Congress Passes McCain-Flake Border Jobs for Veterans Act
Press Release
Last night, the U.S. Senate delivered final, unanimous passage of the Border Jobs for Veterans Act, a bill introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that will expedite the hiring of veterans as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at understaffed U.S. ports of entry without raising costs or impacting existing veteran hiring authorities. The bill is now on its way to the President's desk for signature. Last night, the U.S. Senate delivered final, unanimous passage of the Border Jobs for Veterans Act, a bill introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that will expedite the hiring of veterans as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at understaffed U.S. ports of entry without raising costs or impacting existing veteran hiring authorities. The bill is now on its way to the President's desk for signature. "This bill is a win-win for Arizona, helping our veterans find much-needed jobs, meeting urgent staffing needs at U.S. ports of entry, and improving the security of our border communities," said Senator McCain. "I urge the President to quickly sign this legislation into law so that we can begin providing veterans vital opportunities to continue serving and protecting the nation." This month, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson confirmed that the agency has yet to fill nearly 1,200 of the 2,000 new CBP officer positions created by Congress in 2014 to improve security and reduce trade-stifling commercial traffic at ports. Secretary Johnson has attributed the shortfall to delays associated with applicant background investigations, low polygraph clearance rates and a shortage of federal polygraph examiners, combined with CBP officer attrition. The Border Jobs for Veterans Act addresses those challenges by requiring the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to cooperate on efforts to recruit and expedite the hiring of outgoing U.S. military service members -- some of whom can enter the application process with an active security clearace -- to serve as CBP officers at ports.
"This bill is a win-win for Arizona, helping our veterans find much-needed jobs, meeting urgent staffing needs at U.S. ports of entry, and improving the security of our border communities," said Senator McCain. "I urge the President to quickly sign this legislation into law so that we can begin providing veterans vital opportunities to continue serving and protecting the nation."
This month, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson confirmed that the agency has yet to fill nearly 1,200 of the 2,000 new CBP officer positions created by Congress in 2014 to improve security and reduce trade-stifling commercial traffic at ports. Secretary Johnson has attributed the shortfall to delays associated with applicant background investigations, low polygraph clearance rates and a shortage of federal polygraph examiners, combined with CBP officer attrition.
The Border Jobs for Veterans Act addresses those challenges by requiring the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to cooperate on efforts to recruit and expedite the hiring of outgoing U.S. military service members -- some of whom can enter the application process with an active security clearance -- to serve as CBP officers at ports.
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