This
amendment mirrors language that I have introduced called the SEND Act. While the Department of Homeland Security--not the Department of
Defense--is tasked with maintaining the safety of our southern border,
it has long received help and assistance from the DOD and our military. One of the ways the DOD helps the border patrol is through the
transfer of equipment it deems ``excess'' to its needs. Under current law, the transfer of this ``excess'' equipment already
gives preference to counterdrug, counterterrorism, and border security
activities. My amendment simply takes that preference a step further, giving
border security preference for a few specific pieces of equipment which
are particularly useful for border security applications: unmanned
surveillance vehicles including Aerostat blimps, night-vision goggles,
and Humvees. The border patrol is the first and last line of defense against those
criminal gangs. In my home state of Texas, and in other border states like New Mexico
and Arizona, the war against the cartels is an ongoing affair. Cartels
are involved in labor and sex slavery. Just last week in Southern Texas, border patrol agents raided a home
to find 37 illegal immigrants, including three children. These men, women and children were being held by cartel drug runners
for ransom. I've been to the border countless times, Mr.
Keywords matched
border patrol border security illegal immigrants