[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20847]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



              ECONOMIC AID FOR THE SOUTHERN BORDER STATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make sure all of my 
colleagues understand the economic crisis that is occurring at the 
U.S.-Mexico border from San Diego, California, which I represent, all 
the way east of Brownsville, Texas. These border communities are in an 
economic crisis and need immediate help.
  After September 11 this country took all sorts of security measures 
designed to prevent terrorist acts again. All those measures were 
extremely necessary, important and supported by this body and by the 
American people. Yet some of those measures that we took had economic 
consequences which we did not foresee and which have to be taken care 
of in the months following September 11. For example, we grounded all 
general aviation. Many businesses went out of business in that sector 
of the economy. Now they are trying to get back on their feet.
  The border communities had been neglected in looking at the aftermath 
of September 11. We heightened security at the southern border, 
appropriately so. We started what is called a level one alert, to make 
sure no further terrorists could get into our country. That level one 
alert required much more search of cars, much more questioning of 
individuals, checking of IDs, all of which the American people support; 
but we did not add increased resources at the southern border to handle 
this increased level of security.
  So the waits at the border for legal crossers, those who are doing 
business, those who are going to school, those that live in this 
country and are U.S. citizens, perhaps, but live for whatever reason in 
Mexico, people who shop, people who work legally, the wait at the 
borders have been at least several hours, up to 4, sometimes up to 7 or 
8 hours. The border wait can be 2 hours one day, 8 hours next day, an 
hour the next day.
  It is the uncertainty that prevents people who legally want to cross 
our southern borders, work here, shop here, they are prevented from 
doing so. In fact, in the biggest border crossing in the world, which 
is in my congressional district in San Ysidro, California, businesses 
have dropped anywhere from 50 to 90 percent. Many have gone out of 
business. Others are facing bankruptcy.
  If you go across the border to Calexico, California, or Nogales, 
Arizona, or El Paso, Texas, or Laredo or Brownsville, the situation is 
the same. The dropping of business is anywhere from 50 to 90 percent. 
These are small businesses. They cannot sustain this level of activity 
before they go out of business.
  We can cure this, Mr. Speaker. We can cure this with more resources. 
I have asked the Governor of California, my colleagues have asked their 
Governors, we asked the President of the United States to declare an 
economic state of emergency along the border so we can get in low-
interest loans and economic help for these small businesses; but more 
important, we need to keep the lanes of traffic flowing and open.
  The district director in San Diego told me that if she had 20 more 
positions per shift, or a hundred more new positions, she could keep 
all 24 lanes of San Ysidro open 24 hours a day. What would that 
require? It would require $6 million, Mr. Speaker, $6 million. If that 
is multiplied out across the border, we mean maybe 20 to $25 million to 
make sure we kept the level one security and we keep that flow of legal 
traffic moving swiftly across the border.
  We need to put that 20 to $25 million in any supplemental bill that 
comes through this House, Mr. Speaker. We need to make sure that we can 
assure Americans that our borders are safe, that we do not put out of 
business all of the communities that live on that crossborder's legal 
trade.

                              {time}  1415

  So, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Governors of the border States, and I ask 
the President of the United States to declare an economic state of 
emergency, and I ask this House to appropriate $20 million to $25 
million for full staffing of the southern border checkpoints so that we 
can have both security and commerce.

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