Letter to The Honorable Martha McSally, United States House of Representatives, The Honorable Filemon Vela, United States House of Representatives - National Border Patrol Council Supports Congressman Biggs' Border Security Funding Bill

Letter

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,

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