Remember that 700-mile border fence that Congress just approved? Well, don't hold your breath waiting for it to get built.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-San Antonio and a key liaison to the White House on immigration, said Tuesday that 700 miles of fencing approved by Congress will probably not be built because of a lack of money and other practical considerations. "It's one thing to authorize. It's another thing to actually appropriate the money and do it," he told reporters.
Cornyn predicted that some fencing would be built as part of a comprehensive strategy that includes more Border Patrol agents, more technology, more detention facilities and various physical barriers."There's different kinds of fencing ... there's the old fence post and barbed wire, and then there’s the virtual fence which is a combination of physical barriers, people, and technology and I think, in the end, that will probably be how this is addressed," he said.
Cornyn added that 700 miles of fencing would not solve the problem of illegal immigration because it would still leave about 1,300 miles of unfenced border.
"I'm not sure that’s the most practical use of that money," he said.
[...]
Cornyn defended the Senate vote for the fencing, saying that it was an important symbolic gesture to show that Congress is serious about protecting the border.
Thanks to South Texas Chisme for the link.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on October 04, 2006 to National news | TrackBackJohn Cornyn is simply amazing. He says a fence that will not be built is an important symbol.
Of what?
Of our (that is, the Republicans in charge of our government)inability to do anything about illegal immigration?
This reminds me of the time not so long ago that Cornyn voted for some pork-laden appropriations bill and then asked the president to veto it - true story.
Posted by: Dennis on October 4, 2006 4:56 PM
Does Cornyn not read the legislation he is voting for? That may be OK when the legislation does not affect his constituents, but this fence is being built IN TEXAS!!! The legislation specifically says it will be a two layer metal fence with a road in the middle so that the Border Patrol can drive inside of it, and that it will run from Laredo to Brownsville. A piece will also be built around Del Rio.
If I may vent for a minute, this fence will destroy four state parks, Falcon (in Zapata), and three smaller parks that are part of the recently established World Birding Center, BUT BOTH TEXAS SENATORS VOTED FOR IT!
This fence will require the seizure of hundreds, maybe thousands of acres of land and the destruction and removal of homes, businesses, and city parks throughout the lower Rio Grande, BUT BOTH TEXAS SENATORS VOTED FOR IT!
This fence will be built along the banks of the Rio Grande, causing massive environmental damage and erosion, and further threatening the only water supply for millions of Texans that live along the Rio Grande, BUT BOTH TEXAS SENATORS VOTED FOR IT!
Farmers and ranchers who depend on the Rio Grande to water their crops and cattle will now be cut off from the river, BUT BOTH TEXAS SENATORS VOTED FOR IT!
Finally, since you can't build a fence across the mouth of a creek, gully, or washout, the fence will have to have HUNDREDS OF HUGE OPENINGS so that the water can flow through. And, of course, since the fence will have to be built in the floodplain, the next time there is a major Rio Grande flood or the next time a hurricane goes right up the Rio Grande Valley, huge sections of this billion dollar exercise in stupidity will be washed away, BUT BOTH TEXAS SENATORS VOTED FOR IT!
Ahhh. I feel a little better.
Posted by: Chito on October 4, 2006 6:11 PMWow, Chito. I must admit I haven't really been following this and don't know the border region but your post is enough to make me completely enraged.
Posted by: Kent from Waco on October 4, 2006 8:21 PM