Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005
BORDER PROTECTION, ANTITERRORISM, AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CONTROL ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - December 15, 2005)
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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of this bill and in particular the provisions of this bill that help secure our border and protect our homeland.
The bill we are considering today contains many key border security provisions from H.R. 4312, the Border Security and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2005, which was passed recently out of the Homeland Security Committee by a unanimous voice vote.
I would like to note that H.R. 4312 was the first major bill reported by the committee under the chairmanship of Mr. King, and we appreciate his leadership.
Mr. Chairman, we have nothing less than a crisis situation on our borders. This past August I led a congressional delegation to our southern border with Mexico, and we saw firsthand vast areas without fences and densely populated areas where illegal aliens find their way across our border.
And I would urge you, Mr. Chairman, and our colleagues to refer to these individuals as what they are. They are illegal aliens, not the benign, friendly, undocumented worker phrase. They are illegal aliens.
I was impressed during this visit with the dedication and level of our Border Patrol agents. However, they desperately need more resources.
We also need to make sure that they have more cameras; more vehicles; and in particular, more canine assets.
Section 108 of this bill that we are considering today in particular will strengthen border security by increasing the number of canine detection teams working with our Border Patrol agents. These detection dogs are instrumental in finding concealed humans, explosives, drugs, and bulk cash.
We also need to ensure new border surveillance equipment is functional and cost efficient.
Section 109 of this bill addresses these concerns. It requires that a DHS Inspector General conduct reviews of each contract action over $20 million relating to the new Secure Border Initiative.
With thousands of new Border Patrol agents being hired, we also need to ensure they are trained as cost effectively as possible. Therefore, section 110 of this bill would instruct the GAO to evaluate and review the cost of Border Patrol training.
H.R. 4437 includes many other strong border security provisions that will improve the safety and security of this great Nation.
I commend Chairman KING for his leadership on these issues, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
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