[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 44 (Monday, March 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H2192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1930
                            BORDER SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  Once again, there's a new push for an amnesty bill to pass this 
Congress. Yesterday, tens of thousands of people marched in Washington, 
D.C., wanting amnesty. And it was interesting. As I looked over this 
very peaceful crowd and all those people marching, I wondered why there 
were no American flags.
  In any event, amnesty is not the answer. Even the talk of amnesty 
causes a flood of people to come across our southern border. Amnesty is 
no answer to the problem because the problem is the lack of border 
security. The violence is already out of control in the border region. 
Thousands more people illegally crossing the border will make an 
already dangerous situation a much worse disaster, so we have to start 
with the basics.
  First, we must secure the border. We must start with securing the 
border from the criminal enterprises, including the drug cartels. Just 
over a week ago, an American consulate employee and his wife were 
murdered in Juarez, Mexico. Lesley Enriquez, 35, and her husband, 
Arthur Redelfs, 34, were murdered in a drive-by shooting near the Santa 
Fe Bridge. The husband of another U.S. consulate employee was also 
gunned down on the Mexican side of the border.
  Murders and kidnappings have caused the closing of the U.S. Embassy 
in Reynosa until further notice. The U.S. State Department is now 
rushing to relocate consulate employees in Juarez, Tijuana, Nogales, 
Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey, and Matamoros, all because of the violence on 
the border and the kidnappings. Shoot-outs in the streets have killed 
thousands of people, mostly Mexican nationals.
  The drug cartels are fighting each other and fighting law enforcement 
for control over the lucrative drug routes into the United States. Good 
people from both sides of the border are being placed in harm's way by 
these murderous thugs. Even an armed Mexican military helicopter 
intruded into the United States airspace in Zapata County, Texas. The 
intentions of this incursion are still unknown.
  Over a year ago, Texas Governor Rick Perry asked for Homeland 
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for a thousand troops at the border 
to help with the increasing violence and to prevent the drug cartels 
from entering the United States. The Governor has asked for more 
Predator drones for increased surveillance. He was trying to head off 
this escalation of violence that has occurred recently. The help he 
requested has never come, and the Governor's request for more troops 
and drones at the border has been ignored for over a year.
  In response to the murders of these Americans, Governor Perry again 
eventually asked for help. He asked for surveillance planes and a 
thousand fresh troops at the Texas border with Mexico to help stem the 
violence. Secretary Napolitano said she would ``look at'' the request, 
but she thinks there's already enough troops on the border. So Governor 
Perry has decided he can't wait around on the Federal Government, even 
though it's the Federal Government's responsibility to secure our 
borders. He's ordered Texas National Guard helicopters to the border to 
support law enforcement that is on the border already. They're trying 
to fight the border violence spillover into the United States.
  Texas military forces have requested and obtained OH-58 Kiowa and UH-
72 Lakota helicopters to be used to fly up and down the Texas-Mexico 
border along the Rio Grande River from Brownsville to El Paso, Texas. 
Of course, their number and exact location will not be disclosed for 
security purposes.
  I've had the opportunity to be on the Texas-Mexico border with our 
Texas Air National Guard and fly up and down that region to see 
firsthand the problem of the incursions into the United States, all 
because the border is not secure. I would hope our Federal Government 
would support the Governor's actions.
  The Federal Government should actually do something to stop the 
violence and secure the border. It is the first responsibility of 
government to protect the people, and that includes the people who live 
along other international borders. We should send more troops. The 
violence is getting worse every day. Our border sheriffs and law 
enforcement are outmanned, outfinanced, and they're outgunned, but 
they're doing everything they can to protect the citizens along the 
Texas-Mexico border from the violent drug cartels that have come into 
the United States.
  Every single county and city and town along the border needs help in 
the border war. It is irresponsible to leave these people defenseless. 
Once again, it affects good people on both sides of the border, 
Mexicans and Americans as well.
  Cartels are waging war on our border. People are not only sneaking 
across into the United States, they're shooting their way into our 
country. The violence is exploding into America's border communities. 
So it's time to put an end to this madness, send sufficient troops to 
the border, and uphold the national responsibility to protect the 
citizens of this United States.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________