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Washington, D.C.?Four front?line U.S. Customs Inspectors, including two who are ''members of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), were honored today at a ceremony at Customs' Washington headquarters for their key role in helping thwart an alleged terrorist attack planned for the holiday season.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said Inspectors Diana M. Dean and Mark A. Johnson, who are members of NTEU Chapter 139 in Seattle, and part?time Inspectors Carmon D. Clem and Mike Chapman, "used their professional training and skill" to identify and apprehend an Algerian attempting to cross the border at Port Angeles, Wash., with bomb?making supplies in his vehicle. Among those honoring the inspectors was Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.

"There is no better evidence of the critical importance to this country of having skilled, dedicated professionals guarding our nation's borders," Kelley said. Border?control technology and good intelligence are useful tools, she added, "but they are no substitute for the on?the?ground presence of experienced, professional employees." It is highly unlikely that technology alone would have resulted in the identification and capture of the alleged terrorist, she said.

The NTEU president called for Congress to provide funding for additional Customs staffing at border crossings around the nation. More appropriate staffing levels at air, land and seaport points of entry "are a wise investment in the nation's security," she said.

The suspect, who is believed to be part of a wider conspiracy, was carrying bomb?making supplies in a rental car when he attempted to cross to Port Angeles, Wash., on a ferry from Vancouver, British Columbia.

During questioning, the Customs Inspectors became suspicious because of the alleged terrorist's nervous demeanor. When they ordered the suspect from the vehicle for further questioning, he ran, but was captured within minutes.

Explosives experts identified the materials in his car as bomb?making supplies capable of destroying a building. Kelley pointed to these explosives as evidence of the dangers front?line Customs employees face in their daily duties. "This incident posed a significant threat to untold numbers of Americans, Kelley said, "and a real threat to the Inspectors as well."

She said "it is indicative" of the potential dangers Customs Inspectors and Canine Enforcement Officers "face day in and day out." Kelley said that across the country "these hardworking professionals have been shot at, assaulted, and been the targets of so?called `port runners"'??drug smugglers who refuse to stop their vehicles and speed through border crossings.

Clearly, the NTEU president said, this is "difficult, dangerous work," and the incident at Port Angeles "only serves to underscore the injustice" of the refusal of Congress to extend to Customs Inspectors and Canine Enforcement Officers the law enforcement status that is commonly provided to their peers in the federal law enforcement community.

Kelley said she hopes the Port Angeles incident will give impetus to pending legislation in Congress that would extend law enforcement status to these Customs employees. "It is time for this legislation to be enacted into law," she said. They not only deserve it, they earn it every day, Kelley said. LEO status carries with it a 20?year retirement option.