mr. chairman , i yield myself of such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , i thank the chairman of the full committee for indulging me with this amendment . 
this amendment was legislation which was introduced by several of us that represent border districts last year as a freestanding bill . 
it is now incorporated here in this bill , or parts of it at least are incorporated in this bill . 
i think it is entirely consistent with the goals of h.r. 418 , because a key component of securing our borders is increasing technology and communication along the border regions . 
h.r. 418 is a bill about securing our homeland , and this amendment is a perfect complement to the vision of this very important legislation offered by the gentleman from wisconsin . 
arizona has become a doormat for illegal immigrants . 
they pour across our porous border every day . 
in fact , there are more apprehensions of illegal immigrants in arizona than the entire rest of the border combined . 
many portions of the arizona border are large and unpopulated desolate desert areas . 
they are hard to patrol and difficult to monitor . 
in these areas and all along the border it is essential to advance ground technologies in order to officially understand and stop those who come through this back door to our nation . 
my amendment to h.r. 418 requires the department of homeland security , working through the field offices of the bureau of customs and border protection , to get the technology , the equipment and the personnel needed to address security of our borders . 
furthermore , the amendment requires that the department of homeland security carry out ground surveillance programs that will improve border security . 
while the national intelligence reform act of 2004 designed a plan to enhance ground surveillance on the northern border , a similar program was not designed for the southern border . 
improvements to ground technologies are absolutely essential in the large expanses of desert and unpopulated lands along the southern border . 
finally , this amendment requires the department of homeland security to improve communications and information sharing with federal , state and tribal government agencies . 
the various agencies with jurisdiction over the southern border must be able to communicate . 
this is particularly a problem in arizona , because more than half of the entire border is covered by tribal organizations , tribal units , sovereign tribal nations who are not generally covered by most of the federal legislation we have on telecommunication sharing . 
having customs agents unable to communicate with border patrol agents or with the policemen from the tohono o'odham nation around the same port of entry is really quite ridiculous . 
this portion of the amendment addresses problems with the use of incompatible communications technologies and requires that the department of homeland security rectify this situation . 
the amendment builds on the sentiment , it builds on the intention of h.r. 418 , and through its enhancement of homeland security helps to ensure the safety and defense of our nation . 
i think it will be a step , perhaps a small step , but one of the very important steps along our southern border to helping improve the technology and our ability to secure that southern border . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
