Texas Insider Report
WASHINGTON D.C. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Science and Transportation Committee convened a meeting between Federal Aviation Administrator J. Randolph Babbitt and members of the Texas Congressional Delegation to push to allow unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to operate along the entire Texas border with Mexico.
At the meeting Administrator Babbitt committed to working closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to approve the use of UAVs along the entire Texas border before the end of the summer.
He also agreed to create a streamlined process so that future requests to expand UAV coverage in Texas and the rest of the nation can be approved much more quickly than has been experienced to date.
These flights are critical tools to help local state and federal law enforcement in their efforts to fight the drug cartel violence. I am pleased that the FAA has heard our concerns and is working with Customs and Border Protection to move forward and get these flights up and going along the Texas border. Coverage of Texas southern border must
be a priority" said Sen. Hutchison.
My message is clear and simple: the Obama Administration must make this a priority. Until they do I will continue to use all means at my disposal to protect our Texas border communities" said Sen. Cornyn.
A UAV program in Texas would help us combat the spectrum of 21st century threats facing our border" said Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) Chairman of the Subcommittee on Border Maritime and Global Counterterrorism.
There are 1200 plus miles of the nations southern border in Texas and this is one more tool we can use to assist our law enforcement on the ground. In the face of escalated violence across the Rio Grande this puts more eyes in the sky above our border. Our bipartisan commitment to this UAV program shows we have the political will in Washington to see this through" said Cuellar.
We need to get the resources committed including pilots and trained agents from Customs and Border Protection" Rep. Kay Granger (TX-12) said.
We cannot afford to wait for the violence to escalate even more for CBP to react. Border security is a bipartisan issue for Texas and I vow to make this a top priority with our entire delegation. We have to be clear with DHS and CBP that we will continue to hold their feet to the fire until they find existing resources that can be used to get a permanent UAV to Texas now" Granger said.
I would like to thank Senator Hutchison for her leadership on this issue. It was imperative that we clarify outstanding issues from the FAA. Deployment of UAVs and other resources to the border are essential to maintaining our safe communities. We cannot let bureaucracy be an impediment to securing our borders and I hope this meeting will help our agents on the front lines get the tools they need much quicker" said Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23).
