KUYKENDALL: US CUSTOMS SYSTEMS LOBBY MUST BROADEN ACE’S SCOPE
The industry lobby’s attempt to get Congress to fund U.S. Customs’ future computer system may be too narrowly focused. That’s the message Rep. Steve Kuykendall, R-Calif., delivered to the Joint Industry Group in Washington Wednesday.
“We could choke on the trade real fast if we can’t process it quickly,” Kuykendall said, who represents a district which includes the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. “But it’s a matter of how we make that sense of urgency apparent to the other congressional districts who don’t pay attention to it.”
Kuykendall suggested that the industry must emphasize the national security aspect of the Customs system. The United States will be faced with “non-traditional” warfare in the future. “In that flow of goods and materials is where our enemies will fight back at us.”
Kuykendall also urged the industry to get their contacts in the public to send letters to Congress. “We respond better to their interests than we do lobbyists.”
Building Customs’ new system, the Automated Commercial Environment, will cost Congress about $169 million a year for the next five years.
“If they can’t come up with $169 million a year, we should all go home,” said Robin Lanier of the Joint Industry Group. “It would be insane for us to build a system over more than five years, because it would be outdated by the time it’s finished.”