John Ensign: “last year when the Senate was considering the national intelligence reform bill, we adopted several recommendations of…”

“last year when the Senate was considering the national intelligence reform bill, we adopted several recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. One of those recommendations was to hire an additional 2,000 new custom and border protection agents each year for the next 5 years. This body agreed with the recommendation. We agreed that our national security depended on such an investment, and we enacted that recommendation into law. We are now considering the Homeland Security appropriations bill. The bill that was reported out of committee includes funding for 1,000 new agents in the coming fiscal year. I understand there are problems with training 2,000 agents. My amendment as modified would provide the Secretary of Homeland Security with the discretion to shift $367 million to hire 2,000 new agents next year. This amendment is fully offset. I rise today to urge the Senate to adopt my amendment so that we can keep the commitment that we made to the American people last year. I thank John McCain for cosponsoring our amendment. The threat of illegal border crossing by people who wish to kill us is very real. The 9/11 Commission found that many of the 19 hijackers that attacked on 9/11 could have been placed on watch lists. But without adequate staff and coordinated efforts, the terrorists were allowed to enter the United States. Once here they learned how to fly airplanes at American flight schools. They conducted surveillance to assess our weaknesses.…”