Sent out earlier today from the House Republican Conference:

The New York Times Continues to Minimize the Importance of Border Security, Threat of Terrorism
Staying true to their liberal orthodoxy, The New York Times published an editorial today (“Bad News on the Border, 7/6/06) criticizing House Republicans for having the gall to hold field hearings on the issue of border security. Rather than having Congress listen to Border Patrol agents, sheriffs from border counties, constitutional scholars, homeland security officials and government investigators; The New York Times would prefer that Congress just listen to The New York Times. Yesterday’s hearing by the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation exposed the dangerous way that terrorists can — and are — exploiting breaches in security along our nation’s border.
The NY Times’ Dismisses the Link Between Border Security and Terrorism
“This novel approach to governing – seeking public input on bills after they have passed – reflects a cynical gamble that linking immigration and terror will upend the Senate bill and give House Republicans a short-term electoral boost.” (The New York Times, 7/6/06)
Despite The New York Times’ cynical attempt to downplay the link between border security and terrorism, yesterday’s House hearing demonstrated the two are irrevocably linked:
§ “It is undeniable that terrorists have entered the United States by crossing our land borders illegally. The empirical evidence of terrorist entry is significant… On July 19, 2004, [Al Qaeda terrorist Farida] Ahmed was arrested in McAllen, Texas after crossing into the United States three days earlier. She had waded across the Rio Grande, and was bound for New York City. Terrorists know all about our porous southern border…”
Kris Kobach, Professor of Law, University of Missouri – Kansas City
Testimony before the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, 7/5/06
§ “In point of fact, anybody with terrorist motives, of any nationality, can find a place in the smugglers’ pipeline. There’s room for anything and anybody.”
Sheriff Rick Flores
Webb County, Texas
Testimony before the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, 7/5/06
The NY Times’ Dismisses the Very Real Challenges of Border Security as Something out of a Hollywood Motion Picture
“The hearing was useful only if the problem of illegal immigration consists mainly of narco-traffickers who decapitate police officers in Tijuana and send drugs in 18-wheelers across the border at Laredo, or Islamic fundamentalists who sneak into the United States disguised as Mexicans. “It’s probably already happened,” said Sheriff Rick Flores of Webb County, Texas, one of several witnesses who obliged the Republicans by depicting life on the southern border as something out of a “Mad Max” movie.” (The New York Times, 7/6/06)
While the security problems being faced by people living and working near our border may be dismissively compared to a sci-fi movie by The New York Times, they pose serious consequences for Americans everywhere. Consider the following testimony from yesterday’s House hearing:
§ “…GAO’s investigators, using counterfeit documents, were able to enter the United States with enough radioactive sources in the trunks of their vehicles to make two dirty bombs.”
Gregory Kutz, Managing Director,
Forensic Audits and Special Investigations,
Government Accountability Office
Testimony before the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, 7/5/06
§ “Unfortunately, illegal aliens and contraband smuggled across the border by sophisticated organizations are rarely detected and apprehended. To cite but one example, in September of 2004 the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that it had broken up a smuggling ring responsible for bringing more than 200 illegal aliens from Iraq and Jordan to Detroit, Michigan across our southern border over a period of about three years.”
T.J. Bonner, National President
National Border Patrol Council of the AFL-CIO
Testimony before the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, 7/5/06