Just When I Think The Administration Is Beginning To Awaken...

[Annie]

You can see the letter at site:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3943005

Article Launched: 6/16/2006 12:00 AM
Bush declines to meet with border officials
Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Bush snubs border sheriffs President refuses to meet coalition as lawmakers prepare hearings

Sara A. Carter Staff Writer

President Bush has refused to meet with border law enforcement officials from Texas for a second time. His response to their request came in the form of a letter Monday, angering both lawmakers and sheriffs.


• PDF Download: Read the White House letter
In fact, some Republican members of Congress, upset by what they call the administration's seeming lack of concern for border security, are preparing to hold investigative hearings in San Diego and Laredo, Texas, early next month.

Members of the House subcommittee on international terrorism and nonproliferation hope to expose serious security flaws that could potentially lead to terrorist attacks in the country, said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who is a member of the panel and has pushed for the hearings.

"The next terrorist is not going to come in through (Transportation Security Administration) screening at Kennedy airport," Poe said. "We already have information that people from the Middle East have come through the border from Mexico. They assimilate in Mexico learning to speak Spanish and adopt customs and then they cross the border into the United States."

Poe requested the meeting for members of the Southwestern Sheriffs' Border Coalition -- a group that includes all 26 border county sheriffs from California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. The sheriffs wanted to speak to the president about the increasing dangers in their communities and along the border.

"The president is the busiest man in the world but he needs to take the time to talk to the border sheriffs and learn what's happening in the real world from them," Poe said. "We can't understand why he refuses to meet with them."

In May, all of the Republican House members from Texas traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet the president regarding border security. Bush did not meet with them, however, and former White House spokesman Scott McClellan was sent in his stead.

Poe said the White House letter dated Monday showed the disconnect between the administration and the American people who want the border secured.

"The president would appreciate the opportunity to visit with border sheriffs," said the White House letter written by La Rhonda M. Houston, deputy director of the Office of Appointments and Scheduling. "Regrettably, it will not be possible for us to arrange such a meeting. I know that you understand with the tremendous demands of the president's time, he must often miss special opportunities, as is the case this time."

White House spokesman David Almacy did not directly respond to the sheriffs' comments Thursday evening, but spoke of the president's efforts to support all law enforcement agencies.

"President Bush is committed to ensuring that our nation's borders are secure," Almacy said. "This month, 6,000 National Guard members were deployed to assist the Border Patrol and other inter-agency partners. The president has also increased federal funding that will give state and local authorities the specialized training needed to help federal officers apprehend and detain illegal immigrants."

Rick Glancey, spokesman for the sheriffs coalition, said its members are angry and disappointed in the president's response. Glancey said Bush's recent tour of the border with Border Patrol spokesmen did not reflect the reality of what locals live with every day.

"It's a slap in the face to the hardworking men and women on the front lines of rural America who every day engage in border security issues," Glancey said. "He missed the opportunity to take off his White House cowboy boots and put some real cowboy boots on, and walk in our shoes for a few minutes."

The border hearings will expose the truth to the American public and force the administration to take a serious look at the border, said Alan Knapp, Poe's legislative director.

Knapp and Poe have traveled twice to the border this year, spending time along barren stretches where they witnessed no security and numerous migrants crossing into the United States, they said.

"We need to expose the lack of border security before it is too late," Poe said. "We're fighting a war on terror in Iraq, and we're winning, but we're losing our own border war. These hearings will be a necessary step in the right direction."

Andy Ramirez, chairman of the Chino-based Friends of the Border Patrol, said he has been called to testify before the panel in San Diego. Ramirez said he has turned in two years of Border Patrol documents and memos, which he will discuss before the committee.

"The president has basically pushed his whole administration's agenda toward the war on terror yet he can't find the time to meet with law enforcement leaders responsible for border security," Ramirez said. "It is appalling and outrageous that the war on terror and border security does not extend to the U.S. border."

 

[dilloduck]

You can see the letter at site:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3943005

Another flurry of partisan rhetoric squelched by some token activity. The concern over our borders by nearly everyone in DC is underwhelming.

 

[Annie]

Another flurry of partisan rhetoric squelched by some token activity. The concern over our borders by nearly everyone in DC is underwhelming.

Glad to hear that fact. How so?

 

[dilloduck]

Glad to hear that fact. How so?

Is there some border legislation that has passed that I'm unaware of? Some great comprehensive plan ?

 

[Annie]

Is there some border legislation that has passed that I'm unaware of? Some great comprehensive plan ?

Hmm, I was responding to your response of my post.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Kat. The border issue is a populist issue. "calm down". Closing the borders is "not a good idea".

 

[dmp]

Interesting...

 

[Bullypulpit]

And you really expected Dubbyuh, or the Republicans, to actually do anything? After all, there are earth-shaking issues like banning same-gender marriage and flag desecration to be decided.

It's all a piece, and a desperate GOP is leaving no stone unturned to distract voters from the real problems affecting us all...like immigration, the war in Iraq, fair taxation, the budget deficit, stagnant wages, etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseum.