Henry Cuellar: “I live on the border, and we have to understand that, every day, there is about $1.3 billion of trade between the U.S.…”

“I live on the border, and we have to understand that, every day, there is about $1.3 billion of trade between the U.S. and Mexico. That is a lot of jobs that are being created on this side. When you look at the Mexicans who come over and shop, one out of every four international tourists will be people from across the river. That is over $20 billion that is spent on the U.S. side in hotels, restaurants, and many other places. Those are jobs over here. We want to see strong border security, but, again, we have to make sure that we find the balance between legitimate trade and tourism. The way to do that is to look at technology that has worked for the military that can work for us on the border and hire the right number of Border Patrol and CBP officers. If we do that, we can find a way to find the balance between legitimate trade and tourism, and I ask you to please consider that as we debate border security. ____________________”