Speech #1090171365

Mr. Speaker. I rise to oppose the Border Fence bill. It is yet another instance when the leaders in this Congress chose to ignore the real issues facing Americans and consider legislation this Congress has already passed. I opposed the legislation for the border fence when it was before the House earlier this year and I will oppose it again this time. There is an awful practice this House has consistently gotten into . . . passing bills with great fanfare. then not funding them. That is what we have done with the 911 report... the Majority was guilted to pass into law the reforms the 9/11 Commission told us would prevent us from another attack. Then we never funded it. This border fence is a profoundly bad policy because it wont work. Yet it is already included in 2 bills passed by the House this year. This is election year politics at its worst. The $2.2 billion it is estimated this bill would cost could fund almost 2.500 new Border Patrol agents for five years. a 22% increase in the force. This is not about security. You want security? Then you want comprehensive immigration reform. This President and this Congress brought us to this place . . . where our Border Patrol agents routinely release OTMs (Other than Mexicans) into the U.S. population because we have no room to hold them. It is in the national security interest of this nation to know who is living inside our borders. and we cannot do that without offering them a path to citizenship so they can come out ot the shadows and be part of this economy. Thats how you secure this countrynot with a fence. As the founder and cochair of the Congressional Border Caucus. I have been advocating for adequate border security funding before it was a political issue this year. In particular I have been concerned with the lack of detention space. the need for adequate technology for our United States Border Patrol. the need for more immigration judges. prosecutors and customs agents. and the importance of sanctions on employers illegally employing immigrants. None of those issues are addressed in the bill betore us today. Rather. this bill simply authorizes 700 miles of fencingagainalong the 2.000 mile U.S.-Mexico Border.