House Appropriators Vote on CBP Funding
Next year's funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security aims to fix staffing shortages at ports of entry, International Mail Facilities, and Express Consignment Facilities by adding funding for 750 new CBP officers, 200 agricultural specialists, 30 operational support staff and 70 mission support staff. It also dedicates $8 million for trade agreement, remedies and enforcement personnel “to strengthen enforcement actions and processes that prevent the importation of products made with forced labor,” the report accompanying the bill said.
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The House Appropriations Committee approved the 2021 DHS funding bill on a party-line, 30-22 vote on July 15. The Senate has yet to consider DHS funding for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
The Appropriations Committee also told CBP it can't reduce the hours of entry at any port of entry “unless CBP can demonstrate that the reduction will benefit commerce without introducing increased local traffic delays, and that it has consulted with elected officials at all levels, community members, and impacted private sector stakeholders prior to making changes. In addition, CBP shall notify the Committee not later than 30 days in advance of any proposed changes.”
The committee wants to spend $190 million on non-intrusive inspection equipment. It also requires a briefing on CBP to efforts “to improve automated commercial cargo processing.”
The report accompanying the bill directs CBP to produce a number of reports on trade policy. The committee asks CBP “to determine the extent of transnational criminal organizations' involvement in foreign produce bound for the United States,” and asks that the committee be briefed on efforts to stop money laundering in agriculture and detecting narcotics in produce shipments.
The report also directs CBP to spend more energy on “interdicting the outbound flow of smuggled firearms and illicit currency that fund and facilitate transnational criminal organizations,” and wants to see a plan for doing so.
It asks CBP “to review whether duties on importers of recycled, scrap, and primary aluminum exempt from the Section 232 tariff are being properly assessed, along with whether assessed tariffs have been remitted to the government.”
It also says the committee wants a report on the implementation of the 11-point action plan the administration developed to combat trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods. More broadly, it wants goals and metrics reporting in pilot programs.
Some of CBP staffing is paid for through fee revenue. The committee said that once estimates are in on the drop in trade and travel fee revenue, appropriators “will address potential funding shortfalls later in the appropriations process.”