Cornyn Introduces $3.9 Billion Emergency Border Security Measure

Amendment Would Provide Critical Border Security, Immigration Enforcement Funding

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

WASHINGTON—Moving forward with his commitment to seek emergency funding for border security and immigration enforcement, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship subcommittee, on Wednesday introduced an amendment to provide $3.9 billion in additional resources. The amendment to the Department of Defense appropriations bill, H.R. 5631, would fund a range of critical border security initiatives such as additional border patrol agents, detention beds, employer verification and strategic barriers that have either been previously authorized but not funded by Congress or called for by President Bush.

Cornyn said he hopes the funding will help restore confidence that the federal government will control the border and enforce the law following the mistakes of the 1986 amnesty bill. “One way to build that confidence is for Congress and this administration to fully fund border security and immigration enforcement programs starting with those that the Congress has already authorized and that the President has indicated are necessary to control our broken immigration system.”

“I remain committed to comprehensive immigration reform and I will continue to advocate for a bill that provides economic and national security,” Cornyn said. “But I believe that funding for our border security is a necessary and essential step in that direction and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.”

Cornyn noted that for too many years Congress authorized additional border patrol agents and detention beds and claimed then to have dealt with our broken borders, but failed to fund the positions and the infrastructure that it authorized.

The amendment, co-sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), will also help break the stalemate in the immigration debate, Cornyn said. “It is my hope and desire that funding enforcement programs will increase the credibility of the federal government and will facilitate a successful conference between the House and the Senate.”

“This amendment in no way eliminates the need for comprehensive reform, which I believe should be done in one single bill,” Cornyn said. “It is in fact the opposite: this amendment will allow us to find common ground on visa reform and ways to address the 12 million illegal aliens here in the U.S.”

Sen. Cornyn has played a key role in the Senate immigration reform debate and continues to work to bolster border security and implement comprehensive immigration reform. He will serve on the conference committee that will reconcile the differences between the House and Senate immigration bills.

Sens. Cornyn and Kyl authored a separate bill titled: The Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Reform Act (S.1438). The key components of their legislation include enhanced border security and interior enforcement, employer accountability, and reform to bring the current illegal population into compliance with the law.

Summary of Cornyn-Kyl Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Border Security and Immigration Reform Amendment to H.R. 5631

Border Patrol Agents: $173 million to hire 500 border patrol agents with the necessary support staff, training and education to make our borders safe. The President has said that we need 2,500 additional border patrol agents as soon as possible. Taking into account the 1,000 agents the FY06 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery Act (H.R. 4939) provides and the 1,000 agents included in the Senate-passed FY07 DHS appropriations bill, this amendment would reach the President’s goal.
Detention Beds: $45.5 million for 1,300 detention beds. Under the Senate-passed FY07 DHS Appropriations bill, 6,700 beds will be realized. This amendment would meet the authorized level of 8,000 set by the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.
Employer Verification System: $400 million for the development and the implementation of the Electronic Verification System, which the President has called on Congress to make mandatory for all 6 million employers.
Vehicle and Physical Barriers, Infrastructure Support for Border Patrol Agents: $2.155 billion for physical barriers along the Mexico-U.S. border and 461 miles of vehicle barriers and for infrastructure support for new border patrol agents. Current law authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to install physical barriers along the border, and the President has supported the language in S. 2611 which calls for the construction of 500 miles of vehicle barriers and 370-miles of physical barriers (Title I, Section 106). With the Senate-passed FY2007 DHS appropriations bill providing enough money for 39 miles of vehicle barriers, the amendment would meet the authorized level.
US VISIT Entry-Exit: $60 million to accelerate the development of a system to collect, maintain, and share appropriate information through an integrated database which will determine the eligibility of aliens for admission and benefits.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents: $151 million to hire 800 additional agents and the necessary support staff and training for alien smuggling investigations and worksite enforcement of immigration laws. The Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 authorizes 800 additional agents per year.
Capital Equipment: $976 million for Coast Guard improvements in vessels, aircraft, and equipment and to replace air assets and engage in air-fleet modernization. This funding was included in the Senate-version of H.R. 4939 but was not included in the conference report.
Administration of Justice: $7.8 million for additional U.S. Attorneys and legal support activities to provide support for increased enforcement activities on the border.

Account	Amount (in billions)
500 Border Patrol Agents	$0.173
1,300 Detention Beds	$0.046
Employee Verification System	$0.400
Physical and Vehicle Barriers, Infrastructure Support for Border Patrol Agents	$2.155
US VISIT Entry-Exit	$0.060
800 Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents	$0.151
New Capital Equipment	$0.976
Administration of Justice	$0.008
TOTAL	$3.968

Below is the text of the remarks by Sen. Cornyn on the Senate floor on Wednesday:

I thank and commend Senator Stevens and Senator Inouye for their hard work on the Defense appropriations bill. They have done a tremendous job of putting together a bill that funds programs critical to the global war on terror.

I come to the floor today to talk about another aspect of our national security, and that is our border security. This amendment is a border security emergency supplemental appropriations amendment that I file to the Defense appropriations bill.

At the outset, I made clear to the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Stevens, and anyone else who is interested, that this amendment does not reduce by one penny any funding for the Defense Department or our troops, nor would this amendment add to the budget deficit because it is emergency spending necessary to control our borders and improve our national security.

It has now been about two months since the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill and over seven months since the House of Representatives passed its bill. We are at a stalemate, I think it is fair to say, with no apparent way out.

While there has been no progress over the past few months on comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures, I remain optimistic and certainly committed to sending the President a comprehensive immigration reform bill before the end of the year.

The enforcement titles in the House and Senate bills are, I think, upon inspection, people would agree, very similar. And there are several different proposals for addressing the 12 million people who are currently living here out of status, including one Senator Kyl and I introduced about a year ago. Others have offered productive and constructive ideas and concepts, and I welcome all those who share my goal of moving this process forward and addressing this subject this year.

The main hurdle to a conference with the House and ultimately a bill approved by both Chambers is not a lack of common ground between the two bills. Instead, I submit it is a deep-rooted public skepticism that the Federal Government will enforce the immigration laws and fund enforcement programs that are necessary to maintain any level of integrity in our immigration system. Unfortunately, Madam President, their skepticism is warranted. In 1986, Congress promised the American people that there would be a one-time amnesty and that increased enforcement would then prevent a buildup of illegal immigration in the country.

As we know, the amnesty came, but the enforcement did not. Unless and until Americans are confident that the Federal Government will control the border and enforce the law, they are unlikely to support an immigration bill that includes any temporary worker program.

One way to build that confidence is for Congress and this administration to fully fund border security and immigration enforcement programs starting with those that the Congress has already authorized and that the President has indicated are necessary to control our broken immigration system.

What are Americans to think when Congress authorizes additional Border Patrol agents and detention beds and claims then to have dealt with our broken borders, but when Congress turns around, it fails to fund the positions and the infrastructure that we just got through authorizing. Unfortunately, that has been the pattern too often over the last years.

Last week, Senators Kyl, Isakson, Chambliss, and I sent a letter to President Bush asking him to send Congress an emergency supplemental request to fully fund those programs; again, not new programs, by and large, but programs that have already been authorized by an act of Congress, signed into law by the President but never funded, in addition to a couple of additional programs the President himself has said we need in order to deal with this problem. A request by the President would send a clear message that the time for the status quo is over, it is no longer acceptable, and that the Federal Government will fund and, yes, will enforce the immigration laws of the United States.

But I am also prepared to proceed with an amendment to this Defense appropriations bill, the amendment that is before the Senate. It is my hope and desire that by funding enforcement programs that we will increase the credibility of the Federal Government when it comes to actually creating a system that will work and will facilitate a successful conference on comprehensive immigration reform between the House and the Senate.

This amendment in no way eliminates the need for comprehensive immigration reform. It is not a substitute for it, and I believe that comprehensive immigration reform should and can be done in a single piece of legislation. In fact, this amendment, rather than being a substitute for that comprehensive immigration reform, is just the opposite. This amendment will allow us to find common ground on visa reform and ways to address the 12 million individuals who are currently living in the shadows and outside our laws. Absent action on this sort of credibility-restoring measure, I am afraid that we will find ourselves at a continued stalemate and do nothing.

My amendment would fund an additional 500 Border Patrol agents, along with the necessary support staff, training, and education to help make our borders safe. The President called for an additional 2,500 agents, and this appropriations amendment would allow him and us to meet that goal.

This amendment would also fund 1,300 additional detention beds which would allow the Department of Homeland Security to end its policy of catch and release more quickly.

The Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 authorized 8,000 additional beds, but Congress and the President have only funded 6,700 additional beds.

This amendment would provide $60 million to fund the US-VISIT entry-exit system. But the GAO report released today that revealed that undercover agents routinely were able to enter the country with false documents demonstrates, in as current fashion as today's news, the need to move forward with a biometric entry-exit system, and this amendment would provide the funds to do exactly that, something we have already passed and has been authorized but which we have not funded.

The President has also called for an expansion of the electronic verification system that would allow employers to quickly and more reliably determine whether new hires are authorized to work legally in the United States.

Unfortunately, the basic pilot program, which is a voluntary program, but it is only utilized by a handful of employers, has not been successful because it is not mandatory and it is not nationwide, and the Government today, even under this voluntary program, struggles to service the 10,000 employers who do voluntarily participate.

If we were serious about expanding the verification system to all employers around the country - which means approximately 6 million companies -- on the timeframes proposed by the House and Senate, Congress needs to fully fund that program. This amendment would do that.

Anyone who has visited the border region knows that the infrastructure of our Coast Guard and our Border Patrol is woefully out of date. At one point, all of the P-3 surveillance aircraft along the border were grounded due to structural failures. This amendment therefore funds $973 million for Coast Guard improvements in vessels, aircraft, and equipment, and to replace air assets and engage in air fleet modernization -- something that is long overdue. This funding was previously passed by the Senate in H.R. 4939, only to be stripped out during the conference report.

Of course, this amendment alone will not fix our broken immigration system. We need comprehensive reform. But until Congress regains the credibility it so sorely needs to be able to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, we will remain stuck as we are now with the Senate that has passed a bill, and the House that has passed a bill, failing to convene a conference and work out our differences and actually provide a solution to this problem.

We do need comprehensive immigration reform. We need to create a temporary worker program for those who come to our country and want to work legally and then return to their country of origin. We need to address the 12 million individuals who are currently living in the shadows who are already present, living among us.

I remain committed to comprehensive immigration reform and I will continue to advocate for a bill that provides economic and national security. But I believe that funding for our border security is a necessary and essential step in that direction and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Audio of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks on the amendment:

http://src.senate.gov/public/_files/radio/cornynsecurity8_02_06.mp3