[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 123 (Friday, August 7, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S9075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 CUSTOMS FACILITATION AND TRADE ENFORCEMENT REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, Representative John Randolph, chairman of 
the House Ways and Means Committee in the early 1800s, said, ``We all 
know our duty better than we discharge it.''
  U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, and Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement, or ICE, have two vital duties. They must protect 
our national security by ensuring that threats to that security do not 
cross our borders, and they must protect our economic security by 
ensuring that legitimate trade does cross our borders, smoothly and 
quickly. I have no doubt that CBP and ICE know these duties. But they 
must do a better job of discharging their trade duties.
  Senator Grassley and I introduced a bill that would require the 
agencies to do just that. The Customs Facilitation and Trade 
Enforcement Reauthorization Act of 2009 would direct CBP and ICE to 
make customs facilitation and trade enforcement a priority again, and 
it would provide the agencies with the tools and resources that they 
need to fully discharge those duties.
  These agencies know that high-level officials must focus on their 
trade duties. The bill would help the agencies discharge those duties 
by creating new high-level positions at CBP devoted exclusively to 
trade. The bill would assign new trade facilitation and enforcement 
duties to the highest level official at ICE.
  The agencies know that they must facilitate and expedite legitimate 
trade across our borders. The bill would help the agencies to discharge 
those duties by providing trade facilitation benefits, such as faster 
customs clearance, to importers with a history of complying with U.S. 
customs and trade laws. The bill would also require the Secretary of 
Homeland Security to identify and provide trade facilitation benefits 
to importers that provide additional security information. The bill 
would provide funding for automated programs that would help CBP 
process imports more quickly.
  The agencies know that they must enforce U.S. trade, intellectual 
property, and health and safety laws at our borders. The bill would 
help the agencies to discharge those duties by giving CBP new tools to 
identify goods that are most likely to violate these laws. It would 
give CBP the means to prevent those goods from crossing our borders. It 
would require ICE to do more to prevent the importation of goods made 
with forced, convict, or indentured labor.
  The agencies know that they must listen to Congress and the business 
community when taking significant actions that affect America's 
competitiveness. The bill would help the agencies to discharge that 
duty by requiring CBP to engage in robust consultation before taking 
such steps.
  The agencies know that they must serve rural border areas, such as 
those in my home State of Montana. The bill would help the agencies to 
discharge that duty by creating a pilot program to establish 24-hour 
ports along these border areas, ensuring that legitimate trade can flow 
quickly through these areas.
  So let's come together to reauthorize CBP and ICE. Let's give these 
agencies the tools and resources they need to facilitate and enforce 
international trade. And let's help CBP and ICE to discharge these 
duties that are so essential to our economic security.

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