This has been a huge issue. In particular. one of our problems right now is that many. if not all. of the critical assets are now more or less chained to the border. that one of the P3s. which are critical for longrange surveillance. right now. because of their usage. and it hasnt been made a priority because the maintenance is going to the helicopters along the border. all 16. and let me repeat. all 16 air assets that are supposed to be used in counternarcotics are now down for serious maintenance. leaving the counterdrug mission severely impacted. And if we cant work out to some degree over in the Florida and the Gulf of Mexico range. they fixed this short term by having legacy Air and Marine or Customs pilots be the regional Border Patrol people and managing their assets. But along the border. we dont have that luxury. We have been trying in the authorizing committee for some time to get a report from the agency. and I have spent hours with the relevant people in my office. as well as questioning at hearings. trying to get the data of how exactly they are using these assets.
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Border Patrol