[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 4, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H789-H796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A CALL TO ACTION--BORDER SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. McSally) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Ms. McSALLY. Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the opportunity today 
to spend some time with my colleagues to highlight an urgent and 
important issue that, quite frankly, should unite this body in a call 
to action.
  I represent Arizona's Second Congressional District, and that 
includes 80 miles of the southern border. Today, we are going to be 
talking about the importance of securing our border both in the south 
and in the north. My colleague here from New York will be speaking on 
that matter. We do have Chairman McCaul here who will be joining us, 
but I have just a couple of lead-in comments.
  I have spent a lot of time down at the border with our border 
residents and ranchers, and I can tell you the border is not secure. 
These people are daily taking risks for their families, for their 
livelihoods. This is a public safety risk, and this is a potential 
national security risk. Although some efforts have been taken, our 
border is not secure. We now have the opportunity to have a call to 
action to take the measures that are important in order to secure the 
border once and for all, which is impacting, again, the residents of my 
community.
  I am grateful that a bipartisan group of Members of Congress came 
down to visit our southern border just 10 days ago. We had 20 Members, 
plus myself, so they could see firsthand what our ranchers and border 
residents are dealing with in Arizona. The group, under the leadership 
of Chairman McCaul, whom I will ask to join us here in a minute, 
visited the San Diego sector, then came to our Tucson sector, and then 
moved on to also see the challenges in Texas. We got to see firsthand 
what is going on in each of these different sectors and to reinforce 
the fact that this is an urgent matter that we have to address. It 
should be a bipartisan and uniting issue.
  I have got lots of stories to share from the Tucson sector, but I 
have a number of colleagues who want to join in the conversation. I 
will first ask Chairman McCaul if he would like to join the discussion.
  Mr. McCAUL. Let me thank my colleague from Arizona for her great 
leadership. I think this House is well served to have the first female 
pilot who has served in combat.
  We thank you for your service, and I can probably tell a few more 
stories of bravery about you. I am very fortunate to have you on this 
committee.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an issue of grave importance to the Nation. As 
chairman of Homeland Security, when I go home, it is the number one 
issue, and the number one question I get back home is: Mr. Chairman, 
when are you going to secure that border?
  I believe we have an opportunity in this Congress to finally get this 
thing done and to get it done in the right way and the smart way. 
People say: Why is it so important? In 10 years in the Congress and as 
a Federal prosecutor prior to that in dealing with this issue, I have 
seen the scourge of drug cartels, of human trafficking, the poisoning 
of our kids with drugs, and the potential threat of a terrorist attack 
in the United States. I don't want that on this Congress' head. We do 
have an opportunity to act. We have a bill that was passed out of 
committee, and I think it does several things.
  One, it finally directs and tells the Department of Homeland Security 
how to get this mission done sector by sector. As the gentlewoman 
knows, Arizona is very different from San Diego and is very different 
from Texas, which is where we saw 60,000 children crossing last summer. 
We know that a surge is probably on its way again if we don't

[[Page H790]]

act in this Congress soon. We also know, with the spread of ISIS 
overseas, that the threat is real.
  With the event of the Jordanian's being lit on fire yesterday, it is 
a wake-up call that we need to act and that we need to act soon in the 
Congress to protect the American people. This is more than Homeland 
Security--it is national security. It is really not an immigration 
issue. This bill is about securing the border in a smart way.
  When I was in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I met with General Allen. 
They didn't really have much of a fence, but I said: ``What is your 
border security with the Pak border?'' They pointed to aerostats in the 
sky that could see for hundreds of miles that we saw on our recent trip 
down there. With the value of 100 percent visibility to see what is 
coming in and how to stop it, you can measure success, first of all, 
but you can respond to the threats in realtime.

                              {time}  1630

  In addition, the VADER technology, the radar on the Predator UAVs, is 
of tremendous value for a smart border. A lot of these assets were 
actually used in Afghanistan. We have already paid for these assets, 
and we want to redeploy those to the southwest border.
  We also fully fund the National Guard, which to our Governors--
particularly my Governor in the great State of Texas--is of vital 
interest and concern. We allow access to Federal lands for CBP, which, 
in the past, they have been denied; and we have a U.S. exit system set 
up--which the 9/11 Commission recommended, and to this day Congress has 
failed to act on that--to determine who is staying with visas legally 
and who is overstaying those visas like we saw with the hijackers on 9/
11.
  At the end of the day, this is an important issue that has to get 
done. It is no longer time for lipservice; it is time for action on 
what I consider to be one of the most important Homeland Security 
issues facing this Nation.
  I just want to thank the gentlelady for holding this Special Order. I 
know we have members of the committee here who have great expertise, 
both Federal prosecutors, CIA, and other experiences to bring this 
issue to life. I hope we can do more of this in the future.
  The American people know this is an important issue. The problem is 
the Members of Congress have been tone deaf on this and have not gotten 
the job done. I would argue to my colleagues who are listening to this 
and to the American people that now is the time to finally get the job 
done.
  Ms. McSALLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate your 
leadership on this issue. I also want to thank you for coming to 
southern Arizona to my district to see firsthand what our border 
residents and ranchers are dealing with on a daily basis. I look 
forward to working with you on the committee to get this bill across 
the finish line and getting the strategy and the resources to those in 
the Border Patrol so that they can actually address the threat.
  Mr. McCAUL. If the gentlelady would just yield on this point, too, 
this is a bill not built from bureaucrats in Washington, down. This is 
a bill designed by talking to Border Patrol agents, to the border 
sheriffs who support this bill, to the ranchers. What a great 
presentation we received from John Ladd and his father, Jack, in 
Arizona.
  I will never forget, when you had the press conference, John Ladd was 
saying: You know, for the first time, I have real hope.
  They said: Well, Members have come down here before.
  He said: Not this many and not of this caliber of leadership, and for 
the first time I have hope.
  I don't want to let those ranchers down. I want to get this job done 
for the ranchers, the border sheriffs, and the agents who spend day in 
and day out in very tough conditions.
  Ms. McSALLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it.
  Would my colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) want to join the 
conversation?
  Mr. PERRY. Absolutely.
  I want to also extend my appreciation to you for bringing up this 
important issue. I think this is going to kind of be a continuing 
conversation, at least for the next couple weeks, as we move forward 
into bringing this particular bill and the legislation to the floor.
  With that, I was just thinking that in the last couple days I saw the 
President on TV, and he asked a question: What kind of country do we 
want to be?
  I think you can think of that in a lot of different ways, but 
regarding the border, the President, while he says that, has preached 
over the years that he has made our Nation's border more secure than 
ever. I just remember last year when he was literally saying that, we 
saw tens of thousands of unaccompanied people coming across the border, 
and all of America was saying to themselves: What are you talking 
about? How can you say that?
  The Border Patrol wasn't stopping these people. They were greeting 
these people and bringing them into the country. You are thinking, 
maybe that is a great thing, but we don't know who they are or what 
their intentions are, and you have no credibility, Mr. President, when 
you say that.
  His statement is just supported by bloated statistics and a false 
sense of reality. I think most Americans understand that. As a matter 
of fact, the GAO recently found that only 44 percent of the southwest 
border was under operational control--44 percent. So 56 is just wide 
open apparently. Listen, that 44 percent, that is based on some best 
guess or some estimate because, believe it or not, they don't even keep 
the records.
  Now, you know--you know as sure as you are watching this on TV or in 
the gallery or sitting at home thinking about it--that those Border 
Patrol agents and those sheriffs are keeping records of the things they 
do on a daily basis and a nightly basis, drove so many miles, picked up 
this many people coming across the border.
  What happens to that information? Guess what, folks? They don't want 
us to have it. They don't want the GAO to have it because then we would 
know that our back door is wide open.
  I mean, these gaps on the border lead to higher crime rates and 
unemployment for American citizens. It is really no more complicated 
than your own home. Sure, you love your neighbor to your left and your 
right and the people that adjoin your home to the north and to the 
south, but that doesn't mean that you leave your doors wide open for 
them to come in and go as they please at all hours of the day or night.
  We want to be a country that is defined by who we are, and it 
requires protecting. If we are not going to define our country in those 
ways, why define it by having a border at all? That is what I think the 
President and many on the other side would propose, that we just 
abolish the borders. Well, guess what, folks? If we abolish the 
borders, we don't have any country at all.
  I was thinking about another thing I heard recently. Over the last 6 
years of the couple million jobs that were created in a downturn 
economy, almost all of them, statistically, were filled by people that 
weren't born in this country. Listen, it is great to have people come 
here and we need to have that policy, a smart policy, but our policy 
should be what works for America first, and securing our border and 
doing what works for America is the right thing to do. It is our duty. 
It is our oath.
  Now, people say: Well, why is it so important?
  Look at the crime rates. More than 40 percent of all criminal cases 
initiated by Federal prosecutors were in districts that border Mexico. 
Is anybody surprised? Do you think that that doesn't correlate to 
something? That means something, folks. I mean, the Governor of Texas, 
Rick Perry, stated more than 3,000 homicides were committed by illegal 
immigrants in the last 6 years.
  Now, are we a nation of laws or aren't we? If we are a nation of 
laws, what does it matter if you have a law that you are not going to 
enforce? Does it mean anything? The President has not executed the law 
for biometric exit. That is where we determine who you are, what you 
are doing here, and when you leave. Come legally, come across our 
border, but that is part of securing the border. But when it is time to 
go, it is time to go. If you want to stay, hey, that is great, but show 
up and let our government know that you are going to stay a little bit 
longer and what your purpose is. We don't want

[[Page H791]]

you to stay if your purpose is for something other than what it should 
be.

  The Congress has spoken, as a matter of fact, eight times passed a 
law requiring an exit system at all our ports; yet the executive 
branch, the one who executes the laws, has decided that is not 
important. They are just not going to do it.
  Folks, this puts us at a huge disadvantage. It makes us unsafe. We 
are not secure in our homes. We don't have the peace of mind of knowing 
that we are safe in our homes. We don't have the peace of mind of 
knowing that the people coming across the border are being screened for 
maybe diseases or criminal activity.
  There is a cost to that. There is a cost in lives. There is a 
financial cost to that in caring for people that get diseases that we 
have long eradicated in America that now come across the border 
unchecked because our border is wide open. That is why it is important 
to secure the border.
  It is important. Congress has spoken. Congress, the representative of 
the American people, has spoken eight times on this issue, and the 
President has just said: I can't be bothered. He designates Federal 
lands, and our own agents can't be on these Federal lands and do their 
job.
  I mean, who thinks that controlling the border and securing the 
border means being 50 miles off the border? I guarantee you, if you are 
in the combat zone securing your perimeter, your border--and the 
gentlelady knows what I am talking about because she has been there 
herself, as I have been there--you secure your perimeter and you watch 
your perimeter right on it, not just set up a little fence or draw a 
line in the sand and then head to the tent and hope nobody crosses it. 
That doesn't work there, and it doesn't work here. Yet that is what we 
are doing, and we are espousing it as though it was some kind of policy 
that is coherent and is realistic. It is not.
  Our agents want to do their jobs. They are excited to do the job, 
they are committed to do the job, and our Federal Government literally 
is standing in the way and saying: Absolutely, you can't do the job.
  We can get some assistance from our State and local, our National 
Guard, too. I have served on that mission as well. There is a lot of 
opportunity there to divide the duties and the resources and make this 
work that is cost effective. There is a lot of expertise from a 
military standpoint that can be used legally to help secure our 
borders, but, here again, the President can't be bothered. Mr. Speaker, 
it is unconscionable.
  We need to keep track of these individuals with radical views. If the 
President had enacted the biometric requirements that have been 
required by the United States Congress eight times, maybe the Tsarnaev 
brothers wouldn't have had the ability to come to Boston and blow up 
people during the marathon. But we will never know because they just 
come and go as they darn well please to our country, and we don't ask 
anything. How is that securing the country? How is that good for 
America?
  Mr. Speaker, thanks again to the gentlelady for hosting this. This is 
an incredibly important subject that we need to be discussing, and it 
is great that we have some time on the House floor to discuss this.
  I hope what this does is it kind of gets the people that are watching 
this to say: Huh, maybe there is something to this. Maybe I should call 
my Representative. What does he or she think? How would he or she vote 
on such a border bill? Is there something missing in the bill, and is 
there some reason they wouldn't support the bill, and what is that? 
What would I like, as an American, to see about my border? Should we be 
letting anybody that darn well pleases come across the border unchecked 
to come into my community and do whatever they would, take my job, harm 
my family, or do I want something more as an American? Where does my 
Representative stand?
  I think it is a great opportunity to call your Representative, write 
your Representative, email, talk to his staff and say: What does my 
Representative think of this?
  So I appreciate the opportunity. I appreciate your leadership. I 
know, I have been to where you live.
  Ms. McSALLY. You know what we are dealing with.
  Mr. PERRY. Yes.
  I have flown on the Arizona border down there. I have crossed the 
border in Nogales, and I have been privileged to be there. America is 
not where it needs to be on this. The Congress is, but we need to pass 
a bill, and we need the President to execute it.
  I thank you very much for the opportunity.
  Ms. McSALLY. Thank you, Mr. Perry, and thank you for your support, 
again, of this urgent matter and the bill that we hopefully will be 
bringing before our colleagues as soon as possible, because every day 
that goes by is a day that our ranchers and border residents are still 
dealing with this.
  Before I recognize my next colleague here, I just want to paint the 
picture of what we have seen go on in the different sectors. In the 
early 1990s, the San Diego sector is really where most of the illegal 
activity, the transnational criminal organizations were just at will 
crossing into the San Diego sector. A lot was done there.
  We were visiting it 10 days ago. We got to see the new tactics, the 
resources, the fencing, the lights, the technology. The agents there 
are really able to squeeze the activity related in the San Diego 
sector. These are living organizations, these transnational criminal 
organizations that are trafficking in our communities and our 
neighborhoods, so they react. It is like squeezing a balloon.
  Guess what happened? They tightened up in San Diego, and that meant 
that these organizations were now coming in and out of my community. 
The sector in Tucson put up some fencing and other resources in more 
populated areas around Nogales, but then that pushed the activity out 
into the rural areas where the Ladd ranch is that we visited. Mr. 
Chairman mentioned Jack Ladd, third generation rancher, and John Ladd, 
fourth generation rancher, with about 10 miles on the border right 
there. We got to see firsthand what they are dealing with.
  These organizations are nimble. They are going to respond and react, 
and they are going to move. As we create obstacles and we address in 
certain areas, they are going to move to other areas. What we have seen 
in the Tucson sector, from fiscal year 1998 up until fiscal year 2012, 
we have had the highest number of apprehensions. We have had the 
highest number of assaults in the last couple of years. In the last few 
years, we have had the highest amount of marijuana seized.
  By the way, we don't know what the denominator is, though. 
Apprehensions is the numerator, but we don't know what the denominator 
is because our agents do not have full situational awareness. And you 
can just look at the price of drugs on the street. This is a supply-
and-demand issue. If the cost is still low, which it is, it means that 
we are still not catching a whole lot that is trafficking in and out of 
these neighborhoods.
  So again, the potential for violence is up, and even though the 
numbers of apprehensions are down in the last few years, those that 
live on the border--and the Border Patrol has confirmed to me the types 
of people that are coming--are more the transnational criminal 
organizations, the traffickers. It is drugs and people coming north and 
weapons and money coming south, and they have more of a criminal 
record, and the potential for danger is certainly up.
  I do have some stories to share, but I know I have a number of 
colleagues who want to join the conversation, so I will yield to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hurd).
  What, do you have, 800 miles? I only have 80. You have, I think, 800 
in your district.

                              {time}  1645

  Mr. HURD of Texas. 820 miles of the border, from San Antonio to El 
Paso.
  I would like to thank the gentlewoman for the time today and also for 
taking me to your district and seeing that part of the border. Our trip 
a few weeks ago was great, enlightening to me.
  I have spent a lot of time crisscrossing those 820 miles of the 
border, and it was great to see how the San Diego sector and Tucson and 
my fellow Texans in McAllen are doing the same thing.
  As the gentlewoman knows, I spent 9 years as an undercover officer in 
the

[[Page H792]]

CIA. I chased groups like al Qaeda and the Taliban. I have chased 
narcotraffickers all over the world, and the threat is increasing, and 
the threat is sophisticated.
  The drug trafficking organizations in Mexico are making $50 billion a 
year in the United States. That is a big number. Their tactics, 
techniques, and procedures are sophisticated, and we need to keep up. 
It is about moves and countermoves.
  What I like about this bill is it empowers our members of Border 
Patrol to do their job. A lot of people talk about border security. I 
like to refine it a little bit. Part of it is interdiction, stopping 
people before they get to the border. It is grabbing them, it is having 
them in custody, and then it is removal. This bill is focused on this 
first piece of border security which is interdiction.
  We need to make sure that our men and women that are on the border 
every single day have the tools that they need in order to do their 
job. It is different in Tucson. It is different in Eagle Pass. It is 
different in San Diego. What I like about this bill that was developed 
under the leadership of Chairman McCaul is that it gives them that 
freedom and flexibility.
  Having spent a lot of time overseas, I know the disconnect between 
the field and headquarters, and that is going on right here on our 
border. We need to make sure that the guys and gals that are on the 
border have the tools that they need.
  This is a sophisticated threat, as you alluded to, using ultralight 
aircraft to deliver their payload. They are using tactics that 
intelligence organizations have used all across the world to do denial 
and deception. We need to make sure we have all the resources--things 
like the aerostats, things like radar technology, things like UAVs--in 
order to have that combined picture of the border.
  This is something that for 19 months, I talked to folks in the 
district. I know, like you, this was a very important issue. The 
American people sent us up here to do our job, and our job is to 
protect our citizens and to protect our homeland. This bill does it. It 
is a strong bill, and I look forward to working over these next few 
days and weeks in order to make this happen.
  Ms. McSALLY. Thank you, Mr. Hurd. Again, thank you for your 
leadership on this issue as well. It is great to be working together 
with individuals who have operational experience and understand what it 
takes to get the job done, so I look forward to working with you.
  Mentioning the ultralights, I was with our CBP team for several hours 
a couple of weekends ago and was actually on a Black Hawk getting an 
aerial tour of the border. We tried to intercept an ultralight. We had 
a radar hit. We went over to the area. The challenge there is these 
things are small specks, and you don't have any sense of what altitude 
they are flying at.
  We looked around. We were eyes in the sky. We were trying to find 
them. As quickly as we have a last radar hit, they pack up, they are 
out of there, or they are flying back low over the border, and we can't 
find them. We don't know what they have dropped and where.
  These are some of the challenges that our agents have out there in 
trying to address this threat. It is a very nimble and sophisticated 
cartel, transactional criminal organizations that are reacting to us. 
They are much more nimble than we are.
  My colleague, Mr. Katko from New York, if you want to share your 
perspectives.
  Mr. KATKO. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Arizona for her 
wonderful career serving our country. You are serving your country in a 
much different capacity now, but I want to honor you for what you have 
done for your country in the past. I also want to thank you for taking 
a leadership role tonight and having this session so we can discuss the 
border security bill in more detail.
  I also want to thank Chairman McCaul for his great leadership and his 
ability and desire to empower the young Congressmen and Congresswomen, 
such as you and I, to take leadership roles with respect to the 
Homeland Security Committee.
  I talk about the border security bill from a law enforcement 
perspective. For the last 20 years, before I came to Congress, I was a 
Federal prosecutor for the United States of America in the Department 
of Justice.
  I started my career in 1994 and, soon thereafter, was sent to the 
southwest border in El Paso, Texas, as part of the Southwest Border 
Initiative. Back then, it was just simply to try and stem the 
incredible tide of drugs coming across the border. When I got there, I 
was stunned to see how wide open the border was. To my understanding, 
it remains so to this day.
  When I was down there, I was prosecuting cartel-level drug 
trafficking cases. We could get on the roof of the U.S. attorney's 
office and look across the border and see a cartel member's house on a 
bluff overlooking the United States. It was wide open, and it remains 
so.
  It was dangerous for Border Patrol. It was dangerous for people 
living along the border. In some respects, it has become even more 
dangerous for ranchers and law-abiding citizens.
  After a few years there and getting great experience and great 
perspective, I was sent to Puerto Rico to do similar drug trafficking 
prosecutions and organized crime cases, and I saw a different 
perspective, that of being 500 nautical miles from Colombia.
  My first day in Puerto Rico, the Federal building's parking lot was 
lined with boats that were seized that were smuggling hundreds of kilos 
of cocaine at a time across the 500-mile strait from Colombia.
  The last 16 years have been in Syracuse, New York, in the northern 
district of New York, where we have 300 miles of border with our 
brothers and sisters to the north in Canada.
  While it is definitely a different dynamic than being on the 
southwest border, the fact remains that less than 4 percent of the 
Canadian border with the United States is secure. It is wide open. It 
varies from the northern plains in the Central United States to the 
Northeast, where there are several major cities along the border with 
the United States, and that brings a different problem.
  In the northern district, over the last 16 years, we have dedicated 
several individual prosecutors to deal with nothing but alien 
smuggling, illegal entry cases, and major league drug cases on the 
northern border. We have well-worn smuggling routes in our district, 
well-worn alien smuggling routes.
  In addition to alien smuggling, we have major drug trafficking from 
the north coming down south, that being hydroponic marijuana. It is a 
multibillion-dollar a year industry in Canada. That comes south.

  It has developed now that cocaine is going north. The Canadian drug 
traffickers have hooked up with the Mexican cartels, and cocaine is 
coming north through our district. Guns are going north. Contraband 
cigarettes are going north. Like I said, many ethnically based alien 
smuggling rings are in our district.
  I say all that to point to the fact that there is a problem on the 
northern border as well. Everything that is being prescribed in this 
bill for the southwest border and the southern border is being 
prescribed for the northern border.
  The prescription for the northern border is based on discussions with 
Border Patrol and the different sectors throughout the northern United 
States, just like they did in the southwest border in the pieces of 
legislation regarding that.
  It is the first time in 20 years of being a prosecutor that I saw a 
bill that actually looks like it is addressing the problem altogether, 
at once, and that is critically important.
  While I was running for this office, I made it clear that my opinion 
is that we need full immigration reform, but any immigration reform has 
to start with securing our borders. It is foolhardy to do anything 
other than that.
  This is the first step towards immigration reform, and I wholly 
applaud it. I do not think this bill is unduly burdensome to travelers 
coming to and from the United States on the northern border. We have 
many. To the extent there are burdens, we will address those.
  I do say that, moving forward, this is the right bill, it is at the 
right time, and I applaud everyone who is supporting it, and I hope 
that we can get this passed.
  A related bill to that, which I have submitted to Congress and will 
be considered as early as next week, is a northern border threat 
assessment.

[[Page H793]]

  It has become clear to me that the northern border has not had a 
threat assessment done in a detailed fashion like it needs to be done, 
so this bill simply orders a threat assessment to be done and a report 
back to us to see if there is any additional legislation or funding 
needed to address concerns along the northern border.
  In short, we don't know the extent of the threat in the northern 
border, and this bill will help us. With those two bills combined--
particularly the border security bill--I am confident that we can get a 
handle on the problems on both sides of the border, north and south.
  I applaud you for your efforts. I applaud everyone else who is 
supporting the bill. I echo the sentiments of my colleagues before me, 
and I urge the good citizens of the United States to contact their 
leaders and ask that this bill get passed.
  Ms. McSALLY. Thank you, Mr. Katko, for your leadership and the great 
experience you are bringing to Congress. It is wonderful to have a 
freshman class with people like you. You bring a unique experience. You 
also remind us it is not just the southern border, so thanks for your 
great additions to the bill.
  Next, I will invite Mr. Carter from Georgia to join in the 
conversation.
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Thank you very much. Let me begin by 
complimenting you and applauding your efforts, the gentlewoman from 
Arizona. Your leadership in this has been invaluable. We appreciate it 
very much. You have taken a leading role in this.
  I also want to compliment and applaud the chairman of Homeland 
Security, Chairman McCaul, for his tenacity in assuring that this gets 
done.
  For most of us, when we go home and we talk about illegal immigration 
or we talk about the terrorists or the threat of terrorism or when we 
talk about drug smuggling, the one thing that our constituents say is: 
Secure the border. Secure the border.
  That is always the first thing they say, regardless of what we are 
talking about, whether it is illegal immigrants, whether it is 
terrorism, the threat of terrorism. They always say that first, and it 
is very important.
  Now, I will be quite honest with you. I am from south Georgia, and I 
don't get out a whole lot. In fact, quite honestly, this is the first 
time I have ever been to the southwest border. I have never been to 
California before I went on this trip. I have never been to Arizona. 
Although I have been to Texas, I have never been to the Rio Grande, so 
it was an eye-opening experience for me.
  Before I went there, I think that I was like most of my constituents 
and like many Americans. I would watch what is happening on TV, and I 
would holler at the TV: Build a fence. Build a fence.
  Ms. McSALLY. Right.
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Well, after you visited and after you talked 
to the Border Patrol agents, after you talked to the ranchers, after 
you talked to the local officials, you realize that in each sector, 
that is not necessarily the answer--that in certain sectors, yes, a 
fence is needed, but in other areas, in other sectors, that is not what 
is needed.
  We need more technology. We need boots on the ground. Those are the 
types of things we need in certain sectors, and that was eye opening. 
That was one of the takeaways that I had from this trip.
  Ms. McSALLY. I wanted to point to one of the visuals we have here. 
Again, this is from the area in my sector where you can see we do have 
a fence, but the area that is cut out here in the middle is where the 
cartels very quickly come up, and they cut it out, and they are across 
that border in a minute or 2 minutes, maximum.
  I will give some other examples later, but this is just a visual 
example of the fence delays the activity, as you saw when you came to 
visit, but it is not the answer to build a fence and then walk away 
because they are smart, they are resourceful, they are adaptive, and 
they are very quickly getting through many different types of fencing, 
both pedestrian and vehicle fences.
  Thanks for bringing that up.
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Well, thank you. That was the first takeaway I 
had.
  The second takeaway I had from this trip was, for most of us, when we 
think of the southwestern border, we just think about illegal 
immigration, but it is much, much more than that.
  When you think about the drug cartels that are in Mexico, south of 
us, when you think about the drug smugglers that are bringing those 
drugs poisoning our children, poisoning families, ruining families, 
when you think about that, when you think about the terrorism threat we 
face as a nation, that shows you just how porous our borders are and 
just how important this issue is.
  Again, that is why this bill is so important--because it addresses 
that. Yes, it addresses fencing, and it calls for fencing where fencing 
is necessary. It addresses boots on the ground. It helps us to bolster 
the number of people and the number of agents that we have in certain 
areas, and we need that. It also takes into consideration technology. 
It utilizes the resources that we have.
  It is a smart bill. It is a good bill. It is a vital bill--a vital 
bill--to our national security. That is why I am glad I went on the 
trip. It was very educational, very eye opening to me.
  I am supporting this bill. I hope that my colleagues will support 
this bill. It is essential and vital to our national security.
  Again, thank you, the gentlewoman from Arizona, for the work that you 
are doing, and thank you to Chairman McCaul.
  Ms. McSALLY. Again, thank you, Mr. Carter, for your comments. Again, 
thanks for coming to visit my community and listening to the residents 
there that are dealing with this, having that ear and coming back as an 
advocate and a leader on this issue. Thanks for supporting this bill. I 
really appreciate it.
  Mr. Palmer from Alabama, would you like to join the conversation?
  Mr. PALMER. I would. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Arizona for 
the work you have done on this. I know this has been--I don't want to 
say a labor of love, but you have an incredible sense of urgency, I 
think perhaps more than anyone that I have been involved with, a sense 
of how important this is.
  I want to talk a little bit about the fence. Like the gentleman from 
Georgia, I have been to the border before but not in the context of 
examining our border security. I am a strong proponent of the fence. I 
have been all along.
  What this trip opened my eyes to is the fact that the fence by itself 
is not enough. It is an impediment. One of the things that was 
impressed upon me on this trip was the sophistication of the cartels 
and the people across the border in breaching our fence and breaching 
our security.

                              {time}  1700

  There is some pretty serious engineering going on here. When we were 
in San Diego, for instance, we saw where we have double-layer fencing. 
We have got the metal mat, landing mat fence on the Mexico side. We 
have got the high, the heavy gauge fence with the razor wire at the top 
on the U.S. side.
  They are using hardened blades for laser saws. It literally takes 1 
minute to cut through there. All along that fence you saw where it was 
patched and what the border patrol calls doggy doors. They cut it out 
in three places, push it open, and they are through.
  The interesting thing is there, you have got 3 million people in 
Tijuana on the Mexico side, and you have got 3 million in San Diego. 
Almost the minute they are through, they are assimilated.
  But the thing that is going on there is the cooperation between local 
law enforcement, the Coast Guard, the Border Patrol, and how diligent 
they are to be there immediately once that line is breached to 
interdict that.
  They have been so effective at it that they are now pushing these 
folks offshore. They are using the panga boats now, and the Coast 
Guard, working with the Border Patrol and local law enforcement, have 
been so good at interdicting that they are forcing them up the coast of 
California. That is not the case in Arizona.
  What people need to understand is that just building the fence and 
pulling back and thinking that is going to stop them--I don't care how 
high we build it, how wide we build it, how many layers we have; if we 
don't have people in forward operating positions to interdict these 
people when they are staging

[[Page H794]]

to come across, we are not going to stop them.
  The picture that you are showing there next to you is the fence in 
Arizona, and the attention was drawn to where they had cut through the 
mesh there. That is not the thing that got my attention.
  If you will notice there, those are 6-inch I-beams supported by 6-
inch channel. That is quarter-inch carbon steel. That is all along that 
border.
  They came along there, with these hardened blades, laser saws, cut 
through the I-beam, cut through the channel, folded it over, ramped 
over, and drove trucks over it.
  Now, this was not reported in the national media. I am not sure that 
there was any discussion about it from this administration. It was the 
local media that picked up on it. The ranchers know about this.
  But I think--and you can correct me if I am wrong--but I think they 
said there have been 47 vehicles that crossed over that. These are 
pickup trucks loaded with drugs and other items, contraband, whether it 
is guns or drugs or human trafficking. But that is the issue.
  Ms. McSALLY. If the gentleman will yield, I will elaborate a little 
bit on that. That was on Mr. Ladd's ranch less than two weeks ago, 
where we saw that, and they showed where they ramped over.
  According to Mr. Ladd, there have been 47 drive-throughs on his 
ranching area in the last about 2\1/2\ years.
  That particular case was caught by the Sierra Vista police, which is 
a town a little bit further inland, because the truck just didn't look 
right. It was weighed down. Its wheels looked a little funny, and they 
got about $600,000 worth of marijuana, 2,000 pounds of marijuana they 
caught on that vehicle alone. So that is just an example of what is 
happening.
  Mr. PALMER. Well, think about the staging that had to take place for 
that, that a vehicle that heavy, to be able to cross that fence, 
obviously--and the interesting thing is they used our own I-beam and 
channel to support the ramps that would bear that weight for that truck 
to get over it.
  This is not a static situation. Just building the fence is not 
enough. We have got to have the aerial surveillance, the unmanned 
aircraft, the aerostats.
  Looking into Mexico and seeing the staging that takes place for an 
operation like that to take place--you have been in the military, you 
understand this--that if you are going to--it literally looked like a 
military operation where they cut this down and ramped over it and 
drove over it.
  If we are looking into Mexico and see that, we need people in forward 
operating bases that can react immediately, not 20 minutes later, not 
30 minutes later, because they are already over and gone.
  So this has got to be a combination of things. I am fine with the 
fence. We can build the fence as high and wide and as long as we want 
to, but we have got to be able to interdict.
  We have got to be able to see them staging, because they are not 
carrying ramping material on their backs for 3 or 4 miles to the fence. 
This happened fairly close to the fence, and we should have been able 
to see that and stop it.
  The other issue is the morale, and the fact that we don't--that we 
are not doing anything about catch and release has really hurt the 
morale, I think, with our law enforcement and with our Border Patrol.
  And it definitely has hurt the morale of the ranchers. My heart 
really goes out to those guys. They have been there through many 
generations. They have put in their blood, sweat, and tears in this. 
And it is not just that they love their ranch. They love their country, 
and it was very evident in what they had to say.
  I think it is incumbent upon us, as Members of Congress, to do our 
duty to protect the border.
  And the other thing, again, going back to the morale, it is different 
in San Diego, it is different in Arizona, it is different in Texas. 
What we need to do--and I am very, very grateful for the work that is 
being done to bring alongside this bill an enforcement bill.
  We have got to do this, I think, in a way that makes sense to the 
American people. Build the fence, secure the border, but have the right 
enforcement that goes along with this, that makes the work that our 
Border Patrol is doing worthwhile. When they catch the bad guys they 
need to be able to--there ought to be some consequences for it.
  Earlier, Mr. Perry from Pennsylvania made this point about, when are 
you forward-deployed in a combat zone, you secure your perimeter. There 
are consequences if you cross that perimeter a little more lethal than 
they would be here, but, in all honesty, we have got to do these things 
together.
  I applaud you for the work you are doing. It is extremely important, 
and I look forward to working with you on this.
  Ms. McSALLY. Thank you, Mr. Palmer. I appreciate it.
  Just to elaborate a little bit on what my colleague was talking 
about, the challenge we have--the men and women in Border Patrol are 
doing the best they can. They are my constituents as well. I really 
appreciate them every day putting on the uniform and doing the job they 
are doing.
  But the strategy is not working for those who live in these rural 
areas near the border, and we need a strategy that pushes our 
intelligence deeper south of the border, using intelligence-driven 
operations, so that we can use some of these airborne assets and radars 
in order to detect the cartel activity, detect the movement, monitor 
the movement.
  Then these forward operating bases are critical. The bill--in 
consultation with the chairman, they agreed to add in two forward 
operating bases in Tucson to get the Border Patrol operating right at 
the border so that we can either prevent the activity or they can very 
quickly respond to it when they see a breach happening, a challenging 
response time if they are further inland or in some of the tougher 
terrain.
  So some of the things that I added into an amendment to address this 
issue are related to the fact that right now they are focused on 
defense in depth. So sometimes we are seeing mules and traffickers--and 
I will show a picture here--oftentimes, 30, 40, 50 miles inland.
  This is just one example of mules with packs on their backs. So they 
are trafficking across private property while they are moving into the 
defense in-depth strategy, and that is just not working.
  So we have got to get the Border Patrol closer to the border. I 
offered an amendment. I am glad the committee agreed to it, to get the 
Border Patrol closer to the border, have them patrolling on the south 
side of John Ladd's ranch and not on the north side.
  Have those forward operating bases manned to the max extent possible 
and also developing a quick reaction capability, so that when we see 
the activity happening, they can quickly get--especially in these areas 
of tough terrain--to stop the activity or intercept it as soon as 
possible when it comes over the border; because this, again, if they 
are coming through Mr. Ladd's ranch and some of the other ranchers', 
they don't know who it is. They don't know if they are armed. They 
don't know what their intentions are, and it puts them at risk on a 
daily basis
  Mr. PALMER. If the gentlelady would yield, I would like to add one 
other thing to that.
  This bill would allow access through Federal lands, and it has 
created a huge impediment for Border Patrol in the interdiction of 
people like this, whether they are coming across on foot or coming 
across in vehicles, if our Border Patrol do not have access to roads 
through Federal land. So that is another very important component of 
this bill.
  And then, last thing. Down in Texas we have got this Caruso cane on 
the banks of the river that basically is a natural hiding place for 
people who are crossing the river. We have got to allow our Border 
Patrol to take whatever measures are necessary to eliminate those type 
of natural hiding places and barriers to interdiction.
  So all of this is extremely important. I am glad you put that picture 
up because I don't think people fully appreciate, when you talk about 
people bringing drugs across the border, the massive amounts that can 
cross just on the backs of individuals.
  Ms. McSALLY. Exactly. Thank you, Mr. Palmer.
  Now I yield to my colleague from California (Mr. Denham).
  Mr. DENHAM. I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona for yielding. It

[[Page H795]]

was a pleasure to travel to your southern border. I have traveled to 
the southern border of California many times. And as we saw on the 
entire border security trip, our entire southern border is very 
different depending on which State and which area of the State that you 
are in.
  In my home State of California, we saw the jet skis that were coming 
along the surf that were bringing in a couple of illegal aliens at the 
time. We have got to be able to address that from a Coast Guard 
perspective.
  And when you have double fencing in those high urban areas, we saw 
the Vietnam landing strips that, at one time, were a very good piece to 
add along border security when we had nothing. But now we have got to 
replace that with new fence that will allow our Border Patrol agents to 
actually see through and address it when there is a weakened area in 
that fence.
  We have got to go much further. Along the California border we also 
have a number of mountains and even cliffs where we have to address the 
border differently. And in your area, we saw where a truck was able to 
cut through, while you had a big fence, was able to cut through that 
fence and actually go across the border into your area, which is why we 
need the VADER technology.
  We saw some of the technology that is being redeployed from 
Afghanistan, and with that infrared technology, we actually saw 
individuals coming across the border.
  But with the VADER technology, we can actually see 150 miles. So you 
would see people actually lining up on the border or preparing to bring 
drugs across.
  Now we can actually work with our counterparts in Mexico to actually 
go and address it from their perspective before it even gets on to 
American soil.
  So there is much more that we can do, both with technology that is 
coming back from Afghanistan, coming back from Iraq, as well as new 
technology that will give the American public the assurance that we 
have the measurements and metrics in place to secure our border.
  Part of our challenge right now is not knowing how many people are 
coming across. If you never know how many people are coming across, you 
can never address how many you are actually catching, and the metrics 
are on how many people are actually coming into our country.
  If we are going to have a full debate on immigration, we have to 
first give the American public the sense and the security that we need 
and deserve, and this bill will do just that.
  We have to do it now. We can no longer wait until there is another 
surge of 50 or 60,000 unaccompanied minors or family units that are 
coming across the Texas border, where they are just hopping in a boat, 
going 100 yards, and stepping on American soil and then looking for 
refuge.
  We have to send that message across Central America, across South 
America, that we are actually sending the message that our borders are 
secure, and this isn't going to just be an automatic path during the 
summer months across that river.
  Many things we can do. Many things we need to do. This bill will give 
us the measurements and metrics to secure our border.
  Ms. McSALLY. Thank you, Mr. Denham. I appreciate you coming to visit 
our district to see that firsthand, and I look forward to working with 
you as well on getting this bill across the finish line.
  One thing I think is important for those who are watching to know is 
we have had a variety of people speak in support of this bill. Often we 
have different views on some other topics or even what we should be 
doing as we are addressing some of the other challenges related to 
immigration. But we are all in agreement on one thing, which is we need 
to secure the border; that this is an urgent issue.
  Across the spectrum, this is something that unites those of us within 
the conference, and really should unite this body.
  I know my community is a very split district politically, but 
everyone agrees, whether they are Democrat, Independent or Republican, 
they want their family to be safe and secure. They want their community 
to be safe and secure, and this bill does that.
  So it is time that we work together to get this thing passed. So 
thank you, Mr. Denham.
  I will continue to tell a few stories here from my district that I do 
want to share.
  Mr. Perry, I yield for just a minute. I do have a number of things I 
do want to share before we wrap up.
  Mr. PERRY. We want to make sure that we get all the information out 
about this. As I said, the GAO's best estimate, I think, is about 56 
percent of the border is not secured.
  Another thing to mention about this bill is that we are looking for 
100 percent. Now, we understand, just like law enforcement, they don't 
catch every criminal, and sometimes prisoners escape from prison, but 
we expect the warden to secure the prison, and the plan is to keep 
everybody in prison in prison.
  But with this bill we expect 100 percent, and it is important to note 
that the other side would have us diminish that standard.

                              {time}  1715

  Right now, GAO is saying that 50 percent of the border is unmonitored 
and not secured. We actually have people in this Congress saying let's 
lessen the standard that we have currently right now, and the best we 
can get is 50-some percent.
  I don't know who in their life plans to fail, doesn't plan to exceed 
and do the maximum. Whether it is showing up for work on time or 
anything you endeavor in, nobody shoots for below the bar. You shoot 
for the best. Yet in this endeavor, we have people literally in this 
Congress who are saying let's actually do less than we can do--
actually, let's do less than we are doing right now. So that seems to 
fly in the face of what every single American, regardless of your 
positions on other things, feels about securing the border.
  Ms. McSALLY. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, Mr. Perry.
  Again, I have about 10 minutes to wrap up here. I do want to tell 
some stories related to the level of activity in the district and how 
it is impacting real people in southern Arizona and their families and 
the threat that has been increasing.
  For those who are not aware, Rob Krentz is a rancher in my district, 
and he was killed. He was murdered on his own ranch in 2010. This is as 
it was reported by The Arizona Republic:

       On a breezy spring morning, a red ATV rolled across 
     southeastern Arizona's border badlands beneath the mystical 
     Chiricahua Mountains. A gray-haired rancher in classic cowboy 
     attire--jeans, boots, denim vest, and shirt--was at the 
     wheel, accompanied by his dog, Blue.
       Robert Krentz, 58, was checking stock ponds and water lines 
     on the 35,000-acre spread not far from where Apache leader 
     Geronimo surrendered to the U.S. cavalry. The Krentz clan 
     began raising cattle there more than a century ago, shortly 
     before Mexican Revolution leader Pancho Villa prowled nearby. 
     In modern times, the sparsely populated San Bernardino 
     Valley, bordering New Mexico and Senora, became a magnet for 
     bird watchers and a haven for smugglers.
       Krentz pulled to a stop, as he noticed a man apparently 
     injured. The rancher made a garbled radio call to his 
     brother, Phil--something about an illegal alien hurt; call 
     Border Patrol. It was about 10:30 a.m., March 27, 2010.
       What happened that morning as shots echoed across the 
     grassy range would roil Arizona politics and fuel the U.S. 
     immigration debate for years to come.
       One day earlier, Phil had put Border Patrol agents onto a 
     group of suspected drug runners on the family's land, 
     resulting in eight arrests and the seizure of 200 pounds of 
     marijuana.
       After Krentz's broken radio transmission, family members 
     almost immediately launched a search.

  And also neighbors. There were other ranchers in the area that 
started this search, trying to track the killers, and they enlisted 
help to track the footsteps south.

       Rob was found just before midnight, his body lying on the 
     ground with his feet still inside the all-terrain vehicle. 
     Two 9-millimeter slugs had fatally penetrated his lungs. 
     Another bullet wounded his dog, which had to be euthanized. 
     Krentz carried a rifle and pistol in his Polaris Ranger but 
     apparently never got a chance to use them. After being shot, 
     he managed to drive about 1,000 feet before collapsing.
       The only immediate sign of an assailant was a set of 
     footprints. Trackers followed them nearly 20 miles south to 
     Mexico, where the trail vanished.

  His murderers have never been caught to this day. Rob Krentz' family 
deals with this grief and deals with the

[[Page H796]]

fear of the border not being secured and what is going to happen next 
to them. This is very real in southern Arizona.
  In 2010, Brian Terry, a Border Patrol agent, was also murdered by 
smugglers in our district.

       On December 14, 2010, Border Patrol Agents William Castano, 
     Gabriel Fragoza, Timothy Keller, and Brian Terry demonstrated 
     extreme bravery while facing a lethal threat from a superior 
     number of armed subjects suspected of trafficking drugs in 
     the area.

  And I am reading from a citation, where he earned the 2010 
Congressional Badge of Bravery.

       All four agents were operating as members of a small four-
     man rural assault element tasked with interdicting armed 
     suspects operating west of the town of Rio Rico, Arizona. 
     This four-man element had occupied a remote interdiction site 
     consisting of rugged, steep, and difficult terrain for a 
     period of 48 hours without relief.
       At approximately 11 p.m., the team was alerted to at least 
     five suspects moving into the interdiction zone. Without 
     regard for individual safety, the small team maneuvered into 
     a position to interdict and apprehend the five individuals 
     passing directly in front of them. As the agents identified 
     themselves, suddenly and without warning, the subjects opened 
     fire on them. Placing themselves at great risk of serious 
     physical injury or death, all four agents bravely stood their 
     ground in an attempt to provide vital protection for their 
     teammates.
       During the short and horrific gun battle, Agent Brian Terry 
     sustained a fatal injury. Realizing that Agent Terry had been 
     injured, the team, without hesitation, continued to 
     selflessly place themselves in harm's way by attempting to 
     provide lifesaving techniques for Agent Terry and providing 
     perimeter security, preventing the assailants from 
     maneuvering on their position. One of the suspects was 
     wounded during the incident and was ultimately taken into 
     custody.

  Brian Terry is a hero. Rob Krentz was on his property when he was 
murdered. Brian Terry was brutally murdered.
  Let me tell you another story, one of rancher Kelly Glenn Kimbro, a 
fourth generation rancher. I am reading from an email that she sent to 
me in June, just an incident that she had on her ranch east of Douglas.

       A couple of days ago, I was driving from the Malpai Ranch 
     to Douglas on Geronimo Trail. At mile marker 11, I could see 
     motion ahead of me in the road; and as I approached, 13 men 
     formed a barricade with their bodies across the road. I 
     slowed and tried to pass on the right. They moved right. I 
     had locked my doors as I approached and my windows were up.
       Knowing that I had to either run over several of them, I 
     stopped. They immediately surrounded my truck. Two fellows 
     stood in front of my truck with their hands on the hood, 
     holding me in place. Several guys started to climb onto the 
     running boards and into the back. One was rummaging around my 
     tools. I was thinking that if he proceeded to break a window 
     that I would possibly use my pistol. I was not sure if I was 
     being hijacked or what.

  Think about it. This is a woman alone in her truck, with 13 men 
stopping her in her tracks.

       I put my window down a couple inches and told them to get 
     back. They started talking English. They were frantic to have 
     me take them to the ``police.'' They stated they were from 
     India. I talked them out of my truck and back onto the side 
     of the road, promised them I would, no doubt, call Border 
     Patrol, and they let me leave.
       Yep, scared me for a few minutes.

  Let me tell you, Kelly Glenn Kimbro is a tough woman. She is a 
rancher. She is a mountain lion hunter. She is cool under pressure. How 
would you behave in that circumstance?

  The challenge that she has--and she has got an 18-year-old daughter 
who often drives home alone. They are having to make life-and-death 
decisions. How did she know that they were not armed? How did she know 
what their intentions were? And if she decided to hit the gas and did 
harm them, then they would be questioning her actions because they 
were, in fact, unarmed.
  This is just the type of circumstances that these people are dealing 
with, just living in their own homes, just going in and out of their 
own community, just traveling to the store and going about their 
business.
  There are a couple of other stories.
  Gary Thrasher is a rancher and veterinarian who has worked and 
practiced in Cochise County since 1984. Over the past 30 years, he has 
seen how border security issues have led to dramatic changes in the 
county's way of life.
  Gary lives about 3 miles from the border. Over the past 4 years, 11 
of his ranch family clients have sold out, and that has had a big 
economic impact on his practice as well. They have just decided to give 
up. They can't afford to ranch in the area under this danger anymore. 
Many of those families have just said that they can't deal with the 
threats and the anxieties of life along the U.S.-Mexico border; and for 
the ranchers who remain, it has become increasingly hard to find people 
who want to work on their ranch near a border that is constantly 
crossed with these transnational criminal organizations.
  Another rancher shared, anonymously, that he has got a couple of 
houses, one 2 miles and one 40 miles from the border, and he has got 
far more trouble at the house 40 miles from the border. He has had, 
according to him, 15 to 16 break-ins, home invasions, and one of them 
was just 3 weeks ago.
  One last story from another rancher. He and his son, they said they 
left the ranch. Someone broke in, stole food, and then they left. The 
next day, they saw individuals moving north. The son pursued them, and 
the Border Patrol then captured them. It turned out, according to this 
rancher, that, after breaking into his ranch, they broke into a 
hunter's property and stole a weapon. The pistol was ditched before 
they were caught but connected back to them. Who knows what their 
intentions were.
  This is the challenge that these people have.
  The rancher talked with the migrant criminal. And he said he admitted 
to being a lifetime criminal and a repeat offender. He is just used by 
these traffickers going back and forth. He was detained for 2 days, and 
he wasn't charged with weapons charges or multiple entries, and he was 
sent back to Mexico, again, to probably be used by these transnational 
criminal organizations.
  This is very real to southern Arizona. The transnational criminal 
organizations are daily trafficking.
  There is another photo I have right here, and you can see on the 
other side of the photo, a number of individuals that are just mules. 
They are packing drugs, and they are just going through their property.
  There are other photos I have here related to some of the ranchers 
who--there is just no fence. Again, as we talked about earlier, the 
fence is not the only solution, but fencing will at least delay the 
activity. This is just one of the rancher's pictures of just a barbed 
wire fence that is easy to be cut through on foot or with a vehicle.
  So I am urging my colleagues to pass this border security bill. I am 
urging those who are listening to please contact your Members of 
Congress in the House and the Senate. Let's not play politics with 
securing our border. Now is the time.
  These ranchers have put up with this for decades. They have 
cooperated with Border Patrol. Border Patrol is doing the best they 
can, but we have got to change the strategy, and we have got to address 
this issue. It should be a bipartisan issue and something that unites 
us. Let's get the job done so we can protect the people of southern 
Arizona, the people of Texas, the people living in other border 
communities, and our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________