HUTCHISON Amendment (#218) would fund 2,000 border agents.

Thomas ^ | 3-17-05 | Senator HUTCHISON

[OXENinFLA]

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The amendment is as follows: (Purpose: To fully fund the level of Border Patrol Agents authorized by National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 and as recommended by the 9/11 Commission)

On page 23, line 16, increase the amount by $352,400,000.

On page 23, line 17, increase the amount by $317,000,000.

On page 23, line 21, increase the amount by $35,400,000.

On page 9, line 15, decrease the amount by $352,400,000.

On page 9, line 16, decrease the amount by $317,000,000.

On page 9, line 20, decrease the amount by $35,400,000.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, this is an amendment cosponsored by myself and Senator Ensign. Senator Ensign has done so much work in this area on the intelligence reform bill, assuring there would be 2,000 authorized Border Patrol agents. We also have as cosponsors Senators Domenici, Cornyn, McCain, Kyl, and Feinstein. Mr. President, I would like to be notified at the end of 10 minutes, after which I will yield the rest of the time to the Senator from Nevada.

Earlier this month, FBI Director Mueller told Congress that people from countries with ties to al-Qaida are crossing into the United States through our porous border with Mexico.

Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security James Loy recently said that intelligence reports suggest al-Qaida is considering using the Southwest border to infiltrate into the United States, either with falsified documents or by crossing the border in other illegal ways.

We have today 11,000 Border Patrol agents for the borders between Mexico, the United States, and Canada, as well as in the Border Patrol centers that are throughout our country. It is clearly not enough.

Mr. President, 97 percent of illegal intruders are filtering through the Southwest border. But they do not stay in the South. They go throughout our country.

The Border Patrol does an amazing job. We applaud their work. But we need to give them more help. Recent stories and intelligence reports show that terrorists are planning to use our border, and it should be a wakeup call.

Since 2001, 1,300 agents have been added to the force. But we have 6,900 miles of border with Canada and Mexico. My State of Texas alone has over 1,200 miles of border with Mexico. In most places there are no fences. In Texas, the Rio Grande River can sometimes be waded across or is completely dry.

We are seeing an increase of 137 percent in immigrants who are from countries other than Mexico. These immigrants, which are called OTMs, ``other than Mexicans,'' are coming into our country in the largest numbers we have ever seen. But due to a lack of resources, they are often caught and released, or they are not caught at all.

Recognizing our serious border vulnerability, Congress passed the intelligence reform bill last year and authorized an increase of 10,000 Border Patrol agents over 5 years. It included provisions to add 8,000 detention beds and 800 additional interior investigators. Unfortunately, the budget before us only allocated enough to cover 210 agents, 143 investigators, and 1,920 beds for detention.

The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently said:

We do not have enough agents; we don't have enough technology to give us the security we need.

Let me give you some examples of recent happenings.

In Detroit, Mahmoud Youssef Kourani was indicted in the Eastern District of Michigan on one count of conspiracy to provide material support to Hezbollah. Kourani was already in custody for entering the country illegally through Mexico and was involved in fundraising activities on behalf of Hezbollah.

The two groups of Arab males were discovered by patrol guards from Willcox, AZ. One field agent said:

These guys didn't speak Spanish, and they were speaking to each other in Arabic. It's ridiculous that we don't take this more seriously. We're told not to say a thing to the media.

This is a field agent for the Border Patrol.

Last July, in Burlington, VT, police raided an international syndicate that forced Asian women to work as sex slaves. The women told investigators they had been smuggled from Asia to Mexico, entering the United States through Arizona, Texas, and other States. They ended up in Vermont.

Take the example of the capture of terrorist suspect Jose Padilla. The Justice Department says Padilla and an accomplice planned to enter the United States through Mexico to blow up apartment buildings in major cities such as New York.

Or the case of suspected al-Qaida sleeper agent Mohammed Junaid Babar, who told investigators of a scheme to smuggle terrorists across the Mexican border. He is tied to a terror plot to carry out bombings and assassinations in London.

Further stories indicate there are real concerns about terrorists entering our country through the southern border.

Along the Mexican border there have been stories of suspicious items picked up by local residents, including Muslim prayer rugs and notebooks written in both Arabic and Spanish. These items came from OTMs and a subcategory called special interest aliens, who are illegals coming from terrorist-sponsoring countries.

Intelligence reports suggesting that 25 Chechen terrorism suspects have illegally entered the United States from Mexico have refocused attention on a porous border from which many believe the next major attack on Americans could come.

Patrol agents told one Arizona newspaper that 77 males ``of Middle Eastern descent'' were apprehended in June of last year in 2 separate incidents. All were trekking through the mountains and are believed to have been part of a larger group of illegal immigrants. Many were released pending immigration hearings.

Also last July, an Egyptian man United States authorities described as one of their most wanted smugglers of humans was arrested on charges of operating a ring that illegally brought people from Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries to the United States. The indictment says Abdallah and his associates would direct people seeking to reach the

United States to travel to one of several Latin American countries, and from there to Guatemala. They would then be transported to America through Mexico in return for payments of thousands of dollars in smuggling fees.

The amendment we are offering tonight will add $315 million to the President's request for the Border Patrol. This will provide for the training and equipping of 2,000 agents. This would be the full amount authorized and will have a dramatic impact on the security-related problems we have on the border.

In order to maintain a fiscally responsible bill, and not increase the top cap of discretionary spending, we are offsetting this increase with an equal reduction in the international affairs section of the budget because protecting our borders from foreign threats is an international affair.

Today, with my colleagues Senators Ensign, Domenici, Cornyn, McCain, Kyl, and Feinstein, I am calling on Congress to do more than add 210 Border Patrol agents that are in the underlying budget. We are asking for the full contingent authorized of 2,000. This is still not enough. And I hope we will be able to come back next year and get up to the full 2,000 again.

But the warning flag has gone up. We must heed the warnings we have been given. Every incident I mentioned is a call to the United States to make sure that our borders with Mexico are secure. We need more Border Patrol agents and more detention facilities to make our borders secure.

The people of our country deserve this security, and our amendment will take one step in the right direction. I hope my colleagues will work with me to pass this in the budget and then later in the Appropriations bill. We must do everything to heed the warning call we have gotten.

Mr. President, I yield the rest of our time to the Senator from Nevada, who has also worked very hard on this amendment. I appreciate very much his cosponsoring this amendment with me today.

[DoughtyOne]

Seal and militarize the borders	45.9%		1,779
Beef up and enforce existing law	37.9%		1,469
Some form of guest worker program	10.7%		414
Other	3.4%		130
Undecided/Pass	2.2%		87
	100.1%		3,879
Non-Member Opinion
Seal and militarize the borders	56.4%		1,053
Beef up and enforce existing law	30.5%		569
Some form of guest worker program	9.8%		183
Other	2.1%		39
Undecided/Pass	1.2%		23
	100.0%		1,867

[ More Opinion Polls · Return to Forum ]

So much for the outlandish claim that 70% of forum participants think some form of guest worker program is the best way to fix illegal immigration.

For the record, a little over 10% think that and don't have the aptitude to comprehend the truth.

[DoughtyOne]

BTW: The question was: Which of the following is the best way to solve the illegal immigration problem? Pretty confusing hugh. Can you believe how obtuse some people are?

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/poll?poll=79

[Happy2BMe]

#101

Thanks for posting that. For some unknown reason when I post a bonifide poll off of this very same forum it mysteriously becomes my poll.

(I had captured that one also, and was wondering if someone else might offer it up for digestion.)

These numbers are very reflective of the national consensus as well. There does seem to be a fair amount of disclaiming occurring on the part of those who want to open the border for the 'guest workers'.

Fierce advocates of constructing a protection scheme for the millions of 'guest workers' are highly motivated as they have the most to lose from immigration laws being enforced - especially enforcement against employers who are propagating the flood of illegal migrants through their continued breaking of the law by continuing to hire them.

It is a vicious cycle that seemingly is fast coming to a head and will most assuredly lay the foundation for the 2006 and 2008 political landscape in this country.

Thanks again.

[DoughtyOne]

I just get damned tired of people lying their a--es off. Disruption is disruption is disrption, whether it's DU or FR. This place deserves better than that.

[Happy2BMe]

Hang in there - the waves haven't hit the boat yet.

Dubya is looking out of the wagon and the indians are beginning to circle - REPUBLICAN INDIANS.

[DoughtyOne]

I saw some of the comments on this thread from work. I couldn't wait to get home to post that poll.

You take care.

[Marine Inspector]

Yes, the BP is in Iraq and not because of Reserve duty. They are there as BP Agents sent by DHS.

[FBD]

bump^

[Fatalis]

Almost SEVENTY PERCENT of the MEMBERS of this forum approve of SOME KIND of worker's program.

Which kind did you vote for?

[Happy2BMe]

I won't discuss that here - period.

[Dane]

I won't discuss that here - period

Just for full disclosure it was FBD who brought up the issue.

[PRND21]

Dubya is looking out of the wagon and the indians are beginning to circle - REPUBLICAN INDIANS

More BP agents gets this gem out of you? Sheeesh. You're a low buck todd.

[JustAnAmerican]

How convenient of you to forget the poll that came after that one, you know, the one that Jim posted to narrow it down.

Free Republic Opinion Poll: Which of the following is the best way to solve the illegal immigration problem?

Composite Opinion
Seal and militarize the borders	49.3%		2,834
Beef up and enforce existing law	35.5%		2,039
Some form of guest worker program	10.4%		598
Other	2.9%		169
Undecided/Pass	1.9%		110
	100.0%		5,750
Member Opinion
Seal and militarize the borders	45.9%		1,781
Beef up and enforce existing law	37.9%		1,470
Some form of guest worker program	10.7%		414
Other	3.3%		130
Undecided/Pass	2.2%		87
	100.0%		3,882
Non-Member Opinion
Seal and militarize the borders	56.4%		1,053
Beef up and enforce existing law	30.5%		569
Some form of guest worker program	9.9%		184
Other	2.1%		39
Undecided/Pass	1.2%		23
	100.1%		1,868

[ More Opinion Polls · Return to Forum ]

Talk about not being honest with polls. You might want to try following your own advice.

[Howlin]

Which kind did you vote for?

I voted in the first poll, with the other 70 percent.

In the second poll, I voted for beefing up existing laws because I'm against sealing the borders; apparently so are over 50 percent of the people on this forum.

If it's any of your business.

[Fatalis]

I also voted to beef up existing law in that poll. I can't find the poll you're referencing that says that 70% support some kind of guest worker program.

[Fatalis]

Hmmm ... did they go because they are in the reserves/military or because they are a border agent??

I'm guessing it was the reserves/military

Not according to this CBP press release:

Washington, D.C. – This week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) deployed another team of CBP officers and Border Patrol agents to Iraq and the surrounding region in an effort to help secure Iraq’s borders. The CBP team, deployed prior to the Iraqi national elections, will support current border security efforts. The support and additional training of Iraqi border police will continue beyond the elections. The focus is to keep saboteurs, terrorists and armaments from crossing into or out of Iraq.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents are fighting the war on terror, and we’ve taken it to the borders of Iraq. Our people are on a vital mission to train Iraqis to protect their own borders and build Iraqi institutions that will safeguard the new freedoms and democratic principles being established there. There is no more important mission,” said Commissioner Bonner.

This latest effort by CBP is an enhancement to the already ongoing commitment to develop and help institutionalize Iraq’s border security strategy. The CBP team began training Iraqis at the Jordanian International Police Training Center (JIPTC) in Amman, Jordan in August 2004. Since that time, over 2100 Iraqi border control officers have been trained. The training began with basic classroom instruction and progressed to field exercises. The courses taught include border security tactics, human rights, defensive tactics training, weapons training, vehicle searches, as well as basic customs and immigration activities. The Iraqi officials CBP trained are now putting these skills to use at their country’s ports of entry.

[Fatalis]

I have yet to see anyone here support "open borders" or allowing illegals to come into the U.S. but it doesn't stop some from accusing others of just that because they oppose violent solutions.

I think the "open borders" business is overdone, but I think you've also mischaracterized things here to imply that those who use the phrase support violent solutions. In my observation the phrase is most often applied to those who support some sort of legalization of illegal aliens, by those who oppose legalization.