[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 89 (Tuesday, July 11, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H4969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           BORDER VULNERABILITIES AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

  (Mr. ROYCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, the Subcommittee on International Terrorism 
that I chair held two field hearings last week, one in San Diego and 
one in Laredo, Texas, on border vulnerabilities and international 
terrorism.
  The unfortunate fact is that we live in a time when terrorists want 
to hit us as hard as they can. And it is elementary that to defend 
ourselves against these determined and resourceful enemies, our border 
must be secure or, as the Border Patrol says, ``We must have 
operational control of the border.'' We don't have that right now, and 
we don't have that despite a tenfold increase in what Republicans have 
done to fund homeland security.
  But we need border fencing. And in Laredo, Texas, sheriffs told us of 
drug cartels and smuggling rings increasingly well equipped and more 
brazen than ever in attacking law enforcement officials. The Border 
Patrol warns of potential terrorists employing these networks to enter 
our country. Last year, it apprehended illegal border crossers from 
many countries designated state sponsors of terrorism or countries 
where terrorist organizations are active.
  The sheriffs we heard from strongly seconded the Border Patrol's 
concerns about terrorists crossing our porous borders.
  Colleagues, immigration reform must be national security reform.

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