[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 77 (Thursday, May 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H3688-H3689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PIRATES ON THE LAKE--PAGE 2

  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. Mr. Speaker, heavily armed Mexican pirates have 
been shaking down U.S. boaters on Falcon Lake in Texas. It's a 
reservoir and a bass fishing haven that straddles the Rio Grande River 
in Texas--between Texas and Mexico. It's the international boundary 
between Zapata County, Texas, and Mexico.
  According to recent San Antonio news reports, several such incidents 
have been reported with pirates on Falcon Lake since April 30, the 
latest being this past Sunday. According to the Texas Department of 
Public Safety, which issued warnings Tuesday, the robberies are linked 
to northern Mexico's increasing lawlessness. According to the 
descriptions of the incidents, the pirates in at least one case posed 
as Mexican federal law enforcement officers. They searched fishermen's 
boats for guns and drugs and then demanded cash at gunpoint. According 
to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the robbers are believed to 
be members of a drug trafficking organization or members of an enforcer 
group linked to a drug trafficking organization. They use AK-47s or AR-
15 rifles to threaten their victims. They appear to be using local 
Mexican fishermen to operate the boats to rob the American fishermen.
  It was unclear why sport fishermen were targeted, but the warning 
comes only a few weeks before bass fishing tournaments that are among 
the south Texas border region's biggest tourist draws. DPS spokesman 
Tom Vinger said the warning was issued, in part, because of the 
upcoming bass tournaments. Zapata County Sheriff Sigi Gonzalez said he 
would be reviewing protective measures with the DPS Border Security 
Operations Center and the region's Fusion Center, which is a Federal 
information clearinghouse for terrorism prevention.
  Reported victims included, one, five people in two boats who were 
approached by four men on April 30, claiming to be federales near the 
church at Old Guerrero. That is now a submerged town in the bottom of 
the lake. The men boarded the boats, demanded cash, and wanted to know

[[Page H3689]]

where the drugs were. They then robbed the Americans.
  A second incident. Three fishermen were approached on May 6 by a boat 
containing two men pointing AR-15s. Those are assault rifles, Mr. 
Speaker. One boarded the fishing boat, searched for drugs, cash and 
guns, chambered a round in the rifle and told the fishermen he would 
shoot them if they did not give him the money. In another pirate raid, 
fishermen were robbed of their money and boat and clothes and left 
naked on the Mexican side of the lake. Yet in a fourth incident, 
boaters on the U.S. side of the lake were approached by a boat 
containing five armed men. It's still unclear what else happened 
because this just happened 2 days ago.
  Falcon Lake is approximately 60 miles long. It's a reservoir on the 
Rio Grande, fronting Starr and Zapata Counties in Texas, and it is 
shared between the United States and Mexico. It was formed by a dam in 
1953 to conserve water for agriculture and control downstream flooding.
  Mr. Speaker, piracy is a centuries-old problem that many nations have 
had to deal with. In the 1800s, Thomas Jefferson sent the United States 
Navy to the Mediterranean Sea, where pirates roamed at will and robbed 
American ships. That President fought piracy on the high seas. But the 
difference now is our administration would rather criticize people in 
States like Arizona that demand more border security rather than do 
anything about illegal border crossers, including the pirates of Falcon 
Lake.
  Meanwhile, today, President Calderon of Mexico arrogantly lectured us 
in a joint session of Congress, chastising the United States--
especially Arizona--for passing legislation trying to prevent people 
from illegally coming into the United States. Mr. Speaker, when 65 
percent of the American people support Arizona's new law regarding 
illegal immigration, his comments were disingenuous and disrespectful 
to our Nation.
  I commend President Calderon for fighting the international drug 
cartels in his Nation, but the President of Mexico should deal with his 
own issues and solve Mexico's economic problems, human rights problems, 
organized crime problems, violence problems, government corruption 
problems, and illegal immigration problems before President Calderon 
lectures anybody about anything.
  And that's just the way it is.

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