I just arrived back in Washington from a very enjoyable weekend in Iowa. On Friday and Saturday evenings I attended the all of the championship games at the Girls State Basketball tournament in Des Moines. This is my 29th year in row that I’ve attended the tournament.

On Saturday I visited the Veterans Affairs medical center in Des Moines. The facilities are already very nice but they’re expanding and improving their care facilities for Veterans. I was able to visit some patients in their rooms and each patient I spoke with told me they loved the care they were receiving. My brother was a patient in the Iowa City VA medical center several years ago and he received very good care. After I toured the facilities I was able to have a Q & A discussion with the hospital staff and visitors. They asked questions about immigration, tri-care and the U.S. Military.

Today I was on the road visiting more counties. I held town hall meetings in Hamilton and Hardin Counties and I spoke at a rotary luncheon in Grundy Center.

This week in the Senate we’ll resume debate on the 9/11 Commission bill. On Friday the Senate voted against consideration of a package of amendments that would have enhanced the security requirements of this bill. The package included my amendment that would ensure individuals who are on U.S. soil and have their visas revoked, can immediately be deported. Currently, when a possible terrorist has their visa revoked, they can use the U.S. court system to stay in the country. This jeopardizes classified intelligence, may hinder investigations dealing with criminals and terrorists and make deportation nearly impossible.

It was my understanding from the Democrat majority that the 9/11 bill was about national security, which makes it all the more alarming that our package of security amendments was rejected. The package of amendments put forth by Republican senators would have put some teeth into this bill and actually help secure our country rather than pretending to finish the Commission’s recommendations. By denying an up or down vote on these security amendments, the Democrats are potentially putting the public at risk. It's time this Congress realizes that immigration and border security have everything to do with national security. We live in a very different world and a pre-9/11 mindset isn't going to help keep terrorists out of the country.