January Budget

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

For necessary expenses of the Bureau of Customs, including purchase of [three hundred and fifty-three] one hundred eighty-four passenger motor vehicles [(of which ninety-four shall be for replacement only), including [three hundred and forty-three] one hundred and seventy-four for police-type use without regard to the general purchase price limitation for the current fiscal year, [but not in excess of $800 per vehicle]; acquisition (purchase of [one] two), operation, and maintenance of aircraft; hire of passenger motor vehicles and aircraft; not to exceed $50,000 for unforseen emergencies of a confidential character to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury and accounted for solely on his certificate; and awards of compensation to informers as authorized by the Act of August 13, 1953 (22 U.S.C. 401); [$189,000,000] $203,400,000. 19 U.S.C. 68, 128, 161, 257, 482, 540, 1303-1305, 1431 et seq., 1455, 1461 et seq., 1496, 1499, 1581, 1585, 1592, 1595a, 1619, 1644, 1701; 31 U.S.C. 5296; 46 U.S.C. 3, 7, 60, 158, 161, 251, 277, 278, 292, 319, 325, 327, 883, 883a, 808; 49 U.S.C. 1509; Treasury Department Appropriation Act, 1972.

BUDGET REQUEST

Senator MONTOYA. The subcommittee will be in order.

Today the committee resumes hearings on the regular fiscal year 1973 appropriation requests for the Treasury Department. For the Bureau of Customs the amended 1973 request for salaries and expenses totals $212,326,000, which sum includes $8.9 million to cover pay increase costs as proposed in House Document 92–267.

For fiscal year 1972 the Congress appropriated a total of $189 million and it is now proposed to supplement this amount with a transfer of $4,340,000 from the Bureau of the Public Debt for a grand total of $193,340,000 for 1972.

Thus the net increase, 1973 over 1972, would be approximately $19 million if the Congress approves the proposed supplemental request. Mr. Edwin Rains, the Acting Commissioner, is here to testify in support of the 1973 budget request for the Bureau of Customs. Mr. Rains, you may proceed with your prepared statement after identifying your associates.

Mr. RAINS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On my immediate right is Mr. Kenneth L. Wilson, who is the Director of our Budget Division in the Office of Administration. On his right is Mr. Glenn R. Dickerson, who is the Assistant Commissioner for Administration for the Bureau of Customs.

Senator MONTOYA. Thank you. You may proceed with your

statement.

Mr. RAINS. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am here today to present the 1973 appropriation request of the Bureau of Customs. Our request is in the amount of $203,400,000, a net increase of $14,400,000 over the proposed authorized level for 1972. Not included in these figures is $8,926,000 to cover the cost of the pay raise effective January 9, 1972. The increases are at the same level as we discussed with the House committee.

We appreciate the excellent support this committee has given us over the years in providing funds to process the ever increasing volume of imports, numbers of arriving persons, and investigative cases. We are pleased with the progress we have made, but we are not satisfied. There is still much to be done in all our programs, especially in combating theft at our air and seaports, in our campaign to expose fraud, and in the interdiction of narcotics and dangerous drugs.

INTENSIFIED ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS

This committee approved supplemental funds for customs in 1970 to undertake a major effort in the President's campaign against drug abuse. Again in June 1971, this committee provided a significant increase in our 1972 appropriation for a further effort in the interdiction of narcotic smugglers. Using part of these funds we have put technology to work for us in the form to computer identification systems and highly sophisticated radio communications networks.

With the additional personnel and equipment, we have initiated an intensified enforcement program in which we are looking very carefully at more people, vehicles, aircraft, boats, cargo, and mail entering this country from abroad. Along with other Government agen

cies, we have implemented a policy of seeking international cooperative action. Shortly before assuming new responsibilities, former Commissioner Ambrose met with his counterparts in Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the Far East to discuss avenues of cooperative action for disrupting narcotic trafficking. We are hopeful that these discussions will lead to successful followup action.

An indicator of our progress can be found in the number of drug seizures we have made. Our seizures during calendar year 1971 increased extensively. They included 1,109 pounds of heroin, 48 pounds of opium, 272 pounds of cocaine and other narcotics, 202,106 pounds of marihuana, 6,819 pounds of hashish and 8,841,105 5-grain units of dangerous drugs. The street value of these seizures was more than $327 million. In addition the general fund of the Treasury was increased significantly because of the sale of seized autos, boats and aircraft used in these smuggling attempts. Also as a direct result of information we provided foreign authorities, several large heroin seizures were made abroad.

The rapid increase in the use of light aircraft for smuggling has made our defense against such smuggling attempts an important enforcement program for customs. A major part of the increased funds provided in 1972 for our narcotic program was to initiate an air intrusion program. Our aircraft are being equipped with radar and other sophisticated sensing systems. These will work cooperatively with ground radar and sensing systems, which will monitor aircraft landings at remote strips used by smugglers. The acquisition and preparation of this special equipment is being handled for customs by the Department of Defense which has been most cooperative in working with us on this project. These specially equipped aircraft and ground systems are just now being put into customs service. We now have the capability of tracking, pursuing, and following an aircraft to landing. I hope soon to be able to report to you significant results from this new endeavor.

DIRECT CUSTOMS-TO-CUSTOMS CONTACTS

In the area of direct customs-to-customs contact and assistance with the customs services of other countries, we have made and are continuing to make significant progress.

The Customs Cooperation Council adopted a resolution on June 8, 1971, which recommends to members that customs administrators should spontaneously and without delay communicate to other customs administrations any available information concerning smugglers, smuggling operations, suspected carriers or smuggling methods.

We have designed a program to carry out the intent of that resolution by acquainting the customs services of narcotic source, transit, and victim countries with the actions that have been taken by the U.S. customs to upgrade its capability the movement of narcotics, both in the United States and abroad. The purpose of informing the customs services of these actions is to inspire them to make a similar effort to improve their own narcotic enforcement activities and to stimulate the direct exchange of countersmuggling information between the customs services of all countries.

To the extent that our own efforts to interdict the flow of contraband, particularly in narcotics, moving to the United States have been successful, we think it is appropriate to share these experiences, on a customs-to-customs basis, with the heads of other customs services. Mr. Ambrose met personally with the heads of these customs services with which we are concerned. He spoke to them on the possibility of disrupting present trafficking routes through a combined customs effort. The U.S. customs service has acquired a significant amount of expertise in the field of inspection techniques and methodology, the structuring of a customs service for narcotic enforcement purposes, the application of intelligence to the border enforcement process, and training. We can provide technical assistance to these countries through a variety of activities. I am confident that a direct approach will have an immediate effect on the attitudes and capabilities of the customs services of other countries and that their efforts in combating narcotic traffic along the transit routes will produce measurable benefits for our overall drug enforcement programs.

Fourteen European nations, acting in concert with the United States, have agreed to tighten Customs border controls and step up the exchange of intelligence in a joint effort to reduce the smuggling of narcotic drugs across their borders. All of these countries are "potential transit routes" for the movement of narcotic drugs to the United States. The seizure of morphine base or heroin when entering or leaving any of the other 14 countries would, to some extent, diminish the smuggling pressure on the United States.

In addition to these 14 countries, Mr. Ambrose also visited with customs officials in Turkey and Greece. He found that the same understanding of the narcotic smuggling problem and the same cooperative attitude exists there as in the other 14.

USE OF DETECTOR DOGS

The use of dogs in examining mail parcels and other shipments for marihuana and hashish has been highly successful. We have been extending this program to more and more places throughout customs. The dogs are also being trained to detect other narcotics and dangerous drugs. During the first 5 months of fiscal 1972, detections of marihuana, hashish and dangerous drugs by customs dogs have equaled the total detected during the first 9 months of their utilization. In this 5 month period these dogs were instrumental in the seizure of 7,000 pounds of marihuana, 800 pounds of hashish, over 20 pounds of opium, plus small amounts of cocaine, heroin, and hallucinogen, amphetamine or barbiturate pills and tablets.

X-RAY UNITS IN MAIL DIVISIONS

Two X-ray units are presently in use at our mail units in Chicago and San Francisco. Mail packages, without being opened, can be examined in 10 seconds via a remote video screen. Shadow characteristics indicate the presence of contraband as well as assisting in the verification of declared contents. Since their installation last fiscal year (Chicago, April; San Francisco, June), 275 detections of narcotics have been made in the mails by the use of these X-ray devices, which,