Posted: Wednesday, May 13, 2015 8:46 am

By the Sierra Vista Herald



Washington politicians talk a good game about improving border security, but when it comes time to actually do something about it, the willingness to act is lacking.

That statement became abundantly clear last Thursday when Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain ran into opposition on legislation that would give U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents more access to federal land.

Access to federal land? It would be logical to assume that agents employed by Uncle Sam would have the authority to go where they need to go to accomplish what needs to be done to secure the interests of these United States.

But in the convoluted world of bureaucracy and overlapping authorities, the ability of these federal agents to traverse land on the American side of the international boundary with Mexico is limited by regulations that are intended to protect wildlife habitats and nature’s landscape.

Unfortunately, as Sen. McCain pointed out to fellow members of the Homeland Security Committee, Mexican smugglers and cartel criminals are not bound by these regulations and go wherever is necessary to escape the long arm of the law. If that means driving through the wilderness and destroying property and habitats, so be it.

In his support for the legislation, McCain said the federal agents would be able to establish motorized patrols and set up equipment to improve surveillance and communication. Further, he argued that the change would improve the security of agents who are doing these patrols, because current limitations mean if people are injured “in the field,” it can take hours just to reach the person when motorized vehicles can’t be used.

After years of visits to the border by Washington politicians; years of rhetoric on the need to fix border security; years of promises to local ranchers and constituents, it would seem that this minor change in federal law would be a “no-brainer” that both sides of the political aisle would quickly enact – perhaps even embarrassed that it hasn’t already been done.

Nope.

Democrats from Montana, North Dakota and Delaware objected and the legislation barely passed the committee by voice-vote, indicating it will face a difficult path to be approved by Congress.

Montana Sen. Jon Tester said he couldn’t support the legislation because it “… allows one agency to do whatever they want.”

Maybe so, but in the case of this example of idiocy of federal behavior, it’s better than doing nothing.

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