Bricks and Mortar Will Not Secure Our Borders
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security issued the following statement regarding today’s joint hearing with the Committee on Government Reform on “Fencing the Border: Construction Options and Strategic Placement”:
“It saddens me that border security – which is a critical part of our greater homeland security agenda – has been so easily turned into a political action item. Last December, faulty border security legislation passed on the House floor, despite our many requests over the past several years for more border security hearings and field visits to critical sites. Now, seven months later we are being told we need hearings and field visits to evaluate the border?
“For the past 6 years President Bush and this Congress have ignored the vulnerabilities of our nation’s borders, it is disappointing that now, as we move closer to the election it is suddenly a “priority” for them. It shouldn’t take cameras and thoughts of ballots to secure our porous borders against terrorists.
“There is an old Hebrew proverb that says “Make not a fence more expensive or more important than the thing that is fenced.” I urge us all to take that proverb to heart – because the focus on this physical bricks and mortar fence has caused us to lose sight of the true security threats and solutions for the border.
“Building a fence along most or all of our 2,000 mile southern border brings a staggering price tag. The army corps of engineers has estimated that it will cost on average some $70 billion to build and maintain a fence on our southern border. To put it in perspective, it’s twice as much as the amount this committee authorized just yesterday for the entire Department of Homeland Security’s FY 2007 budget.
“Fences don’t deter people from crossing over the border. They go over them, through them, and – as we increasingly have seen – under them. Fencing in certain areas may be an important deterrent. But, quite honestly, securing our border requires looking beyond a fence. It requires us to more innovatively use our resources in a targeted manner. What we need is a 21rst century solution to border security. We need a virtual fence that leverages such technology as cameras and sensors. And we absolutely must ensure that sufficient boots are on the ground; detention beds are available; training facilities are expanded and border intelligence efforts are coordinated.”
