[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 7 (Thursday, January 11, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E35]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    H.R. 3731, SECRET SERVICE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION ACT OF 2017

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                       HON. BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 11, 2018

  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3731, the 
Secret Service Recruitment and Retention Act of 2017.
  The United States Secret Service is operating under tremendous 
demands with very limited resources. The agency is tasked with 
protecting a large presidential family that travels frequently around 
the world. This year, members of the Trump family have traveled to 
Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, the 
United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, among other destinations. 
The Secret Service provides protection on all of these trips, in 
addition to protecting the president himself, and each of these trips 
requires the Secret Service to incur significant costs, including 
travel, lodging, and costs associated with coordinating with local 
security entities, embassies, and other overseas partners. The Trump 
family does not reimburse the Federal government for costs associated 
with protecting family members on these trips, even when they are made 
in pursuit of the Trump Organization's business interests and to 
promote the Trump brand.
  The scope of the Secret Service's protective mission, along with 
other agency activities such as investigating and preventing 
counterfeiting, has created a hole in the agency's budget. At a June 8, 
2017, hearing before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on 
Transportation and Protective Security, Secret Service Director 
Randolph ``Tex'' Alles testified that the agency's budget is ``$200 
million to $300 million a year short of what would be required'' to 
fulfill its protective and investigative missions more effectively.
  This bill will not solve the Secret Service's budget gap, but it will 
prevent Secret Service agents from having to bear the brunt of 
challenges they did not create. Many Secret Service agents have hit 
their overtime pay limits and are unable to receive further 
compensation despite having to work additional hours given the agency's 
expanded mission. Such a system is unfair to the agents, who work 
difficult jobs with long shifts and uncompromising schedules even when 
they are being fairly compensated.
  H.R. 3731 would allow the Secret Service to pay agents for hours they 
have worked, which is the least we can do. I urge the Senate to pass 
this bill as soon as possible.

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