I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5678 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 relating to the responsibilities 

and functions of Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland 

Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2020 

Mr. VAN DREW (for himself and Mr. ROGERS of Alabama) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 relating to 

the responsibilities and functions of Chief Privacy Officer 

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 ‘‘Privacy Office En5 hancement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RESPONSIBILITIES AND FUNCTIONS OF CHIEF PRI2 VACY OFFICER. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 222 of the Homeland Se4 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 142) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

7 (1)— 

8 (i) by inserting ‘‘to be the Chief Pri9 vacy Officer of the Department,’’ after ‘‘in 

10 the Department,’’; and 

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘to the Secretary, to 

12 assume’’ and inserting ‘‘to the Secretary. 

13 Such official shall have’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking 

15 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

16 (C) by striking paragraph (6) and insert17 ing the following new paragraphs: 

18 ‘‘(6) developing guidance to assist components 

19 of the Department in developing privacy policies and 

20 practices; 

21 ‘‘(7) establishing a mechanism to ensure such 

22 components are in compliance with Federal, regu23 latory, statutory, and Department privacy require24 ments, mandates, directives, and policies; 

25 ‘‘(8) working with the Chief Information Officer 

26 of the Department to identify methods for managing 


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1 and overseeing the records, management policies, 

2 and procedures of the Department; 

3 ‘‘(9) working with components and offices of 

4 the Department to ensure that information sharing 

5 activities incorporate privacy protections; 

6 ‘‘(10) serving as the Chief FOIA Officer of the 

7 Department for purposes of subsection (j) of section 

8 552 of title 5, United States Code (popularly known 

9 as the Freedom of Information Act), to manage and 

10 process requests related to such section; 

11 ‘‘(11) developing guidance on procedures to be 

12 followed by individuals making requests for informa13 tion under such section 552; 

14 ‘‘(12) overseeing the management and proc15 essing of requests for information under such section 

16 552 within Department Headquarters and relevant 

17 Department component offices; 

18 ‘‘(13) providing component heads with input on 

19 the management of their respective FOIA offices, in20 cluding recruiting and hiring component FOIA offi21 cers, budget formulation, and organizational place22 ment within each such component; 

23 ‘‘(14) identifying and eliminating unnecessary 

24 and duplicative actions taken by the Department in 


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1 the course of processing requests for information 

2 under such section 552; 

3 ‘‘(15) preparing an annual report to Congress 

4 that includes— 

5 ‘‘(A) a description of the activities of the 

6 Department that affect privacy during the fiscal 

7 year covered by the report, including complaints 

8 of privacy violations, implementation of section 

9 552a of title 5, United States Code (popularly 

10 known as the Privacy Act of 1974), internal 

11 controls, and other matters; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the number of new technology pro13 grams implemented in the Department during 

14 the fiscal year covered by the report, the num15 ber of such programs that the Chief Privacy Of16 ficer has evaluated to ensure that privacy pro17 tections are considered and implemented, the 

18 number of such programs that effectively imple19 mented privacy protections into new technology 

20 programs, and an explanation of why any new 

21 programs did not effectively implement privacy 

22 protections; and 

23 ‘‘(16) carrying out such other responsibilities as 

24 the Secretary determines are appropriate, consistent 

25 with this section.’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(f) REASSIGNMENT OF FUNCTIONS.—Notwith4 standing subsection (a)(10), the Secretary may reassign 

5 the functions related to managing and processing requests 

6 for information under section 552 of title 5, United States 

7 Code, to another officer within the Department, consistent 

8 with requirements of such section.’’. 

Æ 


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