Border Jobs for Veterans Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. FLAKE. Thank you.

Madam President, I wish to talk about the problem that led to this bill. We have made significant investments along the border in terms of port facilities. More needs to be done, obviously, but we made significant investments to accommodate cross-border traffic.

There is a lot of good that goes on at the border. We often just focus on the bad--the illegal crossings, the drug trade, and whatnot--but there is a tremendous amount of good that happens on the border, particularly the border of Arizona and Mexico.

There is a lot of commerce that goes in. Arizona's ports of entry processed $30.5 billion worth of goods in 2014. This is an increase up from $18.5 billion in 2009. So there is a lot of good that goes on. We have needed more adequate staffing at these ports.

The Border Patrol officers with whom we often associate the border are in green uniforms. What we need more of are blue uniforms--people to actually facilitate this cross-border traffic and the flow of goods that benefits us, benefits Mexico and other countries to the south as well.

Secretary Johnson, when we asked why we were having difficulty filling these slots for staffing of these ports, said that--well, let me just say we authorized--the Senate and the House authorized--2,000 new CPB officers. We authorized these positions, but as of earlier this year, only 800 of the 2,000 had been filled. So Secretary Johnson was explaining that the delays are associated with applicant background investigations, low polygraph clearance rates, and a shortage of Federal polygraph examiners combined with attrition.

So we thought: What group of people do we have who have gone through these security clearances already and who could clear this hurdle and expedite this? And it is, of course, our returning men and women from the military and those who are now out of service. They have, in many cases, already gone through the security clearances. They have passed the polygraph test and could more expeditiously move into these jobs. Obviously, we have concerns, and we have several other programs that deal with returning veterans to make sure that there are jobs awaiting them.

Let me say that this doesn't affect any of the preferences or other positions that are available for our veterans. This simply requires CPB and the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate or collaborate with our military to see what jobs are out there and see what positions can be filled.

It shouldn't take an act of Congress to get two agencies to work together like this, but sometimes it does. So that is what this legislation is doing, and it will require reporting to happen as well to make sure that this is being accomplished and the coordination is occurring.

Let me just talk about some of the endorsements for this legislation, some of those groups that have helped us in exploiting the need and coming to a solution.

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry said:

The Border Jobs for Veterans Act ..... helps advance two major national priorities: the facilitation of cross-border commerce and the future employment of the tens of thousands of men and women who separate from military service each year. Ensuring our ports of entry are properly staffed is critical to our nation's ability to compete on a global scale.

The president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas said:

The Border Jobs for Vets Legislation is crucial for continuing to grow the nation's economy. It is helping businesses across the country continue to prosper by facilitating trade while also using the skills and knowledge of an amazing asset we already have, our veterans, to do this important work.

The Greater Nogales-Santa Cruz Port Authority said:

Border communities like Nogales, Arizona, depend greatly on the ability of people and goods to cross the border effectively and efficiently. We have been pushing for many years for additional staff. ..... The Border Jobs for Veterans Act is one of the most significant steps taken on this issue in many years.

The president of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said:

We appreciate our Arizona Senators' innovative approach to a problem that is impacting our communities and our economy. Any impediments that increase wait times at our ports of entry such as a lack of adequate staffing impact our retail sales and ultimately the financial success of our business community in Arizona.

I would like to take a moment to thank my Senate colleagues--Senator Ron Johnson, who already spoke here; Senator McCain, who played a critical role in this; Senator Schumer, Senator Burr, Senator Baldwin, Senator Feinstein, Senator Lankford, Senator Sullivan, Senator Tillis, Senator Toomey, and Senator David Vitter--for cosponsoring this bipartisan legislation.

After being approved by the Senate, Arizona Congresswoman Martha McSally has led the effort to get it passed in the House unanimously. She played a great role there, and I want to thank her for leading this effort in the House.

Thanks to everyone's support and the hard work of committee staff, including Brooke Ericson and Holly Idelson on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Paul Anstine of the House Homeland Security Committee, we now have this bill ready to head to the President's desk.

In conclusion, let me just say that those leaving the military need jobs and CBP needs officers. This is a great bill that will require coordination between the two, and it will lead to greater staffing at less cost and certainly in less time. So I look forward to having the administration look at this and look forward to having the President sign this legislation.

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