President to Sign Border Fence Legislation

President Bush is expected to sign a bill on Thursday of this week to build 700 miles of fencing along the US-Mexico border.

Republican leadership in both chambers wasted no time on commenting about the importance of the bill upon sending it to the White House for President Bush's signature.  This joint statement was released by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist:

"The American people demand a secure border, and this Republican Congress has responded to the American people's demand for a secure border by increasing the physical barriers and infrastructure along the border and by providing state of the art monitoring technology."

In Arizona earlier this month, President Bush signed the 2007 homeland security spending bill, which includes a down payment for some fencing as well as increases in the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents and detention beds to hold illegal aliens awaiting deportation.