[Senate Report 116-264]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        Calendar No. 527
                                                                
                                                                
116th Congress  }                                             {   Report
                                SENATE                          
2d Session      }                                             {   116-264
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

                                              

             SECURING AMERICA'S PORTS OF ENTRY ACT OF 2019

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 1004

           TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER
           PROTECTION OFFICE OF FIELD OPERATIONS OFFICERS AND
           SUPPORT STAFF AND TO REQUIRE REPORTS THAT IDENTIFY
 STAFFING, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO ENHANCE SECURITY AT 
                             PORTS OF ENTRY






               September 9, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
               
               
                            ______

             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 99-010               WASHINGTON : 2020              
               
               
               
               
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                    RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky                  THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah                    KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida                  KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming             JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Staff Director
                   Joseph C. Folio III, Chief Counsel
                       Clark A. Hedrick, Counsel
               David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
               Zachary I. Schram, Minority Chief Counsel
         Samuel Rodarte Jr., Minority Professional Staff Member
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     
                     
                     



                                                       Calendar No. 527
                                                       
                                                                
116th Congress   }                                          {   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session      }                                          {   116-264

======================================================================



 
             SECURING AMERICA'S PORTS OF ENTRY ACT OF 2019

                                _______
                                

               September 9, 2020.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1004]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1004) to increase 
the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of 
Field Operations officers and support staff and to require 
reports that identify staffing, infrastructure, and equipment 
needed to enhance security at ports of entry, having considered 
the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and 
recommends that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................1
III. Legislative History..............................................4
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................4
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................5
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................5
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............6

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    S. 1004, the Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019, 
requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of 
Field Operations (OFO) to increase the number of officers and 
support staff and to report on any additional staffing, 
infrastructure, and equipment needed to enhance security at 
ports of entry.

              II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    As port of entry freight and passenger volumes increase, 
OFO staffing levels must keep pace to efficiently and 
effectively secure the nation's border and facilitate trade and 
travel. The OFO Workload Staffing Model is designed to 
determine the number of CBP Officers needed to fulfill its 
mission.\1\ The Workload Staffing Model assesses passenger 
volume at each port of entry, processing times, annual work 
hours per full-time CBP officer, additional responsibilities 
incurred depending on passenger volume, and minimum overhead 
coverage requirements to calculate the number of CBP officers 
needed to fulfill its mission.\2\ For fiscal year (FY) 2020, 
the Workload Staffing Model estimated a need for 27,187 OFO 
officers.\3\ As of May 25, 2019, OFO had 23,898 officers on 
board, 3,289 short of the Workload Staffing Model 
requirement.\4\ Congress funded 600 new CBP officers for 
FY2019.\5\
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    \1\U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Staffing Methodology at 
Ports of Entry (Oct. 8, 2019), available at https://www.dhs.gov/sites/
default/files/publications/cbp_-_staffing_methodology_at_
ports_of_entry_0.pdf.
    \2\Id. at 13-14.
    \3\E-mail from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to Committee 
staff (Aug. 22, 2019, 12:04 EDT).
    \4\E-mail from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to Committee 
staff (June 14, 2019, 17:49 EDT).
    \5\U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Summary Department of 
Homeland Security Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriations Agreement, available 
at https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/
DHS%20Conference%20Press%20Summary1.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In recent years, the demographic composition of individuals 
arriving or seeking entry at our southwest border has changed 
dramatically, creating a variety of new challenges for our 
frontline personnel. While single adult males have historically 
composed the majority of those taken into custody, the 
southwest border now experiences unprecedented levels of 
families and unaccompanied alien children seeking entry between 
or at ports of entry. In FY2017, CBP reported that 29,375 
family units and 7,246 unaccompanied children sought admission 
at U.S. at ports of entry.\6\ That same year, 75,622 family 
units and 41,435 unaccompanied alien children entered between 
the ports of entry at the southwest border.\7\ By FY2019, CBP 
reported that the overall numbers had increased significantly. 
While 53,430 family units and 4,614 unaccompanied alien 
children sought admission at southwest border ports of entry, 
473,682 family units and 76,020 unaccompanied alien children 
were taken into custody between ports of entry.\8\ This massive 
inflow resulted in a humanitarian crisis within a border 
enforcement system not prepared to handle these populations at 
this scale. This required CBP to move CBP officers from OFO 
ports of entry around the country to assist Border Patrol in 
the processing of these individuals. In June 2019, OFO 
estimated that between 500 and 750 officers would be diverted 
from ports of entry to help Border Patrol with processing, 
transporting, and supervising those in custody.\9\ By the end 
of September, all officers had returned to their posts.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Border Migration 
FY2017, available at https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/sw-border-
migration-fy2017.
    \7\Id.
    \8\U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Border Migration 
FY2019, available at https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/sw-border-
migration.
    \9\Telephone call from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to 
Committee staff (June 14, 2019).
    \10\E-mail from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to Committee 
staff (Sept. 20, 2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Increasing CBP officer staffing could also help drive the 
U.S. economy. According to the Joint Economic Committee, 
``[e]very day 1.1 million people and $5.9 billion in goods 
legally enter and exit the U.S. at [the 328] ports of 
entry.''\11\ CBP ``estimates that an additional 1,000 POE 
officers would increase economic activity by $2 billion and add 
33,148 new U.S. jobs per year.''\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, Economic Impact of 
Understaffing U.S. Ports of Entry, available at https://
www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/88c66173-5dc9-4e5e-b144-
6f9517443409/economic-impact-of-understaffing-u.s.-ports-of-entry.pdf.
    \12\Id. at 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    More CBP capacity will have significant economic impacts on 
America. According to the U.S. Travel Association, 
international visitors spend an average of $4,200 per visit, 
from traveling to the U.S.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\U.S. Travel Ass'n, U.S. Travel Answer Sheet, (last visited Aug. 
18, 2020), https://www.ustravel.org/answersheet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    CBP officers are also vital to stemming the nation's drug 
epidemic. According to the Congressional Research Service 
(CRS), from FY2014 to FY2018, ``about 65% of seized illicit 
drugs, by weight, were seized at land ports of entry at the 
border, about 28% of seized drugs were seized at air ports of 
entry, and about 5% were seized at sea ports of entry. . . . 
[N]early 97% of drugs were seized during inbound inspections 
across those years.''\14\ The smuggling and seizures of 
fentanyl and other opioids have rapidly increased in recent 
years. According to CRS, ``[f]entanyl seizures increased from 
the 70 pounds seized by OFO in FY2015 to 2,173 pounds seized 
across OFO and the Border Patrol in FY2018.''\15\ On January 
26, 2019, CBP officers seized the largest amount of fentanyl in 
CBP history totaling close to 254 pounds at the Nogales Port of 
Entry on the southwest border.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\Congressional Research Service, Illicit Drug Flows and Seizures 
in the United States: What Do We [Not] Know?, (July 3, 2019), available 
at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45812.pdf.
    \15\Id. at 7.
    \16\U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP Officers Seize Largest 
Amount of Fentanyl in CBP History, available at https://www.cbp.gov/
newsroom/local-media-release/cbp-officers-seize-largest-amount-
fentanyl-cbp-history.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    With the expanding use of e-commerce and the ease of 
international transactions, the U.S. has observed a significant 
increase in international mail and potential opportunities to 
introduce contraband into the country. According to the 
testimony of OFO Executive Assistant Commissioner Todd C. Owen 
to this Committee on January 25, 2018, ``CBP has seen a nearly 
50 percent increase in express consignment shipments'' and a 
200 percent increase in international mail shipments over the 
past five years.\17\ Additionally, ``[i]n FY 2013, CBP and the 
USPS processed approximately 150 million international mail 
shipments. By FY 2017, the number of international mail 
shipments had swelled to over 400 million shipments.''\18\ Yet 
according to the National Treasury Employees Union, over the 
last three years, only 181 CBP employees were assigned to the 
five Postal Service International Service Centers and 208 CBP 
employees were assigned to the Private Express Carrier 
Facilities.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \17\Combatting the Opioid Crisis: Exploiting Vulnerabilities in 
International Mail: Hearing before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & 
Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcomm. on Investigations (Jan. 25, 
2018) (testimony of Todd C. Owen, Executive Assistant Commissioner, 
Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs & Border Protection)'', 
available at https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/
Owen%20Testimony.pdf.
    \18\Id.
    \19\National Treasury Employees Union, Authorities and Resources 
Needed to Protect and Secure the United States, available at https://
www.nteu.org/legislative-action/congressional-testimony/authorities-
and-resources-needed-to-prot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    This bill requires CBP to hire no less than 600 additional 
OFO officers a year until the staffing levels identified in the 
Workload Staffing Model are achieved to address these needs. 
The bill also requires reporting on infrastructure improvements 
at ports of entry that would enhance drug interdiction, 
information on detection equipment that would improve the 
ability of officers to identify drugs, and safety equipment to 
protect officers from accidental exposure to dangerous toxins. 
S. 1004 also requires a report on OFO staffing required to 
fulfill reimbursable service agreements.

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced S. 1004, the Securing 
America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019, on April 3, 2019, with 
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). Senators Jon Tester (D-MT), Bill 
Cassidy (R-LA), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Kyrsten 
Sinema (D-AZ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob 
Casey, Jr. (D-PA), and Martha McSally (R-AZ) later joined the 
bill as co-sponsors. The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
    The Committee considered S. 1004 at a business meeting on 
June 19, 2019. The bill was ordered reported favorably by a 
voice vote with Senators Johnson, Portman, Paul, Lankford, 
Romney, Scott, Enzi, Hawley, Peters, Carper, Hassan, Sinema, 
and Rosen present.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the bill as the 
``Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019.''

Section 2. Additional U.S. Customs and Border Protections personnel

    Section 2 requires CBP to hire enough OFO officers to 
fulfill the requirements of the Workload Staffing Model.
    Subsection (a) mandates that CBP hire, train, and assign at 
least 600 new OFO officers above current attrition levels in 
each fiscal year until OFO reaches and sustains the Workload 
Staffing Model requirements.
    Subsection (b) authorizes CBP to hire, train, and assign 
support staff to support new OFO officers.
    Subsection (c) requires OFO, in its calculation of the 
number of OFO officers needed at each port of entry, (1) to 
rely on data collected at each port of entry and (2) to 
consider volume from seasonal surges, other projected changes 
in commercial and passenger volumes, current commercial 
forecasts and other relevant information.
    Subsection (d) instructs GAO, if CBP does not hire at least 
600 OFO officers during fiscal year 2020 or the number needed 
in each subsequent fiscal year, to (1) conduct a review of CBP 
hiring practices to determine the reasons the hiring levels 
were not achieved and (2) submit a report to Congress on its 
review findings.

Section 3. Ports of entry infrastructure enhancement report

    This section instructs CBP to submit a report to Congress 
within 90 days of enactment that identifies (1) infrastructure 
improvements at ports of entry which would enhance the ability 
of OFO officers to interdict drugs illegally transported into 
the U.S., including the circumstances at specific ports of 
entry which prevent the deployment of technology used at other 
ports of entry, (2) detection equipment which would improve the 
ability of officers to identify illegally transported opioids, 
and (3) safety equipment which would protect officers to 
accidental exposure to drugs and associated dangers with 
inspection of potential drug traffickers.

Section 4. Reporting requirements

    Section 4 requires CBP to submit reports to Congress on 
certain staffing assignments and requirements.
    Subsection (a) requires CBP to submit a quarterly report to 
Congress with data on temporary duty assignments of OFO 
officers, with specific information regarding such assignments 
to the southwest border. This subsection also requires CBP to 
notify a director of a port of entry from which employees will 
be reassigned of the redeployments, and the port director shall 
notify impacted facilities of the intended redeployments no 
later than 10 days before an employee is redeployed, absent 
emergency circumstances.
    Subsection (b) requires CBP to submit a quarterly report to 
Congress regarding the reimbursable service agreements.
    Subsection (c) instructs CBP to include information on OFO 
hiring, updates to the 2017 Resource Optimization at the Ports 
of Entry report, and a summary of quarterly reports in its 
annual Workload Staffing Model Report to Congress.
    Subsection (d) defines the term ``appropriate congressional 
committees.''

Section 5. Authorization of appropriations

    This section authorizes appropriations of $80,908,929 for 
fiscal year 2020 and $97,132,268 for each fiscal year from 2021 
to 2026 to carry out the requirements of this bill.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, August 6, 2019.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
  Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1004, the Securing 
America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark 
Grabowicz.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    
    

    S. 1004 would authorize the appropriation of about $81 
million for fiscal year 2020 and about $97 million annually 
over the 2021-2026 period for Customs and Border Protection to 
hire more officers and support staff for the Office of Field 
Operations. Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, 
CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost about $450 
million over the 2020-2024 period and $214 million after 2024. 
Estimated outlays are based on historical spending patterns for 
this program.
    The costs of the legislation (detailed in Table 1) fall 
within budget function 750 (administration of justice).

                                           TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             2019    2020    2021    2022    2023    2024    2025    2026    2027    2028    2029   2019-2024  2019-2029
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authorization.............................       0      81      97      97      97      97      97      97       0       0       0       469        664
Estimated Outlays.........................       0      65      94      97      97      97      97      97      19       0       0       450        664
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Details do not sum to totals because of rounding.

    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    Because this legislation would not repeal or amend any 
provision of current law, it would not make changes in existing 
law within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 
of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate.