Entry and Exit Data System
Task Force. Has this been accomplished?
40. Section
416 of the Act directs the Attorney General to implement fully the
foreign student monitoring program, and to expand that program to
include other approved educational institutions like flight,
language training, or vocational schools. In addition, that
section authorizes appropriation of $36,800,000 to carry out the
purposes of the section.
A. What
steps has the Justice Department taken to implement the foreign
student monitoring program, in accordance with section 416 of the
Act?
B. How
soon will the foreign student monitoring program be fully
implemented?
C. How
much do you estimate it will cost to fully implement the foreign
student monitoring program?
D. Prior
to full implementation of the program, how will the Justice
Department monitor
student compliance with the requirements of their student visas? Does the
Department of Justice have the resources to take action against aliens who
violate their student status in the United States? Since the date
of enactment
of the Act, how many removal proceedings have been initiated
against foreign
students who have violated the terms of their visas?
41. Section
417 of the Act requires the Secretary of State to perform audits and submit
to Congress reports on implementation of the requirement that visa waiver
countries under section 217 of the INA issue their citizens
machine-readable
passports. It also advances the date by which aliens are seeking admission
under the visa-waiver program are required to present
machine-readable passports
from October 1, 2007 to October 1, 2003. A waiver is provided to
this requirement
for nationals of countries that the Secretary of State finds (1) are making
progress toward providing machine-readable passports and (2) have
taken appropriate
measures to protect their non-machine-readable passports against
misuse. Has
the Justice Department been working with the Secretary of State
in fulfilling
his responsibilities under section 417 of the Act? If so, please describe
the actions the Justice Department is taking to work with the Secretary of
State.
42. Section
418 of the Act directs the Secretary of State to review how
consular officers
issue visas to determine if consular shopping is a problem. Has the Justice
Department been working with the State Department in completing
this review?
If so, please describe the actions the Justice Department is taking to work
with the Secretary of State.
43. Subtitle
C of the Title IV of the Act generally authorizes the
Attorney General
to preserve immigration benefits for those aliens who would otherwise have
lost eligibility for those benefits due to the terrorist attacks
on September
11, 2001.
A. How
many applications for special immigrant status from principal aliens under
section 421 of the Act has the INS received since that provision
was enacted?
B. How
many applications for special immigrant status filed by spouses
and children
of principal aliens under section 421 of the Act has the INS received since
that provision was enacted?
C. How
many applications for special immigrant status filed by
grandparents of orphans
under section 421 of the Act has the INS received since that provision was
enacted?
D. How
many aliens does the Justice Department anticipate will be
eligible for benefits
under section 421?
E. Describe
the process that the INS is using to adjudicate and to
investigate applications
for special immigrant status under section 421 of the Act.
F. Has
the INS determined that any of the applications filed under section 421 of
the Act were fraudulent? If so, how many applications were determined to be
fraudulent?
44. Section
422 of the Act states that an alien who was legally in a
nonimmigrant status
and was disabled as a direct result of the September 11 attacks may remain
in the United States until his or her normal status termination
date or September
11, 2002. That section includes in such extension of status the spouse or
child of such an alien or of an alien who was killed in those attacks, and
authorizes employment during the period of that status. It also
extends
specified immigration-related deadlines and other filing requirements for
aliens (and spouses and children) who were directly prevented from meeting
such requirements as a result of the September attacks
respecting: (1) nonimmigrant
status and status revision; (2) diversity immigrants; (3) immigrant visas;
(4) parolees; and (5) voluntary departure.
A. Describe
the process that the INS is using to evaluate applications for extension of
nonimmigrant status under section 422(a) of the Act.
i. How
many aliens have applied for extensions under that section?
ii. Is
the INS investigating the veracity of those applications?
Describe the steps
that the INS is taking to investigate those applications.
iii. Has
the INS identified any fraud in connection with those applications? If so,
how many were believed to be fraudulent?
B. How
many aliens have applied for extension of the filing deadline for extension
or change of nonimmigrant status under section 422(b)(1) of the
Act?
i. Describe
the process for extending those deadlines.
ii. Describe
the steps that the INS is taking to assess the veracity of applications to
extend those deadlines.
iii. Has
the INS identified any fraud in connection with those applications? If so,
how many applications were believed to be fraudulent?
C. How
many departure delays under section 422 of the Act has the
Justice Department
seen since the implementation of that act?
D. Has
the INS received any applications from aliens who were unable to return to
the United States and apply for extensions of nonimmigrant status
in a timely
manner because of the September 11 terrorist attacks?
E. How
many applications for waiver of the fiscal-year limitation on
diversity visas
under section 422(c) of the Act has the INS received?
i. Describe
the process that the INS is using to assess the veracity of applications to
extend those deadlines.
ii. Has
the INS identified any fraud in connection with those applications? If so,
how many were believed to be fraudulent?
F. How
many visas that would have expired but for the extension in section 422(d)
of the Act has the INS processed?
45. Section
424 of the Act amends the INA to extend the visa categorization
of "child"
of aliens who are the beneficiaries of applications or petitions filed on
or before September 11, 2001, for aliens whose 21st birthday is
in September
2001 (90 days), or after September 2001 (45 days).
A. In
how many cases has the special "age-out" provision in section 424
of the Act been utilized since the enactment of that provision?
B. How
many aliens does the INS believe are in the possible class of
aliens who would
benefit from the special "age-out" provision in section
424 of the
Act?
46. Section
425 of
the Act authorizes the Attorney General to provide temporary administrative
relief to an alien who, as of September, 10, 2001, was lawfully
in the United
States and was the spouse, parent, or child of an individual who
died or was
disabled as a direct result of the September attacks.
A. Have
regulations implementing this provision been implemented?
B. How
many applications for relief under this provision has the INS received?
C. How
many applications for relief under this provision has the INS granted?
D. What
sorts of relief is the INS granting under this provision?
47. Section
426 of the Act directs the Attorney General to establish
evidentiary guidelines
for death, disability, and loss of employment or destruction of business in
connection with the provisions of this subtitle.
A. Has
the Attorney General promulgated regulations for use in
accordance with section
426 of the Act?
B. Does
the Attorney General plan to promulgate regulations for implementation of
this provision?
C. Has
the Attorney General established standards under section 426 of the Act? In
what form (guidelines, operating instructions, guidance
memoranda) are those
standards set forth? Please provide a copy of those standards.
48. Section
427 of the Act prohibits benefits to terrorists or their family
members. Have
any family members of the terrorists responsible for the
September terrorist
attacks attempted to file for benefits under the Act?
49. Section
806 authorizes the Department of Justice to use its civil asset
seizure authority
to seize assets of terrorist organizations. Has the Department of Justice
used this power? If so, what is the status of the seized assets? Have any
seizures under this section been challenged in court? If so, what was the
result? What procedures are in place to prevent this power from
being abused
when, for example, assets allegedly involved in domestic
terrorism are seized
prior to prosecution of the alleged terrorists?
50. Section
1001 of the Act requires the Department of Justice Inspector
General to collect
and investigate complaints of civil rights and civil liberties
abuses by Department
of Justice employees and to publicize his responsibilities. How many such
complaints have been received? How many investigations have been initiated?
What is the status of those investigations? In what ways has the Inspector
General publicized these responsibilities?
Please
forward your responses to these questions to the Committee at the address
on this letter not later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9, 2002.
Please contact
Committee Chief Counsel for Oversight and Investigations Keith Ausbrook at
202-225-6476 or Minority Counsel Sam Garg at 202-225-6906 if you have any
questions about this request.
Sincerely,
F.
JAMES SENSENBRENNER,
JR. JOHN
CONYERS, JR.
Chairman Ranking
Member
FJS/jka
