[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 644-645]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           BORDER INSURGENTS

  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of 
the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, our border is being held hostage by the lawless 
that roam the murky river banks of the Rio Grande.
  Just last week along the Texas-Mexico border, about 50 miles east of 
El Paso, Texas lawmen faced off with outlaws dressed as Mexican army 
soldiers. These criminals attempted to flee Texas State authorities. 
U.S. law enforcement authorities were met with camouflaged military-
style Humvees with .50-caliber machine guns, forcing an armed standoff 
along these dangerous banks of the rugged Rio Grande. The Mexican 
government has claimed that these so-called soldiers were actually drug 
smugglers. Fortunately, whoever they were, their criminal intent was 
foiled because U.S. border officials, even though they were outgunned, 
tracked the smugglers and the outlaws until they quickly fled back into 
Mexico after the initial standoff. These outlaws left behind nearly a 
ton of marijuana after they set one of their own vehicles ablaze. 
Mexican officials are denying that these men were members of the 
Mexican army, claiming it is quite easy to buy Mexican military 
uniforms in local stores. But, of course, Mr. Speaker, we do not know 
the truth about that statement.
  This incident is not the first either. In November the U.S. border 
patrol chased criminals in a dump truck full of marijuana in the same 
area until it got stuck in the Rio Grande River on its way back to 
Mexico. As Border Patrol agents sought to unload the three tons of 
marijuana from the truck, the driver, who had initially fled, returned 
with an army of heavily armed men wearing, yes, that is correct, 
Mexican military uniforms carrying military-style weapons. The army of 
thugs backed the agents away and then bulldozed their own truck back 
into Mexico, this safe haven for drug dealers.
  And the war for the border is not just taking place above ground. 
This month in California officials have stumbled upon four underground 
tunnels that lead from Mexico into the United States. Just last 
Thursday authorities spent the day removing an estimated two tons of 
marijuana from a tunnel that began inside a warehouse in Tijuana, 
Mexico near their airport and ended up in a vacant industrial building 
on the American side. The 2,400-foot tunnel was about 5 feet wide and 
high enough for an adult to stand. The floor was cement and there was 
electricity and ventilation. Customs officials have described the 
tunnel as longer and much more massive than the other smuggling tunnels 
discovered since September 11, 2001.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an issue of national security. If these drug 
cartels are so boldly bringing drugs across our borders through these 
tunnels, what is

[[Page 645]]

to prevent them from using these same tunnels to smuggle terrorists and 
humans as well? We cannot ignore this issue.
  In early January, Customs and Border Protection border patrol agents 
of Brewster County, Texas seized over $2 million worth of cocaine from 
three Mexican nationals carrying the drugs in backpacks into the United 
States. These narcoterrorists make money because of the lack of border 
security in the United States. And, Mr. Speaker, these drug dealers are 
serious. Federal officials have recently warned U.S. border patrol 
agents that they could be the targets of assassins hired by immigrant 
smugglers. According to a memo from Homeland Security, ``Unidentified 
Mexican alien smugglers are angry about the border security along the 
U.S.-Mexico border and have agreed that the best way to deal with U.S. 
border patrol agents is to hire a group of contract killers.'' Well, it 
is time for us to get angry as well and come up with the best way to 
deal with them.
  We are fighting a serious insurgency along our borders, and we must 
stop this lawless out-of-control invasion. Our border is critically and 
visibly vulnerable. What is it going to take for us to figure this out? 
It is chilling to think what may be next. Will it be a shootout on the 
Rio Grande River?
  We must win this battle for our borders. We must win the battle for 
American sovereignty. We must win the battle against the lawlessness 
that has invaded our country before Americans pay for this lawless 
behavior of others. That is just the way it is.

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