Senate, Enviros Blocking Nat’l. Security Fence

Succumbing to pressure from the environmental lobby, the U.S. Senate is blocking legislation already passed by the House that would erect an impenetrable national security fence across the U.S.-Mexican border.

First proposed by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., way back in 1996, the new border fence was supposed to be an improvement on a temporary structure that was already credited with substantial success.

“The old fence, 14 miles of salvaged metal, was a stopgap measure to block the favorite path of Mexican drug smugglers and illegal aliens,” reported CNN on Friday. “It worked. Illegal traffic dropped dramatically.”

This past fall, the House voted to add a 150-foot corridor with a patrol road along the border and a second fence inside the border. Also included: a provision to waive any environmental law that stood in the way in the interest of national security.

The Senate, however, wouldn’t go along, CNN said.

Environmentalists are “digging in” over their concerns that the fence would be harmful to endangered species of plants and birds, and would disrupt Indian artifacts, such as seashell fragments.

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