Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today issued the following statement following reports that the White House is seeking an additional $500 million this year for border security efforts:

"I look forward to learning more details about President Obama's proposal to deploy additional National Guardsmen and women along the border as well as his ideas about other border security actions we should be considering.  There are some important steps that we can take to continue to strengthen border security, such as ensuring that Border Patrol agents can patrol closer to the actual border, particularly in our state's boot heel.  I will work to ensure that the proposal that moves forward would improve our state's security."

The $500 million proposal could be debated as part of the Senate's Supplemental Spending Bill, which primarily funds operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.