State AG speaks on border bill
Editor's note: The following letter was sent Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock to Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
I write to you with serious concerns about HR 1505: The National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act. This legislation, which was recently passed by the House Natural Resources Committee, would give a green light to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency to waive dozens of federal laws and seize control of public lands within 100 miles of an international border to gain so-called "operational control."
In practice, this legislation could amount to a federal land grab, unparalleled in recent generations. As Montana's chief law enforcement official, I am very aware of the importance of the security of our northern border. On a daily basis, sworn law enforcement officials from my agency, along with scores of their counterparts from local jurisdictions, work closely with federal agents to ensure the security of Montana's 545-mile border with Canada.
But to be successful, this cannot be done through directives and mandates sent from Washington, D.C. Rather, law enforcement agencies - local, tribal, state and federal - work best through cooperation and collaboration from the ground up.
The security concerns facing major metropolitan regions on the northern border, areas like Detroit or Buffalo, are much different than the issues facing the rural communities that dot Montana's northern tier. A one-size-fits-all approach, like HR 1505, ignores these realities and treats urban population centers and frontier towns with the same broad strokes.
This proposed legislation would also reach all or parts of five of seven Indian reservations in Montana. It should come as no surprise that proposed federal land grabs place serious strain upon the government-to-government relationship between the State of Montana and our Indian Nations. As a state we strive to work with the First Montanans in a way that respects their independence and sovereignty - values missing from this legislation.
The language of this proposed bill rightfully reminds many Montanans of the REAL ID Act. That legislation - which would have mandated federal ID cards to board airplanes and enter courthouses - was unanimously opposed by the Montana Legislature, and as a state we've refused to implement it. Twenty-four other states have followed in our footsteps and opted out of the program.
Our opposition to REAL ID - not unlike the opposition of many Montanans to HR 1505 - is not a statement that we do not take the security of our country seriously, rather the opposite. (Montana has a higher rate of military service than nearly any other state in the country.) What our opposition to these federal measures does represent is a reverence for the rights protected in our Constitution and a recognition that federal authorities working with, rather than around, local law enforcement and land owners have a better chance for success.
I strongly encourage Congress to shelve this legislation and further empower federal agencies to work collaboratively with their state and local counterparts.
Steve Bullock is the Montana Attorney General.