Home
Media Center
News Releases
Washington, D.C.—Action by the Senate Appropriations Committee to add substantial funds to proposed emergency spending in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks will provide money “that will enable federal agencies, including the Customs Service, to take significant steps in meeting their responsibilities to the American people,” the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal workers said today.
President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), who urged Congress to approve the higher spending, applauded Senate Appropriations Committee approval of an amendment offered by Committee Chairman Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) that would add $15 billion in emergency spending--$7.5 billion for homeland security and another $7.5 billion for domestic recovery efforts.
The money was added by the committee to the fiscal 2002 Defense Appropriations Bill and is in addition to $20 billion previously authorized by Congress in emergency supplemental spending as part of a security and recovery package in connection with the attacks and their aftermath.
Under the Byrd amendment, Customs would receive an additional $270.9 million for salaries and expenses through the end of fiscal 2003, including $120 million for increased staffing in its border control efforts. President Kelley has consistently said that additional personnel are needed, particularly along the U.S.-Canadian border. NTEU represents more than 12,000 Customs employees, including some 7,000 inspectors and canine enforcement officers, most of whom have been working at the highest alert level and on 12- and 16-hour shifts since September 11.
“I have said all through the appropriations process that not enough money is being directed toward border control agencies like Customs, certainly not by the administration and later by the House Appropriations Committee,” Kelley said.
“The critical job that needs to be done simply cannot be accomplished without sufficient resources. The committee’s action is a major step forward. I welcome it and I urge every member of Congress to give it his or her complete support,” the union president added.
As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments.