Mr. President. I rise today to support the Comprehensive Border Protection Act. a bill that addresses the urgent need for increased Customs inspectors and technology along the U.S.-Canadian border. Every day. the U.S. Customs Service must meet the dual challenges of enforcing our trade laws and easing the flow of goods across our borders. Customs carries out this mission at 83 portsofentry along the U.S.-Canada border. the worlds longest undefended bordersome 5.500 miles. The resources. however. that we have provided to the Customs Service to process traffic and trade across this border are woefully deficient. In a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee in September 1998. we learned that the current number of authorized Customs inspectors working on the northern border remains essentially the same as it was in 1980. despite the fact that the number of commercial entries they must process has increased sixfold since then. from 1 million to 6 million per year.
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Border Protection