Border Security Improvement Act (Introduced in House)
HR 4083 IH
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4083
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to construct a fence along the southern border of the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 19, 2005
Mr. GOODE (for himself, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Ms. FOXX, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. POE, Mr. CARTER, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. SESSIONS, and Mr. KING of Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to construct a fence along the southern border of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Border Security Improvement Act'.
SEC. 2. CONSTRUCTION OF FENCE ON SOUTHERN BORDER .
Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) is amended--
(1) by striking `Attorney General' each place such term appears and inserting `Secretary of Homeland Security';
(2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively;
(3) in subsection (b), by striking `subsection (d)),' and inserting `subsection (e)),'; and
(4) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
`(c) Construction of Fence on Southern Border -
`(1) IN GENERAL- In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for the construction of a fence along the entire southern border of the United States.
`(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000,000 to carry out paragraph (1).'.
HR 4083 IH
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4083
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to construct a fence along the southern border of the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 19, 2005
Mr. GOODE (for himself, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Ms. FOXX, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. POE, Mr. CARTER, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. SESSIONS, and Mr. KING of Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to construct a fence along the southern border of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Border Security Improvement Act'.
SEC. 2. CONSTRUCTION OF FENCE ON SOUTHERN BORDER .
Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) is amended--
(1) by striking `Attorney General' each place such term appears and inserting `Secretary of Homeland Security';
(2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively;
(3) in subsection (b), by striking `subsection (d)),' and inserting `subsection (e)),'; and
(4) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
`(c) Construction of Fence on Southern Border -
`(1) IN GENERAL- In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for the construction of a fence along the entire southern border of the United States.
`(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000,000 to carry out paragraph (1).'.
And let's not forget the $1.2 billion that were already appropriated for it in the Fiscal Year 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations bill.
Quick cost analysis:
5280 ft. * 700 mi = 3,696,000 ft. of fence.
Your diligent blogger went to http://www.fenceonline.com/ and acquired an estimate of what a 3969 ft. stretch of industrial strength, top of the line security fence would cost, with a driving gate. Note that one gate per less than a mile stretch is very generous to the government, such a thing would be ridiculous on average at the border.
Their estimate on the cost of this stretch of fence?
$511,342.
Extrapolate a bit. How much would a thousand of those stretches cost you to build?
Why yes, that would be $511,342,000.
What's that, you say? Five hundred eleven million dollars?
That's correct.
Isn't that less than a quarter of the three point two billion dollars that Congress has authorized for this fence project?
In fact, it's about a sixth of it.
Couldn't we be spending that three point two billion dollars somewhere that it would be more useful?
Of course we could.
So why are we building a fence?
Because we have elected spend-happy morons who want to implement simple solutions to difficult problems and grease the pockets of corporate friends.
Illegal immigration is a challenge that needs to be overcome, and this is not the way to do it.
We could spend three point two billion dollars on helping encourage Mexicans who want to come into the US to immigrate legally and on improving the immigration process, not greasing people's pockets. But God forbid we use our money sensibly. No, that would be asking too much of the 109th Congress, which may soon enough be remembered as The Worst Congress Ever.
Quick cost analysis:
5280 ft. * 700 mi = 3,696,000 ft. of fence.
Your diligent blogger went to http://www.fenceonline.com/ and acquired an estimate of what a 3969 ft. stretch of industrial strength, top of the line security fence would cost, with a driving gate. Note that one gate per less than a mile stretch is very generous to the government, such a thing would be ridiculous on average at the border.
Their estimate on the cost of this stretch of fence?
$511,342.
Extrapolate a bit. How much would a thousand of those stretches cost you to build?
Why yes, that would be $511,342,000.
What's that, you say? Five hundred eleven million dollars?
That's correct.
Isn't that less than a quarter of the three point two billion dollars that Congress has authorized for this fence project?
In fact, it's about a sixth of it.
Couldn't we be spending that three point two billion dollars somewhere that it would be more useful?
Of course we could.
So why are we building a fence?
Because we have elected spend-happy morons who want to implement simple solutions to difficult problems and grease the pockets of corporate friends.
Illegal immigration is a challenge that needs to be overcome, and this is not the way to do it.
We could spend three point two billion dollars on helping encourage Mexicans who want to come into the US to immigrate legally and on improving the immigration process, not greasing people's pockets. But God forbid we use our money sensibly. No, that would be asking too much of the 109th Congress, which may soon enough be remembered as The Worst Congress Ever.
