Kris Eggle's Father Testifies in Immigration Hearing
For more information on Kris Eggle, see ALIPAC thread http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-482.html ... "Putting faces on victims of criminal illegal aliens"
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http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/20 ... news02.txt
Cadillac man testifies in immigration hearing
CADILLAC - Kris Eggle may be alive today if the government fully funded and equipped the Border Patrol, Bob Eggle said this week during testimony in Washington.
Eggle, whose son Kris was killed while working as National Park Service Ranger in Organ Pipe Cactus National Park on Aug. 9, 2002. Eggle testified before the Subcommittee on Immigration Border Security and Claims Oversight Hearing.
"On Aug. 9, 2002, my son made that supreme sacrifice in defending our country at our border. That was my personal 9-11," Eggle said. "You may be asking yourself why I am here testifying today Ã…Â* The (answer) is this: Because his government did not see fit to give the Border Patrol adequate resources to secure our borders, Kris and the other Rangers at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument assisted the outmanned and outgunned agents when they could. So you see, if the government had done its duty back then Ã…Â* my son might well be alive today."
The hearings were being held to review budget proposals for funding Border Patrol. The 9-11 Commission recommended last year that 2,000 Border Patrol agents be added each year over the next five years. In President Bush's 2006 budget, he recommends funding 210 new agents.
"After (Kris') murder, I have returned six times to that same area," Eggle said. "I have seen with my own eyes and experienced first-hand through my grief how our border was terribly broken then and still is now."
Eggle said he hoped his testimony would help drive home the magnitude of the problem at the U.S. borders. He said he was "outraged" that no federal office made a formal protest to the Mexican government after his son was killed.
"A federal officer was ambushed and killed and it didn't evoke any protest," Eggle said.
It would have been proper for the president or Secretary of State to protest to Mexico or Mexico's President Vicente Fox, Eggle said.
He said the United States are in World War III and that Iraq and Afghanistan are not major separate issues for the United States. "They are singular fronts in a much bigger issue. We are fighting a war."
During the testimony, Eggle pointed out the Border Patrol's record number of alien arrests and drug seizures made in 2004. But that only represents 10 to 15 percent of the total illegal traffic at the border, Eggle said.
"The magnitude is not what is interdicted, rather the huge number which gets through," Eggle said. "That is our challenge."
Adding more border patrol agents, even the 2,000 each year for the next five years called for in the Intel Reform bill, will not solve the problem, Eggle said.
"Practically speaking, recruiting, training and deploying these new border patrolmen will take years," Eggle testified.
"The need is now. Existing Federal Law Enforcement Officers, such as National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs are doing magnificent work to hold the line the best they can. Immediate augmentation of these agencies through Homeland Security would provide corrective action much more quickly."
Eggle also challenged members of the committee to visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument where he personally would give a tour.
Kris Eggle's Father Testifies in Immigration Hearing
For more information on Kris Eggle, see ALIPAC thread http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-482.html ... "Putting faces on victims of criminal illegal aliens"
__________________________________________________ __________
http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/20 ... news02.txt
Cadillac man testifies in immigration hearing
CADILLAC - Kris Eggle may be alive today if the government fully funded and equipped the Border Patrol, Bob Eggle said this week during testimony in Washington.
Eggle, whose son Kris was killed while working as National Park Service Ranger in Organ Pipe Cactus National Park on Aug. 9, 2002. Eggle testified before the Subcommittee on Immigration Border Security and Claims Oversight Hearing.
"On Aug. 9, 2002, my son made that supreme sacrifice in defending our country at our border. That was my personal 9-11," Eggle said. "You may be asking yourself why I am here testifying today Ã…Â* The (answer) is this: Because his government did not see fit to give the Border Patrol adequate resources to secure our borders, Kris and the other Rangers at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument assisted the outmanned and outgunned agents when they could. So you see, if the government had done its duty back then Ã…Â* my son might well be alive today."
The hearings were being held to review budget proposals for funding Border Patrol. The 9-11 Commission recommended last year that 2,000 Border Patrol agents be added each year over the next five years. In President Bush's 2006 budget, he recommends funding 210 new agents.
"After (Kris') murder, I have returned six times to that same area," Eggle said. "I have seen with my own eyes and experienced first-hand through my grief how our border was terribly broken then and still is now."
Eggle said he hoped his testimony would help drive home the magnitude of the problem at the U.S. borders. He said he was "outraged" that no federal office made a formal protest to the Mexican government after his son was killed.
"A federal officer was ambushed and killed and it didn't evoke any protest," Eggle said.
It would have been proper for the president or Secretary of State to protest to Mexico or Mexico's President Vicente Fox, Eggle said.
He said the United States are in World War III and that Iraq and Afghanistan are not major separate issues for the United States. "They are singular fronts in a much bigger issue. We are fighting a war."
During the testimony, Eggle pointed out the Border Patrol's record number of alien arrests and drug seizures made in 2004. But that only represents 10 to 15 percent of the total illegal traffic at the border, Eggle said.
"The magnitude is not what is interdicted, rather the huge number which gets through," Eggle said. "That is our challenge."
Adding more border patrol agents, even the 2,000 each year for the next five years called for in the Intel Reform bill, will not solve the problem, Eggle said.
"Practically speaking, recruiting, training and deploying these new border patrolmen will take years," Eggle testified.
"The need is now. Existing Federal Law Enforcement Officers, such as National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs are doing magnificent work to hold the line the best they can. Immediate augmentation of these agencies through Homeland Security would provide corrective action much more quickly."
Eggle also challenged members of the committee to visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument where he personally would give a tour.
