Life on the Southwest Border is different from the rest of the country. Living so close to Mexico gives us strengths and challenges. We benefit as a gateway to Mexico for travel and commerce, but we also contend with issues of combating pollution, public health problems and the effects of drug smuggling.
These challenges require action at the local, state and federal levels. For too long, Washington has ignored the needs of Border communities like El Paso. However, through efforts like the annual U.S.-Mexico Border Issues Conference in Washington, DC, the tide is turning. In addition to highlighting the Border for other Members of Congress and federal agencies, these conferences helped result in changes in federal policy and funding. The 2009 Border Security Conference will be held in August at the University of Texas at El Paso. Please check back for more details in the coming weeks.
Legislation I've authored in the 111th Congress:
Putting Our Resources Toward Security (PORTS) Act - H.R. 1655
Inadequate staffing and outdated infrastructure at our land ports of entry are making America less safe. For this reason, I recently introduced the PORTS (Putting Our Resources Toward Security) Act, a bill that would dramatically increase funding and staffing levels at America’s land ports of entry to help combat the illegal transport of drugs, money, and weapons between the United States and Mexico and reduce excessive bridge wait times. This critical legislation would provide $5 billion through 2014 to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), to repair and modernize infrastructure all U.S. land ports of entry, and would also provide funding for an additional 5000 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to improve inspections and reduce traffic congestion.
Accomplishments:
Together, we fought for the creation and funding of the first ever dedicated commuter lane (DCL) at a port-of-entry along the Texas-Mexico border. The DCL helps alleviate traffic congestion at the Stanton Street bridge and expedites the crossing process for thousands of regular border crossers. There is an urgent need for additional DCLs, and we secured funds from the Department of Homeland Security for construction of a new DCL at the Ysleta border crossing which recently opened.
Working together, we obtained the first ever funds for the Border Health Commission (BHC), which is the only entity in operation that is uniquely focused on the health challenges facing the border region. We also secured El Paso as the home of the BHC.
In a coordinated effort among El Pasoans and others across the country, we successfully fought efforts by the Administration to eliminate funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), which provided $2.9 million since 1999 to El Paso law enforcement agencies to help defray the costs of dealing with undocumented immigrants in the states criminal justice system.
We also won Congressional approval for assigning two additional federal judges to the Western District of Texas and funding for Border prosecutors to help alleviate the heavy workload that burdens our judicial system. Also, we shaped changes to the NAFTA-Trade Adjustment Assistance Program (TAAP) to better assist displaced workers.
These are examples of some of the accomplishments we achieved by working together for the best interests of El Paso. Much work remains to be done, and based on our past performance, we will succeed.
