Political Quotes

“I rise to applaud the managers of this bill, Senators Hollings and Gregg, for focusing on a problem that simply has not received the attention it deserves in recent years. I am referring to the disturbing lack of Immigration and Naturalization Service inspectors at the land ports of entry that line our borders with Canada and Mexico. Based on an analysis of workload and workforce needs, the INS estimates that our 104 land ports of entry are staffed at a mere 49 percent of their optimal level, leading to long lines and exhausted, overworked inspectors. The situation in my home State of Maine is even more alarming. Maine's 12 land ports of entry are staffed, on average, at 41 percent of their optimal level. This means that 71 INS inspectors must perform the work of 174 men and women. To put the problem in perspective, I point out that, last year, Maine's 71 INS border staff inspected approximately 6.75 million people who passed through our land border ports of entry in 3 million passenger vehicles, 400,000 commercial trucks, and thousands of buses and trains. Moreover, many of these inspections are far from routine.”