X

Rep. Owens hears back from U.S. officials on northern border resource reductions, but he’s still not pleased

Posted 9/18/13

A complaint by Rep. Bill Owens (D-Plattsburgh) to U.S. border officials about a plan to shift resources and personnel from the northern border to the southern border has drawn a quick response, but …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Rep. Owens hears back from U.S. officials on northern border resource reductions, but he’s still not pleased

Posted

A complaint by Rep. Bill Owens (D-Plattsburgh) to U.S. border officials about a plan to shift resources and personnel from the northern border to the southern border has drawn a quick response, but not one the congressman wanted to hear.

Owens sent a letter yesterday to Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner Thomas S. Winkowski about “plans to threaten northern border security by significantly and abruptly reducing staff at the Plattsburgh Air Branch, information I have recently heard from several of my constituents.”

That was contrary to a discussion he had last month with CBP’s Office of Air and Marine Assistant Commissioner Randolph Alles, “who informed me that any planned reduction in staffing at this location would occur incrementally, over the next three to five years. I have just learned today that CBP plans to significantly reduce the size of the Plattsburgh Air Branch within the next approximately 90 days,” Owens wrote.

“I hope that I was not deliberately misled during my August 1st conservation regarding CBP’s true intentions for the northern border,” Owens wrote.

“It is now my understanding that, of the 25 existing personnel in Plattsburgh, most of those employees not volunteering to be relocated to the southwestern border would be forced to relocate or be terminated” he wrote.

This morning, Owens spoke with Alles, “who agreed to speak to the employees of CBP’s Plattsburgh Air Branch this afternoon about the options available to them and CBP’s plans to reduce the number of employees assigned to the air branch,” Owens now says.

During the call, Owens was informed that three employees voluntarily agreed to a change of station and that CBP will attempt to move a total of five employees to stations along the southern border before the end this year. If no additional employees volunteer to move, CBP will issue two employees orders to relocate while attempting to accommodate their personal family concerns. Owens was also informed CBP will attempt to transfer additional employees from the Plattsburgh Air Branch over the next two years. “Congressman Owens believes this is unacceptable,” a statement from his office this afternoon said.

“While I am encouraged CBP will discuss the options available to their employees in a conference call this afternoon, my concerns about the proposed staffing reduction and their ramifications to our northern border’s security posture remain,” the 21st District congressman said.

Owens is a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which exercises authority over federal spending for the Department of Homeland Security and its contained agencies, including Customs and Border Protection.

“I can assure my constituents that I will use every tool available to me as a Member of Congress and as a member of the House Appropriations Committee to push back against reductions at the air branch that go beyond this year’s planned transfer of five employees,” Owens said.

The Plattsburgh Air Branch supports air interdiction and border surveillance missions across the Northeast. In addition to that primary mission, the branch assists local and state law enforcement agencies in cases near the border.

New York’s 21st Congressional District contains 13 border crossings and a large portion of New York’s shared border with Canada.

Owens is the co-chairman of the Congressional Northern Border Caucus which focuses on ways to speed the flow of goods and tourists across the border, the important economic and diplomatic partnership between the United States and Canada and cooperation between both nations’ respective border security agencies.