Letter to Senators Barbara Mikulski, Richard Shelby, Mary Landrieu, Dan Coats - Misstep May Benefit Middle East Airlines at U.S. Airlines Expense, Wants Correction

Letter

Vitter urges Appropriations Committee to reconsider their legislation that allows foreign entities to be involved in U.S. safety and security

U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) along with two Senators and 13 Representatives sent a bipartisan letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee leadership asking them to halt the use of U.S. funds to support an Abu Dhabi International Airport. The Members of Congress say there are no U.S. airlines servicing that airport and sending money to Abu Dhabi to allow for a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Preclearance facility will only benefit Middle Eastern airlines, at the expense of domestic airlines.

"This deal concocted by the Senate appropriators could negatively impact American jobs and our economy while allowing a foreign country to finance a core national security function with U.S. taxpayer dollars," Vitter said. "I'll be the first to say I don't think we should ever outsource America's safety and security. Furthermore, this just puts our domestic airlines at a competitive disadvantage against Middle Eastern airlines."

In 2012, ten leading U.S. airline business entities wrote to the U.S. Subcommittee on Homeland Security, chaired by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), expressing their concern on behalf of their employees asking to stop this action from moving forward. Click here to read their letter. Despite the pleas, the Homeland Security Subcommittee approved the action.

In April, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to permit the establishment of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Preclearance facility at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. The Senate Appropriations Committee and the Homeland Security Subcommittee approved this action as part of the FY13 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill. The legislation permitted the (CBP) Commissioner to enter into agreements for reimbursements for any CBP service with any entity, including foreign governments that requested such a service.

Vitter is calling on Appropriations committee leadership, including Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Daniel Coats (R-Ind.), to reverse this position.

Along with Vitter, U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (K-Kan.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) signed the letter as well as U.S. Reps. Bill Cassidy (R- La.), Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), Tom Graves (R-Ga.), Howard Coble (R-N.C.), Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), David Joyce (R-Ohio), Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), Steve Scalise (R-La.), John Fleming (R-La.), Charles Boustany (R-La.) and Andre Carson (D-Ind.).

Below is the text of Vitter's letter.

December 9, 2013

The Honorable Barbara Mikulski The Honorable Richard Shelby
Chairwoman Ranking Member
U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations
503 Hart Senate Office Building 304 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Mary Landrieu The Honorable Dan Coats
Chairwoman Ranking Member
Sub-Committee on Homeland Security Sub-Committee on Homeland Security
703 Hart Senate Office Building 439 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairwoman Mikulski, Ranking Member Shelby, Chairwoman Landrieu and Ranking Member Coats:

In April, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to permit the establishment of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Preclearance facility at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. As the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Appropriations Committee, we strongly urge you to concur with the position taken by the U.S. House of Representatives in its FY 2014 Homeland Security Appropriations and prevent this agreement -- which will negatively impact American jobs and our economy while allowing a foreign country to finance a core national security function -- from being implemented, particularly with U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Despite bipartisan Congressional opposition and industry-wide concerns about the impact this facility would have on American jobs and global competitiveness, its implementation is moving forward. The agreement authorizing the facility is modeled on authority from Section 555 of the FY13 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill -- approved by the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, but never enacted into law -- which would have authorized CBP to enter into agreements for reimbursements for any CBP service with any entity, including foreign governments that requested such a service.

Currently, the U.S. maintains 15 CBP preclearance facilities in countries such as Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean. These facilities allow passengers to clear U.S. customs at their place of departure, allowing travelers to bypass these security measures once they cross the U.S. border. Doing so boosts tourism, travel and commerce from these locations. In contrast to the soon to be opened Abu Dhabi preclearance facility, the 15 existing preclearance facilities are served by U.S. passenger airlines and meet CBP's throughput threshold of 400,000 passengers a year.

Since no U.S. airline currently serves Abu Dhabi, the planned preclearance facility will solely benefit a foreign airline competitor -- specifically the state-owned and -supported Etihad Airways. Etihad competes with U.S. airlines not just for travel between the United States and the Middle East, but also for transit from important emerging markets, including India and Asia. It is unclear to us why the U.S. would volunteer to further tilt the playing field to the benefit of these state-owned enterprises, which use revenue earned from international flights to enhance domestic connectivity -- especially to smaller airports.

On behalf of their American employees, ten major U.S. organizations representing the commercial aviation industry have already written to Senator Landrieu, Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee's Homeland Security Subcommittee, regarding the negative impact of this proposal and asking for its termination. In June 2012, several business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Transportation Trades Department (AFL-CIO), Airlines for America, and other U.S. aviation advocates publicly requested that this bad policy, undermining U.S. businesses, be addressed. Unfortunately, the Senate's proposal as currently written does not protect U.S. businesses.

We are also concerned that the financing arrangement negotiated with the UAE has the potential to threaten our national security. By allowing the UAE to reimburse CBP for most of the costs associated with this facility, this agreement appears to set the dangerous precedent of auctioning off the provision of core national security functions to the highest bidder. We cannot support outsourcing America's safety and security.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations should match the U.S. House's efforts to stop what will ultimately cost U.S. businesses jobs and tilt the competitive balance in favor of foreign state-owned carriers. During this time of budget austerity, the U.S. taxpayer-funded assets assigned to Abu Dhabi would be much better directed to reducing wait times at the busiest and most understaffed U.S. airports.

We respectfully request that as Chairwoman and Ranking members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations and Chairwoman and Ranking members of the Sub-Committee on Homeland Security, you address this issue immediately and before any further U.S. Senate floor action allows these funds to go forward.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

_____________________________ ______________________________
David Vitter Saxby Chambliss
United States Senator United States Senator

_____________________________ _____________________________
Jerry Moran Bill Cassidy
United States Senator Member of Congress

_____________________________ _____________________________
Patrick Meehan Frank LoBiondo
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________________ _____________________________
Tom Graves Rick Larsen
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________________ _____________________________
Howard Coble Larry Bucshon
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________________ _____________________________
David Joyce John Fleming
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________________ _____________________________
Ander Crenshaw Steve Scalise
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________________ _____________________________
Charles Boustany, M.D. André Carson
Member of Congress Member of Congress

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