[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13846]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       SECURING AMERICA'S BORDERS

  (Mr. HENSARLING asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, the horrific 9/11 attacks on America 
taught us that border security is homeland security. But just last 
year, Customs and the Border Patrol stopped over 1 million people who 
illegally crossed our border. And of that 1 million, 160,000 were from 
countries other than Mexico, including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, 
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
  Last week, expert witnesses at an International Relations 
subcommittee field hearing in Laredo, Texas, testified that unlike in 
years past, many illegal immigrants who sneak across the border are no 
longer good people who are simply in search of honest work, but rather, 
increasingly, they are criminals who belong to violent gangs and drug 
cartels.
  Reynaldo Gaza, the Border Patrol chief in Laredo, testified that he 
worries now about the links between the drug cartels and the 
terrorists.
  Hundreds of illegal immigrants will cross our southern border today. 
Some of them will be criminals, some gang members. I pray none are 
terrorists. But the truth is, we don't know. A nation without borders 
ceases to be a nation, which is why we must secure our border first.

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