The U.S. House of Representatives this past week passed a Homeland Security funding bill, which included language added by Congressman Henry Cuellar calling for a review of Customs and Border Protection officer training to ensure professionalism.

“The inclusion of this language is extremely important to Texans along the border, and it is a huge benefit to the region that it was included in this important funding bill,” Cuellar said.

“Residents and people traveling throughout my district interact with agents from Customs and Border Protection on a regular basis and it’s important that those officers — who I have the upmost respect for — establish the highest standard of professionalism to ensure every individual is treated with dignity and respect.”

The language Cuellar added requires the commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection to review training manuals and coursework as well as incident reporting practices within the agency.

The focus of this language is to make sure that CBP and Border Patrol officials are trained to interact respectfully with those crossing the border.

Further, the addition to the bill asks that CBP report to the committee on their findings of their review within 60 days.

In February, CBP rolled out the PRIDE Initiative, which includes a re-dedication from the top down to the ideals of professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity and excellence in frontline CBP officers’ interaction with the traveling public.

The initiative includes the creation of a fully-staffed integrity and professionalism standards division within the Laredo Field Office and recurring professionalism training for its workforce.

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