Officers face in carrying out their missions to secure our nations border. Before i begin i would like to start with a moment of silence. Border patrol agent martinez killed in the line of duty last year in texas. I recognize myself. Agents and officers of u. S. Customs and Border Protection work every day to secure our nation often in rugged terrain in remote areas far away from the amenities of modern life and exposed to blistering heat of the arizona desert and the brutal cold in places like montana. Working at the nations ports of entry the men and women are the driving force behind our Border Security operations. The nation and is fortunate they are willing to endure hardship to make sure the border is secure. Agents willing to take risks on every shift to ensure that cartels cannot smuggle drugs cannot smuggle through our ports is dangerous work. Some of them have the potential to kill or cause grave bodily harm. A few weeks ago an agent in san diego was patrolling the border on
Duty last year in texas. And now i recognize myself for opening statement. Border protection work every single day to secure our nation. Often in rugged terrain, sometimes in very remote areas, far away from the amenities of modern life. They are exposed to blistering heat of the arizona desert and brutal cold like montana. They are the driving force behind our Border Security operations. Nation is for nate they atunate this. Not smuggle drugs and dangerous individuals through our ports of entry. It is dangerous work. Made more dangerous because agents are subject to frequent assaults. Some of them have the potential to kill or cause brave bodily harm. Just a few weeks ago an agent in san diego was patrolling the border on allterrain vehicle when he was struck in the chess by a rock. Thankfully the agent released from the hospital and will recover. But this type of assault is far from an anomaly. Many other agents seriously injured by rocks thrown over the fence. On the screens to the
Congress. President trumps date of the Union Address, tuesday at five on cspan. Live on the free cspan radio and alive on your tablet at cspan. Org. The Senate Permanent subcommittee on investigation held a hearing yesterday on how drug traffickers get opioid and other drugs through the us postal system. Witnesses at the hearing from work from the state department and Border Protection, Drug Enforcement administration and immigration and Customs Enforcement. This hearing will come to order. Thank you all for being here. Todays hearing continues the permit subcommittee on investigations work to combat the Opioid Epidemic that is ripping our communities across the country. The last congress subcommittee issued a bipartisan report on opioid related fraud and abuse in the Medicare Part b program. This Congress Committee held a hearing on the growing problem of individuals by illicit opioids over the internet and shipping them to the United States through the mail. The Opioid Crisis sadly c
Testify about technologies theyre using to secure the nations borders, including efforts to combat drug smuggling. The committee on Homeland Security subcommittee on border and Maritime Security will come to order. The subcommittee is meeting today to examine the role of technology in the nations Border Security efforts. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Border security is a complicated endeavor, because theres no one size fits all solution. Thinking through what it will take to secure the border is the primary responsibility of the three agencies represented by our witnesses today. Border patrol is our Operational Force between the ports of industry, cbps office of Field Operations job is to facilitate legitimate trade and travel while keeping illicit drugs from entering, air and marine is the supporting element. All three of these critical Border Security components rely heavily on technology to accomplish their mission. Indeed, technology is a Crucial Force multiplier
The subcommittee on National Security will come to order. The chair is authorized to declare a recess tnt. A core attribute of sovereignty is maintaining control over national boundaries, yet over years weve witnessed 2 failure to secure our southern border. This has allowed illicit amounts of narcotics to come into the country. This has had bad effects. It is time to secure the border. A central issue of the president s 2006 campaign was the promise to build an impenetrable physical tall powerful beautiful southern border wall. The administration is taking stems to fulfill that promise and the subcommittee on National Security is closely monitoring this process. The president issued an executive order on january 25th at the department of Homeland Security to the take all appropriate steps to immediately plan, design and construct the physical wall along the southern border. On march 17th, there were two proposals for prototype designs for fulfilling the task set forth in the order. No