AAEI urges the U.S. Senate to take swift action on approving a Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
AAEI sent a letter with a strong message to the Senate Finance Committee on the day of Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus’s confirmation hearing, the first step in the process that was delayed for 6 months after he was nominated for the position. As AAEI’s letter pointed out, the U.S. trade community has been operating without a Senate-confirmed leader at the government agency that oversees trade facilitation and enforcement since April 2019.
“As U.S. importers and exporters are grappling with supply chain disruptions, port congestion, and product shortages and inflation,” states AAEI’s letter, “it’s time for CBP to have a leader to steer the agency towards alleviating many of these ills.”
Magnus’s confirmation process was delayed by Senate Finance Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who pressured the Department of Homeland Security to address the deployment of DHS personnel in Portland last year because of street protests.
