Speech #1090165709

What Senator SESSIONS and I are committed to doing is ensuring that the authorization for construction of fencing is fully funded so that we can assure our constituents that we have done everything necessary to provide the fencing on the border that the experts have said is necessary. When we talk about vehicle barriers. let me describe briefly how that fits into fencing. Fencing is primarily a way for the Border Patrol to ensure. as it patrols the border in urban areas primarily. that it is very difficult to cross. It is hard for the Border Patrol in urban areas to be able to patrol on a continuous basis and deal with the large volume of people who could come across if there is not adequate fencing. I think we have all seen the pictures of the rush to the border at border points of entry where large numbers of people congregate on the Mexican side of the border. come rushing across. and it is virtually impossible for the Border Patrol to deal with that mass of people when they cross. In order to make it more difficult in the urban areas where this is likely to occur. they prefer fencing as one of the mechanisms for securing the border. Fencing is not effective unless you also have Border Patrol to patrol along the fencing because it is possible. in most cases. to get over a fence or through a fence. But it slows people down to the point that the Border Patrol is able to apprehend them and ensure that they do not cross illegally. One of the reasons for a double fence is that the Border Patrol can get to the point where people are trying to cross illegally if you have a double fence. and that is what this funding is helping to achieve. Right now. we have this single fence constructed of steel. It is excess or surplus landing mat steel that the military has no more use for but used to be the equipment they would lay down on a field in order to be able to land planes on an emergency basis. This is surplus steel. They put that on end. welded together. and it constructs a fence. It is somewhat effective in the urban areas. but much of it is deteriorating In the areas where it has been constructed for a long time. and it is also not as effective because the Border Patrol cannot see through it and therefore it does not as easily know what is happening on the other side of the fencewhether people are congregating there. They would prefer to replace that deteriorating landing mat fencing with other kinds of fencing. What the amendment from Senator SESSIONS does is ensure the National Guard will have the funds necessary to put the landing mat fencing up that they are currently constructing in those areas where that is appropriate but also that there will be adequate funding to convert to the other kind of fencing we are familiar with in the form of a very heavy gauge chain link kind of fencing with barbed wire. and so forth. to prevent entry. The vehicle barriers we speak of are a real necessity now because the Border Patrol is gradually gaining control of the border. and their control is being contested by the cartels and the coyotes who in the past have had significant control of that territory. They are responding with violence. and they are using pretty highcaliber weapons. What the Border Patrol says is that every time they see a vehicle coming across the border. they know they have a problem because it is big enough to carry weapons. It is also big enough to carry contraband. usually drugs. which is protected by weapons. So unlike the situation with illegal immigrants crossing the border. they know that the coyotes and the cartels. the gangs that are in control. are going to use weapons to protect their turf. protect their territory. and enable that contraband to get across the border. So vehicles present a special threat to the Border Patrol. The vehicle barriers they will construct and they are constructing will prevent. in the flat areas. beyond the urban areas. these vehicles from coming across. They are constructed in such a way that animals or people could get through them. but vehicles cannot. In some of the more mountainous areas. obviously It is not possible to put up either fencing or vehicle barriers. But the combination of those two items. plus cameras that can view large areas of the border at a time. plus lights that enable the Border Patrol to see at night and sensors in the more remote areas. in addition to the unmanned aerial vehicles. fixedwing and helicopters that patrol the border. provides a mechanism that supports the vehicular patrols of the Border Patrol and the combination of which provides the mosaic for securing the border. All this is a part of the Border Patrols recommendationsthe Department of Homeland Security recommendationsand is authorized by legislation we have adopted. But the funding is not adequate to complete all of this work. That is what the amendment Senator SESSIONS has offered would do.