[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16971]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
              AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada is recognized.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand we are very close to working 
out something on the filing of amendments. The managers are working on 
that at this time. Awaiting their arrival, I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise to applaud the managers of this 
bill, Senators Hollings and Gregg, for focusing on a problem that 
simply has not received the attention it deserves in recent years. I am 
referring to the disturbing lack of Immigration and Naturalization 
Service inspectors at the land ports of entry that line our borders 
with Canada and Mexico. Based on an analysis of workload and workforce 
needs, the INS estimates that our 104 land ports of entry are staffed 
at a mere 49 percent of their optimal level, leading to long lines and 
exhausted, overworked inspectors.
  The situation in my home State of Maine is even more alarming. 
Maine's 12 land ports of entry are staffed, on average, at 41 percent 
of their optimal level. This means that 71 INS inspectors must perform 
the work of 174 men and women. To put the problem in perspective, I 
point out that, last year, Maine's 71 INS border staff inspected 
approximately 6.75 million people who passed through our land border 
ports of entry in 3 million passenger vehicles, 400,000 commercial 
trucks, and thousands of buses and trains.
  Moreover, many of these inspections are far from routine. Since 1996, 
the Portland, ME district of the INS--which includes 14 land border 
points of entry in Vermont and one in New Hampshire--has confiscated 
over 2,500 fraudulent documents and apprehended hundreds of narcotics 
and alien smugglers, over 8,200 criminal aliens, and approximately 
4,000 aliens who were the subject of lookouts by the INS and other 
agencies. Last year alone, the Portland district office apprehended 4 
terrorists.
  These figures underscore the critical need for additional land border 
inspectors to protect the integrity of our borders and the safety of 
those who currently man them. This latter point is perhaps best 
illustrated by the situation at the border port of entry in Coburn 
Gore, Maine. Coburn Gore should be staffed by 12 INS inspectors. 
Instead, it has two. Together with two Customs Service inspectors, they 
man the port of entry 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Most of the 
time, Coburn Gore is manned by only one inspector. Think about that. A 
single inspector must not only keep traffic moving but must also decide 
when and whether to conduct a time-consuming secondary inspection when 
suspicion is raised. Not surprisingly, traffic sometimes backs up to 
the Canadian border. And when assistance is needed, a call must be 
placed to the State Police barracks in Skowhegan, the nearest sheriff's 
office in Farmington, the nearest Border Patrol office in Rangeley, or 
the nearest land border port of entry in Jackman, each of which is 
located at least an hour's drive away.
  For years, all available INS resources have been allocated to 
increase the number of Border Patrol agents stationed on our southern 
border. At the same time, the number of land border inspectors actually 
has decreased slightly. I am therefore very pleased that Senators 
Hollings and Gregg have allocated $25.4 million to hire 348 land border 
inspectors to, in their words, ``begin the long process of aligning 
manning with workload requirements.'' Eighteen of these new inspectors 
would be located in Maine, and would increase the number of INS 
inspectors stationed at land border ports of entry in my home State by 
25 percent. Significantly, the bill would mean two new inspectors for 
Coburn Gore.
  On August 31, I wrote to Attorney General Ashcroft asking him to 
support the increase in land border inspectors including in this bill 
but, unfortunately, excluded from the House version.
  It is cruelly ironic that today, in the aftermath of the worst 
terrorist attack the world has ever witnessed, news reports have 
indicated that some of the terrorists responsible may well have entered 
our country through one or more of Maine's understaffed land border 
ports of entry.
  The INS and Customs Service inspectors on our northern border work 
hard and long to protect our safety. It is disturbing to learn how 
often they encounter terrorists and other criminals seeking to gain 
entry into the United States. Yet it is comforting to know how often 
these criminals are apprehended before they can accomplish their goals.
  As skilled and as vigilant as they are, our border inspectors need 
more help, and that is why I commend the Senator from New Hampshire and 
the Senator from South Carolina for their work. I strongly support the 
provisions in this bill that will put more inspectors where they are 
urgently needed on our borders.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senator from 
Michigan, Ms. Stabenow, be recognized as in morning business for 5 
minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator from Michigan.

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