Bob Filner: “I rise in support of the Reyes amendment and in opposition to the Traficant amendment, and I thank my friend from Ohio…”

“I rise in support of the Reyes amendment and in opposition to the Traficant amendment, and I thank my friend from Ohio for raising this issue. I live in the district that has the busiest border crossing in the world. We need the attention to this issue. We need the help of this Congress to fight those drugs. But I tell my colleagues, this is the wrong way to do it. We should ask ourselves, I say to the gentleman (Mr. Traficant) and those who spoke from Georgia and Illinois, why is it that the Members of this body who represent the 2 cities that are the biggest on the border, that have the busiest crossings on the border, and many other of the border Congress people oppose the Traficant amendment? We know something about the border. We know that this fight has to be increased. But we have constituents who we are bound to protect. We believe, and we have evidence, and my colleagues have heard it today, that those who are trained in the best equipped, best disciplined, most efficient fighting machine in the world are not equipped or trained to fight this fight. Our constituents are at risk with American troops at the border, and may I remind my colleagues, this is a friendly country. Nobody has said that yet. The last invasion I recall was maybe the Alamo, but this could do serious damage to that relationship. It could do serious damage to our constituents.”