Speech #CREC-2017-05-03-pt1-PgH3089-3_t419

The Homeland Security division of this bill contains $42.4 billion to fund the Department of Homeland Security. This amount includes $1.5 billion in additional funding as proposed by the President in his budget amendment. That is the largest boost to border security funding in nearly a decade. This bill is a sizable down payment on our promise to secure our borders, enforce our immigration laws, and keep our citizens safe. This bill includes 39,324 detention beds, an increase of more than 5,000 over the previous number. This additional capacity will allow our immigration officials to end catch and release once and for all. Forty miles of upgraded fencing are in this bill. This upgraded barrier will stem the flow of drugs, smugglers, and illegal immigrants across our border, and give our Border Patrol agents the time they need to make an arrest. Also included is $87 million of enhanced surveillance and radars so Border Patrol agents can more effectively detect illegal crossings, 26 miles of new road construction, and 758 miles of road improvements. I hear time and again from our agents on the border that they not only need to detect illegal crossings, they must reach them to arrest them. These roads will literally pave the way toward that effort. Here in Washington, people talk about border security and immigration. In Texas, we live it every day. We must get this problem under control.