Ted Poe: “I offer this amendment along with my friend from Pennsylvania, Mr. Altmire. This amendment takes $10 million from the…”

“I offer this amendment along with my friend from Pennsylvania, Mr. Altmire. This amendment takes $10 million from the Office of the Under Secretary of Management of DHS and moves it to the border security, fencing infrastructure, and technology account with the purpose of being used for border cell phone communication infrastructure to help border residents disseminate border security-related information to the Border Patrol and law enforcement for their protection and the security of the border. Mr. Chairman, the history goes back to March 27, 2010, when, in Arizona, Rob Krentz was murdered 20 miles north of the border in an isolated area in Arizona. The lack of communications capability made Krentz more vulnerable than he would have been otherwise and complicated the search for the assailant. His wife, Sue--who I've talked to on numerous occasions--believes that he was in a cell phone dead zone when he was killed and that he was trying to call for help at the time of his murder. Before leaving office, Congresswoman Giffords had been working diligently on this specific issue. I became involved with her staff when they took the time to show me around the Arizona border and introduced me to the Krentz widow, Sue. I thank Gabby Giffords for her work on this issue, bringing it to my attention and other Members of Congress, and wish her well. Mr.…”