Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) announced that he plans to focus all his efforts and attention on stopping furloughs at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—as a result of budget cuts provoked by sequestration.

The harmful automatic budget cuts, known as the sequester, have impacted CBP significantly.

Nearly $600 million dollars in cuts to the federal border protection agency’s budget have forced a hiring freeze on all non-frontline personnel, limited reductions in overtime, and the elimination of any monetary disbursement for the fiscal year 2013—more commonly known as “on the spot” and “special act” payments.

“Whether you live in Laredo, McAllen, Brownsville, or Zapata; you know how important the work of our men and women at CBP is to the safety and security of our border,” stated Congressman Cuellar.

The member of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee and 28^th Congressional district in Texas added:

“Sequestration has so far threatened hundreds of thousands of jobs and has put the health of our economy in jeopardy.  Unless we mobilize now—by supporting CBP’s plan to Congress—we run further risk of leaving our border vulnerable, our families without a sense of security, and our communities doubting our commitment to their safety”.

Congressman Cuellar’s references to the CBP plan includes a proposal submitted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on behalf of CBP, to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on Friday, May 17^th, 2013.

The same evening Thomas Winkowski, CBP Acting Commissioner notified all employees awaiting a solution of the plan’s submission to Congress.

Early last April, Congressman Cuellar met with National Border Patrol Council’s local Laredo chapter.  The Congressman listened to the various concerns of the local CBP agents.

Congressman Cuellar sent a letter to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on March 14^th, 2013; warning of the adverse impacts sequestration would have on his community.  The Congressman’s letter aimed to address the affects of these budget cuts on border communities throughout Webb, Zapata, Starr, and Hidalgo counties in Texas.