H. R. 5273 

One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty 

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 

using large-scale, non-intrusive inspection systems to enhance border security, 

and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

SEC. 2. LARGE-SCALE NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION SCANNING PLAN. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) LARGE-SCALE NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION SYSTEM.—The 

term ‘‘large-scale, non-intrusive inspection system’’ means a 

technology, including x-ray, gamma-ray, and passive imaging 

systems, capable of producing an image of the contents of 

a commercial or passenger vehicle or freight rail car in 1 

pass of such vehicle or car. 

(2) SCANNING.—The term ‘‘scanning’’ means utilizing nonintrusive imaging equipment, radiation detection equipment, 

or both, to capture data, including images of a commercial 

or passenger vehicle or freight rail car. 

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

the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

shall submit a plan to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives for increasing to 

100 percent the rate of high-throughput scanning of commercial 

and passenger vehicles and freight rail traffic entering the United 

States at land ports of entry and rail-border crossings along the 

border using large-scale non-intrusive inspection systems or similar 

technology to enhance border security. 

(c) BASELINE INFORMATION.—The plan under subsection (b) 

shall include, at a minimum, the following information regarding 

large-scale non-intrusive inspection systems or similar technology 

operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at land ports 

of entry and rail-border crossings as of the date of the enactment 

of this Act: 

(1) An inventory of large-scale non-intrusive inspection systems or similar technology in use at each land port of entry. 

(2) For each system or technology identified in the inventory under paragraph (1)— 

(A) the scanning method of such system or technology; 
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(B) the location of such system or technology at each 

land port of entry that specifies whether in use in preprimary, primary, or secondary inspection area, or some 

combination of such areas; 

(C) the percentage of commercial and passenger 

vehicles and freight rail traffic scanned by such system 

or technology; 

(D) seizure data directly attributed to scanned commercial and passenger vehicles and freight rail traffic; and 

(E) the number of personnel required to operate each 

system or technology. 

(3) Information regarding the continued use of other technology and tactics used for scanning, such as canines and 

human intelligence in conjunction with large scale, nonintrusive 

inspection systems. 

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

the following information: 

(1) Benchmarks for achieving incremental progress towards 

100 percent high-throughput scanning within the next 6 years 

of commercial and passenger vehicles and freight rail traffic 

entering the United States at land ports of entry and railborder crossings along the border with corresponding projected 

incremental improvements in scanning rates by fiscal year and 

rationales for the specified timeframes for each land port of 

entry. 

(2) Estimated costs, together with an acquisition plan, for 

achieving the 100 percent high-throughput scanning rate within 

the timeframes specified in paragraph (1), including acquisition, 

operations, and maintenance costs for large-scale, nonintrusive 

inspection systems or similar technology, and associated costs 

for any necessary infrastructure enhancements or configuration 

changes at each port of entry. Such acquisition plan shall 

promote, to the extent practicable, opportunities for entities 

that qualify as small business concerns (as defined under section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)). 

(3) Any projected impacts, as identified by the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, on the total 

number of commercial and passenger vehicles and freight rail 

traffic entering at land ports of entry and rail-border crossings 

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

peak and non-peak travel times, by lane type if applicable, 

as scanning rates are increased. 

(4) Any projected impacts, as identified by the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, on land ports 

of entry and rail-border crossings border security operations 

as a result of implementation actions, including any changes 

to the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers 

or their duties and assignments. 

(e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the submission of the plan under subsection (b), and biennially thereafter 

for the following 6 years, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives that describes the 

progress implementing the plan and includes— 
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(1) an inventory of large-scale, nonintrusive inspection systems or similar technology operated by U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection at each land port of entry; 

(2) for each system or technology identified in the inventory 

required under paragraph (1)— 

(A) the scanning method of such system or technology; 

(B) the location of such system or technology at each 

land port of entry that specifies whether in use in preprimary, primary, or secondary inspection area, or some 

combination of such areas; 

(C) the percentage of commercial and passenger 

vehicles and freight rail traffic scanned by such system 

or technology; and 

(D) seizure data directly attributed to scanned commercial and passenger vehicles and freight rail traffic; 

(3) the total number of commercial and passenger vehicles 

and freight rail traffic entering at each land port of entry 

at which each system or technology is in use, and information 

on average wait times at peak and non-peak travel times, 

by lane type if applicable; 

(4) a description of the progress towards reaching the 

benchmarks referred to in subsection (d)(1), and an explanation 

if any of such benchmarks are not achieved as planned; 

(5) a comparison of actual costs (including information on 

any awards of associated contracts) to estimated costs set forth 

in subsection (d)(2); 

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

of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, on land ports of entry 

and rail-border crossings operations as a result of implementation actions, including any changes to the number of U.S. 

Customs and Border Protection officers or their duties and 

assignments; 

(7) any proposed changes to the plan and an explanation 

for such changes, including changes made in response to any 

Department of Homeland Security research and development 

findings or changes in terrorist or transnational criminal 

organizations tactics, techniques, or procedures; and 

(8) any challenges to implementing the plan or meeting 

the benchmarks, and plans to mitigate any such challenges. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.