U.S. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS CALLS ON SENATE TO RETURN FROM RECESS, APPROVE $600 MILLION BORDER SECURITY FUNDING

Congresswoman joins House majority in passing funding to hire 1,000 more Border Patrol agents, add aerial drones

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today strongly urged senators to return from their summer vacations to approve $600 million in emergency funding for border security that was passed by the House.

“The residents of my district are sick and tired of all the partisan bickering and political games over securing the U.S.-Mexico border,’’ Giffords said this morning during a spirited debate on the floor of the House. “We are here because Congress cannot turn its back on illegal immigration. This is not a partisan issue. This is something that Democrats and Republicans can do to fight for what’s right for the people of America.”

The bill includes funding for 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents as well as money for prosecutors and other law enforcement personnel, unmanned aerial surveillance drones and communications equipment.

The legislation to approve the funding was approved today by the House on a voice vote.

Video of the congresswoman’s remarks can be viewed here. News coverage of the bill’s passage can be viewed here.

The bill passed by the House is identical to legislation approved by the Senate last week, but because of a constitutional provision, the Senate must approve it again before it can be sent to the president for his signature.

Under Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution, all revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives. The border security funding is considered a revenue bill because it is fully paid for by increasing some business visa fees. So instead of approving the Senate-passed bill, the House today was constitutionally required to introduce its own identical bill, which now goes to the Senate.

Senators last week adjourned for their summer recess and are not scheduled to return to the Capitol until Sept. 13. But Giffords, in her remarks, called on senators to immediately return and vote on the border security measure, saying “The Senate blew it – again.”

“The Senate needs to come back and deal with this issue,” Giffords said. “I urge the Senate to return immediately and pass this bill.”

For more than a month, Giffords has led the fight for this additional border security funding.

In July, the House approved $701 million for additional Border Patrol agents, surveillance technology and support for local law enforcement agencies in Arizona and other southwestern states.

However, the Senate stripped the border security funds from an appropriations bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Giffords and Homeland Security Committee Chairman David Price then countered by introducing stand-alone legislation that restored the $701 million funding. It was approved by the House on July 29, one day after it was introduced.

That bill was sent to the Senate which instead introduced and passed its own $600 million bill with a different funding source. But that bill was deemed unconstitutional because it increased revenue, leading to today’s House passage – for the third time – of the border security funds.
The bill includes:
•    $176 million for 1,000 new Border Patrol agents to form a “strike force” to be deployed at most-needed areas
•    $50 million for 250 new ICE personnel, including special agents, intelligence analysts and support personnel
•    $39 million for Customs and Border Protection to keep the current levels of officers
•    $37 million for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents along the border
•    $34 million for Drug Enforcement Administration agents along the border
•    $32 million to deploy unmanned aerial vehicle surveillance drones
•    $30 million for border interdiction by Immigration and Customs Enforcement
•    $29 million for 250 new Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry
•    $24 million for FBI agents along the border
•    $21 million Interagency Crime and Drug Law enforcement along the border
•    $20 million for the federal prison system to detain immigrant criminals
•    $14 million for communication equipment for new officers
•    $13 million for U.S. attorneys and other legal expenses
•    $10 million for federal judiciary resources for an anticipated higher caseload
•    $10 million for investigators to stop corruption in the Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection
•    $8 million for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
•    $8 million for U.S marshals along the border
•    $7 million for border processing of apprehended drug dealers and human traffickers
•    $6 million to deploy forward operating bases along the border (as opposed to using current bases that are 100 miles away)
•    $2.1 million for expediting administrative review and appeals along the border