I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5273 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a plan to increase 

to 100 percent the rates of scanning of commercial and passenger vehicles entering the United States at land ports of entry along the border 

using large-scale non-intrusive inspection systems to enhance border security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 26, 2019 

Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico (for herself and Mr. CRENSHAW) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop 

a plan to increase to 100 percent the rates of scanning 

of commercial and passenger vehicles entering the United 

States at land ports of entry along the border using 

large-scale non-intrusive inspection systems to enhance 

border 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 ‘‘Securing America’s 

5 Ports Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LARGE-SCALE NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION SCAN2 NING PLAN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home5 land Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

6 Security of the House of Representatives and the Com7 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

8 of the Senate a plan to increase to 100 percent the rates 

9 of scanning of commercial and passenger vehicles entering 

10 the United States at land ports of entry along the border 

11 using large-scale non-intrusive inspection systems to en12 hance border security. 

13 (b) BASELINE INFORMATION.—At a minimum, the 

14 plan required under subsection (a) shall include the fol15 lowing information regarding large-scale non-intrusive in16 spection systems operated by U.S. Customs and Border 

17 Protection at land ports of entry in fiscal year 2019: 

18 (1) An inventory of large-scale non-intrusive in19 spection systems in use at land ports of entry. 

20 (2) For each system identified in the inventory 

21 required under paragraph (1), the following informa22 tion: 

23 (A) The scanning technology of such sys24 tem. 

25 (B) The location of such system at the 

26 land port of entry that specifies whether in use 


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1 in pre-primary, primary, or secondary inspec2 tion area, or some combination thereof. 

3 (C) The percentage of commercial and pas4 senger vehicles scanned by such system. 

5 (D) Seizure data related to scanned com6 mercial and passenger vehicles. 

7 (3) The total number of commercial and pas8 senger vehicles entering at the land port of entry 

9 where each system is in use, and information on av10 erage wait times at peak and non-peak travel times, 

11 by lane type if applicable. 

12 (c) ELEMENTS.—The plan required under subsection 

13 (a) shall include the following information: 

14 (1) Benchmarks for achieving incremental 

15 progress towards 100 percent scanning with cor16 responding projected incremental improvements in 

17 scanning rates by fiscal year and rationales for the 

18 specified timeframes for each land port of entry. 

19 (2) Estimated costs, together with an acquisi20 tion plan, for achieving the 100 percent scanning 

21 rate within the timeframes specified in paragraph 

22 (1), including total acquisition, operations, and 

23 maintenance costs for large-scale non-intrusive in24 spection systems, as well as associated costs for any 


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1 necessary infrastructure enhancements or configura2 tion changes at each port of entry. 

3 (3) Any anticipated impacts, as identified by 

4 the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro5 tection, on the total number of commercial and pas6 senger vehicles entering at land ports of entry where 

7 such systems are in use, and average wait times at 

8 peak and non-peak travel times, by lane type if ap9 plicable, as scanning rates are increased. 

10 (4) Any anticipated impacts, as identified by 

11 the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro12 tection, on land ports of entry border security oper13 ations as a result of implementation actions, includ14 ing any changes to the number of U.S. Customs and 

15 Border Protection officers or their duties and as16 signments. 

17 (d) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—In furtherance 

18 of the plan required under subsection (a), the Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security shall carry out a one-year pilot pro20 gram to research and develop technology enhancements 

21 and refinements to the operational configuration of pre22 primary, primary, and secondary inspection areas of land 

23 ports of entry. Such pilot program shall include consider24 ation of large-scale emerging non-intrusive inspection sys25 tems and modeling the use of such systems that takes into 


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1 account the variations in infrastructure, configurations, 

2 and sizes of land ports of entry. 

3 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year after 

4 the submission of the plan required under subsection (a) 

5 and annually thereafter until such time as U.S. Customs 

6 and Border Protection has achieved 100 percent scanning 

7 of commercial and passenger vehicles entering the United 

8 States at land ports of entry along the border using large9 scale non-intrusive inspection systems in accordance with 

10 such plan, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall re11 port to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

12 of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu13 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate on progress 

14 implementing the plan. Each such report at a minimum 

15 shall include the following information: 

16 (1) An inventory of large-scale non-intrusive in17 spection systems operated by U.S. Customs and 

18 Border Protection at land ports of entry. 

19 (2) For each system identified in the inventory 

20 required under paragraph (1), the following informa21 tion: 

22 (A) The scanning technology of such sys23 tem. 

24 (B) The location of such system at the 

25 land port of entry that specifies whether in use 


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1 in pre-primary, primary, or secondary inspec2 tion area, or some combination thereof. 

3 (C) The percentage of commercial and pas4 senger vehicles scanned by the system. 

5 (D) Seizure data related to scanned com6 mercial and passenger vehicles. 

7 (3) The total number of commercial and pas8 senger vehicles entering at the land port of entry 

9 where each system is in use, and information on av10 erage wait times at peak and non-peak travel times, 

11 by lane type if applicable. 

12 (4) Progress with respect to the benchmarks 

13 specified in subsection (c)(1), and an explanation if 

14 any of such benchmarks are not achieved as 

15 planned. 

16 (5) A comparison of actual costs (including in17 formation on any awards of associated contracts) to 

18 estimated costs set forth in subsection (c)(2). 

19 (6) Any realized impacts, as identified by the 

20 Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protec21 tion, on land ports of entry operations as a result of 

22 implementation actions, including any changes to the 

23 number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection offi24 cers or their duties and assignments. 


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1 (7) Any proposed changes to the plan and an 

2 explanation for such changes, including changes 

3 made in response to any Department of Homeland 

4 Security research and development findings, includ5 ing findings resulting from the pilot program under 

6 subsection (d), or changes in terrorist or 

7 transnational criminal organizations tactics, tech8 niques, or procedures. 

9 (8) Any challenges to implementing the plan or 

10 meeting the benchmarks, and plans to mitigate any 

11 such challenges. 

12 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) LARGE-SCALE NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION

14 SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘large-scale non-intrusive in15 spection system’’ means a technology, including x16 ray and gamma-ray imaging systems, capable of 

17 scanning an entire commercial or passenger vehicle 

18 in one pass to provide an image of the presence of 

19 any contraband. 

20 (2) SCANNING.—The term ‘‘scanning’’ means a 

21 non-physical inspection of a commercial or passenger 

22 vehicle by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection of23 ficer in which images are generated of the contents 

24 of the vehicle through a technology, including x-ray 


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1 and gamma-ray imaging systems, for analysis by 

2 U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

Æ 


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