The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would enable Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to hire at least 600 new officers annually to meet its staffing needs and directs the agency to report to Congress on what it needs to improve the detection of drugs entering the U.S. through ports of entry.
The Securing America’s Ports of Entry Act of 2023 (S. 1253), was sponsored by Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the committee chairman, and John Cornyn (R-Texas), and was approved by a vote of 11 to one with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the ranking member, disapproving. The bill was previously advanced by the panel in 2019.
Peters said during the committee’s markup that the bill addresses “critical shortages” in CBP’s officer ranks to facilitate travel and trade and secure the border and adds requirements for the agency’s workload staffing model for outbound inspections.
For drug detection, the bill includes several provisions, including reports on detection equipment that would improve the ability of CBP officers to identify illegal opioids and their precursors and derivatives, infrastructure improvements at ports of entry to enhance drug detection and instances that prevent the deployment of detection technology, and safety equipment to protect officers from accidental exposures to drugs.
Paul opposed the amendment saying he would prefer that any potential funding appropriated as a result of the bill come from elsewhere in the Department of Homeland Security rather than be added to the national debt. He also suggested that any new funding to hire CBP officers could potentially be pulled from U.S. support for Ukraine.
“There’s no fiscal restraint in this bill,” Paul said.
The bill would authorize $136.3 million be appropriated in fiscal year 2024 for the hiring efforts and $156.9 million in each of the fiscal years 2025 through 2029. Congressional funding would ultimately be approved by the House and Senate Appropriations committees.