Speech #1090179678

I was told. of lack of funding to extend it. That is nonsensical: A security fence that only covers about half of the city that it is supposed to secure. The day before I toured this area. that one Border Patrol station in El Paso. TX had apprehended 268 people trying to enter our country illegally. That is unacceptable. and that is the reason I will support this legislation. But it is only part of the solution. I asked Border Patrol agents across the southern border. or the real experts about what is effective and what is not to protect our border and our citizens. whether a fence is a good idea. They replied that in some places it was and in other places it was not. They said it was one of several additional actions necessary for effective border control. Yet this is the only measure contained in this legislation. It bears little resemblance to a comprehensive bill that the Senate previously passed to strengthen border security and stop illegal immigration. Its effectiveness. the border control experts told me last month. would be severely reduced by the absence of a comprehensive approach. It will further waste taxpayer dollars by mandating a fence where a fence will not be effective. In short. it suffers from the defects of being the hastily drafted. lastminute election ploy that it is. rather than the comprehensive. intelligent. and effective border security bill that our country needs and our citizens deserve. Previous attempts to secure our Nations southern border have failed for precisely this reason. They were only partial steps where only a complete solution will be successful.