Rep. Mike Levin Calls on Speaker Johnson to Bring Maritime Border Security Bill to House Floor Immediately
Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) released the following statement calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately bring H.R. 529, the Extending Limits of U.S. Customs Waters Act, to the House floor for a vote.
Last year, Rep. Levin met with CBP’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO) to learn about agents’ work to secure our maritime borders and hear directly about how he can support that work. During the discussion, AMO agents highlighted the importance of extending U.S. customs waters and shared how it will help them carry out their mission.
“Recent incidents of unidentified vessels landing onshore in our district have underscored the urgency of bringing H.R. 529 to the House floor for a vote. This bill would double the range in which Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents can operate to address migrants and other vessels arriving by water along our coast. It would extend U.S. customs waters from 12 to 24 nautical miles, providing CBP with additional support to accomplish its duties, including interdicting drugs and addressing issues with migration, effectively and efficiently.
“Last month, I voted in favor of a government funding package that will increase resources to CBP and provide the agency with updated tools and enforcement mechanisms, but there’s still more we must do to address our broken immigration system and support law enforcement officials.
“Last week, Speaker Johnson was unable to bring H.R. 529 to the House floor as originally planned because of chaos within the House Republican Conference. He needs to stop playing games and Republican politicians need to stop with the political theater. If Speaker Johnson and the Republican Party care about solving our immigration crisis, stopping the flow of illegal fentanyl, and securing our borders like they claim, then they must bring this bill to the floor immediately. We need bipartisan, pragmatic solutions. This is one of them. I look forward to voting in favor of this bill.”
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