U.S. Reps Visit to Study Border Security Methods, Training
U.S. representatives visit to study border security methods and training
By Adriana Gómez Licón / El Paso Times
Posted: 01/31/2011 11:15:20 AM MST
At least four U.S. representatives will head to the border tonight to study border security methods and training, said the office of U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M.
Republican congressman Phil Gingrey, of Georgia, leads the delegation which includes Pearce and two other members of the House of Representatives. The congressmen will go to border areas around El Paso. They will visit the community center in Columbus, N.M., at noon on Tuesday for a public hearing with local ranchers and business owners. Afterward, they will visit Playas, N.M., to review training methods of U.S. Border Patrol officers.
"I want to help get beyond the beltway rhetoric of border security, and work toward solutions that reflect the complexity of the problem," said Pearce in a statement. "Lives are at stake on the border, and lives have already been lost."
Pearce called the response to the border situation "inadequate" and border security "weak." The congressmen will study firsthand issues such as drug and gun trafficking, his office said. Pearce said drug cartels present a threat to border areas that have seen rampant violence in the past few years.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17250147