Jose Luis Correa: “I just want to say that most of my life I have lived on both sides of the border, and since taking over my subcommittee…”

“I just want to say that most of my life I have lived on both sides of the border, and since taking over my subcommittee this year, in the last 4 months, I have gone to Laredo, Brownsville, Yuma, El Centro, San Ysidro, Otay; and just Monday, Otay, Tijuana, Mexico. I am doing this because I think it is important that we leave Washington and go and ask the border agents, go ask the port authorities what is going on, tell me what they need. I saw these men and women in blue uniforms at our ports of entry. They are very proud of their work. They said: Lou, look, this is 99 percent of the trade we have, the integration of the North American markets. We are making it happen thanks to the investments by Congress in personnel, technology, and infrastructure. Then they said: But we have to keep out that 1 percent, that fentanyl, those narcotics. They proudly said: We here at the ports of entry are responsible for stopping over 90 percent of the fentanyl that comes into this country. I asked them, of course: What do you need to do your job better? They said: We are looking to you in Washington for more support. We are 2,400 personnel down, CBP agents. They said the proposals here by my colleagues on the other side do nothing to support the additional hiring of men and women in blue uniforms. Those blue uniforms are responsible for stopping over 90 percent of the fentanyl that is coming across the border.…”