TEXAS BORDER MEMBERS RESPOND TO GOVERNOR PERRY ON BORDER FUNDING
Written by admin, May 11, 2010, 0 Comments
Courtesy Ashley Patterson,
Homeland Security Grant Program Important to Border Security
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Ciro D. Rodriguez (TX-23), Congressman Silvestre Reyes (TX-16), Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Congressman Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15) and Congressman Solomon Ortiz (TX-27) released the following statement in response to Governor Rick Perry in light of state reports which indicate that Texas directs less than ten percent of homeland security grant funding to the border region each year.
“Governor Perry’s own rhetoric indicates that he considers the border a critically sensitive area. We agree. Yet, Governor Rick Perry has disputed some clear-cut facts about border security funding. He contends that the federal government has failed in its duty to fund sufficient resources and secure our homeland along the Texas border.
“We agree that more can and should be done, and that takes partners across all levels of government. We’ve worked – often across party lines – to make sure this region receives what it needs, including supporting a recent bill introduced by Sen. John Cornyn and supported by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to increase grant money for border law enforcement.
“But we’re constrained by regulations that give the Governor discretion on how to spend some of that money. Last month, we formally called upon the Governor to send more federal funds given to the state to the border. We noted that an average of $125 million annually in Department of Homeland Security funding has gone to the state since 2006. And yet, Governor Perry has consistently sent less than 10 percent of those funds to border law enforcement agencies, where they are most needed. We will call upon the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an analysis detailing how much federal funding given to the state has been allocated to the border.
“Collectively, we have 65 years of experience representing the border region. We understand the needs and challenges that life on the border brings. We agree that more can be done, but we cannot do it alone. And we need to deal in facts, not myths.”
