I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4482 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to prepare a southwest border 

threat analysis, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 

Ms. MCSALLY (for herself, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, 

Mr. GOSAR, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. WALKER, Mr. YOUNG of Iowa, Ms. 

SINEMA, Mr. ZINKE, Mr. SALMON, and Mr. SCHWEIKERT) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to prepare 

a southwest border threat analysis, 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 ‘‘Southwest Border Se5 curity Threat Assessment Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SOUTHWEST BORDER THREAT ANALYSIS. 

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

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home9 land Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 


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1 Security of the House of Representatives and the Com2 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

3 of the Senate a southwest border threat analysis that in4 cludes the following: 

5 (1) An assessment of current and potential ter6 rorism and criminal threats posed by individuals and 

7 organized groups seeking to— 

8 (A) unlawfully enter the United States 

9 through the southwest border; or 

10 (B) exploit border vulnerabilities along the 

11 southwest border. 

12 (2) An assessment of improvements needed at 

13 and between ports of entry along the southwest bor14 der to prevent terrorists and instruments of terror 

15 from entering the United States. 

16 (3) An assessment of gaps in law, policy, co17 operation between State, local, or tribal law enforce18 ment, international agreements, or tribal agreements 

19 that hinder effective and efficient border security, 

20 counterterrorism, anti-human smuggling and traf21 ficking efforts, and the flow of legitimate trade along 

22 the southwest border. 

23 (4) An assessment of the current percentage of 

24 situational awareness achieved by the Department of 


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1 Homeland Security of the international land and 

2 maritime borders of the United States. 

3 (5) An assessment of the current percentage of 

4 operational control (as such term is defined in sec5 tion 2 of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 U.S.C. 

6 1701 note; Public Law 109–367)) achieved by the 

7 Department of Homeland Security of the inter8 national land and maritime borders of the United 

9 States. 

10 (b) ANALYSIS REQUIREMENTS.—For the southwest 

11 border threat analysis required under subsection (a), the 

12 Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider and exam13 ine the following: 

14 (1) Technology needs and challenges. 

15 (2) Personnel needs and challenges. 

16 (3) The roles and authorities of State, local, 

17 and tribal law enforcement in general border secu18 rity activities. 

19 (4) The need for cooperation among Federal, 

20 State, local, tribal, and Mexican law enforcement en21 tities relating to border security. 

22 (5) The terrain, population density, and climate 

23 along the southwest border. 

24 (c) CLASSIFIED THREAT ANALYSIS.—To the extent 

25 possible, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit 


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1 the southwest border threat analysis required under sub2 section (a) in unclassified form. The Secretary may submit 

3 a portion of such threat analysis in classified form if the 

4 Secretary determines such is appropriate. 

5 SEC. 3. BORDER PATROL STRATEGIC PLAN. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 1, 2017, 

7 and every five years thereafter, the Chief of the Border 

8 Patrol shall issue a Border Patrol Strategic Plan. 

9 (b) CONTENTS.—The Border Patrol Strategic Plan 

10 required under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, 

11 a consideration of the following: 

12 (1) An evaluation of the southwest border 

13 threat analysis required under section 2, with an 

14 emphasis on efforts to mitigate threats identified in 

15 such threat analysis. 

16 (2) An assessment of principal border security 

17 threats. 

18 (3) Efforts to analyze and disseminate border 

19 security and border threat information between De20 partment of Homeland Security border security com21 ponents and with other appropriate Federal depart22 ments and agencies with missions associated with 

23 the border. 

24 (4) Efforts to increase situational awareness, 

25 including the following: 


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1 (A) Surveillance capabilities developed or 

2 utilized by the Department of Defense, includ3 ing any technology determined to be excess by 

4 the Department of Defense. 

5 (B) Use of manned aircraft and unmanned 

6 aerial systems, including camera and sensor 

7 technology deployed on such assets. 

8 (5) Efforts to detect and prevent terrorists and 

9 instruments of terrorism from entering the United 

10 States. 

11 (6) Efforts to detect, interdict, and disrupt 

12 aliens and illicit drugs at the earliest possible point 

13 upon entry into the United States. 

14 (7) Efforts to focus intelligence collection to 

15 disrupt transnational criminal organizations outside 

16 of the international and maritime borders of the 

17 United States. 

18 (8) Efforts to ensure that any new border secu19 rity technology can be operationally integrated with 

20 existing technologies in use by the Department of 

21 Homeland Security. 

22 (9) Technology required to maintain, support, 

23 and enhance security and facilitate trade at ports of 

24 entry, including nonintrusive detection equipment, 

25 radiation detection equipment, biometric technology, 


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1 surveillance systems, and other sensors and tech2 nology that the Secretary of Homeland Security de3 termines necessary. 

4 (10) Operational coordination unity of effort 

5 initiatives of Department of Homeland Security bor6 der security components, including any relevant task 

7 forces of the Department. 

8 (11) Lessons learned from Operation Jumpstart 

9 and Operation Phalanx. 

10 (12) Cooperative agreements and information 

11 sharing with State, local, tribal, territorial, and 

12 other Federal law enforcement agencies that have 

13 jurisdiction on the northern or southern border. 

14 (13) Border security information received from 

15 consultation with State, local, tribal, territorial, and 

16 Federal law enforcement agencies that have jurisdic17 tion on the northern or southern border, or in the 

18 maritime environment, and from border community 

19 stakeholders (including through public meetings with 

20 such stakeholders), including representatives from 

21 border agricultural and ranching organizations and 

22 representatives from business and civic organizations 

23 along the northern or southern border. 

24 (14) Staffing requirements for all border secu25 rity functions. 


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1 (15) A prioritized list of research and develop2 ment objectives to enhance the security of the inter3 national land and maritime borders of the United 

4 States. 

5 (16) An assessment of training programs, in6 cluding training programs regarding the following: 

7 (A) Identifying and detecting fraudulent 

8 documents. 

9 (B) Understanding the scope of enforce10 ment authorities and the use of force policies. 

11 (C) Screening, identifying, and addressing 

12 vulnerable populations, such as children and 

13 victims of human trafficking. 

14 (17) An assessment of how border security op15 erations affect crossing times. 

16 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.—The term ‘‘sit19 uational awareness’’ means a knowledge and unified 

20 understanding of unlawful cross-border activity, in21 cluding threats and trends concerning illicit traf22 ficking and unlawful crossings, and the ability to 

23 forecast future shifts in such threats and trends, the 

24 ability to evaluate such threats and trends at a level 

25 sufficient to create actionable plans, and the operVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Feb 06, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4482.IH H4482

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1 ational capability to conduct continuous and inte2 grated surveillance of the international borders of 

3 the United States. 

4 (2) SOUTHWEST BORDER.—The term ‘‘south5 west border’’ means the land and maritime borders 

6 between the United States and Mexico. 

Æ 


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