Letter to Honorable Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense

Letter

The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

The Honorable Robert Gates

Secretary of Defense

The Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301-1000

Dear Secretary Napolitano and Secretary Gates,

As Senators from border states, we write today to ask your agencies to further cooperate in combating the increased rate of drug smuggling across our northern border by deploying any and all available military radar technology to uncover and combat the smuggling of drugs by low-flying aircraft.

According to a recent report by Hearst Newspapers, incidents of drug smuggling along our northern border are increasing, and current efforts to combat smugglers are simply inadequate to address this growing problem. Specifically, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in November 2010 that "cross-border use of low-flying aircraft to smuggle drugs has been much higher than indicated by the number of drug seizures."

Fortunately, a proven solution exists and can immediately be deployed along the northern border to combat drug smuggling from low-flying aircraft. In previous years, DHS and DOD have cooperated--as part of Operation Outlook--to use sophisticated military radar technology along the Spokane sector of our northern border to catch low-flying aircraft that would otherwise not have been caught with the current technology used by DHS. According to the Border Patrol, Operation Outlook "successfully identified air-related smuggling trends and patterns and organizations active in cross border criminal activities" along the Spokane sector.

Operation Outlook, however, was only a temporary program deployed in just one sector of our northern border. Given what is at stake in combating illegal cross-border activity, and given its past success, I write to ask your agencies to coordinate in determining whether there is any unused radar technology that can be deployed along our northern border to combat drug smuggling--as was successfully done during Operation Outlook.

Additionally, we ask that you work with the Office of National Drug Control Policy to include these radar technologies in their comprehensive plan to combat narcotics smuggling along the northern border. The recently passed Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act requires ONDCP to develop such a plan.

If there is any assistance you need from Congress in this regard, we stand ready to help with any legislation necessary to further this objective. We thank you for your attention to this important matter, and look forward to working with you to assist you in your mission of protecting America.

Sincerely,

Sen. Herb Kohl
Sen. Sherrod Brown
Sen. Bob Casey
Sen. Jon Tester
Sen. Charles Schumer
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

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