Senate Passes Bipartisan Sinema Bill Boosting Ports of Entry and Border Security Through Public-Private Partnerships
Statement
Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Republican Senator John Cornyn (TX), and Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich (NM) secured bipartisan passage of their extension and improvement of the successful Donation Acceptance Program (DAP) for an additional five years through the annual defense bill. The DAP allows for public-private partnerships at U.S. Ports of Entry and allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to accept donations of property and technology to more efficiently secure the border and process trade.
"Allowing Arizona communities to assist and improve our ports of entry operations will help us secure the border, keep Arizona communities safe, and fuel our economy," said Sen. Sinema.
"At a pivotal time for Ports of Entry as they modernize and invest in their infrastructure, the need for these successful partnerships to continue is imperative," said Sen. Cornyn. "For Texas, the expiration of this program would restrict access to funding for lane operations, and disrupt construction of new lanes and inspection booths. This would translate to serious negative consequences for regional economic recovery, the ongoing global supply chain crisis, and public safety."
"I've been proud to work with business and community leaders to build public-private partnerships and secure millions of dollars in federal funds to facilitate international trade at New Mexico's ports of entry. We must remain focused on building on our recent successes, like those at the Santa Teresa port of entry, and make sure New Mexico's vibrant border communities and growing ports of entry have the resources they need to thrive," said Sen. Heinrich. "This bipartisan legislation will reauthorize the Donations Acceptance Program and strengthen our ports of entry. I'm proud to secure this language in the FY22 NDAA and will keep fighting for forward-looking infrastructure investments in every corner of New Mexico."
The Donation Acceptance program is currently set to expire this year. The Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act includes Sinema's bill reauthorizing the DAP for an additional five years. In Arizona, the city of Douglas utilized the program to donate empty lots to help port operations.
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