[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
[June 6, 2006]
[Pages 1076-1084]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Immigration Reform and a Swearing-In Ceremony for W. Ralph 
Basham as Commissioner of Customs and Border 
Protection in Artesia, New Mexico
June 6, 2006

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Pete, thanks for your kind words, and thanks for your 
leadership. New Mexico has got a fine senior Senator in Pete Domenici. 
All he talks about is New Mexico when I'm with him. Now I'm afraid all 
he's going to talk about is FLETC. [Laughter]
    It's good to be in Artesia. Some people probably think I've never 
heard of Artesia. You forgot I grew up in Midland. Home of the Mighty 
Bulldogs, Artesia is. The land where the sky is big and the people are 
friendly. I knew I was in pretty good country when I saw all the cowboy 
hats, and I think I saw one guy spitting in a can. [Laughter] But I'm 
thrilled to be here, I really am, and I appreciate a chance to be here 
at the Border Patrol Academy,

[[Page 1077]]

here at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
    I want to--the reason I'm here is because I want the country to pay 
attention to what you're doing. And I want you to understand, those of 
you who are training to become Border Patrol agents and those of you who 
are training the trainees, I want you to understand that I really 
appreciate your contribution to the United States of America, and so do 
the American people.
    What you're learning to do here is important. It's important for the 
security of our Nation. And I want to thank you for volunteering. At 
this academy, new agents undergo 19 weeks of training, and by the looks 
of it, it isn't all that easy. It's practical experience. It's the kind 
of experience that's going to put you in pretty good stead when it comes 
to doing the job that we expect you to do.
    You're taking courses in counterterrorism and immigration law. 
You're taking courses in antidrug trafficking and firearms. You're 
taking courses in motor vehicle operations. And for those of you who 
don't know how to speak Spanish, you're learning how to speak Spanish. 
Those are all very important parts of your training.
    Look, I'm not here to give you a lecture, but I am here to thank 
you. I want to appreciate what you're doing; I appreciate your service. 
I look forward to seeing you out there on the border doing the job we 
expect you to do. And in a little while, I'm going to tell you, you 
expect something from us too. But the first thing you can expect is the 
full support of the Federal Government, and you have it.
    I appreciate--[applause]--Pete Domenici is keeping pretty good company today with Senator Jeff 
Bingaman. It's good to see 
the Senator. Thanks for coming. I'm proud you're here as well. I flew 
down with two Members of the United States Congress, Congressman 
Tom Udall--he's from the northern part of the 
State--and Congressman Steve Pearce--he's here 
from the eastern part of New Mexico. It's good to see you all. Pearce 
has got that umbrella up because he's bald-headed. [Laughter] He's also 
a fine Congressman.
    I want to thank the Governor of the great State of New Mexico, 
Governor Bill Richardson. Governor, I'm 
proud you're here. Thank you for taking the time. I know what it's like 
to be the Governor of a border State. And I know Governor Richardson 
counts on the Federal Government to pass a good piece of legislation 
that will enable him and the people of this State who are working with 
you to do their jobs. And I'm proud you're on the lead of comprehensive 
immigration reform, Bill.
    I want to thank Secretary Mike Chertoff 
for joining us. I want to thank other members of my administration, 
starting with Ralph Basham, who is the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection, and his wife, Judy. 
We're fixing to swear Ralph in. Part of this ceremony is for you to 
witness the swearing-in of your boss. I think that's a good way for us 
to make it clear that those of us who are in Washington, DC--in my case, 
on a temporary basis, I want to emphasize--[laughter]--we know you're 
out here, see, and we care about the job you're doing. I thought it made 
sense to swear in the new Commissioner in your presence, as a way of 
making it clear for us to say, he may have an office in Washington, but 
his heart is right here with the Border Patrol agents.
    I appreciate very much Connie Patrick, 
who's the Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. I 
want to thank David Aguilar; he's the Chief 
of the Border Patrol. For those of you fixing to join the Border Patrol, 
you need to know, you've got a Chief who knows what he's talking about. 
See, he did exactly what you've done. Plus, he's a Texan. [Laughter] I 
appreciate Jay Ahern; he's Assistant 
Commissioner of Field Operations for the U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection.
    I just had a tour given to me by Charlie Whitmire. Maybe you've heard of Charlie. [Laughter] He's a no-
nonsense kind of guy.

[[Page 1078]]

See, he's the kind of guy you want running a facility like this. He's 
got one thing in mind, and that is to give you the tools necessary to do 
the job. Whitmire, I appreciate your service, and thanks for your 
leadership. Thanks for the tour.
    I appreciate all the State and local officials who have taken time 
out of your day to come and say hello, and I particularly want to thank 
the mayor, Manuel Madrid, for being here as 
well. Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming; proud you're here. Thanks for 
your time.
    Most of all, I want to thank you all, and I want you to thank your 
families on behalf of a grateful nation. You need to tell your wives and 
children, mothers and fathers how much we appreciate what you're doing. 
So you've got my permission to take a little time off this afternoon--
[laughter]--and let them know. This is a family deal. You're here 
training for a very important mission, a mission that's sometimes 
dangerous. And I understand how important it is to have the support of 
somebody in your house.
    See, I got support from a great lady too, like many of you who are 
married. I'm fortunate to be married to Laura Bush, who sends her very--[applause]--she sends her best to 
all the good folks out here in eastern New Mexico. Her mother is living right across the border, so we stay in touch 
with how people are thinking out here.
    And it's--I can't tell you how--a joy it is to be out here where the 
air is dry and fresh and the people are down-to-earth and decent--people 
who love our country and people who expect us to handle this immigration 
debate with dignity and to get something done. That's what they expect. 
The people of Artesia want something done on the immigration issue, and 
the people all across our country want something done on this important 
issue. So I want to talk to you today about the debate we're having in 
Washington, DC.
    The first thing is, illegal immigration is a serious problem. The 
first thing we got to understand as a country is that illegal 
immigration undermines the rule of law. It creates an underground 
economy. It can danger our national security. And therefore, we need to 
do something about it.
    Illegal immigration makes it tough on local communities. It puts a 
strain on public schools and strains State and local budgets, brings 
crime to some of our communities. And we need to do something about it.
    We've also got to remember this though, during this debate, that 
illegal immigration is a problem, but we need to remember that 
immigrants have been one of the great strengths of the United States of 
America. For generations, immigrants to this country have risked 
everything because of the dream of freedom. And they've assimilated into 
our society. And they've contributed to our economy. And they've 
contributed to the greatness of America. During this debate, this 
important debate on illegal immigration, we've got to remember we're a 
land of immigrants, and therefore, conduct this debate with dignity.
    The United States is a nation of laws, and we're going to enforce 
our laws. We're also a nation of immigrants, and we're going to uphold 
that tradition. And these are not contradictory goals. America can be a 
lawful society, and America will be a welcoming society at the same 
time.
    So I'm going to work with Congress to fix our immigration problems, 
and I'm going to work with Congress to pass a comprehensive bill I can 
pass into law. And we're making progress. I know you're following the 
debate in Washington, but we're making progress toward a comprehensive 
bill.
    When I visited the border last fall, Congress was still debating 
whether to take any action at all. See, last fall there was a doubt as 
to whether or not Congress was going to act on the immigration bill. The 
last time I visited the border last month, the House had passed a bill 
focusing on border security and interior enforcement. Now the

[[Page 1079]]

Senate has passed a bill, and it's a more comprehensive approach that 
includes a temporary-worker program and a plan to resolve the status of 
illegal immigrants inside our country. And the next step is for the 
House and the Senate to reconcile its difference and agree on 
legislation that both houses can agree on. And I believe that 
legislation needs to be comprehensive in nature, which I'm going to talk 
about here in a minute.
    I know when you watch your television or listen to the radio, it 
seems like there's nothing but disagreement on immigration policy in 
Washington. Yet there's a growing consensus among all parties and all 
regions of the country that fundamental reforms are needed. In other 
words, people are coming to the conclusion we got to do something about 
a system that isn't working. And while the differences grab the 
headlines, the similarities in approaches are striking.
    We all agree we need to control our borders. There's a common 
agreement that the Federal Government has a responsibility to control 
the borders, so that every illegal immigrant caught at the border needs 
to be sent home. We agree with that. Secondly, we agree that the 
Government needs to crack down on businesses that hire illegal workers. 
In other words, in order to help you do your job, we all agree that if 
someone is hiring somebody who is an illegal immigrant, they've broken 
the law, and we need to crack down on that.
    We all agree we must reduce the incentives for foreign workers to 
cross the border illegally. See, there's agreement on that in 
Washington. We agree that it's unacceptable to have millions of illegal 
immigrants living in our country beyond the reach of law and the 
protection of the law. And we all agree that immigrants to America must 
assimilate into our society. They must embrace our values and learn to 
speak the English language. See, there's common agreement; there's a 
consensus. And we need to act on that broad consensus and deliver 
comprehensive reform that makes our system orderly, secure, and fair.
    We all agree we've got to enforce the borders. Since 2001, I've 
worked with the United States Congress to increase border security 
funding by 66 percent. I want to thank the Members of Congress for 
working on that. Border Patrol has been expanded from about 9,000 agents 
to 12,000 agents, and we're building new infrastructures on the border.
    Federal agents like you have apprehended and sent home about 6 
million people entering America illegally since 2001. It's an amazing 
statistic, isn't it? Most American people have no earthly idea how hard 
our Border Patrol agents are working. Six million people since 2001 have 
been caught trying to come into this country illegally and sent home. 
And that's why I tell you, I'm grateful for your hard work. People are 
doing an outstanding job.
    But we got to make sure that we give you more to secure the border. 
Congress needs to fund dramatic increases in manpower and additional 
technology that will help you build on the successes. See, there's more 
work to be done. We're going to increase the size of the Border Patrol 
by additional 6,000 agents by the end of 2008. You're going to be busy 
here at this facility. See, our goal is to have doubled the Border 
Patrol to about 18,000 Border Patrol agents. That's what they tell me is 
going to work. I said, ``Fine, get it done.'' And your classes here are 
part of that doubling of the Border Patrol. And when these agents that 
are trained here are deploying, we're going to give them what's 
necessary in terms of technology to be able to do their jobs.
    See, we need to add new technologies to the new manpower we're 
training, so we can tell the American people we're doing our best we 
possibly can to secure our border. Americans expect us to secure the 
border. It's an important job of the Federal Government. And so we're 
going

[[Page 1080]]

to double your size, and we're going to get you new technologies.
    We're going to build high-tech fences in urban corridors. For the 
agents here who've been on the frontlines of enforcing our border, you 
understand how important those high-tech fences are so you can do that 
job. We're going to make sure you got new patrol roads. We can't ask 
these new Border Patrol agents that we're training to do their job and 
not have adequate patrol roads to be able to go up and down the border. 
We're going to build virtual fence that employs motion detectors and 
infrared cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles to prevent illegal 
crossings. See, we're going to leverage technology so you can better do 
your job.
    Proposals to boost manpower and upgrade technologies have the 
support of Republicans and Democrats in the House and the Senate. In 
other words, there's consensus on that. We're going to get this part of 
the job done. And I understand and you understand, it takes time to get 
technology and Border Patrol agents in place.
    The training you do here takes 19 weeks, as it should. We don't want 
to rush you through the academy. See, when we put you on the frontline 
of doing your job, we want you to be as well-trained as you possibly can 
be. That's what your families expect, that's what your Government 
expects, and that's what your trainers want. They want to use their 
skills to give you the skills necessary to do the job.
    But it takes the time, and yet we don't have time to get this border 
enforced. And so therefore, I decided to work with our State Governors, 
Republicans and Democrats, to move 6,000 National Guard troops on the 
border to help the current Border Patrol do the job until the new agents 
are trained. That makes sense to me, doesn't it? If we've got a problem, 
let's address it square on. And if part of the problem is we're waiting 
to get new Border Patrol agents trained, and we can't wait, let's move 
some troops in--National Guard troops that will be able to help those of 
you on the frontlines of securing our border do your job better.
    Guard members are arriving at the border, and they're going to set 
up a headquarters to support Border Patrol operations. You see, you 
notice I said ``support the Border Patrol.'' The Border Patrol is in the 
lead; that's why they're going through significant training. The Border 
Patrol is the primary law enforcement agency on the border. And so the 
Guard units are down there to support your job; they're to make it 
easier for you to do your job. Our Guard units will not be involved in 
direct law enforcement activities. That's not what they're going to go 
down there for. The United States of America will not militarize our 
border. We're going to make sure that the Border Patrol is the--is 
directly involved in law enforcement activities. That's what you're 
trained to do. The Guard is going to free up Border Patrol to focus on 
stopping illegal immigrants coming in. They're going to be building the 
roads, and they're going to be doing the support.
    When I was down in Yuma, I saw the Guard working side by side with 
Border Patrol, and what they're doing is, they're freeing up the Border 
Patrol to be on the frontlines. And I want to thank Governor 
Richardson and Governor Perry and Governor Schwarzenegger, Governor Napolitano 
for working with the Federal Government to prepare the way for the 
arrival of the Guard troops. And as soon as you get the Border Patrol 
agents trained, these Guard troops will be going home. But until that 
time, I want them down here helping you do the job that the American 
people expect us to do.
    We've got to stop catch-and-release. Perhaps the people of Artesia, 
New Mexico, know what I'm talking about; a lot of Americans don't. What 
happens is, these Border Patrol agents work hard; they find somebody 
coming back--coming into our country; they say, ``The rules say you 
check in

[[Page 1081]]

with the officer here, in the court; come back in about 20 days when 
we've got time for you to show up,'' and they don't show up. So you've 
got somebody working hard to find somebody, and we let them back out in 
society, and guess what? They disappear. And we're going to end that 
practice.
    Eighty-five percent of the illegal immigrants caught crossing the 
border are Mexican citizens, so they get sent back quickly. Within 24 
hours they're sent back across the country, and that's important for 
people to know; if you get caught, you get sent home. It means it's less 
likely you're going to try to come in, in the first place.
    Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy to send home illegal immigrants 
from other countries, Central American countries, for example, and so 
they were released back into our society. It had to be frustrating for 
you Border Patrol agents who were on the frontlines. You work hard, you 
find somebody who is trying to sneak in from Central America, you do 
your job; next thing you know you hear, ``Oops, they're somewhere in 
society.'' So we're going to end that practice.
    And the way you end it is, you build more detention facilities. See, 
part of the problem was, we didn't have a place to hold these folks. And 
so now I'm working with Congress to increase the number of detention 
facilities along our borders, to make sure that when we catch somebody 
from a place other than Mexico, there's a place to hold them until such 
time as we send them back to their country.
    I'm also talking to leaders of those countries from which these 
people are coming, and I'm saying, ``You have a responsibility to take 
them back as quickly as possible.'' And our mission is to end catch-and-
release once and for all on the southern border of the United States, 
and we intend to do just that.
    In order to make sure this Border Patrol strategy works, this 
strategy of securing the border, we all agree in Washington that 
employers must be held to account for the workers they hire. I spoke to 
the Chamber of Commerce last week, and I made it clear that the United 
States is not going to tolerate employers who violate our immigration 
laws. See, it's against the law to hire someone who is here illegally. 
That's what the law says. We're a nation of laws, and we expect people 
to abide by the laws.
    Most businesses want to comply with the law; they really do. Most 
people are good, law-abiding citizens who want to comply, but they have 
trouble verifying the legal status of their employees because of 
widespread problem of fake IDs and fraudulent Social Security numbers. 
See, there's a problem here. We got people sneaking into our country, 
and there's a whole document forgery ring supplying them with fake 
documents. And it's hard to expect some small-business person in 
Artesia, New Mexico, to be in a position to be a document checker.
    And the Federal Government can help. So we're working on an 
effective system for verifying work eligibility so the businesses can 
better comply with the law, and then we'll be in a position to say, ``If 
you don't comply with the law, you deserve to be punished. If we catch 
you cheating right now, you'll be punished.'' But we got to make sure 
that small businesses and large businesses have got the capacity to 
verify whether a person is here legally or not.
    Congress needs to give Federal agents the authority they need to 
enforce the law when job applicants submit fraudulent Social Security 
numbers. Congress needs to make it mandatory for employers to check 
information provided by job applicants against Federal databases. Right 
now it's voluntary. In other words, you getting ready to hire somebody, 
you need to check against the Federal database to make sure the numbers 
on the cards aren't forged, are real. But what really Congress needs to 
do is to use a biometric technology to create a new tamper-proof 
identification card for every legal foreign worker. That's

[[Page 1082]]

what we need; we need a tamper-proof card. It says, if you're here 
legally working, here's your card, and you got to show it. And the 
businessowner has got to call for it. And if they hire somebody without 
the tamper-proof card, they're in violation of the law and will be 
fined.
    We've got to reduce the incentives for foreign workers to sneak 
across the border. That's what we agree on in Washington. If I were a 
Border Patrol agent, I'd be asking, ``What are you trying to do about 
the people trying to sneak in here to work? How come you don't have a 
temporary way for them to come work on the jobs Americans aren't 
doing?'' See, I believe that we need to understand that there are people 
coming across this border to put food on the table for their family, and 
they'll do anything to make it into America to do work. That's what you 
got to understand. A lot of people in Artesia, New Mexico, know what I'm 
talking about. There are people coming to do work Americans aren't 
doing. They're working in the dairy farms; they're working the crops; 
they're laying tile; they're putting roof on in August.
    And therefore, it seems like to me, if we want to protect this 
border, we ought to recognize they're coming and give them a temporary-
worker card. They can come if they pass a criminal background check, for 
a limited period of time, and after they do their time, they go back 
home.
    If you want to secure this border, you got to make it so people 
don't feel like they got to sneak across the border. The people these 
people catch are coming into this country to do jobs. We ought to 
recognize that and say, ``Here is a legal way for you to come on a 
temporary basis for jobs that Americans aren't doing. And when you 
finish your time, when your time is up with the temporary-worker card, 
you go back home.'' And one way to secure that border is to have people 
not trying to sneak across the border, is to give them a chance to come 
here legally on a temporary basis.
    You know, I was out in Yuma, and they were describing one of the 
techniques for people coming here to work. You got a couple of Border 
Patrol agents out on a part of the world--a part of the road there, and 
a hundred people rush them. A hundred people coming to do work rush 
right across the border, and you got three agents trying to stop them. 
And it's impossible. So the way to stop them is to do what we're doing 
out there: add Border Patrol agents, add new double-fencing in that part 
of the border. But it seems like to me, it's logical to say, ``You can 
come over; you don't need to rush the Border Patrol. Just come over here 
in a legal way, if you pass a background check, for a temporary period 
of time, and do work Americans aren't doing.'' That's called a 
temporary-worker plan. And, in my judgment, any comprehensive bill that 
will work requires a temporary-worker plan.
    We all agree we've got to resolve the status of millions of illegal 
immigrants who are here already. And this is the toughest part of the 
bill for the Congress. Now, I believe there's widespread agreement that 
we should not have an automatic path to citizenship, which is called 
amnesty. I'm against amnesty. I'm against amnesty because it's unfair to 
those people who are standing in line to become a citizen and who have 
been here lawfully. And I'm against amnesty because I think if you grant 
amnesty, it invites a further wave of illegal immigrants to try to come 
in this country. So whatever plan we do should not be viewed as amnesty.
    In other words, some say, ``Well, the way to solve this problem is 
to say, you're here; you're automatically a citizen.'' I disagree 
strongly with that. Now, there is a debate and honest disagreement who 
believe that immigration policy should force every illegal immigrant to 
return home for good. That's what some people in Washington think. And 
obviously, there are those at the other end who believe that every 
illegal

[[Page 1083]]

immigrant should be granted automatic citizenship. Neither of those 
plans are going to work. I just described why one wouldn't work. And 
trying to find 10 million people who have been here for a long period of 
time and rout them out of our society and send them home is just 
impractical. It may sound good; it's not going to work.
    Our job is to put something on paper that will work, so these Border 
Patrol agents can get their job done. Our job is to be practical and to 
use common sense. And so here's a commonsense middle ground between 
those two polarized positions. First of all, we've got to recognize that 
people who--the difference between people who have been here for a while 
and people here newly arrived. Those who have been here newly arrived 
ought to be given a temporary-worker card, and they work their time and 
go home.
    But we've got to recognize that there are people who have been here 
for years, and they've got a home and a clean record, and they've been 
paying taxes. And so I believe if they want to stay here, that they 
ought to pay a fine, first and foremost. They've broken our law, and 
they ought to pay a fine for breaking the law. Secondly, I believe 
they've got to pay taxes and make sure that they pay their taxes. 
Thirdly, I believe they ought to speak English. And fourthly, I believe 
they have to prove they've been working for a job for a number of years. 
In other words, there's a consequence. And then--and then--they can 
apply for citizenship, but they don't get at the head of the line; they 
get in the back of the line. You get behind the people who have been 
here legally.
    In other words, you've got somebody who has been here for a while; 
they've been a good citizen; they've been working hard; and they pay a 
penalty for being here illegally. But if they want to choose to be a 
citizen, they get behind those people who have been here legally and who 
haven't broken the law. And if Congress is worried about the number of 
people getting in, they can decrease the number of green cards. You can 
control the size of the line by the number of green cards you issue. If 
you want a longer line for people, issue fewer green cards. If you want 
to shorten the line, issue more green cards. But here is a rational way 
to make sure that we treat people with dignity without granting 
automatic citizenship, which is called amnesty.
    And finally, whatever our views on the issue, we've got to agree 
that we've got to uphold the great American tradition of the melting 
pot. You know, we are one Nation under God for a reason, and that is 
because we appreciate our history, and we share ideals, we respect the 
flag we fly, and we're bound together by a common language.
    I believe English is the key to unlocking opportunity in America. 
It's been what it takes to help somebody go from picking crops to owning 
a grocery store or from cleaning the floors of an office building to 
running that office. It's what we call assimilation, as part of 
assimilating to be Americans. When immigrants assimilate into this 
society, they realize their dreams. A lot of people have come here to 
this country over the decades with a dream, some of them just as simple 
as, ``I'd like to own my own house,'' or, ``I want to work hard so my 
child can go to college.''
    I'll never forget being the Governor of Texas and going to schools 
like UTEP, University of Texas at El Paso. One of the most amazing parts 
of that ceremony is when the president of the university stood up, and she said, ``How many of you are first-
generation graduates from college,'' and you see the students--a lot of 
them stood up. And you see their proud parents who've worked all their 
life to help a child go to college. There's something about America 
where people can work hard and realize dreams. That has, I think, made 
us a unique nation. And as we go through this debate, we've got to 
understand that people who have dreams and work hard

[[Page 1084]]

to achieve those dreams renews the spirit of the country, gives us a 
uniqueness and the capacity to say, we're all Americans.
    So here are the elements for a comprehensive immigration bill--and I 
believe strongly this: That if we don't address all the elements 
together, none of it is going to be solved at all. The reason I called 
for a comprehensive bill is because I understand that in order for these 
good folks to do their job, we've got to link all five aspects together. 
We've got to be realistic about what it takes to enforce the border. So 
I look forward to working with Congress on this important issue.
    I'll make you this pledge: My tone in this debate is going to be 
respectful. The language I use in this debate is going to remember the 
values and ideals of America. The language I use in this debate is to 
remember we're from different backgrounds, different religions, 
different cultures, but ultimately we're united under the great ideals 
of the United States of America. And I expect everybody else in this 
debate to carry that same tone as well.
    And so I want to thank you for giving me a chance to share my 
thoughts with you. I feel passionately about this issue. I feel like one 
reason the people send us to Washington, DC, is to solve difficult 
problems. That's what you send us to do. You didn't send us up there to 
kind of shove them aside and hope that they go away. This one is not 
going away. This one needs to be solved right now.
    And I also came to thank those who are getting ready to serve the 
Border Patrol for serving this great country of ours. You're an 
important part of securing America, and I want to thank you for your 
dedication to our country.
    I want to congratulate the new Commissioner for U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection, Ralph Basham. Ralph has a long and distinguished 
record of service in Federal law enforcement. He joined the Secret 
Service during the Presidency of Richard Nixon. Some of you all weren't 
even born during that period of time. [Laughter] He served as Special 
Agent in Charge of the Secret Service Offices in Cleveland and in 
Washington. He rose all the way to the position of Secret Service 
Director in 2003. I know he made it to that position because I put him 
there, and I put him there for a reason. He knows what he's doing. He 
can get the job done.
    Ralph served as Chief of Staff for the Transportation Security 
Administration and Director of Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. 
That's where he came to know the Border Patrol Agency--Academy. He's a 
decent man. I trust him deeply, and he's going to be a superb leader for 
Customs and Border Protection.
    And now it's my honor to witness his swearing-in.

Note: The President spoke at 10:45 a.m. at the Federal Law Enforcement 
Training Center. In his remarks, he referred to Charlie Whitmire, acting 
chief, Border Patrol Academy; Mayor Manuel Madrid of Artesia, NM; Gov. 
Rick Perry of Texas; Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California; and Gov. 
Janet A. Napolitano of Arizona.