The Barrasso Report From The Border

Statement

Recently, I traveled to El Paso, Texas to get my own on the ground assessment of the challenges we are facing on our southern border. I was there for a Senate field hearing on the U.S. - Mexico border violence.

I saw an unsecure border. I traveled with the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition on the ground and the Texas National Guard from the air.

Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West and I headed south along Interstate-10 to look at the Rio Grande River levy footbridges. Hudspeth County alone has seven bridges. The footbridges are unchecked ports of entry or "Bridges to Anywhere You Want," no questions asked. No gate, no cameras, no border patrol. Easy access for drugs and illegal immigrants.

Lieutenant Colonel Drew Daugherty (a former Wyoming Air Guardsmen) arranged for me to fly a border mission with the Texas National Guard Counterdrug Task Force. We flew in the Texas Army Guard OH-58 Kiowa helicopters equipped with Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR). It was a counterdrug reconnaissance and interdiction mission.

FLIR is used to assist law enforcement on the ground. The mission started at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry and covered 100 miles of the border.

From the air, we could see a backed up line of northbound traffic into the U.S. The vehicles coming into our country were being thoroughly inspected. The southbound traffic into Mexico cruised right through the border uninspected.

As we moved east along the Rio Grande, we could see where the border fence was still under construction. In many areas the fence was clearly a deterrent to illegal border crossings and drug smuggling. There are still many holes in the fence.

The open spaces along our southern border provide easy access for the movement of drugs and humans to the north. The lack of border enforcement on the Mexican side allows for the movement of firearms and drug money back to the cartels.

During the Senate field hearing in El Paso, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) said that the U.S. must reinstate the semi-automatic weapons ban. I disagree. The violence along the U.S. - Mexico border is a serious security challenge that we must address. We must never surrender our Second Amendment rights for Mexico's border problem.

Some choose to always blame America first. They are wrong. We need a short-term, mid-term and long-term plan for the U.S. - Mexico border.

In the short-term, we need to increase the numbers and coordination of our federal, state and local boots on the ground.

In the mid-term, provide the Mexican military with the equipment and training to deter and eventually defeat the cartels.

The long-term solution involves reforming the Mexican judicial system and curbing the United States' appetite for illegal drugs.

It will take trust, resources and leadership to defeat the cartels. Under Mexico President Calderon's leadership, his government has not looked the other way. He has bravely taken the cartels head-on.

There are safety and security issues surrounding the drug war in Mexico and along our border. Economic implications of this fight are also significant. Our strategic and economic partnership with Mexico is important.

As a nation, we must realize what is at stake. Our borders represent everything we stand for as Americans. We must protect those borders which hold our values.

U.S. Senator John Barrasso

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