WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10), the lead Republican on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism, today heard testimony on steps to enhance DHS’ efforts to disrupt alien smuggling and violent drug cartels at our Southwest border. Invited to testify in the hearing’s panel was Terry Goddard, Attorney General for the state of Arizona. The Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, also submitted her written testimony on the threat Arizona is facing and the steps they are taking to protect its citizens. In less than a week, the new Arizona law will come into effect to deal with the violence, capture and prosecution those who are crossing the border illegally, as well as threatening our nation’s citizens. Congresswoman Miller made the following comments:

“The first and foremost responsibility of the federal government is to provide for our national defense and along the southern border the federal government is failing miserably in that responsibility. The dire violent situation along our nation’s Southwest border is ongoing and only getting worse and the citizens of Arizona are bearing the brunt of the violence. Mexican drug gangs and human smugglers act with near impunity in parts of Arizona because local law enforcement is out manned and out gunned. There are some places in Arizona where signs are posted informing American citizens that they may not enter certain areas because they are literally under the control of foreign criminals. Our nation has been focused on the War on Terror that is ongoing in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, and rightly so; at the same time, we must not forget that we must first defend our homeland. The state of Arizona is doing what they can to combat these threats, but the time has come for the federal government to take bold action to re-establish control over our own territory and defend the security of our nation.

“Local law enforcement officers have stated time and again that they simply cannot handle this situation on their own and need help. Law enforcement officers have been killed and others have been threatened to be killed by the drug gangs if they tried to do their jobs. Many in local law enforcement have asked for military units to be sent to Arizona to assist in defeating the heavily armed and violent foreign criminals. Congress and the Administration must give serious consideration to this request and take any appropriate legislative action needed to assist in the defense of our territory and the security of our citizens.

“Congress should now consider a new classification of these drug traffickers and human smugglers and come to a new understanding that this is no longer simply a law enforcement problem because what we face today is an organized and heavily armed foreign enemy acting on American soil which threatens our sovereignty and security. This nation would never allow the army of a foreign government to occupy our land and threaten the security of our citizens, and should not allow private foreign armies to do just that.”

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