After newly hired officers’ benefits were pulled due to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) error that claimed they would be eligible for proportional annuity, federal lawmakers have introduced bills to correct that mistake and renew those benefits.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Retirement Technical Corrections Act targets the CBP and would make it grant officers promised retirement benefits removed through no fault of their own. Had the agency been correct previously, proportional annuity would have meant that officers didn’t need to retire at a certain age or accrue 20 years of service to qualify for enhanced retirement benefits.
“We must do right by the dedicated Customs and Border Protection officers who defend our ports of entry and work every day to keep our nation safe,” U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said. “I am proud to be able to introduce this bipartisan legislation with Reps. Raskin, Ciscomani, and Lynch to fix this error and give our officers the retirement benefits they earned during their years of service to the United States.”
Companion legislation (S.311) from U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) last year passed the Senate by unanimous consent. It is currently being introduced by Fitzpatrick and fellow U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), and Steven Lynch (D-MA).
“A decades-long error should not mean that 1,200 Customs and Border Patrol Officers are denied the retirement benefits they were promised,” Raskin said. “The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Retirement Technical Corrections Act will ensure that these officers—who protect the American people and secure our borders—receive the benefits they earned. Recognizing mistakes and working to correct them, as this legislation aims to do, is the right thing to do.”
According to Doreen Greenwald, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, the bill would restore retirement benefits to approximately 1,500 CBP officers. The union expressed its support for the lawmakers who introduced the bill.