I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4713 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 17, 2019 

Mr. GREEN of Texas (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home5 land Security Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Au6 thorization Act’’. 


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

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 705 of the Homeland Se3 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 345) is amended— 

4 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘ESTAB5 LISHMENT OF’’; and 

6 (2) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in7 serting the following new subsections: 

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

9 Department an Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. 

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

11 and Civil Liberties, who shall report directly to the Sec12 retary. 

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

14 Rights and Civil Liberties shall carry out the following re15 sponsibilities: 

16 ‘‘(1) Oversee compliance with constitutional, 

17 statutory, regulatory, policy, and other requirements 

18 relating to the civil rights and civil liberties of indi19 viduals affected by the programs and activities of 

20 the Department. 

21 ‘‘(2) Integrate civil rights and civil liberties into 

22 all programs and activities of the Department. 

23 ‘‘(3) Conduct civil rights and civil liberties im24 pact assessments, as appropriate. 

25 ‘‘(4) Conduct periodic reviews of policies and 

26 activities of the Department. 


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

2 and other technical assistance to the Secretary and 

3 to heads of components, directorates, and offices and 

4 other personnel within the Department. 

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

6 including complaints filed by members of the public, 

7 and information indicating possible abuses of civil 

8 rights or civil liberties, unless the Inspector General 

9 of the Department determines that any such com10 plaint or information should be investigated by the 

11 Inspector General. 

12 ‘‘(7) Initiate reviews, assessments, and inves13 tigations of the administration of the programs and 

14 activities by the Department, as the Officer deter15 mines necessary. 

16 ‘‘(8) Coordinate with the Privacy Officer to en17 sure that— 

18 ‘‘(A) programs, policies, and procedures in19 volving civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy 

20 considerations are addressed in an integrated 

21 and comprehensive manner; and 

22 ‘‘(B) Congress receives appropriate reports 

23 regarding such programs, policies, and proce24 dures. 


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1 ‘‘(9) Lead the equal employment opportunity 

2 programs of the Department, including complaint 

3 management and adjudication, and promote work4 force diversity and merit system principles. 

5 ‘‘(10) Make publicly available through acces6 sible communications channels, including the website 

7 of the Department— 

8 ‘‘(A) information on the responsibilities 

9 and functions of, and how to contact, the Offi10 cer; and 

11 ‘‘(B) reports that are issued by the Officer 

12 upon completion of investigations carried out 

13 pursuant to paragraph (6) or (7). 

14 ‘‘(11) Engage with individuals and communities 

15 whose civil rights and civil liberties may be affected 

16 by programs and activities of the Department, in17 cluding by informing such individuals and commu18 nities about redress processes and advising the Sec19 retary and heads of components, directorates, of20 fices, and other personnel within the Department of 

21 any concerns raised by such individuals and commu22 nities. 

23 ‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY.— 

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

25 made concerning allegations of abuses of civil rights 


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1 and civil liberties under paragraph (6) of subsection 

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

3 shall— 

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

5 the complaint notice of the receipt of such com6 plaint within 30 days of receiving the com7 plaint; and 

8 ‘‘(B) inform the complainant of the deter9 mination of the Officer regarding the initiation 

10 of a review, assessment, or investigation within 

11 the Office or a referral to the Inspector General 

12 of the Department. 

13 ‘‘(2) INVESTIGATIONS.—In the case of an inves14 tigation initiated by the Officer pursuant to para15 graph (6) or (7) of subsection (b), upon the conclu16 sion of the investigation, the Officer shall produce a 

17 report on the investigation which— 

18 ‘‘(A) shall include the findings and rec19 ommendations of the Officer; 

20 ‘‘(B) shall be made publicly available; and 

21 ‘‘(C) may include a classified appendix, as 

22 the Officer determines appropriate. 

23 ‘‘(3) SUBMITTAL TO HEADS OF OPERATIONAL

24 COMPOENENTS.—The Officer shall transmit a copy 

25 of each report produced under paragraph (2) to the 


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1 Secretary and to the relevant head of each relevant 

2 operational component of the Department. 

3 ‘‘(d) COMPONENT CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIB4 ERTIES OFFICER.—The head of each of the operational 

5 components of the Department shall designate a career 

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

7 5, United States Code) from such component as the Offi8 cer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of that component. 

9 The Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of each 

10 such component shall report to the Officer for Civil Rights 

11 and Civil Liberties of the Department. 

12 ‘‘(e) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Officer for 

13 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) have access to all records, reports, audits, 

15 reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, and 

16 other materials available to the Department that re17 late to programs and operations with respect to the 

18 responsibilities of the Officer under subsection (b); 

19 ‘‘(2) subject to the approval of the Secretary, 

20 may, to the extent the Officer determines necessary, 

21 issue a subpoena to require the production, by any 

22 person other than a Federal agency, of all informa23 tion, documents, reports, answers, records, accounts, 

24 papers, and other data or documentary evidence necVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Oct 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4713.IH H4713

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1 essary to the performance of the responsibilities of 

2 the Officer under this section; and 

3 ‘‘(3) administer to or take from any person an 

4 oath, affirmation, or affidavit whenever necessary in 

5 the performance of the responsibilities of the Officer 

6 under this section. 

7 ‘‘(f) 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, without any prior comment or 

13 amendment by the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, or any 

14 other officer or employee of the Department, a report on 

15 the implementation of this section during the year pre16 ceding the year during which the report is submitted. 

17 Each such report shall include, for the year covered by 

18 the report— 

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

20 subsection (b)(6) and any actions by the Depart21 ment or a component, directorate, or office of the 

22 Department that the Officer identifies as responsive 

23 to such allegations; 

24 ‘‘(2) a list of Department programs and activi25 ties for which civil rights and civil liberties impact 


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1 assessments were conducted, or policy advice, rec2 ommendations, or other technical assistance was 

3 provided; 

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

5 to the Secretary or the head of a component, direc6 torate, or office, together with information on the 

7 status of the implementation of such recommenda8 tions; 

9 ‘‘(4) information on the diversity and equal em10 ployment opportunity activities of the Department, 

11 including information on complaint management and 

12 adjudication of equal employment opportunity com13 plaints and efforts to ensure compliance throughout 

14 the Department with equal employment opportunity 

15 requirements; 

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

17 individuals and communities whose civil rights and 

18 civil liberties may be affected by activities carried 

19 out by the Department, including public meetings; 

20 and 

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

22 of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, including— 

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

24 and contract support personnel; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) information on the number of em2 ployees whose primary responsibilities include 

3 supporting the Officer in carrying out para4 graph (9) of subsection (b).’’. 

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

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

7 of 2002 is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 705. Officer for civil rights and civil liberties.’’. 

Æ 


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