Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) announced that he and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris (WA-05), sent a letter today to the Department of Homeland Security in which the two lawmakers urge the Department to provide the Blaine, WA sector and Spokane, WA sector border stations with the maximum number of Border Patrol agents as authorized in the 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act of 2004.

Recent comments by former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge suggested that the department would not add the 2,000 agents nationwide as outlined in the law. The president’s budget, as released last week, only included funding for a total of 210 new agents, far below the 2,000 that were to be funded this year.

“The 9/11 Recommendations Implementations Act made a good investment at our borders,” Larsen said. “Now it’s Congress’s job to make sure we follow through with funding. And the Department of Homeland Security must live up to its end of the bargain and put our fair share of agents at the Northern Border.”

“Keeping our region safe and secure is one of my top priorities in Congress," said Rep. McMorris.  “Securing our Northern Border is essential to that mission.  As part of that effort we need to make sure our border agents have the funding resources they need to keep our region safe.”

In the letter, Larsen and McMorris write, “You have our commitment that we will work with our colleagues in Congress to appropriate funds for these agents.  We would like your commitment to fairly allocate these agents to the Blaine and Spokane stations in Washington state.”

The 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act of 2004 as signed by the president authorized funding to add 10,000 new Border Patrol agents at our nation’s borders over the next five years.  The law mandates that 20 percent of those agents are assigned to the Northern Border.

Currently, the Blaine sector stations (which includes stations in Western Washington and Oregon) 13 percent of Northern Border agents while the Spokane sector (which includes stations in Eastern Washington, Montana and Idaho) 12 percent.  Since the 9/11 bill authorizes at least 2,000 new agents for the Northern Border, border crossings included in the Blaine sector and Spokane sector border crossings should be in line for at least 260 and 240 new border agents over the next five years, respectively.

“As a Congressman representing Northern Border communities, I will keep fighting in Congress to bolster our security at our Northern Border and in our border communities,” Larsen said.

Larsen represents Washington state’s 2nd Congressional District that includes Whatcom County and its border crossings that fall under the Blaine Sector. McMorris represents Washington’s 5th Congressional District that includes border crossings in the Spokane sector.