Ted Poe: “this past weekend I traveled to the United States-Mexico border and spent time patrolling the Rio Grande River with…”

“this past weekend I traveled to the United States-Mexico border and spent time patrolling the Rio Grande River with Sheriff Rick Flores and his deputies of Webb County, Texas. Sheriff Flores is a determined lawman. He is fighting invasion of illegal immigration and the war against the dangerous, violent drug cartels that are slithering into the United States. Flores has only 13 deputies to patrol a county bigger than Delaware. In the tense border towns like Laredo, Rio Bravo and El Cenizo, the war between the drug cartels is waging and getting more dangerous every day. These drug outlaws have more money, extra manpower, better electronic equipment, a better intelligence network, and better firepower than the sheriff and his posse. The sheriff needs Humvees, body armor, off-road vehicles, satellite phones, GPS systems and much more to fight this battle against drug cartels and human smugglers. Madam Speaker, Sheriff Flores has a passion to protect Texas and all of America. Sheriff Flores put it best when he said protecting our borders is not a partisan issue, it is a red, white, and blue issue. Madam Speaker, that is just the way it is. ____________________”