[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17868]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICA'S THIRD WAR: TEXAS STRIKES BACK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, there was an article, I guess 
it's on FoxNews.com, today, and it's called ``America's Third War: 
Texas Strikes Back.'' Captain Stacy Holland with the Texas Department 
of Public Safety said, ``I never thought that we would be in this 
paramilitary type of engagement. It's a war on the border.''
  It's a war on the border. That border is 1,980 miles long, and the 
President sent 1,200 National Guard people down there. Now, I don't 
know how many that is per mile, but it ain't much. And now I 
understand, from information I got today, that they're going to 
withdraw some of those because of the cost.
  Now, they sent 17,000 National Guard troops down when they had the 
oil spill in the Gulf. Granted, that was a real problem. But the border 
between us and Mexico is a war zone, a war zone, according to the Texas 
Department of Public Safety.

                              {time}  1450

  I want to read to you, Mr. Speaker, some of the things he said. He 
said, they--the terrorists, drug dealers, people who are kidnapping 
people--``They cross the border with AK-47s on their backs, wearing 
military camouflage. They recruit in prisons and schools on the 
American side. Spotters''--people from Mexico--``sit in duck blinds 
along the Rio Grande and call out the positions of the U.S. Border 
Patrol.'' And they do that on the American side.
  ``To combat the cartels, the Texas Department of Public Safety is 
launching a counterinsurgency. Tactical strike teams send field 
intelligence they gather to Austin to a joint operation intelligence 
center, or JOIC in military terminology. `It certainly is a war in a 
sense that we're doing what we can to protect Texans and the rest of 
the Nation from clearly a threat that has emerged over the last several 
years,' said former FBI prosecutor Steve McCraw, who runs the 
undeclared `war.'
  ``And now that there is added pressure on the cartels, the drug 
runners are employing new techniques, known as a splash down. When the 
heat is on, they attempt to return to Mexico with the drugs, oftentimes 
in broad daylight. And because the Texas law enforcement's authority 
ends at the border--in this case the river--they even have time to put 
on their life jackets.''
  I don't understand why this White House doesn't understand that this 
is a war on our border, our front yard. And in Arizona they have signs 
that say--80 miles into the United States in Arizona--they say don't go 
south of here because it's not safe. In the United States. And the 
President sent 1,200 National Guard troops down there, and they are 
withdrawing some of them.
  I just don't understand this White House. I understand that we have 
to deal with Afghanistan and Iraq and other places around the world. 
But this is our front yard. And they are withdrawing. They sent 17,000 
down to the Gulf oil spill, and they send 1,200 down there to the 
border, which is nothing, and now they are withdrawing some of them.
  The former FBI agent goes on to say, ``The cartels may be ruthless, 
they may be vicious, they may be cowardly, but they're not stupid. 
They'll adapt their tactics, and recently they've adapted their tactics 
to utilize smaller loads, cross with rafts, stolen vehicles on our 
side.
  ``President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet 
Napolitano have recently said the Mexican border is more secure now 
than it has been in 20 years.''
  I want to tell you, that is such bull. That is just bull. I can't say 
that the President of the United States is misleading the people. But, 
boy, that sure ain't the truth. And if you don't believe that, talk to 
Congressman Poe from Texas and some of the others from Arizona. Instead 
of doing what they can to protect American citizens to stop this flood 
of drugs coming in as well as illegal aliens and others, they are suing 
the State of Arizona because they say they are trampling on Federal 
statutes.
  I tell you, I just can't understand this administration. We are 
talking about the safety of the United States, and in particular all 
the people who live on the Texas border, the Arizona border and the New 
Mexico border. This is something that's unforgivable. And if I were 
talking to the President, I would say, Mr. President, wake up. This is 
the American citizens you're supposed to protect. Let's get on with the 
job.

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