Speech #1020070047

Mr. President. absent additional resources. we will continue to see aliens effortlessly crossing our border. many of them pawns in Americas international drug war. It is primarily because of the continued flow of drugs that the Border Patrols role becomes even more important. In 1989. the National Drug Control Policy Board stated that the reduced time at the border may have hurt our drug interdiction efforts. And just this past year. the Office of National Drug Control Policy stated that the Border Patrol is the primary agency for drug interdction between ports of entry. But it is naive to think that the solution to our border problems is lack of personnel. Indeed. our border troubles are due to a lack of vehicles and technology. According to the GAO. more than 50 percent of the Border Patrols more than 3.000 vehicles should be evaluated for possible replacement. Unless older vehicles are replaced. the border is forced to rely on less reliable vehicles. which if operable. drive up maintenance costs. With additional funding. the Border Patrol can replace even more vehicles in the coming year. reduce long term maintenance costs. and ensure even more effective enforcement. Additional assistance is also needed to help the border have the technological means necessary to most efficiently use their corps of agents. especially in areas that suffer from personnel shortages. One need only travel to San Diego to beat understand why I am here discussing these matters with you today. I visted this border region earlier this year. and Ill be frank: it was shocking to see what the men and women of Border Patrol are up against. The San Diego region is the most traveled part of the Southwest border. More illegal aliens successfully travel across this region than any other. And. I am sad to say. most of the drugs imported into this country travel across this border. Like most other border regions. San Diego faces a personnel problem. but theirs is more acutetheres is due in part to a lack of funding. but its alsodue to a high cost of living in the San Diego region. Simply adding more personnel is not going to solve San Diegos Border Patrol problems because its attrition rate will eat significantly into any personnel increase. Over time. with the implementation of Federal pay reform. we can hope to strike at this attrition rate. In the meantime. however. action must be taken to make the San Diego border an effective force against the importation of crime and illegal drugs. One of the most effective ways to address this problem is to implement a lowlight television system along the San Diego border region. With this additional surveillance component. we can more efficiently use Border Patrol agents in the San Diego area. According to one Border Patrol supervisor. several cameras and three agents could monitor an area patrolled by as many as 25 agents. Now. I am not saying that this camera system is meant to replace agents. Rather. it allows the border to more flexibly use agents in areas other than border surveillance. Indeed. this system will help to compensate the growing nonborder responsibilities the Border Patrol has had to take on as part of its efforts to combat illegal drugs. Mr. President. my amendment addresses these three areas of concern to the Southwest border region.