Henry Cuellar: “I rise in support of H.R. 1684, the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act. As a cosponsor, I certainly want…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 1684, the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act. As a cosponsor, I certainly want to thank Chairman Thompson for the leadership and the strong support that he has shown in moving this bill along, and I also want to thank my friend, Ranking Member King, for his bipartisan work and for the hard work that he has provided. This particular bill has three provisions that I have added with the help of the chairman, the ranking member, my colleagues and the committee staff. And I want to thank them for their work. The first provision creates a direct line of communications between border local elected officials and the private sector and the policymakers at the Department through a Border Communities Liaison at the DHS Office of Policy. This is important to make sure that we get the local input. The second provision calls for the evaluation of and emphasis on training of Border Patrol agents along the southwest border where many of them are going to serve. And the third and last provision mandates for the first time a comprehensive assessment of the staffing, infrastructure and technology resources that are needed to reduce the wait times for pedestrian, commercial and noncommercial traffic at the border. We want to have border security, but at the same time, we do not want to impede trade and tourism. I thank Chairman Thompson for his support and ask my colleagues to support H.R. 1684.”