[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15567-15569]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  BORDER JOBS FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2015

  Mr. FLAKE. Madam President, we are here to discuss the process for 
the Border Jobs for Veterans Act that is going to pass shortly.
  I yield to the Senator from Wisconsin.
  Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, first, I thank my colleague from 
Arizona for leading and also for his leadership for working, on a 
bipartisan basis, with Members from the other side of the aisle to 
really accomplish something to produce a result. What I have been 
trying to do as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs is that I have reached out to every Senator 
and asked them: If you have identified a problem, if you have a piece 
of legislation that solves that problem, bring it before our committee, 
and I will do everything in my power to mark it up, report it out of 
our committee, and then first work with you to first pass it through 
the Senate, then through the House, to get that piece of legislation on 
the President's desk, and to have it

[[Page 15568]]

signed into law to actually solve that problem.
  The Senator from Arizona has done a great job in this particular case 
because this is a piece of legislation that truly is a win-win. It is a 
win for our veterans, and it is a win for the border.
  I am not going to steal the Senator's thunder in terms of describing 
all of the benefits of the bill, but I just want to mention a couple. 
We obviously have a huge problem at our border, and neither one of us 
would claim that this is going to solve all of our problems. But it 
identifies one--a staffing problem with our ports of entry. Also there 
is another problem in terms of our veterans who have served this Nation 
and are unable to find work. So that is the win-win. This is a perfect 
example of a piece of legislation now that solves that problem.
  Coming from the manufacturing sector, I never did quite understand 
why our returning veterans--with their esprit de corps, with all their 
skills, all their dedication, their great attitude--are having a hard 
time finding work, because certainly in my manufacturing operation in 
Oshkosh, WI, boy, if I found a veteran, I hired that individual because 
they are great workers. Now, in my Senate office, we actually have 
seven veterans with a combined total of 115 years of service.
  So I think what we are going to find now at Customs and Border 
Protection is that this bill will make it easier for veterans to 
connect with those particular jobs to help staff our ports of entry. 
Customs and Border Protection is going to find that value of being able 
to employ the finest among us because we have made that easier. Our 
veterans are going to have the ability to leave service and have a very 
good job further serving the country and keeping our Nation safe.
  I again thank the Senator from Arizona for his leadership on this and 
for working with me to get this passed through our committee, passed 
through the Senate, and put on the President's desk for his signature 
to have this bill signed into law so we can be helping our veterans and 
protect this Nation.
  I thank the Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. FLAKE. Thank you. I again thank the Senator from Wisconsin and 
others I will name later for working so hard on this bill.
  The Senator made sure that it moved through his committee 
expeditiously, that we got it to the floor in the Senate and also 
through the House as well. It is an example of how the Senate and the 
House can work in a bipartisan way. I appreciate both the appeal that 
you have made to encourage us to come forward with problems that we 
have and to vote for ways that your committee can help solve them.
  Thank you again.
  Mr. JOHNSON. If I could just make one final point, this is a classic 
example of when we concentrate on the areas of agreement and find the 
areas of agreement that unite us, as opposed to exploiting the 
divisions.
  Again, this is a perfect example of getting bipartisan support on a 
piece of legislation. It serves as a great example for everybody 
serving in Washington to see us concentrate on the areas of agreement 
that unify us rather than exploit those divisions.
  Again, I thank the Senator very much for his leadership.
  Mr. FLAKE. Thank you.
  Madam President, I wish to talk about the problem that led to this 
bill. We have made significant investments along the border in terms of 
port facilities. More needs to be done, obviously, but we made 
significant investments to accommodate cross-border traffic.
  There is a lot of good that goes on at the border. We often just 
focus on the bad--the illegal crossings, the drug trade, and whatnot--
but there is a tremendous amount of good that happens on the border, 
particularly the border of Arizona and Mexico.
  There is a lot of commerce that goes in. Arizona's ports of entry 
processed $30.5 billion worth of goods in 2014. This is an increase up 
from $18.5 billion in 2009. So there is a lot of good that goes on. We 
have needed more adequate staffing at these ports.
  The Border Patrol officers with whom we often associate the border 
are in green uniforms. What we need more of are blue uniforms--people 
to actually facilitate this cross-border traffic and the flow of goods 
that benefits us, benefits Mexico and other countries to the south as 
well.
  Secretary Johnson, when we asked why we were having difficulty 
filling these slots for staffing of these ports, said that--well, let 
me just say we authorized--the Senate and the House authorized--2,000 
new CPB officers. We authorized these positions, but as of earlier this 
year, only 800 of the 2,000 had been filled. So Secretary Johnson was 
explaining that the delays are associated with applicant background 
investigations, low polygraph clearance rates, and a shortage of 
Federal polygraph examiners combined with attrition.
  So we thought: What group of people do we have who have gone through 
these security clearances already and who could clear this hurdle and 
expedite this? And it is, of course, our returning men and women from 
the military and those who are now out of service. They have, in many 
cases, already gone through the security clearances. They have passed 
the polygraph test and could more expeditiously move into these jobs. 
Obviously, we have concerns, and we have several other programs that 
deal with returning veterans to make sure that there are jobs awaiting 
them.
  Let me say that this doesn't affect any of the preferences or other 
positions that are available for our veterans. This simply requires CPB 
and the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate or collaborate 
with our military to see what jobs are out there and see what positions 
can be filled.
  It shouldn't take an act of Congress to get two agencies to work 
together like this, but sometimes it does. So that is what this 
legislation is doing, and it will require reporting to happen as well 
to make sure that this is being accomplished and the coordination is 
occurring.
  Let me just talk about some of the endorsements for this legislation, 
some of those groups that have helped us in exploiting the need and 
coming to a solution.
  The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry said:

       The Border Jobs for Veterans Act . . . helps advance two 
     major national priorities: the facilitation of cross-border 
     commerce and the future employment of the tens of thousands 
     of men and women who separate from military service each 
     year. Ensuring our ports of entry are properly staffed is 
     critical to our nation's ability to compete on a global 
     scale.

  The president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas said:

       The Border Jobs for Vets Legislation is crucial for 
     continuing to grow the nation's economy. It is helping 
     businesses across the country continue to prosper by 
     facilitating trade while also using the skills and knowledge 
     of an amazing asset we already have, our veterans, to do this 
     important work.

  The Greater Nogales-Santa Cruz Port Authority said:

       Border communities like Nogales, Arizona, depend greatly on 
     the ability of people and goods to cross the border 
     effectively and efficiently. We have been pushing for many 
     years for additional staff. . . . The Border Jobs for 
     Veterans Act is one of the most significant steps taken on 
     this issue in many years.

  The president of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said:

       We appreciate our Arizona Senators' innovative approach to 
     a problem that is impacting our communities and our economy. 
     Any impediments that increase wait times at our ports of 
     entry such as a lack of adequate staffing impact our retail 
     sales and ultimately the financial success of our business 
     community in Arizona.
  I would like to take a moment to thank my Senate colleagues--Senator 
Ron Johnson, who already spoke here; Senator McCain, who played a 
critical role in this; Senator Schumer, Senator Burr, Senator Baldwin, 
Senator Feinstein, Senator Lankford, Senator Sullivan, Senator Tillis, 
Senator Toomey, and Senator David Vitter--for cosponsoring this 
bipartisan legislation.
  After being approved by the Senate, Arizona Congresswoman Martha 
McSally has led the effort to get it passed in the House unanimously. 
She played a great role there, and I want to thank her for leading this 
effort in the House.

[[Page 15569]]

  Thanks to everyone's support and the hard work of committee staff, 
including Brooke Ericson and Holly Idelson on the Senate Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Paul Anstine of the 
House Homeland Security Committee, we now have this bill ready to head 
to the President's desk.
  In conclusion, let me just say that those leaving the military need 
jobs and CBP needs officers. This is a great bill that will require 
coordination between the two, and it will lead to greater staffing at 
less cost and certainly in less time. So I look forward to having the 
administration look at this and look forward to having the President 
sign this legislation.
  With that, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 2835, which was received 
from the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2835) to actively recruit members of the Armed 
     Forces who are separating from military service to serve as 
     Customs and Border Protection officers.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. FLAKE. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time 
and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any 
statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 2835) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. AYOTTE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________