[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13308]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              DON'T TRAVEL IN AMERICA--IT'S TOO DANGEROUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, it's summertime, and families are 
having their summer vacations. They're taking their kids throughout the 
fruited plain in the United States to visit our historical Nation. But 
I bring you sad news. Our Federal Government has warned Americans that 
there are parts of America that they should not travel to. It is too 
dangerous to travel in parts of America because it's just not safe.
  Here is an example. This sign is erected on Interstate 8 in Arizona. 
Interstate 8 is an east to west Interstate, highly traveled. It's 
anywhere from 30 to 100 miles north of the Mexican border, and about 30 
or 60 miles south of Phoenix. In a section of 60 miles there are 12 of 
these signs posted. And here is what they say: ``Danger--Public 
Warning--Travel Not Recommended.''
  What does that mean? It means the Federal Government is telling 
Americans you can't travel America, it's just too dangerous. We, the 
Federal Government, we can't protect you. Don't travel around here. And 
here are some of the comments on this sign. The first one says, 
``Active drug and human smuggling area.'' What does that mean? That 
means the drug cartels and the coyotes, those human smugglers, are 
sneaking their way across the border because it's porous in Arizona, as 
well as my home State of Texas, and they're bringing in drugs and 
they're bringing in people, and it's not safe because they don't do 
that in a very kind and gentle way, the smuggling operation.
  It goes further. Number two: ``Visitors may encounter armed criminals 
and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.'' Oh, that 
sounds serious. You mean we can't take the kids down Interstate 8 
because they've got the drug cartels and their fast vehicles bringing 
drugs? Yeah, the Federal Government, the big Federal Government says we 
can't protect you. Don't come here.
  Number three on this sign, put up by the Bureau of Land Management: 
``Stay away from trash, clothing, backpacks, and abandoned vehicles.'' 
You see, when the coyotes bring the people in and the cartels bring in 
their drugs, they abandon much of their stuff that they bring in. They 
just throw it down, you know, on our interstates. They also throw it in 
some of our refuges. And it's just stay away from that because we don't 
know what's in all that property.

                              {time}  1910

  The next one on here, No. 4, if you see suspicious activity, don't 
confront. Call 9/11.
  I can tell you one thing: you pick up that phone and you call 9/11, 
you're not going to get the Federal Government to answer that phone 
because, you see, when you call 9/11, it's always some local, like the 
sheriffs of Arizona will call. What are they supposed to do, because 
the Federal Government doesn't want them enforcing immigration and 
smuggling laws. Are they going to call ICE to come out there? The 
Federal Government's already said they can't protect you. So why call 
9/11? That's a useless call.
  And the last one it says: the BLM, the Bureau of Land Management, 
encourages visitors to use public lands north of Interstate 8 because, 
see, we can't protect you as the Federal Government in the land south 
of Interstate 8 that goes all the way to Mexico. Has the Federal 
Government ceded that land to Mexico, the drug dealers, and the human 
coyotes? Kind of sounds like it to me.
  And now what is the Federal Government's response besides putting up 
a bunch of these signs saying, Don't travel America; don't take your 
kids across this country because it's not safe. We can't protect you. 
The Federal Government has decided to send its lawyers to the 
courthouse and sue the State of Arizona so they won't enforce and 
protect their own law.
  The Federal Government ought to spend less time sending lawyers to 
the courthouse and spend a little more time sending the National Guard 
down to the border to keep people from coming into this country without 
permission. After all, it is the Federal Government's responsibility to 
protect us and let us travel all of our interstate highways, even 
Interstate 8 in Arizona.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________