Speech #1090171360

Some of these attempting to cross the border illegally are from militant Islamic groups that have conducted terrorism on the U.S. A living example is Mahmoud Kourani. the brother of a Lebanese military leader of Hezbollah. an organization clearly identified as a terrorist organization. He was able to come into our country by bribing a Mexican consulate official to obtain a Mexican visa and was smuggled into California. Fortunately. he was later caught. H.R. 6061 will help shut down the flow of illegal immigration into the United States through utilizing additional physical barriers. fencing. and stateoftheart technology such as UAVs. It calls for immediate construction of nearly 100 miles of twolayered reinforced fencing along the southwest border. Additionally. it authorizes the Border Patrol to disable vehicles fleeing from Border Patrol agents. This is a good bill that takes immediate steps to close gaping holes in our border security. Having these fences in place will also enable the Border Patrol to shift agents from those areas to focus on nonfenced areas. better utilizing our agents. The border fence in San Diego has proven to cut down on illegal entry. It is long overdue that we expand this effective means of securing our border. I am also pleased that the bill requests a study on the necessity and feasibility of constructing a stateoftheart barrier system along the border with Canada.