Opinion

I watched with great interest the televised hearing that the House Homeland Security Committee held in McAllen on March 15th. It was a real slap in the face of Valley residents, however, that all the Democrat members of the committee decided to stay in Washington and boycott the proceedings. One could conclude, however, that at least that gave additional time to the Republican majority to ask some really salient questions of the border workers who gave testimony. Witnesses included the head of the border patrol workers’ union as well as local law enforcement. I was particularly interested to learn that federal workers patrolling the border make a salary thousands of dollars less than similar workers in other government agencies. That has produced a drain on the system. Both new recruits and established workers have been transferring to other jobs for higher pay in more family friendly locations. The agency is many thousands short of the number needed to effectively patrol the border.