Duckworth Criticizes Likely Bush Proposal to Deploy Guard to Border

Duckworth criticizes likely Bush proposal to deploy Guard to border

Says "stop-gap" measure a poor substitute for beefed up Border Patrol

Tammy Duckworth, a Major in the Illinois National Guard and candidate for Congress in Illinois' 6th District, today criticized anticipated plans to deploy National Guard troops to patrol the U.S.-Mexican border, calling it "an ill-conceived proposal designed to paper over this Administration's six-year failure to beef up the U.S. Border Patrol."

President Bush is expected to call for the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops to the border when he addresses the nation Monday night.

Duckworth, a 14-year member of the National Guard who served in Iraq, said that "at a time when the National Guard is already stretched thin by the Administration's ill-planned war in Iraq, assigning Guard members to take on the additional—and unprecedented-- task of border security will create more problems than it solves."

Among the issues, Duckworth said, is how states—who rely on Guard units to provide on-the-ground assistance in everything from flood control to forest fires—will deal with the massive strains that border deployment will mean at the local level. She noted that many border states rely on their National Guard to fight forest fires. With the fire season just beginning and with many Guard unit's vital equipment—such as Humvees and generators-- still located in Iraq, it is unlikely that they will be able to protect people's homes and businesses from floods, fires or tornados if they are on border patrol performing police duties.

Duckworth also referred to testimony given by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in October 2005 which raised concerns about whether Guard forces could continue to perform their current duties, considering the extent to which units were already activated at home and abroad. (the GAO's testimony, given to the House Reform and Oversight Committee, can be read at: http://www.gao.gov/htext/d06170t.html .)

"I would expect an Administration that has asked the Guard to do so much would at least recognize the basics of the Guard's role, the type of training they have received, and the increasingly depleted level of assets that make them literally ill-equipped to take on this assignment," she said.

Duckworth suggested that a better alternative to further depleting the National Guard would be to beef up the U.S. Border Patrol, noting that Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) has legislation pending that would double the number of border agents from the current 12,000 to 24,000. She also noted that the report of the 9/11 Commission called for adding 2,000 new Border Patrol agents a year, along with additional detention facilities for those caught illegally crossing the border.

Duckworth also called for expanding the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to alert U.S. border guards of illegal crossings 24 hours a day. She said that UAVs had performed extremely well in locating and tracking Guardsmen under her command in Iraq.

Duckworth pointed out that the job of border control is inconsistent with the training that most Guard members receive.

"I know firsthand that Guard members are among the best trained and most talented personnel in the U.S. military—but only a small number have received the type of training needed for this new assignment," Duckworth said.

"What this Administration apparently fails to understand is that our Guard units have highly specialized skills that allow them to play the valuable roles they carry out at home and abroad," she said, adding that the units in certain states are assigned primarily to provide armor or air defense support, or to serve as field artillery units.

"I doubt that tanks, anti-aircraft missiles or field artillery pieces would be of much use on the Mexican border," she said.

Duckworth was deployed to Iraq with her Illinois National Guard unit. In November of 2004, the Black Hawk helicopter that she was flying was shot down by insurgents using a rocket-propelled grenade. Despite her injuries, she remains an active member of the Army National Guard.

http://www.duckworthforcongress.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=15