awasner
05-19-2006, 04:42 PM
HOMELAND SECURITY UNION RESPONDS TO BORDER SHOOTING
(Washington)--As the union representing Border Patrol and
Customs and Border Protection officers, including the two
officers involved in the San Ysidro border shooting, the
American Federation of Government Employees today issued the
following statement:
"AFGE regrets the loss of life that resulted from yesterday's
shooting. However, we believe that the two officers
involved--one Customs and Border Protection, the other Border
Patrol--were doing what they were trained to do, protect the
safety of this nation.
"While in performance of their duties, Border Patrol agents
began investigating a possible alien smuggling activity. The
agents alerted Customs and Border Protection officers at the
border, who then were able to stop the subject vehicle as it
approached the border crossing. Both a CBP and Border Patrol
officer approached the vehicle, and its driver attempted to run
them over. The officers then were forced to fire in order to
stop the threat, as they were trained to do.
"Almost immediately after the shooting the officers secured AFGE
attorneys, and the union began investigating the incident.
"The circumstances of this event are tragic. It also forces us
to look at a critical problem--the lack of 6© full retirement
benefits for CBP officers. If the officers had been injured or
killed in the line of duty, the CBP officer's family would not
have received the same benefits as the Border Patrol agent's,
even though they were engaged in the same conflict.
"It is unimaginable that two officers who received the same
training, have the same duties, and both fired their weapons
would not receive the same benefit coverage. The Department of
Homeland Security is trying to nickel and dime these men and
women who put their lives at risk every day, and the result is
that DHS is losing the best and the brightest officers who can
find full benefits at the local and state levels.
"Unfortunate as this incident is, it should provide Congress
with enough fortitude to enact H.R. 4044, which would address
long-standing problems that have hampered the effectiveness of
frontline officers. The bill, introduced last year by Rep.
Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) also includes the text of
legislation long advocated by Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) in H.R.
1002 to provide full law enforcement retirement benefits to all
federal officers required to carry a gun and wear a badge."
(That may be the one single good thing Sheila Jackson-Lee ever did. Some years ago when, as a member of Congress, she was at JBL watching the Mars Rover be moved around the surface of Mars she asked, "can you make it go over to where the flag is?" Dumbfounded they asked her, "what flag?". She said, "The flag the Neil Armstrong planted when he landed there". She's a real wiz kid, I must say.)
###
AFGE is the largest federal employee union representing 600,000
workers in the federal government and the government of the
District of Columbia, including the largest constituency of DHS
employees, comprising Customs & Border Protection, Border
Patrol, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration &
Customs Enforcement, and Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
officers; FEMA workers; TSA screeners; and civilian U.S. Coast
Guard employees.
(Washington)--As the union representing Border Patrol and
Customs and Border Protection officers, including the two
officers involved in the San Ysidro border shooting, the
American Federation of Government Employees today issued the
following statement:
"AFGE regrets the loss of life that resulted from yesterday's
shooting. However, we believe that the two officers
involved--one Customs and Border Protection, the other Border
Patrol--were doing what they were trained to do, protect the
safety of this nation.
"While in performance of their duties, Border Patrol agents
began investigating a possible alien smuggling activity. The
agents alerted Customs and Border Protection officers at the
border, who then were able to stop the subject vehicle as it
approached the border crossing. Both a CBP and Border Patrol
officer approached the vehicle, and its driver attempted to run
them over. The officers then were forced to fire in order to
stop the threat, as they were trained to do.
"Almost immediately after the shooting the officers secured AFGE
attorneys, and the union began investigating the incident.
"The circumstances of this event are tragic. It also forces us
to look at a critical problem--the lack of 6© full retirement
benefits for CBP officers. If the officers had been injured or
killed in the line of duty, the CBP officer's family would not
have received the same benefits as the Border Patrol agent's,
even though they were engaged in the same conflict.
"It is unimaginable that two officers who received the same
training, have the same duties, and both fired their weapons
would not receive the same benefit coverage. The Department of
Homeland Security is trying to nickel and dime these men and
women who put their lives at risk every day, and the result is
that DHS is losing the best and the brightest officers who can
find full benefits at the local and state levels.
"Unfortunate as this incident is, it should provide Congress
with enough fortitude to enact H.R. 4044, which would address
long-standing problems that have hampered the effectiveness of
frontline officers. The bill, introduced last year by Rep.
Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) also includes the text of
legislation long advocated by Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) in H.R.
1002 to provide full law enforcement retirement benefits to all
federal officers required to carry a gun and wear a badge."
(That may be the one single good thing Sheila Jackson-Lee ever did. Some years ago when, as a member of Congress, she was at JBL watching the Mars Rover be moved around the surface of Mars she asked, "can you make it go over to where the flag is?" Dumbfounded they asked her, "what flag?". She said, "The flag the Neil Armstrong planted when he landed there". She's a real wiz kid, I must say.)
###
AFGE is the largest federal employee union representing 600,000
workers in the federal government and the government of the
District of Columbia, including the largest constituency of DHS
employees, comprising Customs & Border Protection, Border
Patrol, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration &
Customs Enforcement, and Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
officers; FEMA workers; TSA screeners; and civilian U.S. Coast
Guard employees.