Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment, which would eliminate $3 million funding for environmental mitigation in our border security efforts, and add that money to air and marine assets, which is already greatly, greatly increased in this bill. First a bit of context. Since 2006, this subcommittee has increased funding for border security by over $2 billion annually. We invested well over $1 billion for fencing and other tactical infrastructure alone during that period. Responding to concerns about possible environmental problems associated with such a massive construction undertaking, much of which has taken place on environmentally sensitive lands, Congress provided very modest amounts to mitigate these potential environmental consequences. Now, as a government, we have many responsibilities and priorities, and these include both securing our borders and protecting our natural and cultural resources. The sort of interagency agreement that Homeland Security and Interior have entered into for environmental mitigation is what we should be encouraging and supporting, especially because this arrangement is explicit, in that Interior cannot take any action that CBP does not first agree to. So we've got to keep that commitment to protecting and preserving our environment. We have to maintain that commitment. And I urge colleagues to defeat this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.”