Tom Barry: Former Border Patrol Chief Silvestre Reyes Now a Major Player in New Military, Intelligence, and Homeland Security Complex
[Tom Barry is a senior foreign policy analyst with the Americas Program at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. He blogs at: http://borderlinesblog.blogspot.com/. Tom Barry is a senior foreign policy analyst with the Americas Program at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. He blogs at: http://borderlinesblog.blogspot.com/.
]
Part I: Building the Paso del Norte Security System—from Academics to Economics
The rising power and influence of U.S. Rep. Silvestre"Silver" Reyes (D-TX) over the last decade is also turning El Paso del Norte into the home of the country's new military/homeland security complex. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the emergence of homeland security as a major governmental and industrial focus has played a transformative role in the increased integration of the military, security, and intelligence sectors. This rising integration of defense, homeland security, and intelligence is seen in government, industry, and in the academy.
The foundation of this nascent but clearly emerging complex in the El Paso area is Fort Bliss, the 1.1-million acre Army base on the edge of El Paso that adjoins the White Sands Missile Base and Holloman Air Force Base. Fort Bliss was a big winner in the Pentagon's Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC 2005) process, with the base expecting a net gain of 27,000 troops by 2013—for a total of 37,000 troops. According to an estimate by El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDCO), the base will have a $6.4 billion impact on the area by 2013.
Located on Fort Bliss are three counterterrorism and counternarcotics centers: Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Border Patrol Field Intelligence Center, Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) El Paso Intelligence Center, and Department of Defense's (DOD) Joint Task Force North.
An array of private contractors, including such giants as Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, are in the El Paso area to manage contracts with the Army and Air Force in the region.
Another infusion of federal dollars in the El Paso region has come from DHS. Immigrant prisons and detention centers (Chaparral and Sierra Blanca) in the area, the construction of the border fence, a surge in Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and new port-of-entry infrastructure and new Border Patrol facilities, among other border security upgrades, have stimulated the local economy and reshaped the area's border town image.
Reyes' Rising Star
Representing the 16th District of Texas in Congress since 1997, Reyes has been a key player in developing El Paso as a center for defense, homeland security, and intelligence research and operations. The rising power and influence of Reyes could not be missed at the recent Border Security Conference, where Reyes was the central figure—with his manifest close connections to the key government, industry, and academy figures in the city's growing homeland security complex.
Reyes began developing his homeland security credentials in 1984, when he was named a Border Patrol sector chief. He closed out his Border Patrol career as chief of the El Paso sector, where in 1993 he launched Operation Blockade (later renamed Operation Hold the Line) to halt illegal immigrant flows into the city.
Operation Blockade's success in impeding most unauthorized immigrant traffic through the city won Reyes great acclaim in El Paso (and nationally), creating a base of support that propelled him into the city's congressional seat three years later.
Since his 1996 election, Reyes has moved steadily to embellish his homeland security and national security credentials. Although not a supporter of the controversial new border fence, Reyes has advocated an expanded Border Patrol force and the installation of electronic surveillance.
Since his election to Congress in 1996 Reyes has determinedly established his national security credentials. In 2006 he was named chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and he also is a senior member of the powerful Armed Services Committee.
Reyes is also a member of the newly created subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. Called the House Appropriations Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, the 13-member panel combines the senior members of the House Defense Appropriations Committee and three members, including Chairman Reyes, from the Intelligence Committee. The new committee will match intelligence oversight of the intelligence committee with appropriations authority of the defense appropriations subcommittee, which approves the classified budget for the 16 civilian and military intelligence agencies.
This new position will give Reyes increased ability to influence the intelligence community's budget and the rapidly rising outsourcing of intelligence operations to private contractors.
Another sign of Reyes' rising star in national security is his increased ability to direct federal contracts to the El Paso area through congressional earmarks and budget authorizations for homeland security, defense, and intelligence. Rapidly rising campaign contributions from security contractors also point to his new influence and power in security issues and budgeting...
Read entire article at America's Program
]
Part I: Building the Paso del Norte Security System—from Academics to Economics
The rising power and influence of U.S. Rep. Silvestre"Silver" Reyes (D-TX) over the last decade is also turning El Paso del Norte into the home of the country's new military/homeland security complex. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the emergence of homeland security as a major governmental and industrial focus has played a transformative role in the increased integration of the military, security, and intelligence sectors. This rising integration of defense, homeland security, and intelligence is seen in government, industry, and in the academy.
The foundation of this nascent but clearly emerging complex in the El Paso area is Fort Bliss, the 1.1-million acre Army base on the edge of El Paso that adjoins the White Sands Missile Base and Holloman Air Force Base. Fort Bliss was a big winner in the Pentagon's Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC 2005) process, with the base expecting a net gain of 27,000 troops by 2013—for a total of 37,000 troops. According to an estimate by El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDCO), the base will have a $6.4 billion impact on the area by 2013.
Located on Fort Bliss are three counterterrorism and counternarcotics centers: Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Border Patrol Field Intelligence Center, Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) El Paso Intelligence Center, and Department of Defense's (DOD) Joint Task Force North.
An array of private contractors, including such giants as Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, are in the El Paso area to manage contracts with the Army and Air Force in the region.
Another infusion of federal dollars in the El Paso region has come from DHS. Immigrant prisons and detention centers (Chaparral and Sierra Blanca) in the area, the construction of the border fence, a surge in Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and new port-of-entry infrastructure and new Border Patrol facilities, among other border security upgrades, have stimulated the local economy and reshaped the area's border town image.
Reyes' Rising Star
Representing the 16th District of Texas in Congress since 1997, Reyes has been a key player in developing El Paso as a center for defense, homeland security, and intelligence research and operations. The rising power and influence of Reyes could not be missed at the recent Border Security Conference, where Reyes was the central figure—with his manifest close connections to the key government, industry, and academy figures in the city's growing homeland security complex.
Reyes began developing his homeland security credentials in 1984, when he was named a Border Patrol sector chief. He closed out his Border Patrol career as chief of the El Paso sector, where in 1993 he launched Operation Blockade (later renamed Operation Hold the Line) to halt illegal immigrant flows into the city.
Operation Blockade's success in impeding most unauthorized immigrant traffic through the city won Reyes great acclaim in El Paso (and nationally), creating a base of support that propelled him into the city's congressional seat three years later.
Since his 1996 election, Reyes has moved steadily to embellish his homeland security and national security credentials. Although not a supporter of the controversial new border fence, Reyes has advocated an expanded Border Patrol force and the installation of electronic surveillance.
Since his election to Congress in 1996 Reyes has determinedly established his national security credentials. In 2006 he was named chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and he also is a senior member of the powerful Armed Services Committee.
Reyes is also a member of the newly created subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. Called the House Appropriations Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, the 13-member panel combines the senior members of the House Defense Appropriations Committee and three members, including Chairman Reyes, from the Intelligence Committee. The new committee will match intelligence oversight of the intelligence committee with appropriations authority of the defense appropriations subcommittee, which approves the classified budget for the 16 civilian and military intelligence agencies.
This new position will give Reyes increased ability to influence the intelligence community's budget and the rapidly rising outsourcing of intelligence operations to private contractors.
Another sign of Reyes' rising star in national security is his increased ability to direct federal contracts to the El Paso area through congressional earmarks and budget authorizations for homeland security, defense, and intelligence. Rapidly rising campaign contributions from security contractors also point to his new influence and power in security issues and budgeting...