CONGRESSMAN DUNCAN HUNTER Proudly Serving the 52nd District of California

www.house.gov/hunter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   CONTACT: MICHAEL HARRISON
26 OCTOBER 1999                                                   (202) 225-5672
 

    Washington, D.C.  – Congressman Duncan Hunter (CA-52) responded today to President Clinton’s veto of the Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) Appropriations bill which provides funding for the Immigration & Naturalization Service, the U.S. Border Patrol and numerous border enforcement projects.  President Clinton complained that the bill, H.R. 2670, failed to allow the U.S. Justice Department to sue the tobacco industry and had additional concerns with provisions regarding the United Nations.

    “President Clinton’s veto of this important spending bill denies our border enforcement agencies the critical resources needed to protect our borders,” said Hunter.  “Despite overwhelming evidence that illegal immigration and drug smuggling continue to increase, this administration did not provide one single Border Patrol agent in their budget request and have now refused to fund the agents Congress did provide.”

    In accordance with Congressman Hunter’s 1996 legislation, which authorized 5,000 new Border Patrol agents over five years, the vetoed CJS spending bill provided funding for 1,000 additional agents which were to be deployed along the Southwest border in areas of the highest illegal traffic, including San Diego and Imperial Counties.  The bill also provided priority to the El Centro Border Patrol Sector and continued site planning and construction of a new border station at Campo.

    “For the first time, the El Centro Sector was recognized as a critical region regarding border security.  Not providing these resources to an area which is desperately fighting to keep drugs from our kids can only be characterized as irresponsible,” said Hunter.