Brian Bilbray: “I tried to discuss this item. I crossed over the aisle and discussed it with the gentleman from North Carolina. I did…”

“I tried to discuss this item. I crossed over the aisle and discussed it with the gentleman from North Carolina. I did have a concern and I think that that kind of communication was nothing personal on my vote. I was not in lockstep. The fact is that we built an $800 million facility trying to fight crime in the county of San Diego, and one of the major problems we had, too, is that we had to spend over a million dollars to get from the adjoining road to the site where we could build this facility. Now, I am sure my colleague from North Carolina did not mean to create that kind of barrier from being able to utilize these resources for different types of crime activity, but this was one that was a good example of where there would have been a legitimate facility built, legitimate expense that would have been blocked by his amendment. That is why I voted, not because I was in lockstep on this side of the aisle, but because, from practical application, I saw that this could be a barrier from doing what the bill wants us to accomplish, and that is fighting crime.”