Senate Likes Idea of Border Fence -- But Not Paying for It
by Chad Groening
July 17, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Colorado congressman who has led the charge to reform America's immigration policy says the battle to build a fence along a section of the U.S.-Mexico border is not over, even though the Senate recently pulled the plug on its funding.In May, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly (83-16) approved a bill to construct a triple-layer fence along a 370-mile stretch of the nation's southern border. But last week, by an almost equally overwhelming margin (71-29), the Senate rejected an amendment by Senator Jeff Sessions to fund the structure. The measure would have authorized $1.8 billion to pay for the fencing.
Following the amendment's defeat, Sessions -- sponsor of the bill approved in May -- commented to The Washington Times: "We do a lot of talking. We do a lot of legislating. The things we do often sound very good, but we never quite get there."
Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado chairs the House Immigration Reform Caucus. He says he is not surprised at the Senate's latest action on the illegal immigration issue. He suggests that the Senate really does not want to put any fences along the border -- and neither does President Bush.
"The President has stated categorically, there will be no fence -- he actually said that. So trying to get it built is going to be difficult," Tancredo acknowledges. "But there are appropriations bills that we can try to attach things to, and that battle's not over with yet. Believe me, there are things we can do and that we're going to do to try to get that fence built."
The Colorado lawmaker is impressed that some people simply taking the matter into their own hands. "[S]ome people are doing it themselves -- privately, on private land, building a fence," he notes. "It's amazing, and God bless them."
The Washington Times notes that the May vote simply authorized the fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers, which it points out on Capitol Hill is a different matter from approving the federal expenditures needed to build it.
One group advocating for construction of a border fence estimates the cost per mile of a multi-layer state-of-the-art border fence -- similar to the ones constructed in Israel (in Gaza and the West Bank) -- would range from $1 million to $3.7 million. The group, Let Freedom Ring, notes that even at the upper end, that would total less than $8 billion -- roughly the cost of four B-2 bombers.
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
