BILL NUMBER: SJR 33INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Wyland AUGUST 21, 2014 Relative to national security. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SJR 33, as introduced, Wyland. National security: borders. The measure would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to take immediate and decisive action to ensure that entry into, and exit from, the United States is properly controlled in order to ensure our national security. The measure would also urge the President and Congress to further broaden political consensus on visitor and immigration law enforcement. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, On September 11, 2001, America was attacked by 19 terrorists with foreign passports using student or tourist visas to enter the country; and WHEREAS, As a result of those attacks, a bipartisan 9/11 Commission was convened to investigate the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks, including recommendations for guarding against future attacks; and WHEREAS, The 9/11 Commission Report found that "as many as 15 of the 19 hijackers were potentially vulnerable to interception by border authorities"; and WHEREAS, On April 15, 2013, the Boston Marathon route was bombed by suspects Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev; and WHEREAS, The friends of Dzokhar Tsarnaev, who are accused of interfering with the Boston bombing investigation to help him, were living in the United States on expired or invalid student visas; and WHEREAS, The lack of entry and exit enforcement of the border puts our nation at risk for infiltration and attack by foreign terrorists; and WHEREAS, The Migration Policy Institute reports that as many as 40 percent of those in the United States illegally are overstaying formerly valid student, temporary, business, or tourist visas; and WHEREAS, Recent polls have found that an overwhelming majority of likely United States voters would not support an immigration reform plan that failed to address concerns of unauthorized entry into the country; and WHEREAS, Effective entry and exit control of the border is a prerequisite for public confidence in any changes to, or enforcement of, current visa policy or immigration law; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President and the Congress of the United States to take immediate and decisive action to ensure that entry into, and exit for those whose lawful presence has expired from, the United States is properly controlled in order to ensure our national security, and to further broaden political consensus on visitor and immigration law enforcement, and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.