Chamberlain Distributing, Inc. _______ __ Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Telephone (520) 281-1234

P.O. Box 1972 Nogales, Az. 85628 Fax (520) 281-1248

February 15, 2012

Speaker Newt Gingrich,

Senator Rick Santorum,

Governor Mitt Romney, Congressman Ron Paul,

My name is Jaime Chamberlain. I am 43 years old and was born and raised in the Southern Arizona border

community of Nogales, Arizona. My family and I have owned a produce distributorship in Nogales since 1971. We import Mexican fruits and vegetables in the winter months of September thru June. I am also the Chairman

of the Board of Directors of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas and a member of the Greater

Nogales/Santa Cruz County Port Authority. Besides my day job and my civic endeavors, I am also a proud

Republican.

I am writing to you because I want to invite you to our community of Nogales, Arizona to see for yourself what

we do for our state and for our country. I know you don't have much time before your debate next Wednesday, but if you can come or even if you can listen to some of our community business leaders, we would really appreciate it.

All too often the southern borders get bashed in the media with negative press that make us look like the wild west. Immigration and border violence issues get the majority of the attention. We want the media and the United

States to recognize that Arizona and our Santa Cruz County are much more than those negative reports. We will be

opening the most modern and energy efficient port of entry in the United States in March of 2014. The Mariposa

Port of Entry in Nogales is currently being remodeled with the help of approximately 200 million dollars appropriated to GSA two years ago. This is one project where government money is being used as productive

investment for our economic security. We want the whole country to know what an incredible business opportunity

we have with our Mexican neighbors.

Over 3 billion dollars worth of produce and over 18 billion dollars of Maquiladora products (twin manufacturing

plants) are crossed thru Nogales and the United States on a yearly basis. These products feed American families

and give jobs to hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. These figures do not include the mining and cattle industries, which are also huge economic drivers for the State and the country. U.S. trade with Mexico reached

a record $460 billion dollars in 2011. Mexico is the third largest U.S. trading partner and the second largest U.S.

export market. Mexico purchased over $197 billion dollars of U.S. goods, which is 13.3% of the U.S. exports worldwide. This is an increase of 20% over the previous year. Mexico buys more U.S. goods than all of the rest

of Latin America ($168 billion) and more than the combined purchases of Germany, France, United Kingdom,

the Netherlands, and Italy ($191 billion). U.S. sales to Mexico exceed the combined U.S. sales to Brazil, Russia,

India, and China-the BRIC countries ($176 billion).

Speaker Gingrich, Georgia’s trade with Mexico totals $5.6 billion annually, and 78,000 jobs in Georgia rely

on trade with Mexico. Senator Santorum, Pennsylvania benefits from $5.21 billion in trade with Mexico annually, and 75,200 jobs

are directly tied to this trade.

Governor Romney, Massachusetts realized over $4.15 billion in trade with Mexico in a year, and 47,500 jobs in your

state are directly tied to this trade relationship. Congressman Paul, Texas trades over $151.35 billion of goods with Mexico annually, and 807,600 jobs in Texas

are directly impacted by trade with Mexico.

We are one of thousands of American companies doing business with Mexico everyday. We depend on our ports

of entry to be efficient and properly staffed to expedite the flow of economic trade between our countries.

Our businesses and our consumers deserve better service than we currently have at our ports. Customs and Border

Protection has the daunting task of overseeing the directives of over 40 government agencies at the border all while trying to sift out illicit contraband northbound and southbound without hindering legitimate trade at the same time.

CBP, or the "Boys in Blue" as we call them, are also the first people to welcome Mexican travelers who spend over

7 million dollars every day in Arizona. They do the best job they can with the funds and the facilities they have. Mexican border crossings have gone down by over 5 million visitors in the last 5 years just at our ports because

of long lines of trucks, cars, and pedestrians caused by improper staffing at our ports. This is not good for the

economic survival of Nogales, of Arizona, or for the country.

Americans are tired of listening to Washington politicians talk about what has gone wrong with the economy.

Let’s focus on what we are doing right and how we can improve to do it better. I am a Republican and I do not

want to make our government bigger but our issues are directly tied to being competitive in a tough economic environment. Making our ports stronger and more efficient makes our country more competitive worldwide. Border

security includes our ports and the cities they are at, not just the deserts outside our community. Please consider

coming to Nogales to listen to some people who are job creators, innovators and economic survivors.

Thank you very much,

Jaime S. Chamberlain