Sen. Byrd: Contract Award For Customs and Border Protection Facilities in Harpers Ferry

October 16, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., today announced that the Department of Homeland Security has awarded a contract in the amount of more than $2.75 million to BrooAlexa Design Joint Venture, LLC, of Dunbar, West Virginia, to begin the initial planning and development for the construction of new dormitories at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Advanced Training Center in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

“The CBP Advanced Training Center is a winner for our country and for our state. The United States will be more secure because our Customs and Border Protection officers and agents are receiving better training in order to meet the security challenges we face today and those we will face in the future. West Virginia and Jefferson County benefit from the good jobs that have been brought to our community as a result of this facility,” said Byrd, who is the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee and secured the funding for the project.

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The Advanced Training Center (ATC) provides firearms, intermediate force, and advanced mission training to CBP law enforcement personnel and personnel of other federal agencies from across the country. CBP employees are stationed throughout the world and at our land and border crossings, airports, seaports, and other urban environments with a need for practical, unique, progressive, and flexible training.

The dormitory/lodging expansion will accommodate increased CBP course load and students moving through the training facility, as well as on-site lodging for participants of joint-agency exercises. The Center trains and certifies the federal officials who then prepare thousands of Customs and Border Protection law enforcement officers for duty. It is estimated that more than 3,000 personnel will graduate from the law enforcement training programs this year.

Byrd has spearheaded the effort to attract and build the Department of Homeland Security facility on 104 acres near Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Over the past decade, Byrd has secured nearly $170 million in federal appropriations for design and construction activities at the Advanced Training Center. On May 30, 2008, Byrd joined CBP and local officials in Harpers Ferry for the dedication of the facility’s new Firing Range Complex and for the ground- breaking of the Leadership Academy.

Source: Senator Robert C. Byrd