mr. chairman , i rise today in very strong support of the bill , h.r. 418 , and also the very fine amendment of the gentleman from texas ( mr. sessions ) xz4003670 . 
i spoke on the floor last december in opposition to the conference report on the intelligence bill because it lacked the provisions that we are actually debating here today . 
i commend the leadership of , certainly , the gentleman from wisconsin ( chairman sensenbrenner ) and the gentleman from texas ( mr. sessions ) xz4003670 , for bringing this amendment to our attention and adding it to the bill . 
i am very pleased that they made good on their promise that we would be here today providing for the provisions that the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner ) xz4003650 had . 
no issue is more important to this congress than securing our borders and protecting our homeland , and i guarantee it is very important to our constituents . 
when i was in the florida senate , i headed up the homeland security committee shortly after 9/11 , and many of the provisions that are in this bill we actually included when we took on the driver 's license issue , making the driver 's licenses only last as long as the person was legally in the country . 
i applaud the gentleman from wisconsin ( chairman sensenbrenner ) and the house leadership for making good on their promise and enacting the recommendations made by the 9/11 commission . 
i urge my colleagues to vote for the bill and certainly for the amendment of the gentleman from texas ( mr. sessions ) xz4003670 , which just quite honestly makes common sense in that members ' constituents back home will very easily understand and say , why was this not done a long time ago ? 
