Rep. Duncan Hunter, a top proponent of the U.S.-Mexico border fence, today introduced a bill that would return the fence to a two-tiered structure running along 700 miles of the border, as it was originally envisioned in the 2006 Secure Fence Act.
Last year Congress included in its massive year-end spending bill language that cut back on the fence, including dropping the requirement that it have two tiers and deleting the specific locations Congress called for the fence to be built.
President Bush signed the bill into law.
Mr. Hunter's bill would undo those changes.
"The omnibus spending bill dismantles the only legislative advancement made in recent years towards securing our border with Mexico, and represents a prescription for failure that directly threatens the safety, security and prosperity of the American people," said Mr. Hunter, California Republican.
The Department of Homeland Security consistently has balked at the broad sweep of the mandate, arguing that only 370 miles of fencing is needed and that DHS knows the best locations, though they are still studying what those locations are. (We won't ask how DHS is convinced 370 miles is the right number if they don't even know the proper locations yet.)
Mr. Hunter said DHS has built only 75 miles of fencing and only five miles meets the two-tier standard from the 2006 law. DHS says it has built far more and is on track to complete 370 miles and another 200 miles of vehicle barriers by the time Mr. Bush leaves office a year from now.
— Stephen Dinan, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (1)
I am Republican and I live in Texas where the number of illegal aliens is quite high. I have two ideas which I would like to pass on to the Republican Candidates. First: I think giving illegal aliens driver's licenses is not a good idea because with a driver's license from any state could result in them getting a social security card and establishing a permenant address thus alowing them to vote in our elections. Instead of state driver's license they should be required to have an International driver's license and proof of insurance before coming into this country. In order to get the IDL they must have a valid DL from their home country, with these papers it should be much easier to track their movement in this country.
Second: The Rio Grande river covers the entire southern border of Texas. I have heard that a lot of the US Citizens living along the river front do not want to lose their property to eminent domain. In order to save their property, I have a suggestion which I believe to be a simple solution. The river is quite shallow, therefore what I am suggesting is feasible. Since the Border is the middle of the river, build the fence in the middle of the river. Sheet piling would be ideal and easy to drive into the river bed.
Al Lee
Posted by Al Lee | February 3, 2008 4:37 AM