Thank you. Ms. Melvin, you talked about longstanding institutional deficiencies and I think in your last statement you helped to define what those are.

We have more than 6 million people whose jobs are directly dependent on the secure flow of trade that crosses our ports of entry.

In your testimony, you noted that wait times and service levels at our land ports of entry are a major focus for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

I would also like to thank you, Madam Chairwoman and Ranking Member Jackson Lee, for assembling this panel and holding this hearing on what a secure border looks like, and it is perhaps one of the most important questions for us in…

I think that is important for us to know because I share this committee's frustration with the fact that we don't have a defined goal and measurements on which to chart our progress against that goal.

While El Paso is the safest city in the country--and I would argue, if you want to know what a secure border looks like look at El Paso, Texas.

The fate of 12 million people in the United States right now and the future of comprehensive immigration reform depend on the answer to this question.

I would ask for unanimous consent to submit the statement from the National Treasury Employees Union and a statement by the Border Trade Alliance into the record.

I don't want to minimize the dangers that those drugs pose to our communities and to the most vulnerable within them, especially our children, but with 16 States that have already approved medicinal use of marijuana, two States that have…

You cited the Secretary's goal of getting 50 percent of travelers enrolled in a secure traveler program like the SENTRI program.

You can imagine the thousands of jobs that are tied to that spending.