Department Of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. LYNCH. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his work on this bill. I also thank the Chairman for incorporating my amendment into the manager's amendment and for giving me time to speak.

My amendment to H.R. 2892, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act would afford D.H.S. workers the right to voluntarily don and access personal protective equipment (PPE), including surgical masks, the N-95 respirator, gloves and hand sanitizer without fear of reprisal.

Given the reluctance on the part of D.H.S. to address the voluntary use of personal protective equipment amidst the H1N1 flu outbreak, as Chair of the Federal Workforce Subcommittee, it has fallen on my shoulders to ensure the health and safety of Federal employees--especially frontline Federal workers at D.H.S. who are tasked with the tremendous job of keeping the American public safe.

In my opinion it is unconscionable that our workers have been repeatedly denied the use of these protective items--and even threatened with disciplinary action for attempting to protect themselves from a communicable disease that has resulted in the World Health Organization, WHO, declaring its highest pandemic alert possible--Phase Six. Further, it is alarming that D.H.S. has been unable--or unwilling--to issue and to distribute comprehensive, written guidance on the

voluntary usage of PPE to its own employees during a public health emergency.

Federal workers such as Transportation Security Officers, TSOS, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Officers and Border Patrol Agents, and ICE Agents who work in high risk areas and come in contact with thousands of individuals per shift deserve better. C.B.P. Officers working at the Laredo, Texas port of entry and the Otay Mesa port of entry in San Diego, CA, can screen over 5,000 individuals per shift and have been routinely threatened for asking to wear masks. The nineteen-month-old baby of an ICE agent in Miami, Florida, who works at the Krome Immigration Service Processing Center which has six confirmed H1N1 flu cases, has been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus. I simply cannot fathom why these workers are not being supported, but I am committed to ensuring that common-sense policies are implemented at D.H.S.

It is essential that Federal agencies implement adequate and uniform worker protection policies for the employees who protect the Nation as part of their daily duties. These are the very employees who will be called upon to respond in the event of an emergency. Without such policies, not only is the health of front line employees being put at risk, but the health of their families and the general welfare of the public is also placed at risk. In short, the Federal Government cannot ably respond to emergencies if the very personnel needed as part of that response are themselves compromised.

I thank Chairmen Price and Thompson for their support of this amendment.

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