Tester sets Senate hearing for Friday in Havre

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is bringing Washington to Havre to discuss a matter close to home: border security.

Tester, a Montana Democrat, will hold a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee he chairs, with U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., a member of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, scheduled to participate.

The hearing, “Protecting Our Northern Border: Enhancing Collaboration and Building Local Partnerships,” is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Friday in Hensler Auditorium in the Applied Technology Center at Montana State University-Northern and is open to the public.

Tester chairs the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Programs and the Federal Workforce.

The hearing will include discussions of how federal, state and local officials can better work together with community, business and tribal leaders to strengthen security and promote trade along the Canadian border in Montana.

The hearing will have two panels, with panelists to include Hill County Sheriff Don Brostrom; U.S. Border Patrol Havre Sector Chief Christopher Richards; Havre Sector Vice President of the National Border Patrol Council Nathan Burr, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Kumar Kibble, with others also expected to participate on the panels.

This is not the first time Tester has brought official meetings — or officials — from Washington to Havre.

He held a Homeland Security Committee field hearing in Havre in 2008, and he and U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., wrapped up a tour with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin with a town hall meeting here Aug. 25, 2010.

At that roundtable, Napolitano and Bersin announced the pilot project of extending the period of summer hours at the Port of Wild Horse north of Havre.

Tester brought Bersin

back to Havre for a roundtable discussion of border issues March 22, 2011.