By KRWG News
El Paso – The White House says Gov. Rick Perry was offered but declined to meet with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and a top adviser to President Barack Obama on border issues.
The Democratic president on Tuesday spent more than an hour in El Paso to thank Fort Bliss troops for their service in Iraq, then headed back to Washington.
Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger on Monday said the GOP governor had sought to meet with Obama during the Texas trip, but aides said the president would not be available.
White House spokeswoman Moira Mack says Perry declined a meeting with Napolitano and John Brennan, the president's top homeland security aide.
Cesinger on Tuesday said Perry has met with Napolitano a number of times and additional resources are needed, "not additional briefings."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.