McCaul Statement on Preclearance Operations

Washington, D.C. – House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) issued the following statement on the heels of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) announcement of their efforts to expand air preclearance operations to eleven additional foreign airports. Preclearance is an integral part of a layered approach to our homeland security where Customs and Border Protection personnel screen all travelers prior to departing to the United States.

Chairman McCaul: “Now more than ever, our national security demands that we ‘push our borders out’ to make us safer. The value of preclearance operations has only intensified in the post-9/11 threat environment, as we continue to bolster border security and counterterrorism efforts to prevent the travel of foreign fighters and other nefarious actors bound for our shores. Preclearance is a key layer of defense critical to protecting the homeland and thwarting terror plots long before they reach our country. I am encouraged that the Swedish government has signed an agreement to implement preclearance operations at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. As a last point of departure airport for many flights bound for the United States, Stockholm’s preclearance facility will greatly enhance our counterterrorism efforts and help keep Americans safe.”

Note: The House passed the Homeland Security Committee’s preclearance bill, H.R. 998, the Preclearance Authorization Act of 2015, which authorizes DHS to expand its preclearance operations with increased Congressional oversight and cooperation on June 25, 2015 by voice vote. H.R. 998 was enacted into law as Section 811 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.