United States Customs and Border Protection Authorization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I first want to commend the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security and the ranking member, Ms. Jackson Lee, for their hard work and efforts in trying to secure the border, first and foremost, but also in achieving what has never been achieved before, and that is an authorization bill for Customs and Border Patrol.

In the history of the Congress, this is the first time. It is very important, Mr. Speaker, that we do this. It is very important that we support our men and women in blue and in green, Customs and Border Patrol, for the hard work and dedication day in and day out in what some would say is a thankless job. What we are doing, what Chairwoman Miller and Ranking Member Jackson Lee have done, for the first time Congress has recognized them and validated them in their mission to secure the border that they do day in and day out.

I need not go into details about the latest border crisis that we are suffering through. Certainly the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) knows as well as I do that this is a crisis that demands action, a call to action, and a solution from Congress.

I believe that authorizing CBP is a first step, but it is also the first step toward this committee authorizing the entire Department of Homeland Security. It is my goal within the next year, for the first time in the history of Congress, to authorize the Department of Homeland Security.

And shame on us, shame on Congress for never authorizing this Department. You don't think that impacts morale? You don't think it gives a misguided message from the Congress that we don't support them? I think, above all, what this bill does is it says: we support you; we support you in your job.

These Border Patrol officers that I see down there, these agents, they get rocks thrown at them. They get shot at. They have to deal in harsh conditions and the heat. And the customs agents at the ports of entry, I can't think of--someone would say ``thankless,'' but I can't think of a more important job in terms of protecting the sovereignty of the United States and protecting our borders day in and day out from threats that come in.

Mr. Speaker, if 60,000 children can just walk right across our border in the Rio Grande Valley sector, what does that say about our state of border security? What does that say? I met with the general of SOUTHCOM, General Kelly, and he told me: If they are coming in, what else is coming into the United States?

That is why this bill is so important, that is why border security is so important. I pledge to my committee members and to this Congress that we are going to get this job done. This is the first step, the beginning and the first step to finally getting this job done. We can report back to the American people that we have finally once and for all secured the border of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3846, the United States Customs and Border Protection Authorization Act, and thank Chairwoman MILLER for her hard work on this legislation. This measure would authorize U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the first time ever. It also provides greater transparency, accountability and oversight of the nation's largest law enforcement agency. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has an important mission of securing the homeland, while simultaneously ensuring the flow of legitimate trade and travel at our nation's borders.

The Commissioner of CBP must oversee an agency that includes the Office of Field Operations, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Office of Air and Marine, and numerous other subcomponents responsible for a range of missions from acquiring and maintaining technology on the border, to conducting polygraph investigations to ensure new hires do not have derogatory backgrounds. As an agency with more than 44,000 Federal Law Enforcement Officers, it is absolutely essential that Congress authorize CBP, and other DHS components, on a routine basis.

This past week marked the ten year anniversary of the release of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations to Congress. Among the most important incomplete recommendations was for Congress to create a single, principal point of oversight and review for homeland security. Unfortunately, the number of committees and subcommittees overseeing DHS has only increased since this recommendation was first offered, and has resulted in significant strains on DHS leadership, who are required to answer to multiple Committees that sometimes provide contradictory guidance.

Authorizing the Department and its components like CBP, thus fulfilling our obligations as an authorizing committee, remains my top priority for this Committee. As Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, I can certainly attest that fractured jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security has limited Congress' ability to provide effective guidance to DHS. In the ten years since the Department was created, it has never had a comprehensive reauthorization. Similarly, components such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have never been authorized in statute since being transferred to the Department of Homeland Security in 2002, despite undergoing significant reorganizations in the nearly twelve years since the Department's establishment.

Thus, I want to thank my colleagues, and especially Chairman CAMP and the Committee on Ways and Means, for their collaboration in bringing this legislation to the Floor.

This measure has strong bipartisan support, and includes more than 30 amendments offered by Committee members of both parties, during the subcommittee and full committee markups. As a result, this measure passed the Committee unanimously, which truly represents the cooperation we strive to achieve. I would like to thank Ranking Member THOMPSON for his work on this bill and the contributions of our Democratic Members.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill, which will authorize U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the first time, and will provide greater transparency, accountability, and oversight over this important component.

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