Dianne Feinstein: “our borders are our Nation's first line of defense. They are the key to our homeland, and ensuring their integrity is…”

“our borders are our Nation's first line of defense. They are the key to our homeland, and ensuring their integrity is vital to our national security. But there are some who seek to create a means of entering our country illegally. For years, they've tried to go around the border checkpoints. Now they are trying to go under them through sophisticated border tunnels. In fact, there have been 40 border tunnels financed and constructed since 9/11--to move humans, drugs, and weapons under the border. Twenty-one of these were on the California-Mexico border--eight since January of this year. This is a serious issue not just for San Diego and California, but for the entire country. Surprisingly, there is no law on the books now that makes it a crime to construct, finance, build, or use a tunnel into the United States. Last week, I toured a recently discovered tunnel in San Diego with San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, Police Chief Bill Lansdowne, Sheriff Bill Kolender and various Federal Government officials from the Department of Homeland Security.…”