FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 29, 2000
CONTACT: Lisette McSoud Mondello
SENATOR HUTCHISON QUESTIONS ADMINISTRATION'S
COMMITMENT TO A SAFE AND SECURE BORDER
- Finds Willful Non-Compliance with Will of Congress -
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Under repeated questioning by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison during an appropriations subcommittee hearing today, Attorney General Janet Reno declined to commit the Administration to complying with the law. Last year's Commerce, Justice and State appropriations bill requires the hiring of 1,000 new Border Patrol agents each year and, should that not be possible, salary increases for select agents already on the force.
The Senator challenged the Administration's decision to ignore a directive in last year's appropriations bill which requires the Immigration and Naturalization Service to boost the salaries of mid-rank U.S. Border Patrol agents. The law specifically instructed that 1,000 new Border Patrol agents be hired, but directed that if unable to do so by June 1st, the Administration must use the money appropriated for that purpose to increase pay for mid-ranking Border Patrol agents. The Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that it will be able to hire only 430 new Border Patrol agents this year.
Senator Hutchison concluded that, in the absence of a commitment by Attorney General Reno today, the "Administration is ignoring the will of Congress by refusing to comply with a good and honest pay increase for our Border Patrol agents which is needed to keep these officers' pay competitive with other federal law enforcement agencies. Every day these agents place their lives on the line to defend the nation against the flow of illegal drugs and unlawful immigration. The Administration ought to be doing everything it can to keep these agents on the force."
"I find it incomprehensible that the Administration would intentionally decide to ignore the will of Congress by once again not requesting money to hire 1,000 new U.S. Border Patrol agents," Senator Hutchison said during the Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee hearing. "These agents are overworked and underpaid and this Administration should start providing the resources and support they need to do their jobs."
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has spearheaded the effort to hire 1,000 new Border Patrol agents in each of fiscal years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Congress mandated this hiring increase in 1996. Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey has estimated that 20,000 agents are required to guarantee a secure border. A University of Texas study estimated that 16,133 Border Patrol agents are needed. Today, the U.S. Border patrol has only 7,700 agents even though Congress has authorized a 9,800-strong force.
The Border Patrol arrested 1.5 million people who illegally crossed the border in fiscal year 1999 and seized $1.7 billion in illegal drugs. In the first three months of this fiscal year, cocaine seizures are up 68 percent to 7,890 lbs over the first three months of the previous fiscal year.
"Despite the Administration's apparent lack of commitment to providing the border region with needed resources, I remain committed to doing just that," the Senator said. She was joined in that commitment by Subcommittee Chairman Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.
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