At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) questioned Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth about his knowledge of the border.
00:00Mr. Chairman, I recognize the gentleman from New Mexico, Mr. Besqueez.
00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:04Mr. Secretary, I understand that the border is a top priority for you and the Department of Defense.
00:09Well, it's also one of my top priorities in my border district.
00:12That's why I've introduced bipartisan legislation to stop fentanyl at the border,
00:16secure our ports of entry, hire more CBP personnel, and combat the cartels,
00:21areas that I'm sure we agree on.
00:22Now, DOD has spent more than $525 million from the defense budget
00:27on military operations on the border.
00:29You've done it by diverting over $1 billion from military modernization
00:33and quality-of-life programs like housing.
00:36And as such, I'm sure you're well-informed as to what your warfighters are doing on our border
00:40and the characteristics of the border itself.
00:44Secretary Hegseth, do you know how many border miles there are in New Mexico?
00:49Not the exact number of miles.
00:51Can you give me a round figure?
00:52Hundreds.
00:54Okay, 180 miles.
00:55Can you tell me where the border wall starts and ends on this map of New Mexico?
01:00It's not properly oriented to your map, but I know that, unfortunately, because of the administration previous,
01:06they did not have the opportunity to finish the border wall to let it rust on the ground instead of putting it up.
01:10Thank you, Secretary.
01:11And you have been to New Mexico.
01:12Could you tell me where in New Mexico you've been to?
01:15I've been to the border twice to look at once at our national defense area down there
01:19because I can't recall a time when a secretary of defense has gone down in the first four or five months of his tenure
01:26to the border to better understand the situation there.
01:27Was that in an urban area or in a rural area?
01:29Both areas, traversed rural areas and urban areas.
01:32Okay, so you must be familiar.
01:33Some with walls, some without.
01:34Secretary.
01:34If President Trump was actually supported, we'd have a border wall.
01:36Thank you, Secretary.
01:37I reclaim my time.
01:38So the most remote part of New Mexico is called the boot heel, and I'm not sure that you spent any time in the boot heel of New Mexico.
01:45Mr. Secretary, I was raised on the border.
01:47I've lived there my whole life.
01:48I've worked alongside ranchers, farmers, landowners, wildlife biologists, and other stakeholders for over a decade.
01:54I headed a border security task force in my district before coming to Congress.
01:57I've traveled with border patrol on ATVs.
02:00I've hunted the border on horseback and hiked dozens of miles in the most remote stretches of the border in this region.
02:06Now, do you happen to know why there hasn't been a border wall built in the boot heel?
02:11Well, based on what you just described, you should be a big fan of what our administration is.
02:16Well, Secretary, I'm asking why a border wall has not been built.
02:19Funds have been allocated for other parts of the border.
02:21Here's what I know.
02:22Our commanders on the ground and others and our engineers would understand what goes where and why and where there should be a border wall.
02:27There will be a border wall.
02:28Okay, Secretary.
02:28It will be funded through reconciliation.
02:30Secretary, are you familiar with the Animas Mountains, with Alamo Waco, with San Luis Mountains, with Guadalupe Pass, or Long Canyon?
02:36Again.
02:37Critical border areas.
02:38I'm aware that there are gaps in different places where walls are not as effective as other places, and I get that.
02:44Thank you, Secretary.
02:45We're applying infrastructure where it makes the most sense because we're going to get 100% operational control of the border.
02:50Thank you, Secretary.
02:51So you agree, then, that a border wall doesn't make sense for the entire country?
02:54I think we need a border wall across our entire border.
02:57Okay, so you should know, then, why it's almost physically impossible to build a border across the Animas Mountains and the terrain challenges that that poses and the billions of dollars.
03:05Do you know if there's roads on those mountains currently?
03:07If we're going to spend money as a government, it should be—
03:09Okay, I'll take that as a note.
03:10Secure our southern border.
03:11Well, the point I'm trying to make, Secretary, is that if this is so important to the military, then you, as Secretary of the Department of Defense, should know more about the border.
03:19Mr. Secretary, I urge you to skip the photo ops next time that you go to a port of entry and spend time on the ground in places like the Diamond Day Ranch.
03:26I think you should ask the soldiers on the border whether they've been photo op visits or not because I spent a lot of time on the ground with the soldiers getting an understanding of what they're facing, what they're doing, what their capabilities are.
03:36Secretary, I reclaim my time. Thank you.
03:38Secretary, I reclaim my time.
03:39As the Secretary of Defense to understand what our troops do and why they do it.
03:42The gentleman reclaims his time.
03:44Secretary, do you know what a tethered aerostat system is?
03:46I do.
03:47Okay.
03:48Well, great.
03:49Then you know that this type of surveillance technology is superior to having thousands of troops sitting in trucks looking at an empty desert.
03:55I've requested funds for more tethered aerostat systems.
03:59We haven't had a response from your department.
04:01Are you familiar with ASTs?
04:03What's an AST?
04:05Well, it's an autonomous surveillance tower.
04:08They're equipped with these advanced cameras that have the capability to relay critical information to border agents on the ground.
04:14And this type of technology is badly needed on the boot heel.
04:17And it's a much better expenditure than a border wall is.
04:20I've seen those towers in use.
04:21Great.
04:22Well, these technologies have been described to me by both Border Patrol and CBP as force multipliers, allowing their personnel to focus on law enforcement efforts while leaving this mundane surveillance task to much more efficient and cost-effective technology, a much more efficient way to surveil that part of the border.
04:39Now, Mr. Secretary, I have serious concerns with your fundamental lack of knowledge about the U.S.-Mexico border considering the billions of dollars that DOD is slated to spend on this mission with little clarity to those of us who live there.
04:52I would encourage you to do some homework on my region and learn what will actually make our border more secure and more safe.
