We've got responsibilities here at home, as well, and it starts with our borders. Our borders process an incredibly huge number of people. It may come as a surprise to some of you, but there's -- over 500 million people a year enter America, and half of those are our own citizens that may have been traveling. We have 11 million trucks come across our borders. We have 51,000 foreign ships call into our ports. It reminds us that no nation can be totally secure, or more secure, unless we're well-protected, and unless our borders are well-screened. We must know who's coming into our country and why they're coming. We must know what our visitors are doing and when they leave. That's important for us to know. It's knowledge necessary to make our homeland more secure.

America is not a fortress; no, we never want to be a fortress. We're a free country; we're an open society. And we must always protect the rights of our law -- of law-abiding citizens from around the world who come here to conduct business or to study or to spend time with their family. That's what we're known for. We're known for respect.

But, on the other hand, we can do a better job of making our borders more secure, and make our borders smart. We must use technology and be wise about how we use technology, to speed the flow of commerce across our borders, and to identify frequent travelers who pose no risk. We should be directing resources to risk. We ought to be routing out smugglers and focusing on criminals -- and, of course, stopping terrorists from coming into the country.

The bill I sign today enhances our ongoing efforts to strengthen our borders. The purpose of this bill is to help our country do a better job of border security. It authorizes 400 additional inspectors, investigators, and other staff on the INS over the next five years. We're adding manpower, obviously. It makes it easier for the INS and other federal agencies to get better information about people and products that come into America. It requires every foreign visitor desiring entrance into the United States to carry a travel document containing biometric identification -- that would be fingerprints or facial recognition -- that will enable us to use technology to better deny fraudulent entry into America.

It strengthens the requirements that all commercial passenger ships and airplanes entering the United States provide a list of passengers and crew before arrival, so that border authorities can act immediately to prevent someone from entering the country if he or she poses a threat to our citizens. It makes a lot of sense to do that. We should have probably been doing it a long time ago.

These new measures will only be effective if federal authorities have access to important information. One of the things we've learned is how to better share information. Right now, the FBI and the CIA do a good job of sharing information. Information is getting better shared from the federal to the state to the local levels.

But we've got to do a better job of sharing information and expanding information to the INS and the State Department and Customs agents, and throughout the intelligence community. We've just got to do a better job. This bill enables us to modernize our communication, so the information flows freely and quickly. The legislation requires law enforcement and intelligence communities to continue to develop a list of suspected terrorists, and to maintain that list, and to make it readily available, so that nobody is granted entry into the United States that's on the list.

In other words, we're beginning to gather information overseas in a much better way. We've got a vast coalition of nations that are still with us. They heard the message, either you're with us, or you're not with us. They're still with us. And we're sharing information. And we can use that -- better use that information with our own agencies here at home, to make sure that we really button this up, that we do our job, the job the American people expect.

The bill didn't have everything I wanted. I wanted a temporary extension of 245-I in the bill, which basically allowed certain immigrants, sponsored by their families or employers, to become legal residents without having to leave the country, so that families can stay together. I thought that made sense. It's not a part of the bill; I intend to work with Congress to see if we can't get that done here pretty quick.

Yet, the common sense measures will help us meet the goal, and that's important. It will help us meet the goals of legitimate commerce and important travel. And at the same time, it will help us keep the country secure. Basically what we're saying is, this is part of a -- legislative part of a national strategy. Tom's worked on the national strategy. He's worked with our respective agency heads. And Congress has been a great partner in this strategy. This is good work.

You know, sometimes in Washington we actually are able to put our political parties aside and focus on what's best for the country. And we're able to say, let's make sure America comes -- is the first priority of all of us. And this has happened in this bill.

The fifth man to serve as the U.S. drug czar visited a city ravaged by addiction, corruption and violence to renew the vow of his predecessors to fight narcotics traffickers and stem America's appetite for their wares.

**"We intend to drive down demand and we intend to go after those who are suppliers with renewed vigor," John P. Walters said Wednesday as he toured a residential drug treatment center. **

Translation: We are committed to taking advantage of the dynamics of prohibition to maximize the profit of the illegal drug trade. We need all the money we can get. Nobody can stop us now! Muahahahahaha!

**The U.S.-Mexico border region in Southern California continues to be one of the nation's major transit points for illegal drugs. In the past six months, authorities at five border points confiscated 166,000 pounds of marijuana, about 23 percent of the total Customs seized nationally**

I wonder how much other "illegal drugs/alcohol/cigarettes" they hauled in. My wager is that it pales in comparison to the sheer tonnage of weed they catch. No war on cannabis, no war on drugs.

How will we know when there is "10% less drug usage?"

Drug-related murder = prohibition-related murder. People kill other people in mass quantities to get and keep these profits Mr. Walters is so committed to upholding.

And if/when weed is re-legalized these murderous sorts will still be murderous sorts because thats the only sort that can deal with the risks posed by heavy enforcement of prohibition. They will go on to something else lucrative (weapons) but still be deserving of law enforcements full attention.

Law enforcement will still have plenty of work to do once we can smoke in peace. They needn't worry about that, but there will be no more mass forfieture. (This is what I am assuming Walters intends to help :reduce demand".)

I think it's all about preventing the development and growth of hemp biodiesel refineries, given that everything else is about oil.

. FREEDOM ENDURES .