Pubdate: Fri, 11 June 1999 Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Fresno Bee Contact: http://www.fresnobee.com/ HOUSE APPROVES TROOPS TO BATTLE BORDER DRUGS WASHINGTON - Setting aside Pentagon concerns, House lawmakers Thursday approved a measure allowing the deployment of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border for anti-drug and counterterrorism operations. On a 242-181 vote, the House endorsed an amendment offered by Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, to the $288.8 billion defense authorization bill. The measure would authorize the Defense Department, at the request of the attorney general or treasury secretary, to dispatch troops to assist the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Customs Service in their border drug interdiction and counterterrorism activities. "The number one security threat facing America, the weak link, is our border," said Traficant, a former sheriff and drug counselor. But critics termed the amendment, opposed by the Defense Department, as unnecessary and ill-advised. "The evidence is overwhelming: Our military is stretched to the breaking point," said Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind. Instead of dispatching armed soldiers untrained in civilian law enforcement tactics to the border, Rep. Silvestre Reyes said Congress should provide more funds for federal law enforcement. "We need more Border Patrol agents, we need more Customs inspectors and we need more INS inspectors," said Reyes, D-El Paso, who was a Border Patrol sector chief before coming to Congress. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, another former sheriff, also opposed the provision. "We are painfully aware that drugs are coming across the border," said Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi. "But the answer to that problem is to increase the Border Patrol staff along the border, not reinforce it with troops trained to shoot to kill." Although Traficant has secured House approval each year since 1997, the measure has fallen short of becoming law because the Senate has not taken similar action. House negotiators have failed to press their position during final negotiations with their Senate counterparts during past conference committees - to Traficant's dismay. "I want some support in the conference," Traficant shouted during the debate. "This is the House of Representatives. Show some backbone." Reyes predicted the measure would suffer a similar fate this year. I am confident that this provision will be taken out of the bill in conference committee," Reyes said. Always controversial, the issue of troops on the border became even more polarized with the 1997 shooting death of 18-year-old Esequiel Hernandez Jr. during a Marine Corps surveillance mission gone awry near Redford, Texas. Following the outcry over Hernandez's death, the Pentagon suspended its anti-drug surveillance operations along the border. The Defense Department expressed no desire to expand its border-related activities. The Pentagon opposed Traficant's amendment, saying it would provide "no corresponding military benefit." Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter represents two California counties that share the border with Mexico - Imperial and San Diego. He said the troops could help an overburdened Border Patrol and Customs Service by performing vehicle maintenance, clerical duties and transporting illegals to Mexico or U.S. jails. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D