Porter Goss: “our borders are the last line of defense between our Nation's cities and towns and the organized drug smugglers who…”

“our borders are the last line of defense between our Nation's cities and towns and the organized drug smugglers who market their poisons. We must make the United States border a perilous obstacle for those engaging in this destructive trade. That means stepping up border enforcement and keeping one pace ahead of the traffickers. The Drug Free Borders Act represents the first step toward that end by providing for new special agents and inspectors at the U.S. Department of Customs, as well as for the purchase of valuable new detection technologies. Troubling trends like an 85% drop in customs drug seizures in the past year, declining prices and increasing availability, clearly show we are losing the battle to stop these poisons at our borders. There are miles upon miles of American border which we actively encourage people to cross every day for trade and tourism and the criminals we are fighting have the deftness to exploit any weak link in our defenses. Therefore, in stopping the drug supply we must create a barrier that extends from our shores out to the original source of the drugs. Keeping ahead of the drug smugglers is a daunting task and requires reliance on the eyes and ears of a strong intelligence capability. To win this war we need to know where the traffickers are headed before they get there and the networks they use to move their contraband. This is doable if we make the commitment.”