Duncan Hunter asks Bush administration to overrule state on fence

SignOnSanDiego ^ | March 1, 2004 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

[yonif]

SAN DIEGO – An influential Republican in Congress on Monday urged the Bush administration to proceed with a plan to fortify the westernmost stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border over the objections of a panel that regulates the California coastline.

Duncan Hunter, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, urged Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to immediately overrule the California Coastal commission's "reckless and dangerous ruling" denying the project and proceed with construction of the fence.

The California Coastal Commission last month denied the department's request to fill in canyons and erect fences and roads along the final 3½ miles of the border before it meets the Pacific Ocean. The commission found the harm the project would cause to sensitive habitats outweighed security benefits.

A representative of the Coastal Commission did not return a message seeking comment.

In a letter to Ridge and Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Hunter wrote that completing the $58 million fence project was needed to prevent terrorists from exploiting gaps in border security and attacking the nuclear aircraft carriers or submarines based in San Diego, the biggest Navy port on the West Coast.

"Ceding to the California Coastal Commission's obstructionist denial of this project impedes our nation's border enforcement efforts and puts our country at further risk," Hunter, R-El Cajon, wrote.

A message left with a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection in Washington, D.C. was not returned.

If the department ignores the commission's ruling, the Coastal Commission could sue the Bush administration in federal court and ask a federal judge to halt the fence.

The Coastal Commission was particularly concerned about the Border Patrol's plans to fill a deep, half-mile long canyon known as "Smuggler's Gulch," with 2.1 million cubic yards of dirt, enough to fill 300,000 dump trucks. The commission said filling the canyon would erode soil near a federally protected estuary that is a refuge for threatened and endangered birds.

Hunter noted that the Border Patrol has worked to minimize environmental damage and contended that the nine miles that have already been fenced have helped protect endangered species in the area by reducing foot traffic from illegal border crossers.

Were a federal judge to side with the Coastal Commission, the U.S. government holds the ultimate trump card: Under federal law governing coastal management, the president has the power to override an unfavorable court ruling.

[Amerigomag]

Build the damn thing on the Mexican side and forget about fencing with the loonies in California

[Guillermo]

Berlin Wall! Xenophobe!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Build the fench!

[NRA2BFree]

I know Duncan. He*s a good guy. I hope he can get some action out of the powers to be in DC. ANY organization that says "sensitive habitats outweighs security benefits" should be investigated for terrorist connections. :)

[BurbankKarl]

yes, I would agree. In return for investment in Baja Ca, they give us an eastment on 100 feet of land south...two build more fences and gunports and tank traps and spike strips...

[SunkenCiv]

The California Coastal Commission... found the harm the project would cause to sensitive habitats outweighed security benefits.

The CCC doesn't make decisions about national security, the federal government's executive branch does. If the CCC tries to block construction, arrest all the members of the body who voted to deny the building of the fence for interfering with federal authorities.

[kellynla]

"Build the fench?" We don't need a fench or a fence, Ernest. LOL It'll take just 6 thousand former and/or retired Marines along the border. And give me a month and 600 million dollars a year and I'll have the border sealed tighter than a drum. That'll put 2 former Marines, 24 hours a day in a Humvee every mile of the border. Saving the USA more than 4 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR! Point, Game, Set & Match!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Now that would make the Liberals spitting mad!

Fine with me though!

[kellynla]

liberals? nothing but an inconsequential annoyance...the American public has had a stomach full of liberals...We have the POUS, the Senate, the Congress and the Governorship of CA...all we need is some LEADERSHIP!

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[Chu Gary]

I just had a thought. What if they put up a barb wire fence and electrified it periodically and posted signs that it was an electric fence with a lethal dose. Doesn't need to be lethal, of course.

[Chu Gary]

"My friend Gene was a Marine, may he rest in peace. He taught me that there is no such thing as a "former" Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine."

[kellynla]

And your friend was correct. Once a Marine, always a Marine. When I refer to former Marines I am sure you know of whom I am referring to. Marines who not active in the Marine Corps. I don't feel I have to qualify every word and term I use in every post. And me being a Marine and a former active Marine needs not to have to explain myself. Good evening.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
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I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!