Subcommittee Hearing on Border Control

Part of the requirements for our Public Law class is to observe hearings then write observation papers on what we saw and heard. Our first hearing day was today, so I decided to attend the hearing called Securing our Borders-Operational Control and the Path Forward by the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security. When I walked into this committee room, it was interesting to watch the witnesses, Congressmen, and other important people converse with one another before the hearing began. They were getting their pictures taken by the press and finalizing their main points with one another. Just by the clothes that the witnesses wore, it was easy to identify where these people came from and which side of the issue they were likely to represent. There was a mayor from a town in Texas who wore a cowboy hat and there was also a border control officer who wore his uniform, which is what made themselves quite identifiable.

When the committee hearing began, the chairman conducted the meeting just as we did during our mock gun control hearing that I wrote about last month. The chairman, the ranking minority member, and the witnesses gave their testimonies to enlighten everyone of the issue at hand and their opinions on it. When they finished their testimonies, the floor opened up for questions from each member in the subcommittee.

I noticed that this was a hearing where all of the members, even though split by majority and minority, had a common goal in mind to secure our borders. They each stressed the importance of such a task and wanted to know exactly how to achieve it. Another topic which was brought up was the amount of resources needed by border control to successfully do their job. A specific number was unable to be given because their way of measuring the amount of illegal activity and flow across the border was unclear and needed a better system for measuring. Therefore, many of the members stressed the need to fix the measurement system to determine the exact levels of activity and ultimately to determine how to allocate resources.

Afterwards I even tried to meet with my Congressman because his office was on the same floor as this hearing room, but unfortunately he was not there. I’m hoping by the end of the semester I will get to meet him! Stay tuned!

-Andreanna