Text of Senator Charles Schumer's Letter to John B. Brown III Acting Administrator Drug Enforcement Administration

The Honorable John B. Brown III
Acting Administrator
Drug Enforcement Administration

Dear Administrator Brown: I write to express my concern that the Drug Enforcement Administration is inadequately staffed at the Northern Border facility in Plattsburgh and to request immediate action to correct the shortfall.

Sources within the DEA have informed me recently that the Administration is short at least four agents in the Plattsburgh office. As you know, the DEA not only plays a crucial role in blocking the import of illegal drugs into the United States, it is also a vital partner in the effort to detect, deter, and capture terrorists considering crossing the Northern Border. Understaffing the DEA along the Northern Border would be a bad idea under any circumstances, but in a post-9/11 world it is simply unacceptable.

If the DEA has the resources to transfer agents to Plattsburgh without compromising law enforcement and anti-terrorism efforts in other regions, I ask that those resources be transferred as soon as possible. If the DEA needs money to hire more agents to staff the Northern Border, please advise me immediately and I will work with you to address that problem.

Residents of the Plattsburgh region deserve every bit of the protection that residents along the Southern Border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California receive. For too long, the federal government has paid dangerously little attention to the gaps in the Northern Border defense network. These staffing shortages must be addressed immediately. The price we pay today to address these problems is nothing compared to the price we will pay tomorrow if we do nothing at all.

Thank you very much. If I may be of any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator