Rep. Reyes is basically calling these officers LIERS!!!!!!!!!!! He says he spent his whole life on the border and never saw a 50 caliber machine gun on a mexican military vehicle? Yeah, things change! How long has it been since HE lived down there! We need to BLAST THIS TRAITOR with calls, letters and emails!!!!!!!!! Jam those phone lines! Do the survey!




http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/6823674/detail.html

Border Showdown Between Congressman And Local Sheriffs
February 7, 2006 -- El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego and Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West delivered a message before a Congressional Homeland Security subcommittee on Tuesday. But U.S. Representative Silvestre Reyes (D) El Paso, believes the sheriffs may have an agenda, and that some of the testimony presented "didn't make sense."

"Tell them, it ends here, it ends now, there will be no more incursions," - that's the message that T.J. Bonner, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, delivered in his testimony.

"They are basically running over us down there," said Sheriff West. "Why is Mexico just sitting back and allowing this to happen?" said Bonner.


SURVEY
Do you agree with Rep. Reyes, or with Sheriff's Samaniego and West?
Rep. Reyes
Sheriff's Samaniego and West


Taking center stage at the hearing was the Jan. 23 incursion in Hudspeth County, where sheriff's deputies pursued three SUVs filled with narcotics. When one of those SUVs became stuck in the river. Sheriff's deputies say they were surrounded by Mexican military.

"He was holding a large caliber weapon which appeared to be a 50-caliber weapon on a mounted tripod," said Deputy Sheriff Esequiel Legarreta, of the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office.

"Some of the things that I heard then and I heard today (Tuesday), just didn't make sense to me," said Rep. Reyes.

The El Paso Congressman testified after the sheriff's officials were finished that he had concerns with the story that was being told.

"I spent all my adult life on the border. I have never seen a 50 -caliber machine gun on the back of any military style vehicle, and I am an Army veteran and I know what that looks like. Under stress, it can certainly look like a 50-caliber to somebody that's not familiar with it," said Rep. Reyes.

Rep. Reyes caught many sheriffs off-guard when he said, "I'm concerned that a lot of the work that we have been doing in convincing the Mexican government that they should be a partner with us, if we don't deal in facts, and we do not deal in accuracy, then that partnership may not take place," said Reyes.

Shortly after that comment, El Paso Sheriff Leo Samaniego walked out of the hearing. Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West was asked by the sub-committee about his relationship with officials in Mexico, and he said it is very limited.

"I have asked the Mexican Consulate, who by the way came to see me right after this incident, to give me a list of these people to make contact with for the simple reason that if we do have incidents like this, I can have a direct communication with them. I have yet to see that list," said Sheriff West.

That remark concerned Rep. Reyes, who appeared to question Sheriff West's credentials.

"If you don't establish those kinds of relationships, if you don't understand that's an important part of your duty on an international border, then you really have no business being in charge of any entity," said Rep. Reyes.

"That's typical of him trying to whitewash things," West told KFOX later. "I don't know what his agenda is or why, but there we have it."

Congressman Reyes tells KFOX that he believes it's the sheriffs who may have an agenda.

"There are maybe some agendas working here and that's why we need to be very clear about what happened, why it happened, and where we go from here," said Rep. Reyes.

Sheriff West says the agenda is clear.

"We do have an agenda for all this, keeping our nation safe and keeping our community safe," said Sheriff West.

Mexico insists that none of its military forces were involved in the Jan. 23 incursion, and named four suspects last week.

T.J.Bonner says that he and the 10,000 agents he represents are asking lawmakers to immediately stop the $60 million a year in federal aid that is given to Mexico until these border incursions are stopped.

As for the border sheriffs, they will remain in Washington for the next few days. They will still be meeting with Texas Senators Cornyn and Hutchison as well as White House staff.

KFOX News At Nine's Ben Swann and the KFOX crew will be in Washington, D.C., all week to cover this developing story.

We will have complete coverage from Swann on KFOX News At Nine as well as live reports during the KFOX Morning News.