CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE ANNOUNCES U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION (CBP) PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PORT OF HOUSTON AUTHORITY

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, announced today that the U.S. CBP has selected the Port Houston Authority as one of the 16 U.S. ports to enter into reimbursable service agreements:

"I am pleased to announce that the CBP has chosen Houston during initial selections for 16 new reimbursable services agreements to promote economic growth in cross-border trade and travel across the country.

"Last year, the CBP entered into similar reimbursable service agreements with the city of El Paso, Texas, the City of Houston Airport System, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Because of these agreements, CBP implemented 9,000 additional CBP officers and opened primary lanes and booths for an additional 24,000 hours at the request of 560 partners. The City of Houston Airport received added staffing and supplementary lane openings, in addition to Automated Passport Control deployments and other innovative technology effort. This helped decrease wait times by an average of almost 30 percent while traveler volume has increased about 7 percent over the last year.

"As a strong supporter of the CBP's Resource Optimization Strategy, I am glad that the CBP has recognized Houston for this partnership. These reimbursable service agreements will allow CBP to provide new or expanded services at domestic ports of entry around the country."