Chairman. I wish to respond very briefly to what the gentlewoman from New Jersey asked. For the past 2 fiscal years. the House Judiciary Committee has recommended and this Congress has supported increases in the Border Patrol. For fiscal year 1980. the Judiciary Committee authorized 495 additional patrol positions. and funds for this number were appropriated. However. OMB refused to fill 194 of these positions. For fiscal year 1981. the Department of Justice requested of OMB 112 additional Border Patrol positions. OMB. however. rejected the Departments request totally and. unbelievably. recommended to the Congress not just the status quo but a reduction in the authorized level of 199. The net effect of this is that the level of Border Patrol personnel today. under the appropriations before us right now. are below the 1979 authorized level. Actually. Mr. Chairman. the number of Border Patrol on duty on May 3. 1980. was 214 people below the number of people authorized in fiscal year 1978. That is the situation now.
Keywords matched
Border Patrol