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Washington, D.C.—In congressional testimony today, the leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) argued strongly for enactment of the White House fiscal 2015 budget proposal for Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“The administration’s fiscal 2015 budget recognizes that there is no greater roadblock to legitimate trade and travel efficiency than the lack of sufficient staff at the ports,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).

‘Delays at the ports result in real losses to the U.S. economy,” she told the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee in submitted testimony, noting that more than 50 million Americans work for companies engaged in international trade. She added that a university study last year showed clearly that reduced entry point wait times mean gains in U.S. gross domestic product.

The White House budget proposal for the coming fiscal year calls for an increase in staffing for CBP which would result in an historic level of frontline CBP Officers— to 25,775—to help process travelers and commercial traffic at the nation’s ports of entry.

The NTEU leader also emphasized the importance of having sufficient trade operations and agriculture inspection personnel to handle the specialized duties on the trade side of the CBP mission. For example, she said, U.S. agriculture generates more than $1 trillion in economic activity, but disease and foreign agriculture pests cost the economy tens of billions of dollars annually.

“Staffing shortages and lack of mission priority for the critical work performed by CBP agriculture specialists and CBP trade specialists assigned to the ports is a continuing threat to the U.S. economy,” she told the subcommittee.

Overall, CBP collects more government revenue than any federal agency except the Internal Revenue Service.

“The more than 24,000 CBP employees represented by NTEU are proud of their part in keeping our country free from terrorism, our neighborhoods safe from drugs and our economy safe from illegal trade while ensuring that legal trade and travelers move expeditiously through our air, sea and land ports,” she said. “These men and women are deserving of more resources to perform their jobs better and more efficiently.”

As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.