Conrad: Report Reveals Security Gaps on Northern Border

Press Release

Senator Kent Conrad today said he was concerned with the results of a new federal report that found security vulnerabilities along America's northern border.

The report, produced by the Government Accountability Office, found numerous security gaps along the 4,000 mile northern border between the United States and Canada. The 61 page report also states the threat of terrorism from the northern border -- with its vast stretches of remote area -- is greater than from the southern Mexico border.

"The findings in this report are unsettling to say the least," said Senator Conrad, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Customs and Border Protection has a fraction of the law enforcement officers and surveillance assets on the northern border that it has in the south. As a result, it would be way too easy for terrorists to cross into the United States through our northern border. That's unacceptable. Much more must be done to bolster security along the northern border."

Last year, Senator Conrad warned Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the dangers of boosting border protection operations along the southern border with Mexico by taking critical assets away from the northern border.

"Any chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and the border security of the United States is no exception. Our northern border should not be a weak link in our homeland defense," the Senator wrote in a letter to Napolitano. "We need to make sure that both of America's borders are secure, not just the southern one."

Senator Conrad has long called for greater investments in the security of America's northern border. In 2004 he passed an amendment in the Senate authorizing a northern border security initiative. In 2005, he secured $2 million in federal funding to help bring a branch of the Northern Border Air Wing to Grand Forks. In 2006, he secured an additional $17 million to accelerate the plans for the Air Wing, which was completed in the following year. Those investments helped fund an important part of Senator Conrad's Northern Border Initiative, a pilot program intended to boost the security of the northern border through investments in advanced technology.

"It is vital to America's security that we protect our borders. This new report makes clear that there are big holes along our northern border," Senator Conrad said. "More must be done to fill those holes and stop terrorists wanting to sneak across the northern border to strike on U.S. soil."

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