Speech #1010069247

Mr. Speaker. I am today reintroducing legislation that will shore up the strength of our Border Patrol force through the use of volunteers in noncritical areas by the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service. The Immigration Service Volunteer Assistance Act amends section 1342 of title 31 to allow trained volunteers to aid the INS In search and rescue missions. In chaplain programs. In providing language interpretation services. in observing and reporting activities in border areas and In other noncritical. nonoperational support functions of the INS as deemed appropriate by the Attorney General. Under the provisions of the act. volunteers are not authorized to arrest. detain. or interrogate Individuals. Volunteers would not be considered Federal employees except In cases of duty related injuries or tort claim provisions. In effect. my legislation creates a pilot reserve border patrol using volunteers with highly specialized training for noncritical operations. This same concept has worked very well for many local law enforcement agencies. Los Angeles County. for example. has used thousands of volunteers in virtually every segment of its operations. Volunteers have provided county government with a renewed strength and energy and enormous savings to taxpayers. I would like to see the Federal Government vigorously. but prudently. follow this same course. One of the priorities of the Presidents national drug control strategy is to strengthen the presence of the Border Patrol along the Southwest border. All Americans must cooperate and become involved in our efforts to stop the flow of Illegal drugs coming across our Nations borders. While the volunteers would be used to provide support. their services would be designed to augment and assist but not to displace any Federal employee or agent. Their purpose Is to assist regular professional Border Patrol staff In a nonoperational capacity. The President recently proposed a Governmentchartered foundation to encourage all citizens to serve their country In some capacity on a volunteer basis. My legislation promotes this concept in a specialized way.