Senate Appropriators Want $9M More for Forced Labor Office, $5M in Tech for UFLPA

The Senate Appropriations Committee issued its proposal for funding the Department of Homeland Security, asserting its bill could get the bipartisan support needed to pass that chamber. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has previously said he would prefer to delay spending decisions until next year, when the House, Senate and White House will have Republican majorities. However, some observers believe Republicans would be better served by passing during the lame-duck session appropriations for the fiscal year that goes through September, freeing up Congress to spend its time in 2025 on the massive tax bill and other policy Trump administration priorities (see 2411120026).

The Senate bill would allocate $920 million, $520 million more than in FY 2024, for nonintrusive inspection (NII) equipment, forward operating labs and personnel at land ports of entry to improve seizures of narcotics. That would allow CBP to scan 70% of passenger vehicles, the committee said. Currently, 40% of passenger vehicles are screened.

"In addition to funding the acquisition of more NII, funding is provided for the associated civil works cost for NII deployment, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) investments to improve detection of anomalies in vehicles and cargo, and dedicated funding to continue to build out outbound capabilities at ports of entry on the southwest border," the committee majority said. They said the funding for screening at the border would provide more resources to stop guns and cash flowing to cartels in Mexico.

They said the money would allow CBP to hire 1,000 new officers for ports of entry.

In its report on the legislation, the committee said it aims to increase forced labor enforcement funding by almost $9.2 million, for hiring, technology, training and outreach. It requires CBP to provide a briefing to the committee on Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act implementation within 60 days of the bill's passage, "including an update on addressing the challenge of transshipment of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region-related goods, the tools and technology CBP deploys to enhance enforcement of the law, steps to coordinate international engagement to prevent bifurcated supply chains or dumping grounds for the products of forced labor, the obstacles to enforcing UFLPA in cases of rail, road, and air transportation, and CBP engagement with shippers to ensure timely but full review of shipments flagged for review." Separately, it also dedicated $5 million for technology to enforce UFLPA as part of its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) funding.

Also for HSI, the committee aims to allocate an additional $102.5 million for stopping fentanyl, with $27.5 million for Border Enforcement Security task forces, $10 million for hiring investigators and support staff, $15 million to counter fentanyl and human smuggling, $20 million to increase nonintrusive screening, including outbound investigations on guns, illegal narcotics and cash, $9 million for transnational criminal investigative units, $1 million for counterproliferation investigations on outbound exports, and $20 million for fentanyl task forces.

While the report noted that the majority of fentanyl is smuggled through land ports of entry on the Mexican border, it also asked CBP and the Postal Service to issue a report "with a detailed plan for how the USPS can scan every package or letter entering the United States that could contain an illegal opioid." The report should include the total volume of international mail, what proportion send advanced electronic data, "number of packages CBP requests to screen and the number actually tendered by the USPS; reports on the number of goods seized during blitzes on Mail Facilities; and volume received from countries exempted from advanced electronic data by CBP."

The report addressed the Lacey Act in several ways. It asked CBP to brief the committee in 120 days on what CBP is doing to enforce Lacey Act amendments of 2008, and specified that briefing must "include efforts by CBP to assist the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service with the electronic collection of data as well as continued consultations with trading partners, importers, exporters, and other interested groups as the provisions of the act are fully implemented."

It also asked CBP to write a report for the committee within 180 days "detailing CBP’s current role in the wood importation declaration process, how it interacts with other agencies, and concrete steps the agencies can take to expedite shipments that are delayed."

The committee said that CBP has collected more than $1 billion in antidumping and countervailing duties through the Enforce and Protect Act investigations but wrote that CBP cannot self-initiate EAPA investigations. It asked CBP to submit a report within 90 days on whether self-initiation "would allow CBP to pursue more circumvention cases and extend existing investigations deeper into supply chains fully and whether such authority would result in greater enforcement."