U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and other members of the Texas Congressional delegation urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reinstate the Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense Center of Excellence at Texas A&M University.
The CBTS at Texas A&M assists state and federal agencies in protecting borders, but federal funding for it was halted in April by DHS. The Congressmember said new cases of the New World screwworm are being detected in the Mexican state of Neuvo Leon, an estimated 70 miles from the Texas-Mexico border, creating an urgent need to reinstate the center as a resource to advance detection technologies, train personnel and identify invasive pest pathways and risk areas before they disrupt U.S. supply chains.
“As members of the Texas congressional delegation, we respectfully urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reinstate the Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense (CBTS) Center of Excellence at Texas A&M University,” the delegation members said. “CBTS is in strategic proximity to an expansive portion of the southwest border and provides unique capabilities for innovation, training, and test and evaluation of border security technologies and methods. More importantly, the CBTS mission space encompasses naturally occurring and man-made biological threats—including the widespread outbreak of the re-emergent New World screwworm (NWS), flesh-eating larvae that are spreading northward through Mexico.
U.S. Reps. Monica De La Cruz, Pete Sessions, Michael McCaul, Keith Self, Jake Ellzey, Nathaniel Moran, Randy Weber, Brian Babin, John Carter, August Pfluger, and Morgan Luttrell (all R-TX) joined Gonzales in his letter to DHS.
“CBTS is ready to equip DHS with research, training, and rapid-response capabilities essential to counter all-hazards border threats, including New World screwworm. We strongly urge DHS to promptly reinstate CBTS as an active Center of Excellence to ensure the nation remains prepared and resilient,” Gonzales said in the letter.