Speech #1090117348

We dont know what is coming in. and we dont know. to a large degree. what is going out. But on the issue of movement of people. we are attempting to address that question. We have over the last 2 years significantly increased the resources going into border security. We have increased the number of Border Patrol agents by almost 2.000. We have increased the number of beds which are availablewhat is known as detention bedsalso by a significant number. We have increased resources flowing in to the border security area. especially in the area of technology capability. trying to set up a system called USVISIT which will allow us to effectively track who is coming into our country on a realtime basis through using fingerprints and our databases on fingerprints. We have made progress. but we are nowhere near solving the problem. I wanted to talk briefly about that specific issue and then a little bit about the bigger issue of the guest worker program and how you become an American citizen. As the Judiciary Committee wrestles with this problem of border security. it is important that we do it the right way. that we think about it in terms of what is going to get the best results versus what is going to get the best press releases. To begin with. we do not need a wall across our southern border. We dont need it from the standpoint of being able to know who is coming across the border. we dont need it from the standpoint of being good neighbors. and we do not need it from the standpoint of presenting the national culture.