the border patrol. oftentimes just like the border patrol union, the national border patrol you counc has reported to usultiple times that there is a huge division between the political point of leadership and the border patrol. and the actual men and women serving on the ground out there on the field. until oftentimes what has happened, the border patrol council reports to us, we have covered this extensively. lou: if you guys say this one more time, i'm going to have to keep count. [applause] >> we are delighted that you want to do that. but i would like you to just give me an answ. lou: we have spent a lot of time on the border. they are concerned about our border patrol, those agents in those conditions for those children and why they are thee. do you know what why those children are there in those conditions? sylvia? >> absolutely, their parents are afraid for them. they want to provide better educational opportunities and the better life. in places like congress to have the gangs and recruiting children as younas seven, eight, nine years old. in some cases -- >> it seems that it's permeating our s

border patrol agents. with officials from u.s. customs, the u.s. office 0 of special council and the national border patrol council, the labor union that represents border patrol agents. >> welcome, everyone. i am going to make for me a fairly short statement here, then turn it to dr. coburn and senator tester, if you would like to make a statement, that would be great. senator kuhn is tied up in transportation? okay. all right. is he going to come in at all? do you expect him at all? >> no. >> fair enough. my thanks to our colleagues and our witnesses for working with our staffs to put this hearing together fairly quickly. the purpose, as you know, of this hearing is to exam the merit of s 1691 the border agent payment act of 2014 introduced by senators tester and mccain and co-sponsored. . bill could make badly needed reforms to the system of border control which is currently too complicated and too difficult to manage. before we get into the bill, i want to talk about what is happening currently along our borders. over the past few years we've seen a surge in unauthorized migration from central america, which is nearing record highs. and unprecedente

the bill is supported by both at the cbp and the border patrol union, which represents 16,500 s agents in the field.t it saves money.and it creates more stability for ot border agents an their family and increases manpower along the so ier so the security is increased and the agents are better equipped to dot jobs that are very important to all of us. a reform of the border patrol 0r pay system is long overdue. the operation leaves from 40 years ago are different from the criminal obligations we have seen today. we have waited long enough. we need to move forward with this bill because it ensures stability for our border patrol agents and makes sure that our borders are properly manned. in the end, i appreciate the opportunity to have a full committee hearing on this bill. i can tell you that as i look at this bill, it

the bill is supported by the cbp into the border patrol union that represents 16,500 agents in the field. it saves money and it creates more stability for the border agents and their family and increases manpower along the borders of the security is increased and they are better equipped to do the jobs that are so important to all of us. the reform of the border patrol system is long-overdue. the operation is from 40 years ago quite different from the criminal operations that we see on the border today. things have changed. we've waited long enough and we need to move forward on this bill. in the end, i appreciate the opportunity to have a full committee on this bill. as i look at this bill that increases enforcement. it allows the borders to be as secure as they possibly can to meet the dangers of terrorism, drugs and illegal immigration that is so common on both northern and southern border. i appreciate the opportunity to hear from the witnesses and be able to ask some questions about this important issue. >> let me take another minute to welcome the witnesses with brief introductions

the border about 100 yards into arizona and fired at least two shots. no one was injured. but tonight, the union that represents border patrol officers says two of their officers were in the line of fire. one vehicle was unmashd but others were clearly marked u.s. border patrol. the union said that mexican authorities have called to apologize, but authorities are still trying to figure out what happened. this border is a dangerous place. with mexican cartels and human smugglers going back and forth, the last thing law enforcement on both sides needs is to be shooting at each other. a union official call this is ridd ridiculo ridiculous. >>> and more bad news for general motors. late today, the company announcing three more recalls. the biggest involving pickup trucks and suvs. the transmissions can shift into neutral on their own. no crashes or injuries reported so far. you can learn much more on our website, abcnews.com. >>. >> flood worries tonight. will the rivers hold in the midwest? the entire state of minnesota reeling from storms and floods. and st. paul under a state of emergency tonight. and these pictures say it al

the challenge? >> art del cueto is a border patrol agent and president of the tucson chapter of the largest border patrol unionn the country. though his agency won't meet with us, he's agreed to talk to us off duty. >> we're the first line of defense for the country. if i wasn't an agent, and i did not work for the united states border patrol, i would want somebody out here that had a little bit of a rah-rah attitude, where he really truly took his job serious and wantedto defend the country. that's my view on it. >> so there's been a few officer-involved shootings at the border that have gotten a lot of attention lately 16 year old guy from the mexican side jose antonio and he was shot by a border patrol agent from the us side does that trouble you? >> well, we have several shootings, i can't freely speak about that one, because they're still looking into it. but what people don't understand when they say rocks the agents were rocked. i don't know what people's concept of a rock is, but it's huge rocks. it's not these little rocks. it's huge rocks. in, in areas that are populated, like closer to nogales, at t

. >> reporter: hector garza, with >> hector garza with the border patrol agents' union inula rideo, admits sometimes it's difficult for agents to respond. he says they're often overwhelmed. >> now, because of the large amounts coming across, we're seeing it more and more. now, the border patrol has never seen this type of activity like the way it is right now. >> reporter: customs and border protection told us it could not find cases where the agency did not respond to calls, but officials from a half dozen law enforcement agencies in south texas confirmed to us they've had problems getting illegal immigrants picked up. do you worry that because of the lack of resources that somebody might slip through who might be a great risk? >> i bet you somebody has already. >> reporter: texas state officials say the aid they just approved should bolster local police departments, but, sharyn, they haven't said precisely how that plan will work. >> alfonsi: all right, thanks, anna. well, spain is still grieving after the national soccer team lost in the world cup, got a new king today. felipe vi wore a

the bill is supported by both the cbp and the border patrol union, which represents 16,500 agents in the field. it saves money. it creates more stability for border agents and their families and increases manpower along the border so the security is increased and agents are better equipped to do jobs that are so very important to all of us. the reform of the border patrol system is long overdue. the operational from eight years ago are different from the criminal operations we see on border today. things have changed. we waited long enough. we need to move forward with this bill because it ensures stability for our border patrol agents. and makes sure that our borders are properly manned. in the end, i appreciate the opportunity to have a full committee hearing on this bill. i can tell you that as i look at this bill, it increases enforcement and saves money. and i think it makes -- allows for our borders to be as secure as they possibly can to meet the dangers of terrorism, drugs and illegal immigration that is so common on both northern and southern borders. with that, mr. chairman,

the department of homeland security, and customs and border protection to get their reaction on texas' plan here. so far, no comment. >> interesting. we talked to the head of the union for the border patrol agents during the 11:00 hour. he said he welcomes this. and the resources for the border patrol will be something they look forward to. jushgs they put choppers in the air and boats in the water and boots on the ground, it could serve as a deterient, but the question is what happens once they are apprehelpeded and turned over to ice and so it is a big mess. >> it is a interesting story and dynamic and one we are watching cloet closely. casy, great to see you, thank you so much. >> reporter: thank you, jenna. >>> republican law makers preparing for a closed door meeting on which they will vote on a replacement for eric cantor. kevin mccarthy is the heavy favorite. if mccarthy is elected it sets a tight throw way race for the gop vote counter in the house. what does that mean for the party? bob, it was thought that eric canter's defeat in virginia suggested that the tea party had lost influence, is that it the case? >> it is a test between the tea party and establishment. and bo kevin m

. >> i understand the border patrol union is calling for an immediate turn around for all these kids e only way to stop it. you agree? >> i do agree. >> all right. talking about these kids now, what are they saying when they come here? why are they coming now? >> well, what our agents are telling me is when they're processing these people, they're telling the agents that they're coming now because they know that they're going to come here and get what they call their permit. they know they're not going to be detained. they know they're not going to go before a judge and they're essentially giving walking papers and told to, at some point, to show up for their court date, which most of these people are not. so they're here and meanwhile, we've got the drug cartels pushing people and things across the border that we don't know about because our agents are tied up with these processing people and feeding them and putting diapers on them. >> you also say because you're doing that and you're understaffed and not allowed to do overtime, you are woefully unprepared for this surge of children

the senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee will hold a hearing on u.s. border security. officials from u.s. customs and border protection, the u.s. office of special counsel, and the national border patrol council -- the labor unionthat represents border control agents -- will testify. live at 3:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3. new book "sundays at eight" includes gretchen mortenson. >> what role does the government play in housing finance? if you want to talk about housing and we want to talk about it and the populace agrees it is something we should subsidize, put it on the balance sheet and make it clear. how iterybody aware of is costing. when you deliver it through these third-party enterprises, fannie mae and freddie mac, when you deliver subsidies through a public company with private shareholders and executives who can extract a lot of that stuff that is notselves, a very good way of subsidizing homeownership. read more of our conversation with other featured interviews from our footnotes and "q&a" at eight," "sundays now available as a father's day this week on "q&a," our guest is representative george miller. he's retiring at the end of this term after 40 years in the u.s. house. >> when did you first think

the senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee will hold a hearing on u.s. border security. officials from u.s. customs and border protection, the u.s. office of special council, and the national border patrol council, the labor union that represents border patrol agents, will testify. we'll have that live at 3:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3. a senate transportation subcommittee held a hearing on funding surface transportation programs. members talked about funding for the programs which expires in september, as well as the safety and security of rail, motor carriers, and the transport of hazardous materials. they also heard from industry experts. the hearing is about two hours. >> good morning. welcome, everyone. we were -- we're just waiting for senator blunt. i'm going to begin with an opening statement. when he gets here, he can make his. i welcome senator klobuchar and thank her for her leadership on these issues. we're here at a moment of tremendous promise and peril for our nation's transportation system. literally, the funding for that system expires at the end of september and there's a need to reauthorize the nation's surface transportation law known as the map 21 which expires at the end of september. even b

the border such a mess? joining us now on the telephone from mcallen, texas, chris cabrera. vice president of the national border counsel. union represents border patrol i find it almost impossible to believe that thousands of children are traipsing across mexico. some of them from honduras. el salvador. these kids are one side the mexican authorities and on the other side the american border authorities. what do you mean they just walk across through the mexican check point up to the american side? is that what they do? >> what they do is they find their way down to the river usually through a smuggler. put them in some type of raft or intertube maybe even a small jumbo. point them in the direction of the nearest border patrol agent. they walk up and turn themselves. in. >> they used to across the border border patrol agents. now the strategy is walk up and say here i am. in aan attempt catching under the circumstances instead of us catching them. take them to a bus and just bring them back to mexico he co. >> coming in from mexico. i don't want to be a child, you know, somebody who is hurting children. but it seems to me a policy would be look, you

the border now being warehoused by the federal government. joining us from tucson art, border patrol agent and president of the union down there.hat's going on right now with these kids? i guess a lot of them are being bused from texas to arizona because texas can't handle the numbers? is that what is happening? >> correct. what's going on is they are being actually flown from texas to arizona. the issue is here in arizona down near the border there is a town called nogalis. a processing center there that's more able to handle the volume, you would say of these individuals. >> they are being flown on, what, chartered airlines? military? who is flying them over from texas to arizona? >> my understanding it was chartered airlines. but i'm not positive on how it is. i just know they are being flown here to arizona. >> we talked to the border patrol guy in mcgowan texas yesterday. and he said every day there is hundreds of these kids coming over in his sector. in the arizona sector, is it the same way? are you seeing this tremendous influx of children coming into your state? >> it's not so much the children here in our area. the ar

but in the middle of this immigration crisis, the union representing border patrol agents is lookingke a glaring advertisement to send your children to the united states. and they see it as a real slap in the face. sean more ran who is the vice president for communications from the national border patrol council told me quote today's event at the white house is a real slap in the face to border patrol agents who risk their lives every day to protect this country. the border patrol has lost 120 agents in the line of duty. their sacrifice is minimized when we celebrate those who break our laws. >> okay. >> we talk about the border. if i could speak to the video that you are looking at right there, bill. this speaks to the idea of how difficult it is to seal the border. if you could roll that again. this is in a park which is just south of mechanicallen texas, rio grande. a park on the mexican side. people riding on the back of those jet skis mexico coagulate nationallies being father idea over 100 bucks a head. come up in this park you see this woman. she is rushing now. going to meet

permission and walking them out of the door, said chris caberra, border patrol agent who's vice president of the national local border patrol council, the agents' union 'so they're coming across in droves." that's exactly what's happening. it's a huge tragedy for those children. it's costing them money, putting their lives at risk and we're not able to handle them effective. colleagues,ive her, i have heree line over 17 pages long of the ways this administration has either ignored or suspended the immigration law. by directing officers not to do their duty, essentially. a week before the july 4th holiday, american can't even protect its own borders. and what do our democratic colleagues wish to do? they want to adjourn this chamber, go home to their barbecues, work on their reelection campaigns, and promise while they're home they're fighting to end the lawlessness at the border while doing nothing. while actually doing nothing but objecting to legislation that would make a real difference. so, mr mr. president, i see my colleague, senator sanders, and i'll wrap up. i believe we were elected, colleagues, to protect this country and its people and the

the u.s. border and security with officials from u.s. customs and border protection and the national border patrol council. that's a labor union representing border patrol agents. they'll appear before a senate panel to testify about changing the border patrol pay system. live on c-span3. and at the white house today, president obama's expected to announce plans to help people with student loan debt. allowing millions of borrowers to qualify for programs to better manage their debt by the end of next year. we expect the president's remarks to begin at 1:45 eastern, and you can watch them live online at c-span.org. >> c-span's new book, "sundays at eight," includes kenneth feinberg who oversaw the 9/11 victim compensation fund. >> from the perspective of the victims, i don't see any distinction. the you try and justify -- if you try and justify my program on the basis of the victims lost, i can't convincingly explain why 9/11, yes, '93 world trade center, no. i think the only way you justify this program as a special carveout is from the perspective of the nation. a recognition that 9/11 was, along with the american civil war,

the spokesman for the national border patrol council, a lead union for border patrol in our country.it impacting border patrol agents and their ability to do their job? >> our agents are overwhelmed. half of them are doing what is termed as processing, taking care of the paperwork for this flood of humanity that has inundated the rio grande valley. the other half of the agents dealing with people surrendering to them and we believe that is what the cartels are looking to do, looking to control this and exploit it to their own financial gain with whoever, whatever they want right behind these groups because border but for agents are unavailable to respond. jenna: i'm glad you brought that up. he was able to shoot some video showing what you just described. these two women from guatemala stood on the side of the road waiting for border patrol to come pick them up. we have video of border patrol doing just that. focus on people who want to be caught, how does that impact their ability to go out and get the bad guys? >> it takes away our manpower. there are groups still getting around us

the texas border. a border patrol union spokesman saying more groups will be arriving every day. estors say the immigrants should be flown back to their countries, not california. >> the president is asked to help seal the borders from a surge of child may go grants coming into the country alone. he is asking congress for $2 billion in emergency aid to pay for extra security and housing for children along the border and speed up deportations back to their home country. >> whitney young is president of kids in need of defense that provides free legal representation for migrant children who show up in the u.s. alone. good morning. the question being asked right now, should these children be sent back home? >> good morning, no, it's really unfortunate that the administration chose to pit the panic button and request new authorization for congress to return these children home. the reality is they are fleeing severe violence and running for their lives. >> with that said, the critics on the other side say why shouldn't they be sent back home and do we have concrete proof that this is

border protection, the u.s. office of special council and the national border control council, the labor union that represents border patrolents, will testify. we'll have that live at 3:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> both the house and senate are in session today. the house is in at noon eastern for general speeches. at 2:00 they'll consider a series of suspension bills before beginning debate on legislation to authorize spending for 2015 transportation and housing programs. votes on amendments to that legislation could occur later in the evening. the senate gavels in at 2:00 eastern for general speeches. at 5:30 senators will vote to move forward on district judge nominations for virginia, massachusetts and nevada. you can watch the house live on c-span, the senate on c-span2. >> the center for strategic and international studies hosts a discussion today on china/russia relations. former australian prime minister kevin rudd and stapleton roy, a former u.s. ambassador to china, will talk about both nations' increasing tensions with the u.s. as relations between china and russia continue to warm. we'll have that live at 1 p

we have a border patrol agent who is with the union in arizona. so our viewers understand what is your job and who are you in charge of in arizona? >> i'm the president of the local union down here for the tucson sector. i pretty much represent the agents. the true boots on the ground you would say out there doing the job. bill: they are guarding the border. why is texas having such an issue and it doesn't appear arizona is having the same issue. why is that? >> arizona is still having a lot of issues. we don't need to say we are not having the issues. some of our opinions and ideas on the matter is arizona is responsible for about 60 per of all the drugs that are seized in the entire country. tips these cartels in mexico -- sometimes these cartels in mexico work in a way so they don't allow the people traffickers to work from the areas because it would upset their drug smuggling operation. bill: the drugs are coming through arizona and the people are coming through texas? >> correct. bill: now you have a situation where texas is trying to beef up

the border patrol agents. in fact, is he the head of one of the unions. is he going to testify before a judiciary committee tomorrow where we are having another hearing on that. if that child comes across the border and we are going to take him to the relatives. we should, of course, reunite that family and then we should deport them. >> deport, who the child. >> the family. bring back the whole family and take them back to guatemala, hun dor russ. >> the family at this point there may be some americans in that family, maybe children born in america or whatever. >> here is what they're not doing. they're not vetting who we are turning this children over. some of them we fear are part of drug cartels it. maybe there is human or sex trafficking going on. what sort of vetting are they doing? last week our staff talked to homeland security and asked them how they vet the people that they turn these kids over to, they wouldn't tell us. >> so, what's going -- they are children. >> they are. i mean, some of these kids are four and five years old. some of them ar

border patrol is being overwhelmed. our i.c.e. agents, who are supposed to deport people improperly here, are being overwhelmed. as one i.c.e. agent said yesterday, chris crane, that is the union president for the i.c.e. agents, he said basically, we are having to change diapers and so there's no criminal interdiction going on. we're not able to do our jobs because of the thousands of children that are coming. saw a report today from c.b.p., the border patrol -- customs and border protection, and they were saying the interviews they're doing yield results from the children saying they're coming to america now because of a new law that the department has that allows children to come in and stay here if they just get here quick enough. it has caused a national emergency. so what $41,492,000 does is provide for 1,000 national guard troops. we know in the amendment we cannot legislate, but in order for the money to be available for the national guard troops to assist on the border, the money needs to be available and therefore we're asking that the money be moved from one account over into the account that can be utilized for national guard troops to help with what has been termed