Time & Perspective Quote by Collin C. Peterson

A border, in Peterson's framing, isn't just a line on a map; it's a choke point for accountability. The phrase "keep better track" sounds like managerial common sense, but it's doing heavier political work: turning an emotionally loaded debate about borders into an administrative problem with ledgers, tags, and paperwork. By choosing "livestock" instead of the more abstract "agriculture" or "trade", Peterson drags the issue back to the barnyard, where policy consequences are tangible: disease outbreaks, food safety scares, market disruptions, and the economic panic that follows when consumers lose trust.

The subtext is a quiet argument for state capacity in an era that often treats regulation as inherently suspect. "As they cross borders" invokes national sovereignty and security language, yet redirects it toward biosecurity and supply-chain integrity. It's a shrewd reframing: the border becomes a tool to protect rural livelihoods rather than a symbol in a culture war.

Contextually, this sits inside recurring North American anxieties about animal traceability - mad cow disease, foot-and-mouth, brucellosis - and the friction between cross-border commerce and domestic oversight. Peterson, a farm-state politician, speaks to constituents who live with razor-thin margins and high exposure to shocks. The intent isn't to grandstand; it's to normalize surveillance-like systems (identification, testing, documentation) as basic stewardship. The rhetorical trick is that it asks for "better track" rather than "tighter control", making expanded monitoring feel like prudence instead of punishment.