Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I want to show the American people what a typical day looks like for a law enforcement officer on the southern border. This is the result of an arrest that took place in Nuevo Laredo and this is what the sheriffs are facing. This is what our Border Patrol is facing: 40 millimeter grenade launchers, 12 of them captured; 10,000 rounds of ammunition; 40 AK-47 rifles. These are carried by individuals, paramilitary commandos, who are trained to kill anybody who stops and attempts to intercept them.

These are 40 millimeter grenades that are taped up with adhesive tape designed to be put on top of a warm engine, and as the glue softens, the tape comes off and the grenade explodes. This is a sniper rifle carried by the narcoterrorist commandos that shoots around corners. It has a television screen and a silencer on it.

This is the level of sophistication of these people that our sheriffs are facing. These narcoterrorists are so bold, Mr. Chairman, and the lawlessness is so pervasive on the border that the narcoterrorists have set up, according to the FBI, at least one narcoterrorist training camp outside of Matamoros operating in the open, run by the Zetas to train gun runners, human smugglers, smugglers who pay cash, who keep their mouths shut. They can go to this training camp outside of Matamoros and they will be carried into the United States. There may be three others operating just across the river from the United States in the open.

This is a law and order issue that the United States must deal with through our locally elected law enforcement officials and the Border Patrol.

I thank the chairman for bringing this bill to the House.

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© 2005 Brenda Walker All rights reserved.