[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 22]
[House]
[Page 30828]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1415
                U.S. GOVERNMENT MUST PROTECT ITS PEOPLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Perlmutter). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, it is the first duty of government, especially 
our government, to protect the people. That is why governments are 
formed throughout the world. That is why the United States was formed, 
to protect the people who live in this great country of ours.
  This weekend, we honor the veterans that have served in our military 
throughout all of its wars. It started on the 11th hour of the 11th day 
of the 11th month of 1918, which was called Armistice Day, to end the 
war to end all wars, World War I. We now call it Veterans Day, where we 
honor those who went to war and came home.
  Now America is engaged in wars in lands far, far away. We are engaged 
in the war in Iraq, we are engaged in the war in Afghanistan, and Mr. 
Speaker, it is my opinion that the finest military that has ever 
existed in the history of the world is fighting for American values in 
Iraq and Afghanistan, the American warriors.
  You know, they are fighting in the deserts of Iraq, the mountains of 
Afghanistan. But we are also engaged in a war closer to home, that for 
some reason many have missed it, and it's the border war that we have 
on our southern border.
  You see, our people who live in the southern part of the United 
States, and I happen to be one of them, I'm from the State of Texas, 
they are concerned about a constant invasion into our homeland by 
people that come here without permission. These people are coming into 
this country and they are colonizing our Nation. I have been to the 
southern border of Texas and Mexico over a dozen times. I've been to 
the border in Arizona, the border in California with Mexico, and every 
time I go to the border, the situation is worse. It is, by any 
definition, a war zone.
  In the American town of Laredo, across the river, in Nuevo Laredo, it 
is a hostile and violent place. In the year 2005, there were 147 
murders in Nuevo Laredo, many of them peace officers, and not one case 
has been solved. There have been 400 kidnappings; 41 of those have been 
American citizens kidnapped in Mexico, and not one case, not one has 
been solved by law enforcement.
  It is a violent place. We have the three drug cartels coming in from 
Mexico, bringing that cancer into our country, and they are violent 
because it's all about money. And now they're working with the human 
coyotes, and they smuggle drugs and people into our country, all 
because of the almighty dollar.
  We have reports of the Mexican military that have come across our 
border in arrogance and defiance, coming here to apparently help the 
drug smugglers bring in the drugs. But be that as it may, Homeland 
Security seems to be blissfully silent about the problem on the 
southern border with Mexico. And I ask the question, why? Is it because 
of political reasons? What do we owe the nation of Mexico? Our 
government, Homeland Security, owes the American public public defense.
  It is the first duty of government to protect the homeland, and that 
includes the invasion by people without permission from our southern 
border. Thousands of people a day come in here without our permission, 
and I'm here to say that it's our obligation as a Nation to protect the 
southern border.
  There has been legislation, bipartisan, that has been introduced this 
week to move that direction; 8,000 more border agents, using the 
military surveillance; also, requiring that American departments such 
as Social Security, Homeland Security and the IRS work together to 
prevent people from fraudulently trying to become American citizens, 
and of course, requiring more immigration judges. And I think we 
personally should use the National Guard and put them on the southern 
border as well. Whatever it takes, by lawful means, to secure the 
Nation's homeland, we owe that to the Nation, we owe that to the 
veterans who fought all over the world, and we owe it to the veterans 
who are on the southern border with Mexico to make sure that we protect 
our country, the dignity and sovereignty of this Nation.
  And that's just the way it is.

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