SENATE PANEL FUNDS 1,000 NEW AGENTS FOR BORDER PATROL

Senate appropriators agreed Wednesday to fund 1,000 new Border Patrol
agents next year,sweeping aside the Clinton administration's wish to
take a "breather"before adding extra manpower on the Southwest border.

For months, congressional Republicans have attacked the White House
for omitting 1,000 agents in its fiscal 2000 budget request - despite
a 1996 law directing Border Patrol increases of 1,000 agents a year
for five years.

Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the
Border Patrol and its parent, the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, adopted a fiscal 2000 spending bill that provides $4 billion
for the INS. The money is included in a broader $35.3 billion package
funding the operations of the Departments of Commerce, Justice and
State. The legislation directs that $83 million of the INS budget be
used to hire 1,000 Border Patrol agents.

The INS already is struggling with a congressional mandate to add
1,000 agents this year. The agency's managers acknowledge that only
300 to 400 will be hired, citing difficulties in recruiting personnel
in a tight labor market. Administration officials have said the
8,130-agent Border Patrol, which has more than doubled since 1993,
also needs time to absorb new recruits.