[Page H11508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           SECURE OUR BORDERS

  (Mr. TANCREDO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, today we will be taking up the PATRIOT 
Act, the extension thereof, and it is important that we do so. It is 
important for the security of the country.
  It is ironic in a way that, as we address this issue and as we debate 
whether or not we need this kind of internal security mechanism in 
order to make Americans feel better about themselves and in fact 
provide that security, there is some irony if the fact that the 
perimeters, our borders, are as porous as they are and as undefended as 
they are.
  Tomorrow we will take up a bill that will hopefully begin to close 
those gaps also and begin to defend that perimeter, for without it 
having a PATRIOT Act is like putting a very expensive apparatus in your 
home to determine whether or not you have an invader inside the house 
while you are leaving your front and back doors wide open. That is the 
problem we have. Hopefully, it will be solved tomorrow with the bill we 
have before us, the Sensenbrenner bill, to begin the process of 
securing our border and securing our future.




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