IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4713 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make 

certain improvements in the Office for Civil Rights and 

Civil Liberties of the Department of Homeland Security, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home3 land Security Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Au4 thorization Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. OFFICER FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 705 of the Homeland Se7 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 345) is amended— 

8 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘ESTAB9 LISHMENT OF’’; and 

10 (2) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in11 serting the following new subsections: 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

13 Department an Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. 

14 The head of such Office is the Officer for Civil Rights 

15 and Civil Liberties, who shall report directly to the Sec16 retary. 

17 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Officer for Civil 

18 Rights and Civil Liberties shall carry out the following re19 sponsibilities: 

20 ‘‘(1) Oversee compliance with constitutional, 

21 statutory, regulatory, policy, and other requirements 

22 relating to the civil rights and civil liberties of indi23 viduals affected by the programs and activities of 

24 the Department. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Integrate civil rights and civil liberties pro2 tections into all programs and activities of the De3 partment. 

4 ‘‘(3) Conduct civil rights and civil liberties im5 pact assessments, as appropriate, including prior to 

6 the implementation of new Department regulations, 

7 initiatives, programs, or policies. 

8 ‘‘(4) Conduct periodic reviews of policies, proce9 dures, and activities of the Department relating to 

10 civil rights and civil liberties. 

11 ‘‘(5) Provide policy advice, recommendations, 

12 and other technical assistance relating to civil rights 

13 and civil liberties to the Secretary and to heads of 

14 components, directorates, and offices and other per15 sonnel within the Department. 

16 ‘‘(6) Review, assess, and investigate complaints, 

17 including complaints filed by members of the public, 

18 and information indicating possible abuses of civil 

19 rights or civil liberties at the Department, unless the 

20 Inspector General of the Department determines 

21 that any such complaint should be investigated by 

22 the Inspector General. 

23 ‘‘(7) Initiate reviews, investigations, and assess24 ments of the administration of the programs and ac25 tivities by the Department relating to civil rights 


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1 and civil liberties, as the Officer determines nec2 essary. 

3 ‘‘(8) Coordinate with the Privacy Officer to en4 sure that— 

5 ‘‘(A) programs, policies, and procedures in6 volving civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy 

7 considerations are addressed in an integrated 

8 and comprehensive manner; and 

9 ‘‘(B) Congress receives appropriate reports 

10 regarding such programs, policies, and proce11 dures. 

12 ‘‘(9) Lead the equal employment opportunity 

13 programs of the Department, including complaint 

14 management and adjudication, workforce diversity, 

15 and promotion of the merit system principles. 

16 ‘‘(10) Make publicly available through acces17 sible communications channels, including the website 

18 of the Department— 

19 ‘‘(A) information on the responsibilities 

20 and functions of, and how to contact, the Of21 fice; 

22 ‘‘(B) summary of reports of investigations 

23 that result in final recommendations that are 

24 issued by the Officer upon completion of invesVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4713.RFS H4713

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1 tigations carried out pursuant to paragraph (6); 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(C) summaries of impact assessments 

4 issued by the Officer and carried out pursuant 

5 to paragraph (3) or (7). 

6 ‘‘(11) Engage with individuals and communities 

7 whose civil rights and civil liberties may be affected 

8 by programs and activities of the Department, in9 cluding by informing such individuals and commu10 nities about report and redress processes and advis11 ing the Secretary and heads of components, direc12 torates, offices, and other personnel within the De13 partment of concerns raised by such individuals and 

14 communities. 

15 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION WITH INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 

16 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE

17 ABUSES.—The Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Lib18 erties may investigate any matter referred to in 

19 paragraph (6) or (7) of subsection (b) after fulfilling 

20 the coordination requirements under paragraph (2) 

21 with respect to such matter. 

22 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) REFERRAL OF MATTERS TO INSPEC24 TOR GENERAL.—Before initiating any investiga25 tion described under paragraph (1), the Officer 


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1 for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties shall refer 

2 the matter and all related complaints to the In3 spector General of the Department. 

4 ‘‘(B) INSPECTOR GENERAL RESPONSIBIL5 ITIES.— 

6 ‘‘(i) DETERMINATION AND NOTIFICA7 TION.—Not later than 5 business days 

8 after the receipt of a matter referred under 

9 subparagraph (A), the Inspector General 

10 shall— 

11 ‘‘(I) make a determination re12 garding whether the Inspector Gen13 eral intends to initiate an audit or in14 vestigation of the matter referred 

15 under subparagraph (A); and 

16 ‘‘(II) notify the Officer of such 

17 determination. 

18 ‘‘(ii) AUDITS AND INVESTIGATIONS.— 

19 If the Inspector General notifies the Offi20 cer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties that 

21 the Inspector General intends to initiate an 

22 audit or investigation, the Inspector Gen23 eral shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) initiate such audit or inves2 tigate by not later than 90 days after 

3 providing such notification; or 

4 ‘‘(II) not later than 3 days after 

5 the end of the 90-day period specified 

6 in subclause (I), notify the Officer 

7 that such audit or investigation was 

8 not initiated. 

9 ‘‘(C) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—At the 

10 request of the Inspector General, the Officer for 

11 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties may provide as12 sistance to the Inspector General on any inves13 tigation or audit initiated by the Inspector Gen14 eral based on a referral under subparagraph 

15 (A). 

16 ‘‘(D) INVESTIGATION BY OFFICER.—The 

17 Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties may 

18 investigate a matter referred to the Inspector 

19 General under subparagraph (A) only if— 

20 ‘‘(i) the Inspector General notifies the 

21 Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 

22 that the Inspector General does not intend 

23 to initiate an audit or investigation relat24 ing to that matter; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Inspector General provides 

2 notification under subparagraph (B)(ii)(II) 

3 that an audit or investigation was not initi4 ated. 

5 ‘‘(d) TRANSPARENCY.— 

6 ‘‘(1) COMPLAINTS.—In the case of a complaint 

7 made concerning allegations of abuses of civil rights 

8 and civil liberties under paragraph (6) of subsection 

9 (b), the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 

10 shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) provide to the individual who made 

12 the complaint notice of the receipt of such com13 plaint within 30 days of receiving the com14 plaint; and 

15 ‘‘(B) inform the complainant of the deter16 mination of the Officer regarding the initiation 

17 of a review, assessment, or investigation within 

18 the Office, a referral to the Inspector General 

19 of the Department, or any other action taken. 

20 ‘‘(2) INVESTIGATIONS.—In the case of an inves21 tigation initiated by the Officer pursuant to para22 graph (6) or (7) of subsection (b), upon the conclu23 sion of the investigation, the Officer shall produce a 

24 report on the investigation which— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall include the findings and rec2 ommendations of the Officer; 

3 ‘‘(B) a summary of which shall be made 

4 publicly available; 

5 ‘‘(C) shall not include any personally iden6 tifiable information related to any individual in7 volved in such investigation; and 

8 ‘‘(D) may include a classified appendix, as 

9 the Officer determines appropriate. 

10 ‘‘(3) SUBMITTAL TO HEADS OF OPERATIONAL

11 COMPONENTS.—The Officer shall transmit a copy of 

12 each report produced under paragraph (2) to the 

13 Secretary and to the relevant head of each relevant 

14 operational component of the Department. 

15 ‘‘(4) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Upon the con16 clusion of any investigation conducted by the Officer 

17 for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties under paragraph 

18 (6) or (7) of subsection (b), the Officer shall submit 

19 to Congress a report on the investigation, which 

20 shall be prepared and submitted without any prior 

21 comment or amendment by the Secretary, Deputy 

22 Secretary, or any other officer or employee of the 

23 Department, unless the Officer seeks such comment. 

24 ‘‘(e) COMPONENT CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIB25 ERTIES OFFICER.—The head of each of the operational 


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1 components of the Department shall designate a career 

2 appointee (as such term is defined in section 3132 of title 

3 5, United States Code) from such component as the Offi4 cer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of that component. 

5 The Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of each 

6 such component shall coordinate with and provide infor7 mation to the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 

8 of the Department on matters related to civil rights and 

9 civil liberties within the components. 

10 ‘‘(f) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Officer for Civil 

11 Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department— 

12 ‘‘(1) shall have access to all records, reports, 

13 audits, reviews, documents, papers, recommenda14 tions, and other materials available to the Depart15 ment that relate to programs and operations with 

16 respect to the responsibilities of the Officer under 

17 subsection (b); and 

18 ‘‘(2) may, to the extent the Officer determines 

19 necessary, and subject to the approval of the Sec20 retary— 

21 ‘‘(A) issue a subpoena to require the pro22 duction, by any person other than a Federal 

23 agency, of all information, documents, reports, 

24 answers, records, accounts, papers, and other 

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1 ance of the responsibilities of the Officer under 

2 this section; and 

3 ‘‘(B) administer to or take from any per4 son an oath, affirmation, or affidavit, whenever 

5 necessary in the performance of the responsibil6 ities of the Officer under this section. 

7 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than March 31 of 

8 each year, the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 

9 of the Department shall submit directly to the President, 

10 the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 

11 Representatives, and the appropriate committees and sub12 committees of Congress, a report on the implementation 

13 of this section during the year preceding the year during 

14 which the report is submitted. Each such report shall in15 clude, for the year covered by the report— 

16 ‘‘(1) any allegations of abuse described under 

17 subsection (b)(6) and any actions by the Depart18 ment or a component, directorate, or office of the 

19 Department that the Officer identifies as responsive 

20 to such allegations; 

21 ‘‘(2) a list of Department programs and activi22 ties for which civil rights and civil liberties impact 

23 assessments were conducted, or policy advice, rec24 ommendations, or other technical assistance was 

25 provided; 


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1 ‘‘(3) any recommendations issued by the Officer 

2 to the Secretary or the head of a component, direc3 torate, or office, together with information on the 

4 status of the implementation of such recommenda5 tions; 

6 ‘‘(4) information on the diversity and equal em7 ployment opportunity activities of the Department, 

8 including information on complaint management and 

9 adjudication of equal employment opportunity com10 plaints and efforts to ensure compliance throughout 

11 the Department with equal employment opportunity 

12 requirements; 

13 ‘‘(5) a description of any efforts to engage with 

14 individuals and communities whose civil rights and 

15 civil liberties may be affected by activities carried 

16 out by the Department, including public meetings; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(6) information on total staffing for the Office 

19 of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, including— 

20 ‘‘(A) the number of full-time, part-time 

21 and contract support personnel; and 

22 ‘‘(B) information on the number of em23 ployees whose primary responsibilities include 

24 supporting the Officer in carrying out para25 graph (9) of subsection (b).’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 

2 section 705 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act 

3 of 2002 is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 705. OFFICER FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIB5 ERTIES.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW. 

7 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

9 States shall submit to Congress a report on subsection 

10 (b)(11) of section 705 of the Homeland Security Act of 

11 2002 (6 U.S.C. 345), as amended by section 2. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 9, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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