House Passes Bill to Waive Polygraphs for Certain CBP Officer Applicants
The House on June 7 passed H.R. 2213, the Anti-Border Corruption Act (here), which would give CBP limited discretion to waive pre-employment polygraphs for law enforcement applicants and armed forces applicants who recently held a security clearance, the House Homeland Security Committee announced (here). The Senate Homeland Security Committee last month approved companion legislation (see 1705180067). “Our national security depends on ensuring there are the right number of well-trained agents and officers on our front lines,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in a statement. “This commonsense, bipartisan solution expedites the hiring process for those who have previously taken an oath and put their lives on the line for our country, allowing CBP to more effectively carry out their mission of safeguarding America’s borders and ports of entry.” The committees didn’t comment on whether the full Senate is expected to consider the Senate or House bill. In June 7 written testimony to the House committee (here),
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Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly expressed support for the legislation. "Let me be clear, we will maintain our standards, yet we will streamline hiring processes," he said. Speaking to the committee June 7, Kelly said his department has lowered the average hiring time for CBP officers from what was 460 days at one point to 150 days now, but said he believes he can lessen the time further to 60-90 days. "We'll get to whatever number we can as fast as we can, but never skimping on quality and training," he said. "I told [those responsible for quality and training that] I'd fire them if they didn't do either one of those two things, and that applies to hiring of the ICE personnel as well."