Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Bill Containing Senator Collins' Measure To Reject Land Border Fee

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved the Fiscal Year 2014 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill that includes language, authored by Senator Susan Collins, that would expressly prohibit the funding of any study of the feasibility and cost of instituting a fee for anyone crossing into our country by land from Canada or Mexico.

"I grew up in Aroostook County, Maine, which shares a border with Canada. I know that, for so many border community residents, crossing the border is a way of life in order to access essential services, travel to their jobs, to shop and dine, to attend church or to visit family. Any fee, no matter how small, would have a negative impact on the day-to-day commerce and travel between border communities," said Senator Collins, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "It would unduly penalize families who have relatives on either side of the border. In addition, it would damage relations between the United States and the neighbors that are vital trading partners."

Current federal law bars the U.S. Treasury and the Attorney General from charging and collecting any fee for the immigration inspection and pre-inspection of passengers arriving over land at a U.S. port of entry whose journey originated in Canada or Mexico. Senator Collins has been working to ensure that this prohibition is maintained.

• On April 25th, Senator Collins sent a letter to the Chairman and Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, expressing her serious concern with the Department of Homeland Security's plan to study the feasibility and cost related to imposing a crossing fee on pedestrians and passenger vehicles along the northern and southwest borders, as proposed in the President's FY 2014 budget request. In the letter, Senator Collins requests specific language to block the misguided plan.
• On May 16th, along with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Collins sent a letter to DHS Secretary Napolitano opposing a proposed land border crossing fee. Again, on May 24th, Senator Collins joined 15 of her colleagues in a letter to Secretary Napolitano expressing opposition to this proposal.
• Also, on May 24th, Senators Collins and Leahy led another letter, signed by 14 of their colleagues, to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security requesting that the subcommittee include language that they authored to prevent any funds from being used to conduct a study assessing the feasibility and cost relating to establishing and collecting a land border crossing fee along the northern and southwest borders.

In addition, the DHS funding bill also includes key homeland security grant funding important to Maine, but it does not include the Administration's proposal to consolidate the State Homeland Security Grant Program, Operation Stonegarden, the Port Security Grant Program, and other critically important homeland security grant programs. Senator Collins strongly opposed this effort because the funding allocation would have equated population with risk instead of ensuring that all states, large and small, urban and rural, have the resources they need to prepare for and respond to all-hazards, including terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

The bill provides $406 million for the State Homeland Security Grant Program, $100 million for the Port Security Grant Program, and $350 million for the Emergency Preparedness Grant Program which helps to fund operations at the Maine Emergency Management Agency. The bill includes $46.6 million for the Operation Stonegarden grant program. Operation Stonegarden allows Maine's local and state law enforcement agencies to work hand-in-hand with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to safeguard our border. Almost every border town in Maine uses this program. This funding can be used for personnel, equipment, and vehicle costs associated with joint border enforcement operations. This funding allows law enforcement officers to work extra hours to increase visibility in communities and wilderness areas along the border. This means increased patrols, reporting of incidents, and arrests. The resources that are available through Operation Stonegarden are particularly important in Maine where the border areas are vast and often very rural, making them vulnerable to illegal activities. The Government Accountability Office has reported DHS has operational control of just 32 miles, less than one percent, of the nearly 4,000 miles of northern border with Canada.

The bill also includes a total of $675 million for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program (AFG), Fire Prevention and Safety program (FP&S), and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program. These grants help local fire departments to purchase equipment and vehicles, conduct training, and hire and retain the firefighters necessary to perform their important missions. In December of 2012, Senator Collins joined with former Senator Lieberman to successfully reauthorize these important grant programs with an amendment to the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.

"In visits across the State of Maine, I have seen first-hand how these grants build the critical response capabilities of our local fire departments and help to save lives," said Senator Collins, who was recently honored by the Congressional Fire Service Institute as the 2013 CFSI Legislator of the Year.

This bill must now be approved by the full Senate.