In the Senate of the United States, 

December 7, 2020. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 5273) entitled ‘‘An Act 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.’’, 

do pass with the following 

AMENDMENTS: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing America’s 

3 Ports Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. LARGE-SCALE NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION SCAN5 NING PLAN. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) LARGE-SCALE NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION

8 SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘large-scale, non-intrusive in-
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1 spection system’’ means a technology, including x-ray, 

2 gamma-ray, and passive imaging systems, capable of 

3 producing an image of the contents of a commercial 

4 or passenger vehicle or freight rail car in 1 pass of 

5 such vehicle or car. 

6 (2) SCANNING.—The term ‘‘scanning’’ means uti7 lizing nonintrusive imaging equipment, radiation de8 tection equipment, or both, to capture data, including 

9 images of a commercial or passenger vehicle or freight 

10 rail car. 

11 (b) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

13 Security shall submit a plan to the Committee on Home14 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 

15 the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep16 resentatives for increasing to 100 percent the rate of high17 throughput scanning of commercial and passenger vehicles 

18 and freight rail traffic entering the United States at land 

19 ports of entry and rail-border crossings along the border 

20 using large-scale non-intrusive inspection systems or simi21 lar technology to enhance border security. 

22 (c) BASELINE INFORMATION.—The plan under sub23 section (b) shall include, at a minimum, the following infor24 mation regarding large-scale non-intrusive inspection sys25 tems or similar technology operated by U.S. Customs and 
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1 Border Protection at land ports of entry and rail-border 

2 crossings as of the date of the enactment of this Act: 

3 (1) An inventory of large-scale non-intrusive in4 spection systems or similar technology in use at each 

5 land port of entry. 

6 (2) For each system or technology identified in 

7 the inventory under paragraph (1)— 

8 (A) the scanning method of such system or 

9 technology; 

10 (B) the location of such system or tech11 nology at each land port of entry that specifies 

12 whether in use in pre-primary, primary, or sec13 ondary inspection area, or some combination of 

14 such areas; 

15 (C) the percentage of commercial and pas16 senger vehicles and freight rail traffic scanned by 

17 such system or technology; 

18 (D) seizure data directly attributed to 

19 scanned commercial and passenger vehicles and 

20 freight rail traffic; and 

21 (E) the number of personnel required to op22 erate each system or technology. 

23 (3) Information regarding the continued use of 

24 other technology and tactics used for scanning, such 
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1 as canines and human intelligence in conjunction 

2 with large scale, nonintrusive inspection systems. 

3 (d) ELEMENTS.—The plan under subsection (b) shall 

4 include the following information: 

5 (1) Benchmarks for achieving incremental 

6 progress towards 100 percent high-throughput scan7 ning within the next 6 years of commercial and pas8 senger vehicles and freight rail traffic entering the 

9 United States at land ports of entry and rail-border 

10 crossings along the border with corresponding pro11 jected incremental improvements in scanning rates by 

12 fiscal year and rationales for the specified timeframes 

13 for each land port of entry. 

14 (2) Estimated costs, together with an acquisition 

15 plan, for achieving the 100 percent high-throughput 

16 scanning rate within the timeframes specified in 

17 paragraph (1), including acquisition, operations, and 

18 maintenance costs for large-scale, nonintrusive inspec19 tion systems or similar technology, and associated 

20 costs for any necessary infrastructure enhancements 

21 or configuration changes at each port of entry. Such 

22 acquisition plan shall promote, to the extent prac23 ticable, opportunities for entities that qualify as small 

24 business concerns (as defined under section 3(a) of the 

25 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)). 
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1 (3) Any projected impacts, as identified by the 

2 Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protec3 tion, on the total number of commercial and pas4 senger vehicles and freight rail traffic entering at 

5 land ports of entry and rail-border crossings where 

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

7 peak and non-peak travel times, by lane type if ap8 plicable, as scanning rates are increased. 

9 (4) Any projected impacts, as identified by the 

10 Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protec11 tion, on land ports of entry and rail-border crossings 

12 border security operations as a result of implementa13 tion actions, including any changes to the number of 

14 U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers or their 

15 duties and assignments. 

16 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

17 submission of the plan under subsection (b), and biennially 

18 thereafter for the following 6 years, the Secretary of Home19 land Security shall submit a report to the Committee on 

20 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 

21 and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

22 Representatives that describes the progress implementing 

23 the plan and includes— 

24 (1) an inventory of large-scale, nonintrusive in25 spection systems or similar technology operated by 
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1 U.S. Customs and Border Protection at each land 

2 port of entry; 

3 (2) for each system or technology identified in 

4 the inventory required under paragraph (1)— 

5 (A) the scanning method of such system or 

6 technology; 

7 (B) the location of such system or tech8 nology at each land port of entry that specifies 

9 whether in use in pre-primary, primary, or sec10 ondary inspection area, or some combination of 

11 such areas; 

12 (C) the percentage of commercial and pas13 senger vehicles and freight rail traffic scanned by 

14 such system or technology; and 

15 (D) seizure data directly attributed to 

16 scanned commercial and passenger vehicles and 

17 freight rail traffic; 

18 (3) the total number of commercial and pas19 senger vehicles and freight rail traffic entering at each 

20 land port of entry at which each system or technology 

21 is in use, and information on average wait times at 

22 peak and non-peak travel times, by lane type if ap23 plicable; 

24 (4) a description of the progress towards reach25 ing the benchmarks referred to in subsection (d)(1), 
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1 and an explanation if any of such benchmarks are 

2 not achieved as planned; 

3 (5) a comparison of actual costs (including in4 formation on any awards of associated contracts) to 

5 estimated costs set forth in subsection (d)(2); 

6 (6) any realized impacts, as identified by the 

7 Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protec8 tion, on land ports of entry and rail-border crossings 

9 operations as a result of implementation actions, in10 cluding any changes to the number of U.S. Customs 

11 and Border Protection officers or their duties and as12 signments; 

13 (7) any proposed changes to the plan and an ex14 planation for such changes, including changes made 

15 in response to any Department of Homeland Security 

16 research and development findings or changes in ter17 rorist or transnational criminal organizations tactics, 

18 techniques, or procedures; and 

19 (8) any challenges to implementing the plan or 

20 meeting the benchmarks, and plans to mitigate any 

21 such challenges. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act 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 and freight rail entering the 

United States at land ports of entry along the border 
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using large-scale, non-intrusive inspection systems to enhance border security, and for other purposes.’’. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H.R. 5273 

AMENDMENTS