[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H675]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        BORDER AND SEQUESTRATION

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, the effect of sequestration on our borders 
will be felt especially hard in my western New York community, home to 
four crossings on the northern border.
  According to the Department of Homeland Security, if sequestration 
occurs, Customs and Border Protection will be forced to eliminate 2,700 
officers and 5,000 Border Patrol agents. In addition to the job losses, 
this could mean delays of as long as 4 hours at our border crossings.
  $1.5 billion in goods and 300,000 individuals cross the U.S.-Canada 
border each and every day. Western New York businesses and institutions 
depend on predictable access to and from southern Ontario. Increased 
wait times will discourage Canadian consumers from visiting western New 
York, and that is business we can't afford to lose.
  I call on the House to take immediate action to repeal the sequester 
and to prevent this unnecessary injury to our economy.

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