Congressman McCaul Tours Texas-Mexico Border
TOMBALL – Upon returning from an aerial tour of the Texas-Mexico border, Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX 10) renewed his call for increased funding and resources for state and local law enforcement along the border.
"What spills across our border is a problem for every community in Texas – whether it’s Houston, Dallas or Tomball," said Rep. McCaul. "Drugs and weapons end up too close to our homes and schools, and our border sheriffs and police must be properly equipped."
Congressman McCaul’s tour comes during the height of the marijuana harvest season. On Tuesday Webb County authorities seized $157,000 in cash headed back to Mexico that they believe was used to buy hundreds of pounds of Mexican marijuana somewhere in the United States.
Border sheriffs say their number one need is a sustained level of funding so they can hire deputies long-term. Authorities are spread thin and cannot effectively plug holes along the border to cut down on the drug trade and illegal crossings.
"Our country faces many challenges right now. We’re trying to stabilize our economy, bring reforms to our financial markets and pursue energy independence," Rep. McCaul said. "But we can’t lose focus on our border. We can’t let the people who want to come here illegally, and in some cases do harm, think that we’re not paying attention."
In June Congressman McCaul authored an amendment in the House Foreign Affairs Committee requiring $1.5 billion over three years to border sheriffs. The amendment had bipartisan support but was not allowed to be voted on.
Last month, Congressman McCaul helped pass a funding increase for FY2009 to strengthen border security, immigration enforcement, and disaster preparedness. This includes:
• $3.88 billion First responder and state and local grant programs
• $9.8 billion Customs and Border Protection
• $4.99 billion Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This level of funding will provide for:
• Additional 2,200 federal border patrol agents
• Detention space for an additional 1,400 illegal immigrants
• Additional 1,273 Customs and Border Protection Officers
• $775 million for continued construction and improvements to border security infrastructure, including 143 miles of fencing.
Congressman McCaul has been at the forefront of efforts to secure the Texas-Mexico border. His 2006 report "A Line in the Sand" detailed advances of the cartels and predicted their increased threat of violence and of smuggling drugs, weapons and even terrorists into the United States.
Prior to being elected to Congress, McCaul served as Chief of Counter Terrorism and National Security in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Texas, and led the Joint Terrorism Task Force charged with detecting, deterring and preventing terrorist activity. He will continue to pursue ways to secure the Texas-Mexico border while eradicating the drug cartels.
Congressman McCaul toured the border with the Civil Air Patrol. On approach into Tomball he surveyed the Hurricane Ike recovery efforts on Galveston Island so he could see the progress made since he toured with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff right after the storm passed.
Immediately after Ike skipped town, the Civil Air Patrol began air and ground reconnaissance missions to assess the damage. Their photographs and reports went immediately to the State Operations Center in Austin to aide in the deployment of relief to those affected. More than 200 CAP volunteers flew 350 sorties, and took 40,000 photos. They committed 16,841 man hours and 22 CAP aircraft were used.