National Border Patrol Council Supports Congressman Biggs' Border Security Funding Bill

GILBERT, ARIZONA - Today, the National Border Patrol Council released a letter of support for Congressman Andy Biggs' bill, the Fund and Complete the Border Wall Act.

Read the text of the letter below:

August 22, 2018

The Honorable Martha McSally The Honorable Filemon Vela
United States House of Representatives United States House of Representatives
510 Cannon House Office Building 437 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairwoman McSally and Ranking Member Vela:

On behalf of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), we are writing you to express our strong support for Congressman Andy Biggs' bill, the Fund and Complete the Border Wall Act. This bill creates a fund for the border wall, while giving Border Patrol Agents the necessary resources we need in order to do our jobs in the field.

An important aspect of this bill is that is restores overtime pay for Border Patrol Agents at the same rate as all other DHS law enforcement agencies. Currently, Border Patrol Agents earn straight time during overtime hours instead of the time and half prescribed under the Fair Standards Act (FLSA). This bill would allow Border Patrol Agents to receive FLSA overtime again for all overtime hours worked between 80-100 hour pay periods.

Given this fact, Border Patrol currently has an attrition rate of 6 percent that is nearly double the rest of federal law enforcement. The primary reason Border Patrol is losing Agents to other federal agencies is that we lack pay parity with our counterparts. The Border Patrol simply cannot attract, much less retain, quality applicants to support the mission of the Border Patrol without pay parity. Therefore, we would like to thank Congressman Biggs for addressing this important issue and express our strong support of the Fund and Complete the Border Wall Act.

Sincerely yours,

Alberto Treviño III
Vice President- South

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Congressman Andy Biggs is a first-term Representative from Arizona's Fifth Congressional District, representing parts of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and Queen Creek. Congressman Biggs is a member of the House Judiciary and Science, Space, and Technology committees, and is the chairman of the Environment Subcommittee. He lives with his wife, Cindy, in Gilbert.