Posted on 10/10/2008 2:09:23 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
WASHINGTON — Texas congressmen, citing skyrocketing costs to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, said Thursday they would push the next presidential administration for more cost-effective measures to control drug smuggling and illegal immigration.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, made the comments after a Rio Grande flyover to view efforts on the ground by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“Let's regroup and provide border security in a smart way and not just waste the taxpayers' dollars,” Cuellar said.
McCaul called for more state and local funding to bolster law enforcement efforts, saying, “What spills across our border is a problem for every community in Texas.”
A report released by the Government Accountability Office just before Congress adjourned in September said the cost of building pedestrian fencing has shot up to $7 million per mile from estimates of $4 million per mile in February.
Ralph Basham, the CBP commissioner, has said the cost overruns are the result of rising prices for steel, materials and fuel.
Cuellar said the increased cost should prompt a serious review by the next Congress and the incoming administration.
Local officials agree.
Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, chairman of the Texas Border Coalition, said he wants comprehensive immigration reform, not just fencing, to stop unauthorized immigrants.
“We look forward to working with the new administration, whoever it may be, to provide real solutions that will finish the job of securing our borders and reforming a broken immigration system,” Foster said.
A goal to build 670 miles of fence this year under the Secure Border Initiative, undertaken by the Department Homeland Security, cannot be met, officials concede.
Lawsuits have contributed to the delays, particularly in Texas, where cities and citizens along the U.S. side of the border object to the fence construction, according to the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress.
Of the 122 border landowners who have refused to sell their U.S. property to the government for fence construction, 97 are located in the Rio Grande Valley, a GAO report said.
In addition, 20 of the Rio Grande Valley landowners are defendants in lawsuits filed by the federal government, on advice of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, for condemnation or taking of property, according to the GAO.
Richard Stana, GAO director for homeland security issues, said in the report, “Costs are increasing, the life-cycle cost is not yet known, and land acquisition issues pose challenges to DHS in meeting the goal it set.”
Of the 670 miles of border fencing planned, 109.5 miles are located in Texas. A short stretch of fence near El Paso is completed, and other sections are under construction in Hudspeth County and Eagle Pass.
To date, fencing costs in Texas have reached $575.6 million, said DHS spokeswoman Angela de Rocha.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso; Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio; Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes; and Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, have also urged a complete review of fence construction.
As I was saying, the people to blame for the present economic catastrophe includes ALL the open boarders crowd. Virtually every individual named in this article should be severely punished for bringin in millions of people to do sub-minimum wage work. The result has been a severe housing surplus that damages the value of all property ~ apparantly worldwide!
$100’s of millions for a fence or 10’s of billions in fraud. Tough choices, we all have to make tough choices.
General Westmoreland’s proposal to secure the Ho Chi Minh Trail would be a good way to secure the border.
The drug lords are offering Perry and the Texas legislature more money to disregard the state citizens.
Goodhair has always been for sale.
They’re wrong on several accounts:
1) Who cares what the Reps want. They should be concerned with what the PEOPLE want!
2) A fence is still cheaper than paying for their babies’ delivery, medical, food, school, etc.
3) And please, don’t insult us any longer with your concerned effort to maximize our money.
No problem. Use air-dispensed mines and set up sentry guns on towers every couple of miles. Send someone out to reload the sentry guns every so often. Problem solved.
I should think that the construction of a border fence is a direct contribution to the national defense of this country, which is one of the original duties the government is actually is charged with in the Constitution...unlike much of the other BS these guys spend our money on.
Niiice one. They lay in wait to sabotage the border fence and exploit this current crisis to try to get the construction shot down.
“Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish”
Want to have a more effective response? Use the US military to stop these Mexican military incursions into the US. They are guarding drug smugglers on US territory.
5.45X39 seems to be fairly effective ...
We these two Representatives have nothing to worry about, either Obama or McCain will certainly stop the building of the wall...don’t worry about that. In fact, both will bring in as many illegals as possible to the United States. The only sad thing for Obama and McCain (especially McCain) is that the Mexicans may not want to come to America now. The economy is worse than Mexico’s. lol.
So....what your saying is you have been wasting our money in a dumb way?
FRIGGIN LOSERS!!!
I prefer storing nuclear waste on the border.
Is there any reason why we cannot have a fence bailout ? They have added more agents for decades and still decades later they continue glossing over the more agents,more agents and thousands of illegals continue to enter daily. Drug smugglers cannot drive a load through a barrier. They protest the fence because it works
Lots of guns and a "shoot to kill" order would do the trick. Also be a strong message. Number of kilings would tail off in a big hurry.
Are these idiots just pushing to see how far Americans can be pushed?
A fence for drug smugglers and prison for the scumbags who hire illegals.
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