Customs Business Fairness Act Waits for House Appropriation Action

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., the lead sponsor of the Customs Business Fairness Act, said that although the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill to which it has been attached (see 2309060049) has not come out of committee, he still thinks language protecting customs brokers when their clients declare bankruptcy could get attached to funding bills in coming months.

"Now that we finally got it into something in writing, it's a lot more likely it could be attached to whatever passes to fund these areas at the end of the day," he told International Trade Today in a brief interview following his Oct. 19 talk on cyber issues at a Punchbowl News event. He said House leadership wants to hold votes on appropriations bills once there is a speaker.

"I have told the Customs Brokers [association] that they need to be reaching out to their senators and make sure the language that we put in our bill makes it into their bill," Garbarino said. He said he had talked only to staff at the office of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., because they have a working relationship. However, he heard from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America that Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.; and maybe Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are supportive of reinstating the protections for brokers as clients' bankruptcy cases are adjudicated.

"Look, a bipartisan group of senators. They all seem to be pretty powerful. If anybody can do it, it's them," he said.