A Call to Action--Border Security

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Let me thank my colleague from Arizona for her great
leadership. I think this House is well served to have the first female
pilot who has served in combat.

We thank you for your service, and I can probably tell a few more
stories of bravery about you. I am very fortunate to have you on this
committee.

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue of grave importance to the Nation. As
chairman of Homeland Security, when I go home, it is the number one
issue, and the number one question I get back home is: Mr. Chairman,
when are you going to secure that border?

I believe we have an opportunity in this Congress to finally get this
thing done and to get it done in the right way and the smart way.
People say: Why is it so important? In 10 years in the Congress and as
a Federal prosecutor prior to that in dealing with this issue, I have
seen the scourge of drug cartels, of human trafficking, the poisoning
of our kids with drugs, and the potential threat of a terrorist attack
in the United States. I don't want that on this Congress' head. We do
have an opportunity to act. We have a bill that was passed out of
committee, and I think it does several things.

One, it finally directs and tells the Department of Homeland Security
how to get this mission done sector by sector. As the gentlewoman
knows, Arizona is very different from San Diego and is very different
from Texas, which is where we saw 60,000 children crossing last summer.
We know that a surge is probably on its way again if we don't
act in this Congress soon. We also know, with the spread of ISIS
overseas, that the threat is real.

With the event of the Jordanian's being lit on fire yesterday, it is
a wake-up call that we need to act and that we need to act soon in the
Congress to protect the American people. This is more than Homeland
Security--it is national security. It is really not an immigration
issue. This bill is about securing the border in a smart way.

When I was in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I met with General Allen.
They didn't really have much of a fence, but I said: ``What is your
border security with the Pak border?'' They pointed to aerostats in the
sky that could see for hundreds of miles that we saw on our recent trip
down there. With the value of 100 percent visibility to see what is
coming in and how to stop it, you can measure success, first of all,
but you can respond to the threats in realtime.

In addition, the VADER technology, the radar on the Predator UAVs, is
of tremendous value for a smart border. A lot of these assets were
actually used in Afghanistan. We have already paid for these assets,
and we want to redeploy those to the southwest border.

We also fully fund the National Guard, which to our Governors--
particularly my Governor in the great State of Texas--is of vital
interest and concern. We allow access to Federal lands for CBP, which,
in the past, they have been denied; and we have a U.S. exit system set
up--which the 9/11 Commission recommended, and to this day Congress has failed to act on that--to determine who is staying with visas legally
and who is overstaying those visas like we saw with the hijackers on 9/
11.

At the end of the day, this is an important issue that has to get
done. It is no longer time for lipservice; it is time for action on
what I consider to be one of the most important Homeland Security
issues facing this Nation.

I just want to thank the gentlelady for holding this Special Order. I
know we have members of the committee here who have great expertise,
both Federal prosecutors, CIA, and other experiences to bring this
issue to life. I hope we can do more of this in the future.

The American people know this is an important issue. The problem is
the Members of Congress have been tone deaf on this and have not gotten
the job done. I would argue to my colleagues who are listening to this
and to the American people that now is the time to finally get the job
done.

Ms. McSALLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate your
leadership on this issue. I also want to thank you for coming to
southern Arizona to my district to see firsthand what our border
residents and ranchers are dealing with on a daily basis. I look
forward to working with you on the committee to get this bill across
the finish line and getting the strategy and the resources to those in
the Border Patrol so that they can actually address the threat.

Mr. McCAUL. If the gentlelady would just yield on this point, too,
this is a bill not built from bureaucrats in Washington, down. This is
a bill designed by talking to Border Patrol agents, to the border
sheriffs who support this bill, to the ranchers. What a great
presentation we received from John Ladd and his father, Jack, in
Arizona.

I will never forget, when you had the press conference, John Ladd was
saying: You know, for the first time, I have real hope.

They said: Well, Members have come down here before.

He said: Not this many and not of this caliber of leadership, and for
the first time I have hope.

I don't want to let those ranchers down. I want to get this job done
for the ranchers, the border sheriffs, and the agents who spend day in
and day out in very tough conditions.

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