Press Releases

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) announced that the Committee is working on legislation to "enhance visa security processing."  In related press releases, he has argued that the Obama Administration is to blame for admitting one of the suspects in the San Bernardino attacks into the country in 2013.  Last week, the Committee obtained a copy of Tashfeen Malik’s immigration file.  Today, in an unusual step, Chairman Goodlatte publicly released portions of the file. After reviewing the file, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr., issued the following statement:

"The events in San Bernardino are tragic.  We are studying the case to learn if any systemic changes would help us in preventing similar attacks in the future.  But I am concerned that Chairman Goodlatte, has reached several conclusions that are not supported by the available facts.

"Two weeks ago, Chairman Goodlatte reported that one of the suspects, Tashfeen Malik, ‘posted her radical views on social media prior to obtaining a visa,’ and that the Obama Administration should have caught these statements when reviewing her visa application.  FBI Director Comey has since made clear that no such social media posts ever existed.

"Last week, the Chairman concluded that Malik's immigration file does not show sufficient evidence' to support her visa application.  Specifically, it was suggested that there is no way to know if the two suspects ever met in Saudi Arabia prior to their application for a fiancé visa.  The facts do not support that conclusion, either.

"We have reviewed the suspect's immigration file, and found that it included relevant evidence such as passport stamps, biographic data, and translated Saudi visas submitted in response to USCIS's request for further evidence.  Moreover, the Saudi government has specifically confirmed that both suspects were present in that country at the same time in October 2013, consistent with an affidavit in the file.  The FBI presented similar evidence in a briefing to our committee members last week.

"I look forward to working with the Chairman on legislation that strengthens the visa application process.  There are undoubtedly many ways we can improve that system.  I simply hope that the legislation we produce is based on the facts as we best understand them."