[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13796-13798]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1445
DIRECTING SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO TRANSFER FUNCTIONS OF UNIT 
           OPERATING ON THE TOHONO O'ODHAM INDIAN RESERVATION

  Mr. SOUDER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5589) to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
transfer to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement all 
functions of the Customs Patrol Officers unit operating on the Tohono 
O'odham Indian reservation.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 5589

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHADOW WOLVES TRANSFER.

       (a) Transfer of Existing Unit.--Not later that 90 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security shall transfer to United States Immigration 
     and Customs Enforcement all functions (including the 
     personnel, assets, and liabilities attributable to such 
     functions) of the Customs Patrol Officers unit operating on 
     the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation (commonly known as the 
     ``Shadow Wolves'' unit).
       (b) Establishment of New Units.--The Secretary is 
     authorized to establish within United States Immigration and 
     Customs Enforcement additional units of Customs Patrol 
     Officers in accordance with this section, as appropriate.
       (c) Duties.--The Customs Patrol Officer unit transferred 
     pursuant to subsection (a), and additional units established 
     pursuant to subsection (b), shall operate on Indian lands by 
     preventing the entry of terrorists, other unlawful aliens, 
     instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband 
     into the United States.
       (d) Basic Pay for Journeyman Officers.--A Customs Patrol 
     Officer in a unit described in this section shall receive 
     equivalent pay as a special agent with similar competencies 
     within United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
     pursuant to the Department of Homeland Security's Human 
     Resources Management System established under section 841 of 
     the Homeland Security Act (6 U.S.C. 411).
       (e) Supervisors.--Each unit described in this section shall 
     be supervised by a Chief Customs Patrol Officer, who shall 
     have the same rank as a resident agent-in-charge of the 
     Office of Investigations within United States Immigration and 
     Customs Enforcement.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Souder) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. SOUDER. Madam Speaker, let me first explain a little bit about 
who the Shadow Wolves are.
  They are a specialized, all-Native American unit of the legacy U.S. 
Customs Service that were created by an act of Congress in 1972 to 
patrol the U.S.-Mexican land border within the Tohono O'odham Indian 
Nation in southern Arizona.
  If you kind of visualize the southwest border, California, Arizona, 
New Mexico and Texas, and then think of Phoenix and Tucson coming 
straight down, Nogales, and then go towards California going west, that 
area would be the Tohono O'odham Reservation. It is an artificially 
defined border with Mexico there, because, in fact, the Tohono O'odham 
are on both sides of that, and Congressman Hayworth here in Congress 
has a bill to try to address how they can move inside their 
reservation, particularly as we tighten our border.
  But it is a different challenge because, quite frankly, they were 
there before Mexico and the United States were there. So it is a 
different type of a challenge on the southwest border as to how we are 
going to provide security from terrorism, security from narcotics, from 
other types of items moving through, as well as illegal immigration.
  Now, many people don't necessarily know Tohono O'odham as a name 
right off the bat; it is the Papago Indian tribe is what we 
historically called them, both in the north up more towards Phoenix and 
down in the southwest. But the Tohono O'odham view themselves as that 
name, and now the Federal Government has recognized them by that.
  It is a relatively recent change, just like on our north border up by 
where the Mohawk reservation was; now they are called the Akwesasne 
Indian reservation, but we have a similar challenge on that side of the 
border.
  Now, the reason the Shadow Wolves were created is when you have a 
separate nation inside your Nation, one of the hardest things for our 
drug agents, for our historic INS agents and others to penetrate is 
inside an Indian Nation. They are very closed societies. They know who 
is going to be where inside that Nation. It is not easy to penetrate.
  And here we had one of the most successful tracking organizations, 
the Shadow Wolves have been featured in People Magazine, on television, 
all sorts of newspapers around the country for years because they 
combine modern technology with ancient tracking techniques, combined 
with being members inside that Nation to provide law and order inside 
that Nation.
  They arrested and pursued and identified narcotics smugglers along 
their 76 miles of border, and 2.8 million acres, and they would seize 
roughly 100,000 pounds of illegal narcotics every year.
  But when we created the Department of Homeland Security, we did 
something very unwise. We decided by splitting the CBP, the Customs and 
Border Protection, from the ICE agents, we left several agencies in the 
lurch. One is the Air and Marine Division that didn't either picket 
fence on the border or do investigations inside. So we are trying to 
work that out, which has been easier to do over in the water border on 
the Gulf of Mexico in the Caribbean Sea, but has been much tougher on 
the Mexican land border with the United States.
  But the other is, what do you do with a group like the Shadow Wolves? 
They don't fit in an ICE box. They have a border, which is where we try 
to protect the border, but they also do investigations inside. And the 
Department of Homeland Security, in trying to figure out how to deal 
with things that don't quite fit, square pegs in a round hole, jammed 
them in under CBP, and that meant several things. One is, the Shadow 
Wolves, a distinct entity, disappeared because they scattered them, 
along with CBP agents, all over the country because it did not fit the 
organization structure to say, oh, this is a unique thing on the 
southwest border, let's create a unique thing.
  So now inside the Tohono O'odham reservation, we have CBP agents that 
do not belong to that Nation. We have ICE agents that are not part of 
that Nation, and we have got Tohono O'odham Native Americans scattered 
all over the United States. It makes no sense. Needless to say, it is 
not working that great.
  As we look at Nogales and the traffic pouring through in Arizona and 
as it moves over to Douglas, as we build more fences, as we put more 
agents on the border, guess what happens? They move over to the open 
areas, the Barry Goldwater Air Force Range, Tohono O'odham Indian 
reservation, and the Fish and Wildlife area to the western part of 
Arizona. They are overrun now.
  Just in one hearing we had several years ago, during the time of the 
hearing, they had had 1,500 pounds of drugs moved through in the 
previous 3 months, then 1,500 pounds the previous month. During our 
hearing, with all of the different agents around, they snared something 
like 1,800 pounds, five different carloads, another group with seven 
SUVs going through. They put a Blackhawk on them. This has become a no-
man's zone.
  You cannot break organizations if you do not have investigations 
within. Rather than breaking up the Shadow Wolves, we should have been 
doing a similar thing up in New York State. We need to be looking at 
similar things in Montana where the Black Feet are not quite on the 
reservation, but how to work with the tribal groups to create tracking 
organizations that can do both border and investigations.
  Now, this bill is an imperfect solution. It puts them over in ICE. 
They basically need to do both things, but since the government 
continues to stick with they have got to be either A or B, better be B 
than A, because making them scattered along like a picket fence and 
working with CBP, wherever they assign them, makes no sense. We

[[Page 13797]]

need them back together. We need them as a tracking unit, more like a 
historic Customs ICE organization.
  What this bill does is transfers them, in fact, back to ICE. It moves 
their pay scale to be like ICE special agents. It grants the chief 
officer of the Shadow Wolves a rank equivalent to the resident agent in 
charge of the ICE investigations and authorizes similar units in areas 
such in the Akwesasne Reservation in upstate New York. That is the 
basic thrust of the bill.
  We know we need to work with the Appropriations Committee. We 
addressed this in the Homeland Security appropriations bill, but we 
just moved the dollars over. In fact, we will have to work out some 
kind of transition, because ICE agents make more than CBP. These people 
were trained trackers. Then all of a sudden we put them back on the 
border. It makes no sense. And we in Congress, who created this, need 
to make sure that we stand behind this great idea before all of them 
retire.
  Many already took early retirement or quit because they saw no 
commitment to keeping them together as a Native American organization.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5589, which directs 
the Secretary of Homeland Security to transfer to United States 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement all functions of the Customs Patrol 
Officers unit operating on the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation. This 
legislation responds to an urgent national priority: regaining control 
of our borders and stopping the cross-border smuggling of people, 
narcotics, and other contraband. I'd like to thank Majority Leader 
Boehner, Mr. Shadegg, and Mr. King of Iowa for their leadership in 
bringing this joint legislation to the Floor.
  The Shadow Wolves are one of the last remaining Customs Patrol 
Officer (CPO) units in the country. Created by Congress in 1972, the 
Shadow Wolves operate on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation in 
southern Arizona, which has 76 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border running 
through it. That reservation has historically been a major conduit for 
drug smuggling, and the Shadow Wolves--all of them Native Americans who 
combine modern technology with traditional, Indian tracking 
techniques--are responsible for stopping the smuggling of drugs, 
illegal aliens and other contraband between the ports of entry within 
the 2.8 million acres of the Tohono O'odham Nation. Just since January 
of this year, the Shadow Wolves have interdicted over 15,000 pounds of 
illegal drugs that otherwise would have been sold on the streets. The 
Shadow Wolves have also assisted numerous Federal law enforcement 
agencies with enforcement issues on the reservation.
  Despite being one of our most successful anti-smuggling investigative 
units, however, the Shadow Wolves are about to disappear altogether. 
After the formation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Shadow 
Wolves were taken out of their historic location at the Customs Office 
of Investigations and arbitrarily assigned to the Tucson Sector of the 
Border Patrol. This arrangement has been unworkable, because the 
mission and tactics of the Shadow Wolves (who are more like 
investigators than patrolmen) simply do not fit the organizational 
model of the Border Patrol. The Shadow Wolves have already lost nearly 
a quarter of their personnel due to attrition and to date there have 
been no qualified replacements.
  H.R. 5589 fixes this problem by transferring the Shadow Wolves back 
to the Office of Investigations, now located within ICE. Once again, 
the Shadow Wolves will be able to do what they do best: find, follow, 
and bust major drug and alien smuggling rings, in cooperation with 
their fellow Immigration and Customs investigators.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5589, and help the Nation take 
yet another major step in regaining control of our borders.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5589. It is long past its 
time. This is a bill that should have long since been to the floor. 
This legislation transfers the Shadow Wolves from Customs and Border 
Protection to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and allows the 
creation of an additional unit.
  The Shadow Wolves were created by an act of Congress in 1972 to 
address criminal activity along the U.S.-Mexican border. This group, 
comprised entirely of American Indians, focused on identifying, 
tracking and arresting drug smugglers along 76 miles of the U.S-Mexican 
border.
  With the aid of the Shadow Wolves, over 800 pounds of illegal 
narcotics are seized from smugglers on the reservation on an average 
day.
  The Shadow Wolves are located in Representative Grijalva's district 
in the Tohono O'odham Nation of southwest Arizona. Although he was 
unable to be here today, Madam Speaker, he shared with me the 
importance of ensuring this bill becomes law.
  Representative Grijalva has witnessed firsthand the almost 35 years 
of success the Shadow Wolves have had in the region deterring, tracking 
and intercepting drug smugglers. Their remarkable record should be 
continued.
  Allowing the Shadow Wolves to focus on their investigation functions 
allows them to better secure our Nation's borders against illegal 
drugs. In the future, I would like to work with other Members to 
increase the number of officers within existing units.
  I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SOUDER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, first, let me thank Chairman Pete King of the Homeland 
Security Committee and the ranking member, Mr. Thompson, for steadily 
standing behind this and also keeping the pressure on the 
administration to resolve these types of things, if they will not remix 
and back off from their determination to artificially divide this 
agency, at least to accommodate the things that do not quite fit the 
bureaucratic structure.
  I want to thank Chairman Lungren of the subcommittee, as well as 
Chairman Rogers of the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee for 
keeping the pressure on in spite of the administration's resistance.
  I appreciate the support in ICE of Director Myers, Julie Myers, for 
her support in trying to work out a compromise and backing off some of 
the resistance we have had over the last few years. Congressman John 
Shadegg of Arizona has been a leader on this, along with Congressman 
Grijalva for a number of years, and his staff has been down there many 
times.
  We have spent much time on the Arizona border. Congressman Steve King 
has become involved in this, as well, from Iowa. And without the 
persistence of all of the Members, in addition to the support of the 
chairman, we would never be at the stage we are tonight of actually 
recognizing that the Shadow Wolves should exist as a separate unit, of 
authorizing what we earlier did in the appropriations bill, and see if 
we cannot finally get this done.
  We thank the individual members of the Shadow Wolves who stayed, and 
their patience as we try to put this back together, because this is 
important to the reservation. I have talked to tribal leaders there and 
individual homeowners there, and they are so frustrated with all of the 
crime that is running through their Indian reservation. They so much 
want to have their destiny controlled by their own people, to the 
degree we can work this out.
  I appreciate their patience as we have done a very belabored, long 
conflict over how to do this inside Homeland Security. But I think we 
are finally nearing the final stages of at least getting them in ICE, 
holding them together as a unit, working with the administration, with 
the appropriators, with the authorizers. I thank once again Mr. 
Thompson, Chairman King and all of the relevant Members for moving this 
bill forward.
  Mr. SHADEGG. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5589, a bill to 
transfer a Customs Patrol Officers unit known as the ``Shadow Wolves,'' 
to the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement branch.
  The Shadow Wolves were created by an Act of Congress in 1972, 
establishing a Native American customs unit to operate along the Tohono 
O'odham Nation's border with Mexico. The unit is entirely composed of 
Native Americans and is tasked with infiltrating and disrupting drug 
cartels and smuggling operations along the border.

[[Page 13798]]

  In March of 2003, I had the opportunity to visit the Tohono O'odham 
Nation during a Congressional hearing on border security and our anti-
drug efforts. I met with the Shadow Wolves, and found them to possess a 
unique dedication toward pursuing smugglers. Their investigative skills 
and tracking techniques provide vital information and intelligence to 
local, state, and federal law enforcement agents. Their traditional 
roles in intelligence gathering, evidence collection, and prosecution 
have been imperative to our national security and anti-drug efforts.
  Unfortunately, these roles have been altered since being reassigned 
to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, CBP, which does not 
view itself as responsible for intelligence gathering and evidence 
collection. CBP's control has stifled the impact of the Shadow Wolves.
  Since the transfer to CBP, the number of drug seizures has noticeably 
declined. In 2002, before the transfer, the Shadow Wolves interdicted 
over 93,000 pounds of marijuana. Only two years later, under CBP, only 
52,000 pounds of marijuana were seized.
  Under CBP, the Shadow Wolves have been hampered by operational 
restrictions that continuously undermine the unit's unique 
capabilities. They are now confined to a seven mile grid along the 
border, which hampers their ability to track smugglers; they were told 
they can't do undercover work because ``the Border Patrol doesn't do 
that;'' and all of the Native American informants on the Reservation 
are now handled by non-Indian Border Patrol agents.
  A unit that once had 21 agents is down to 16 and is under the threat 
of losing more. Low morale and a lack of respect and purpose under the 
control of CBP threaten their very existence.
  H.R. 5589 would restore the vital role the Shadow Wolves have 
traditionally played in drug interdiction and combating smugglers along 
our border. I strongly support this legislation and hope that it will 
reach President Bush's desk quickly.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 5589. This bill directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
transfer all functions of the Customs Patrol Officers unit operating on 
the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation to the United States Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement.
  The Shadow Wolves are a specialized all-Native American unit of the 
legacy U.S. Customs Service within the Tohono O'odham Indian nation, 
and they have patrolled 76 miles of the U.S./Mexico land border in 
southern Arizona for over 30 years. Their methods of capturing 
narcotics smugglers combine modern technology and ancient tracking 
techniques, which have proven to be highly successful.
  However, the Shadow Wolves unit's direction was compromised when it 
was absorbed into the Customs Border Patrol, and its unique identity 
was threatened. Not only was this action harmful to the security 
benefits from the Shadow Wolves' connection with the community and the 
respect of its cultural makeup, it significantly lowered morale within 
the unit.
  This bill would seek to resolve this issue by returning the Shadow 
Wolves to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It 
also includes provisions that would set the Shadow Wolves' pay scale at 
the same rate as ICE Special Agents and grant the Chief Officer a rank 
equivalent to a resident agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of 
Investigations.
  This would not only significantly improve moral within the unit but 
increase the efficiency of the border security within that region. Thus 
I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill to 
help continue to protect the security of our borders.
  Mr. SOUDER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5589.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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