UPDATE, 4:30:  Kay Barnes, in a statement:

    "First, we must implement the border security recommendations from the 9/11 Commission that have not been put fully into place. Second, we should take a comprehensive strategy, led by law enforcement, that includes border fences, additional Border Guards, and proven technology and electronic tracking.

    "Sadly, my opponent voted repeatedly in the last 7 years against the necessary measures to stop 5 million illegal immigrants from crossing over our border."

- - -

   As a farmer, Rep. Sam Graves says he knows a thing or two about fences.

And the Missouri Republican says he knows this for sure: It makes no sense to try to keep out illegal immigrants by building a “virtual fence” on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Standing in front of an iron fence at a fence company in Kansas City, Graves this afternoon called on Congress to pass a bill that would force the Department of Homeland Security to scrap its high-tech virtual fence and build a real fence instead.

“I know if I put up a virtual fence on my farm, it wouldn’t keep any cattle in,” Graves said at a news conference at the Guier Fence Store. “It wouldn’t work at all.”

The congressman has also signed a petition that would force a House vote on a separate bill that would add 8,000 border patrol agents and increase the size of the federal judiciary to deal with illegal immigrants.

In what’s expected to be a tough election year for them, Republicans are trying to put the spotlight on a volatile issue that continues to poll well with their party’s base.

Graves introduced the bill, called the Real Fence Act, earlier this month.

“I think we can get a lot of support for this,” Graves told reporters.