Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted today against a bill to build a fence along 700 miles of our southern border.  The U.S./Mexico Border Fence Bill (H.R. 6061) passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 283 to 138.
Larsen released the following statement on his vote:

“Let me be clear.  The United States must have secure borders.  As a representative of a congressional district along a U.S. border, I have taken vote after vote to strengthen our border security.”

“Building a 700 mile wall is not the answer to securing our borders.  Strong border security starts with well-trained professional border personnel and assets.  Congress must put additional resources into man-power, technologies and equipment to aggressively enforce our immigration laws.”

“Professional law enforcement, not elected officials, should decide where the U.S. should place barriers along our southern border.  Congress should focus federal resources on successful technologies such as ground based sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles and cameras that will help stop illegal immigration.”

Larsen, a member of the Northern Border Caucus, has worked to double the number of border personnel along the northern border in Washington state’s 2nd Congressional District.  He helped to secure two new Coast Guard cutters to contribute to interdiction on the water, and helped stand up a new Custom and Border Protection agency air operations branch to assist with interdiction and surveillance from the air. 

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