Thread: Rep. King still supports border fence

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs. ... 1/SPORTS07

Rep. King still supports border fence
Congressman from Iowa disagrees that project could cost $49 billion

By JANE NORMAN
REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU


January 13, 2007
12 Comments



Washington, D.C. - Rep. Steve King, R-Ia., continues to be an advocate for a border fence with Mexico approved by Congress, and Friday he rebuffed new government estimates that it could cost as much as $49 billion.

The price tag, as well as opposition from some Texans, has given rise to speculation that the fence approved in 2006 could be scrapped with Democrats now in control of Congress.

King and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said at a press conference that a recent Congressional Research Service report on the 700-mile, double-layer fence vastly overstated the potential cost.

"It's just a fence," Hunter said. "It's the kind of fence we build in every part of America every day."

The Dec. 12 report by the nonpartisan organization, a research arm for Congress, said that the Army Corps of Engineers predicts the cost for building and maintaining the fence over 25 years would be from $16.4 million to $70 million a mile, not including land acquisition or labor.

In contrast, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated border fencing would cost $3 million a mile, or about $2 billion overall.

The research service said there was little detail on what the budget office included in that estimate.

The fence was approved when Republicans were in charge of Congress although with many Democratic votes, and was the only product of a year of intense debate over illegal immigration.

It's not yet clear if Democrats will move to revoke the fence or block money for its construction, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., voted against it.

Every member of the Iowa delegation who was in office in 2006 backed the fence.

King, who has developed a fence model, said he worked in construction for many years before his election to Congress, and he sees no basis for the higher estimates. "Why the Corps of Engineers would put out a number like this, I can't comprehend," he said.

Hunter, who has announced he's running for president, said estimates of cost prepared for a congressional hearing last year by private contractors were much closer to the budget office estimate. He said the research service numbers were "pulled out of thin air by folks who were in the mindset of creating mission impossible."

He said the higher estimates were based in part on an earlier portion of fence constructed near San Diego that was much more costly because of lawsuits that had to be filed, and because of difficult terrain.

Maintenance would not be expensive, Hunter said. But the research service said the costs of fence maintenance could be higher than expected if significant portions of the border are fenced, thus reducing the number of areas where immigrants could cross the border and inviting attempts to breach the fence.

If this fence is not financed, I think we should organize a peaceful march in Washington!


Our physical appearance in mass numbers is neeeded it seems to get our message across it seems!

Our problem is funding..whose going to pay for security, permits, etc..all the stuff you need to make a protest legal.

Rockfish wrote:

Our problem is funding..whose going to pay for security, permits, etc..all the stuff you need to make a protest legal.

I believe there is an anti-illegal immigrant group that is planning such a march, but if I remember correctly we've been asked not to discuss it on ALIPAC.