Speech #1090102863

Without that money. we will go back to the LIHEAP funding levels which are traditional here. and we will not be able to pick up the extra costs of LIHEAP. which is lowincome energy assistance. which is a function of increased oil costs--a very serious problem for a lot of low income people who are trying to figure out how they are going to be able to heat their homes this winter. So if this bill goes down under the cloture motion. we lose the LIHEAP dollars. and all those folks who have come to the Chamber and claimed they were for LIHEAP will have to explain that. Secondly. this bill has in it a major initiative in the area of defending our borders. $1.1 billion is put into this bill to upgrade the capabilities of the Border Patrol. The Border Patrol needs to be dramatically expanded as to personnel and detention facilities. but neither of those events can happen until the capital needs of the Border Patrol are improved so that the additional agents can be taken care of. We as a Congress have increased the number of agents by 1.500 in the last year. the number of detention beds by 1.000. but we have not addressed the capital needs. They need new helicopters. new cars. new buildings and facilities to house people. They need some issues relative to their training facilities so that we can train more border patrol. All that money Is right here. Everybody who has come to this Chamber talking about the need for a better Border Patrol and better capacity to monitor who is coming into our country. well. it cannot be done without a strong Border Patrol. and this bill commits to that. I congratulate the Senator from Alaska for putting in that money. We need to get it in the pipeline. We need to get it in the pipeline now so that the Border Patrol will have the capital resources it needs to make sure they can move forward with our goal. which is to secure the border so we know who is coming across the border and the people who are coming across the border illegally are apprehended. It is a good bill. There are a lot of good proposals in this bill. But those two itemsgetting energy assistance money out to lowincome individuals who need it. and as we head further into this winter. it is going to be critical that we have that money: and supporting the Border Patrol effort and making sure that our borders are secure through expanding the capital commitment to the Border Patrol with additional helicopters. additional housing. additional motor vehicles. and other physical activity they need down there. training facilitiesare very critical elements of policy in this bill which will be lost potentially and most likely actually if this cloture motion is not agreed to. Therefore. I strongly encourage our colleagues to vote for cloture.