Letter to my Senators about the border

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#1 Letter to my Senators about the border

Post by Commander »

Maybe by not putting it in the divisive terms the media wants to focus on, I can get it through to the two knucklehead Senators from Ohio that we need a strong southern border.

Here's the message I sent to the contact forms on their web pages:
Whether or not you support our president, you should support the people protecting and guarding our borders.
A whole generation was taught, to our peril, to hate our military men and women in the sixties. We now look back at that time with regret and guilt. Let's not repeat history, let's learn from it. Support our border agents and ICE agents in keeping these United States safe. Give them the infrastructure, tools and funds they are asking us for so that they can do their job.

Make it in support of our fellow Americans doing a tough job on the border, not what the President wants.
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#2 Re: Letter to my Senators about the border

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Senator Brown's reply:
Dear Mr. Herman:



Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me regarding border security.



The President's decision to attempt to circumvent Congress and take funding away from our military to redirect it toward building a border wall - a wall President Trump has repeatedly stated Mexico would pay for - is reckless and irresponsible. It's why myself and Senator Portman voted with a broad bipartisan majority in the Senate to terminate President Trump's declaration. The President's fearmongering tactics to justify his waste of taxpayer dollars only serve to demonize immigrants. If the President cared about improving border security, he would not have led a government shutdown that cut-off pay for over a month to the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents who work hard to secure our borders.



Illegal border crossings are at their lowest levels in decades, and the vast majority of dangerous drugs like fentanyl and cocaine, are not smuggled across the border; those drugs are shipped to the United States through legal ports of entry. I led bipartisan efforts in 2018 to pass the INTERDICT Act, which provided Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents with high-tech tools to help them safely detect and identify dangerous illegal drugs being smuggled through our mail and border checkpoints. I also supported legislation that provides $15 billion for CBP, including funds to hire 1,200 new officers, obtain vehicle scanners at ports of entry, and provide opioid detection devices at mail facilities.



I have always supported strong border security, and I know that the most effective way to secure our border is to use the latest technology we have available - like cameras and ground sensors - that can protect our border better than a wall, while saving taxpayers money. I helped secure $100 million for new border security technology in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019, and have always supported investments in technological border security options.



Our immigration system is broken. We need a bipartisan solution that recognizes we aren't going to deport 13 million people here already, but we can secure our borders and create a pathway for people to earn citizenship if they follow the law, have a job and pay taxes. In 2018, I voted in support of bipartisan legislation that would have secured our borders, expanded construction for ports of entry, and created a pathway to citizenship for those brought to this country as children, through no fault of their own. Unfortunately, the proposals failed to reach the required 60 votes to advance in the Senate.



In 2013, I voted for common-sense legislation to increase family based visas, boost the number of border agents, increase surveillance technology, and deter illegal immigration. I worked with both Republicans and Democrats to pass that legislation through the Senate. Unfortunately, it did not pass the House and failed to become law.



Congress must work to pass a meaningful solution for our broken immigration system. I believe we can implement commonsense reforms to strengthen our border without compromising the values that make our country great.



Should any legislation regarding the Presidents' power to declare national emergencies come before the Senate, I will keep your thoughts in mind.



Sincerely,



Sherrod Brown

United States Senator
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#3 Re: Letter to my Senators about the border

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My response:

Dear Senator Brown

I am sincerely sorry to hear that you think the "most effective way to secure our border is to use the latest technology we have available". While these are definitely tools we can use to help, they are not the "most effective" way. Don't ask me, or even the president, ask those who guard our country. Technology must be backed up by man power, otherwise it is useless. Also technology requires electricity and is susceptible to weather and other issues. Let's be real here. As a one time Professional Land Surveyor (retired) for the Great state of Ohio, I have performed many surveys for people putting up fences to protest their property, family and possessions. As a current resident of the City of Cleveland, I see how people in "bad areas" especially protect there property by fences and other physical barriers, not just monitoring and alarm systems. These fences and barriers become a asset to the property and can last a long time after the original installation. The property value increases. Let's be real again, are these fences and barriers going to stop all intrusions? No, and even with back up systems we won't be able to keep all intruders out. Nothing, however, gives you a 24/7/365 head start like a wall or fence. It's just common sense.

I believe the President, has attempted to work with congress in good faith. He sees what many in this country, and in the State you represent, see. That a lot of individuals from other parts of this world would like to take advantage of the benefits given to legal residents of this country. You, and your fellow congressmen (past and present), have given away your power so that a president can use it in a legal way to try and resolve issues you have turned your backs to. Can it be abused? yes. Is it being abused in this case? maybe, but I and some legal authorities believe not. Unfortunately, it will probably end up in the courts and more . But you know all that.

Unfortunately, the wife is calling me to dinner, so I must leave off here for now.

Please consider supporting a physical barrier, in the end run it will be cheaper and more effective than "technology" and I like politicians who think about the people paying for the government.

Sincerely,

Bernard J. Herman Ohio RLS 8036 (retired)
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#4 Re: Letter to my Senators about the border

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I take it, " Sherrod Brown, United States Senator" is code for ASSHAT! :evil:
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#5 Re: Letter to my Senators about the border

Post by bernomatic »

I just love how the politicians turn an idea aside to answer the question they want to answer.
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#6 Re: Letter to my Senators about the border

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Senator Portman's response:
Dear Bernard,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the president’s national emergency declaration. I wanted to get back to you right away and tell you how I voted and why. I strongly support the President’s plan at the border, but want to do it without the bad precedent of an emergency declaration. I voted in favor of the resolution of disapproval.

I do believe we have a crisis at our border—a humanitarian crisis, a trafficking crisis, and a drug crisis. I support fully funding the plan that the president outlined. The $5.7 billion that the President requested for walls and other barriers funds the top 10 priorities of the Border Security Improvement Plan identified by the government’s border security experts.

The good news is that he can access these funds without invoking the national emergency. Congress provided the president with $1.375 billion for the wall. He also can use $601 million from the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. Furthermore, the Defense appropriations bill allows him to transfer up to $4 billion for counter-narcotics programs which can be used for barriers and fencing. In total, he has access to almost $6 billion to fund his border plan without declaring a national emergency. That surpasses the $5.7 billion he requested on January 6, 2019.

Declaring a national emergency to access different funds sets a dangerous new precedent. This use of national emergency powers to circumvent Congress’s explicit decision on funding is unprecedented. No president has ever used the National Emergencies Act in this way. As a result, it opens the door for future presidents to implement just about any policy they want, and take funding from other areas Congress has decided on, without Congress’s approval.

Once a president declares an emergency, he or she has access to nearly unlimited power. A future president could seize industries or can control means of communication—like the internet. A future president may well say that climate change is a national emergency and use emergency authorities to implement the Green New Deal. Future presidents could use this authority to tear down the very wall we are now constructing – and some Democrats running for president have said that’s what they want to do.

The President is using the National Emergencies Act to take funds away from military construction projects, placing funding at risk for NASIC at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, an automated multipurpose machine gun range at Camp James A. Garfield, a fire station replacement at Mansfield Lahm Airport, a small arms range at Rickenbacker International Airport, and a main gate relocation project at Youngstown Air Reserve Station. Only twice before have presidents declared a national emergency in order to transfer military construction funds away from their congressionally-designated projects to other priorities. In both of those situations, we were at war, and the Secretary of Defense transferred the funds to support the war effort and Congress did not object.

I have worked on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. I know how hard it can be for presidents and Congress to find the balance between the executive and legislative branches. Our government has a system of checks and balances. It gives some powers to the president, and some powers to Congress. But our founders drew a clear line on one thing: Congress, closest to the people, would have the power of the purse. Each one of us in this body has sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. And to uphold that oath, I voted for the resolution disapproving the emergency declaration.

Again, thank you for contacting me on this issue. This was a very important vote, and your input meant a lot to me as I made my decision.


Sincerely,

Rob Portman
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#7 Re: Letter to my Senators about the border

Post by Joe Wooten »

You were a LOT more polite in your reply than I would have been.

I would have repeated every line in his reply and followed it by a one word reply - LIAR!
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