By Ken Newton 

To Sam Graves, a farmer and U.S. representative, a fence is a fence.

The Northwest Missouri lawmaker implored the Homeland Security secretary Thursday to abandon plans for a “virtual fence” in Arizona and instead erect the real thing.

In a letter to Michael Chertoff, Mr. Graves said Homeland Security officials should move immediately to secure the border south of Tucson. He cited a recent newspaper report saying the 28-mile virtual fence would be delayed three years, that despite nearly $86 million having already been spent.

A pilot project, the virtual fence would have used a series of sensors and surveillance equipment to spot people crossing the southern border.

The Tarkio Republican voted in favor of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, a bill authorizing 700 miles of fencing along America’s border. “It is unacceptable that more than two years later your agency will only have 300 miles completed with actual fence,” he wrote to Mr. Chertoff.

For full story: http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2008/mar/07/brownback-others-fight-foreign-contract/