Speech #1060025377

Mr. President. I join Senator KYL and the other cosponsors in introducing legislation that I hope will significantly improve the Border Patrols ability to recruit and retain the talented individuals we need to guard our nations borders against illegal immigration and illicit drugs. This legislation is timely and important. I hope we can act on it promptly. As my colleagues know. the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 mandated the addition of 1.000 new Border Patrol agents annually through 2001 as a means of providing better enforcement against illegal immigration. particularly along the southwest border. Unfortunately. this Administration has seen fit to request full funding for those authorized agents in only one year since we passed that law. Moreover. problems in recruiting and retaining Border Patrol agents have resulted in a net increase of only several hundred new agents annually. Thus. during the current fiscal year. for which we did in fact appropriate funds for 1.000 new agents. the recruiting and retention problems are such that the Border Patrol will see a net increase in its ranks of only several hundred agents. Indeed. Border Patrol Chief Gus de la Vina testified before the Senate Immigration Subcommittee only yesterday that. despite the Congressional mandate to add 1.000 new agents this year. the Border Patrol only anticipates hiring between 200 and 400 agents. Arizona. which had anticipated receiving about 400 of the 1.000 new agents slated for FY 1999. will now receive fewer than 150. We can and must do better than that. The Border Patrols Tucson sector last month recorded a record 60.537 illegal immigrant detentions. raising this years total to more than 200.000. And the Tucson sector does not even cover the entire Arizona border with Mexico. The immigration problem in my state is getting worse. not better. as the Presidents decision to request funding for no new agents in FY 2000 implies. The Border Patrols inability to hire the required number of new agents even as towns like Douglas. Arizona face a rising tide of illegal immigrants does not inspire confidence in its ability to properly carry out its mission. Our legislation would promote all Border Patrol agents who have completed at least one year at the GS9 level. and who are rated as fully successful or higher. to the GS11 rank. placing them on a professional level commensurate with their peers in other Federal law enforcement agencies. Our bill would also create an Office of Border Patrol Recruitment and Retention to develop outreach programs for prospective Border Patrol agents. develop programs to provide retention incentives. and make recommendations about Border Patrol salaries and benefits. It is our hope that this legislation will help reverse the outflow of skilled agents from the Border Patrol. as well as make such service more appealing to the talented men and women it relies on. Americas Border Patrol agents perform critical work but have been underappreciated for years. Its time we changed that. The premise of our legislation is the Border Patrol agents. whose duties involve considerable risks and require unique abilities. perform work as important as many of our other Federal law enforcement agents and should be compensated accordingly. Similarly. the Border Patrol should develop personnel policies to attract more of our best and brightest. At a time when we are having trouble hiring and retaining new agents. and as pressure from illegal immigration intensifies in some areas. especially southern Arizona. we cannot afford not to take better care of the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol. Our legislation makes meaningful progress toward that end. By Ms.