On the recordDecember 21, 2010
I want to thank Chairman Conyers and Chairman Thompson for their leadership and for bringing H.R. 4748 to the floor with the Senate amendment. Our northern border with Canada spans over 4,000 miles, the longest open border in the world. I am intimately familiar with the unique status of our shared border. My congressional district in Upstate New York includes 13 ports of entry and border crossings, and nearly 2,000 jobs depend on a stable trading relationship with our northern neighbor. We currently lack a unified approach to stopping the flow of drugs from the northern border. As the southern border has witnessed the spread of violence that has accompanied the increased drug trade, we must be proactive and vigilant in ensuring that our northern border remains safe and open for business. Organized criminal elements are increasingly exploiting the northern border to traffic narcotics, illicit cigarettes, firearms, and people. According to the 2010 National Drug Threat Assessment, the amount of ecstasy seized at or between northern border points of entry increased 594 percent from 2004 to 2009. In 2009, there were 1,100 drug-related arrests in New York's North Country. Just last week, the Franklin County Border Narcotics Task Force caught a Malone man believed to be headed downstate with 119 pounds of marijuana.
