mr. chairman , i thank my colleague for yielding me this time . 
and i appreciate his bringing this amendment to the floor , and i support it . 
it is absolutely critical that we secure our borders . 
those of us who live in arizona know that our borders are simply not secure . 
arizona has become a doormat for illegal aliens . 
there are thousands and thousands that are apprehended every week and thousands more who are not apprehended . 
they slip through . 
the cost to arizona is considerable . 
now , i happen to believe , along with my colleague , that we need comprehensive immigration reform that has to be part of our long-term plan . 
but in the interim , we certainly need to do some things , and this amendment goes a long way toward doing them . 
we need vulnerability and threat assessments . 
dhs needs to see what kind of technology , what kind of personnel and equipment is going to be needed . 
all of us have viewed over the past couple of years the new technologies in land surveillance , surface surveillance , and they are promising . 
they are things that can be done that are not being done . 
we need a good assessment and recommendations made for us to follow through on . 
we have aerial work that is being done ; not enough , more surveillance is needed there . 
also , this amendment calls for increased communications , better communications between those on the ground and those of us here as policymakers and those who implement the policy . 
we simply need better information to be able to have recommendations that we can follow up on . 
we have , obviously , limited resources at our disposal . 
we need to make sure that they are employed in the best way possible , and this amendment will go a long way toward ensuring that . 
again , i commend the gentleman from arizona for bringing this forward , and the chairman for insisting that this bill be brought forward . 
