I am just as interested in national security as the next guy. By the next guy I am referring to Mr. Cory Swanson. Mr. Swanson’s guest column in the May 23 Beacon, “Security Bill Needed to Protect Northern Border,” was long on praising Congressman Denny Rehberg but short on details of HR1505, the bill Mr. Rehberg is a sponsor of. Mr. Swanson states, “Denny Rehberg has already seen the danger and has led the way in securing our borders. He has spoken with the experts and he knows America is vulnerable because the remote and environmentally protected forests are off limits to national security patrols. They make the ideal smuggling route and entrance for international terrorists.” What a load.
HR1505 allows for the building of roads along the border that allow for vehicle patrols. Can you imagine how much money these roads would cost to build and then maintain? I ask you, which would be easier for terrorists to travel, nice new roads along our borders that connect to highways and towns or by foot travel carrying any equipment on their backs through our rugged roadless wildlands? Did Denny Rehberg ask any of you for creative solutions to border security before he signed on to the next boondoggle? He didn’t ask me. If he had, I would have suggested something more practical. Save all of us the money for roads that would be engineering nightmares. I suggest that the Border Patrol hire and outfit our returning soldiers trained in combat, camouflage and surveillance to patrol our wild borderlands on foot or horseback. I bet we could employ a company of returning veterans for decades for less than it would cost just to build the roads. Now that would be border protection I would be happy to pay for.
Edwin Fields
Whitefish