To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 relating to authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to consolidate, modify, or reorganize Customs revenue functions.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5862, the Global Trade Specialist Act. It is legislation that I am proud to have co-led with my friend and fellow Californian, Representative Steel.

It is a bill that would allow Customs and Border Protection to fulfill the position of global trade specialist, which would help facilitate and further our Nation's trade by giving CBP the flexibility to flow with the future of international trade.

As we know well, Customs and Border Protection has an important role to play when it comes to supporting trade. That is why CBP should also have the proper authority to modernize their staffing as the trade environment evolves.

Currently, CBP's Office of International Trade has several distinct but separate trade positions. This includes jobs such as import specialists, international trade analysts, management and program analysts, trade economists, auditors, attorneys, and so forth. These jobs do help CBP execute and enforce U.S. trade laws and ultimately protect our American economy, but there is a position missing, and that is a global trade specialist.

CBP has created such a position, but it doesn't have the flexibility, nor does it have the legal authority to hire for this position. Our legislation would give CBP that needed authority and so much more.

The global trade specialist position would allow CBP to realign and reshape the workforce in response to the evolving trade environment. It would be able to do this because the position also would better utilize and focus existing resources and Customs' revenue functions. It would give CBP more flexibility to modernize its trade workforce, to retain its employees, and to build its institutional knowledge. It would equip trade employees to more effectively execute trade enforcement and compliance operations. It would increase professional development opportunities.

Ultimately, by making trade facilitation jobs more attractive and rewarding rather than bureaucratic and boring, this legislation would enhance CBP's responsibility to recruit and retain staff and meet the mandated staffing levels as set forth in the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

In the formulation of this bipartisan legislation, I am not only proud to have worked with my fellow Ways and Means and California colleague, Mrs. Steel, but it was built from provisions that were included in both the House's America COMPETES Act and the Senate's United States Innovation and Competition Act.

We also have incorporated feedback from CBP to ensure that this provision would work as intended and made additional changes at the request of Office and Personnel Management.

Lastly, this legislation is supported by the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CBP workers.

Due to its broad support, this legislation passed unanimously at that Ways and Means Committee markup last November. I thank Chairman Adrian Smith and, of course, Ranking Member Neal for supporting this bipartisan bill that is the product of good-faith collaboration.

It is a bill, Mr. Speaker, that will allow CBP employees to go beyond a bureaucratic role and actually allow CBP to be creative, to be flexible, and to be forward-thinking when it comes to the ebbs and flows and the future of trade.

That is why I worked on this legislation, that is why I fully support its passage, and I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the Global Trade Specialist Act.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

In closing, as you have heard, Mr. Speaker, this legislation has broad bipartisan support and support from the CBP. It really is critical that we modernize our trade administration as our trade environment is changing faster than ever. CBP's staffing model must evolve, and Congress must do its part to facilitate that evolution.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation, to send this to the Senate and ultimately to the President's desk for signature into law.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5862) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 relating to authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to consolidate, modify, or reorganize Customs revenue functions, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, America's trading relationships, as well as the challenges we face in trade around the world, are evolving every day. We must respond to those challenges now, not years in the future.

Families, farmers, workers, and small businesses rely on us to look out for them in an increasingly complex world.

Last year, the Committee on Ways and Means traveled to the port of Staten Island in New York and a cattle auction barn in Minnesota to listen to the American people whose livelihoods depend on international trade. They all asked Congress to do more to insist on strong enforcement of our trade laws.

The bill before us, H.R. 5862, will help address the challenges of ever-changing threats around the world through more effective enforcement of U.S. trade laws. It takes six narrowly defined jobs at Customs and Border Protection and replaces them with a single position of trade specialist in the agency's Office of International Trade.

This streamlining will make CBP respond faster and more effectively to our Nation's trade challenges and protect and defend America's economic interests.

I thank the bill's sponsor and author, certainly, Representative Steel, as well as Representative Panetta, for taking the lead on this critical issue for American workers and the security of our supply chains. This bipartisan legislation will help ensure that American workers, families, farmers, and small businesses are not left behind.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Steel), an author of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle for very sufficiently described the bill, why we need to do it, and the details contained in the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5862, the Global Trade Specialist Act.

I am proud to have introduced this bipartisan legislation with fellow Californian, Congressman Jimmy Panetta.

In the 20-plus years since Congress created the Department of Homeland Security, the world has changed drastically. That means reforms are needed to improve U.S. Customs and Border Protection's global trade operations.

For over 5 years, CBP has requested authorization to create a global trade specialist position within its International Trade Office. This position would improve trade law enforcement and facilitate legitimate trade.

My bill will make narrowly tailored updates to help CBP respond to ever-evolving trade challenges by better utilizing existing personnel within CBP.

Both the House and Senate already passed bills that would grant CBP the authority to create a global trade specialist position, but neither bill has yet been enacted into law.

The Ways and Means Committee has repeatedly heard hearing testimony about how a global trade specialist position within CBP will better serve the needs of American workers and safeguard supply chains. That is why the Ways and Means Committee passed the bill unanimously by a margin of 42-0 in November of last year.

As geopolitical relationships change more rapidly and drastically in the modern world, it is critical that we empower CBP to operate as efficiently as possible. This legislation will empower CBP to address the dynamic and urgent nature of U.S. trade enforcement and help maintain American dominance in the global economy.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote to finally get this commonsense solution across the finish line for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I missed the following votes due to a personal matter. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 11, H. Res. 969; YEA on Roll Call No. 12, H.R. 5862; NAY on Roll Call No. 13, H. Res. 957; YEA on Roll Call No. 14, S. 3250; YEA on Roll Call No. 15, H.R. 2872; YEA on Roll Call No. 16, H.R. 6918; NAY on Roll Call No. 17, H.R. 6918; YEA on Roll Call No. 18, H.R. 6914; and NAY on Roll Call No. 19, H.R. 6914.

Mr. Speaker, I was attending a bipartisan meeting at the White House with the President to discuss funding needs for our national security. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 12.