In this vote, the House passed an amendment to H.R. 1815 offered by Virgil Goode (R-VA) to authorize the Secretary of Defense to use the U.S. armed forces to help secure U.S. borders. H.R. 1815 was a bill to authorize military activities of the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2006 (FY06). Goode noted that his amendment would simply provide the Secretary of Defense with the discretion to use troops in order to assist the U.S. border patrol "in combating illegal drugs, combating illegal immigration or to reduce the threat of terrorism." Republicans insisted that border security was a top priority, and that Goode's amendment would provide border patrol with the resources it needed to ensure the security of U.S. borders. Democrats, including Progressives, opposed the amendment. They noted that border patrol needed more law enforcement resources, not the military, in order to fill in the gaps in security. They also observed that "[o]ur servicemen and -women are simply spread too thin [already]." (Solomon Ortiz (D-TX).) The House defeated the Progressive position when it passed this amendment by a vote of 245 to 184, with 31 Democrats crossing party lines to vote "yes," and 13 Republicans choosing to vote "no" with the Progressives. Thus, language was added to the bill that would authorize the Secretary of Defense to employ the military to help secure U.S. borders.