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




    SECURING OUR BORDERS HAS NOT BEEN A PRIORITY OF REPUBLICANS IN 
                               WASHINGTON

  (Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, after September 11, we all 
concluded that securing our borders was a top priority. Unfortunately, 
for the past 5 years the Republican majority here in Washington, from 
the White House to Capitol Hill, have refused to adequately fund border 
needs.
  As a Congress, we promised to add 2,000 Border Patrol agents, 8,000 
additional detention beds, and to add 800 more immigration 
investigators every year between 2005 and 2009. Two years into that 
promise, we are falling exceedingly short. House Republicans have cut 
$48 million from Customs and Border Security Protection; and Democrats 
tried to restore the funding, but we were rebuffed by the Republican 
majority.
  It is bad enough that Washington Republicans refuse to properly fund 
border security measures, but now it appears they are unwilling to work 
together to negotiate a final border security and immigration bill this 
year.
  The only way we will secure our borders is if House and Senate 
Republicans stop playing games, stop holding press conferences 
disguised as hearings, and actually sit down and hammer out a 
compromise. It is time to start fishing and stop cutting bait.

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