Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010

Press Release

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask the Senator--and we now have both distinguished Senators from Arizona on the Senate floor--is he aware of a new poll that came out today--CNN, I believe--that said nearly 9 out of every 10 Americans in this poll support putting more Border Patrol and Federal law enforcement agents on the border because of border security?

This isn't just something we thought was a good idea. It looks as though the American people recognize not only the incipient violence in Mexico and the spillover effect here but our inability to protect ourselves from the organized criminal activity of smuggling drugs, weapons, and people. Is that the Senator's experience, that this is the sort of thing that has broad public acceptance?

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Mr. CORNYN. The Senator is absolutely right. Where there is a combination or layered approach to dealing with illegal immigration, there have been great successes, including an effort to use prosecution of people for crossing and incarcerating them for a short period of time, which acts as a further deterrent.

The Senator raises another important point. While I certainly support his effort to try to get sufficient National Guard on the border, 1,200 won't cut it, not with a 2,000-mile border. We need more boots on the ground. We need to also make sure we support our local and State law enforcement people who are standing in the gap in the short term. That is why I appreciate the Senators' support on the other amendment we hope to vote on. We need the Southwest border task force to deal with these high-intensity drug trafficking programs. We also need to make sure we use the latest technology.

The distinguished Senator is the ranking member on the Armed Services Committee. He is well aware of the use of the military unmanned aerial vehicles and, I believe--and I think he would agree with me--they could be used as a good effect, as a multiplier effect for the Border Patrol and National Guard there, something that could be used for training purposes for the National Guard, who have had experience using those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Finally, we need not only Border Patrol and National Guard, we need Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. These are the people who actually catch the guns that are bought in bulk through straw purchasers and brought across the border that are used by the cartels. All of these Federal agencies--from ICE, CBP, DEA, ATF--all of them represent additional boots on the ground that could be used to help secure our border.

I appreciate the support both Arizona Senators have given, as well as Senator Hutchison, who is a cosponsor. But we need a permanent solution, not a temporary Band-Aid which I believe the President's proposal represents.

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, if I may react briefly to the comments of the two Senators from Arizona, whether their concern translates into something like this: that the people who suffer the most from the current illegality and broken immigration system are, for example, a young woman who is a victim of domestic violence who has nowhere to report that crime because she is afraid of being deported, or the worker who earns money believing they have earned their pay but only to be jilted and not paid because the employer realizes they have nowhere else to turn or, as Senator McCain mentioned, the coyotes, as they are known, the human smugglers who care nothing for these individuals as human beings but they are a commodity they trade in, just like drugs, weapons, and people.

This is a very real problem. It is true that most of it is not reported in the newspaper because people are afraid of being exposed because of what the consequences might be. But because we live in border States, because we interact with our constituents and see the consequences of the spillover effect of this kind of violence and lawlessness, that is why we feel so strongly that these amendments need a vote, as the Senator said earlier.

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