Let me review it for you. In December of 2004, the Congress passed the 911 Security Bill which, against the objections of the President who also opposed the RealID Act provisions, included authorization for 10,000 new Border Patrol Agents to be added in increments of 2000 per year starting in 2006. After initially fighting these provisions Bush eventually saw that they could not be defeated and eventually praised them after he got the RealID Act stripped out. That also had to be shoved down his unwilling throat a couple of months later.
But, less than 2 months later he submitted a proposed budget requesting only 210.
This really pissed off the Congress and they passed a budget which restored the number back to 2000.
In about May of 2005, as part of the Iraq War Supplemental Funding Bill, again against the objections of the President, Robert Byrd got funding for about 700 of the 1700 Border Patrol Agents you are citing as a Bush accomplishment. Byrd's Amendment passed with unanimous support from every single Democrat Senator and a few Republican conservatives.
In October of 2005, funding for the remaining 1000 of the 1700 Border Patrol Agents was passed. This was 300 short of the 2000 authorized and budgeted by Congress a few months earlier but 1500 greater than the number requested by the Whitehouse which spent much of the summer whining about how it did not have the capacity to train that many agents.
I believe I have a reasonable understanding of the appropriations process in theory and an excellent understanding of how it worked with respect to expanding the Border Patrol last year. You on the other hand are trying to give the President credit for an accomplishment that he obstructed every step of the way. It is as ridiculous as giving President Clinton credit for welfare reform after he vetoed it three times.
Thank you for posting that accurate outline. Yes, any legislation to correct the problem has been fought by the WH. That's probably why no one is hearing about this bill.
There is ONE repub in the Senate who has introduced a very good bill and NO ONE is paying attention. It's worth the read and worth getting some news out about it. Go here and type in the bill # S. 2117.http://thomas.loc.gov
And ask your senators why they haven't co sponsored this bill.
By Mr. INHOFE:
S . 2117 . A bill to clarify the circumstances under which a person born in the United States is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to provide for criminal penalties for forging Federal documents, to establish a National Border Neighborhood Watch Program, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
[snip]--- Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, yesterday I introduced S . 2117 , which is a bill engaging our Nation to fight concerning our right to control entry. It is legislation that covers many aspects of the problem we are having on our very porous borders. One part of this is utilizing retired law enforcement officers. As many people know, national law enforcement officers have to retire at age 57. We learned of their availability after 9/11 when the Transportation Safety Administration and our office was inundated with calls from these brave law enforcement officers who are retired, saying that they wanted to participate in this activity, and they are willing to do it for costs. The legislation I have introduced does include the very sophisticated type of a fence that goes along the border between Mexico and the United States and also with an army of people who can join those who have already demonstrated very clearly that if we have enough people down there, we will be able to secure our borders.
HR 418 -- A National ID Bill Masquerading As Immigration Reform by Rep. Ron Paul
Maybe this is why he wants the line item veto?
And it looks like the Senate was waffling as well:
July 15, 2005 - The Senate backed away from its 2004 pledge to hire 2,000 more Border Patrol agents and fund 8,000 new detention beds for illegal aliens in fiscal 2006. The intelligence overhaul bill passed by Congress and signed into law in last December called for 2,000 new agents and 8,000 new detention beds each year for the next five years in order to meet the threat posed by illegal aliens. But in mid-July, the Senate voted on amendments to the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, providing funds for only 1,000 more agents and 2,240 more detention beds in fiscal 2006.
And you must also remember that the President's budget is a proposal, not a mandate, and Congress has the ultimate authority for funding. IOW, you may not have liked what he proposed to fund or not fund, but that does not absolve Congress of their ultimate responsibility on the issue of funding new border agents.