II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4656 

To reauthorize and amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to create 

stronger accountability mechanisms for Joint Task Forces. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2022 

Mr. PETERS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To reauthorize and amend the Homeland Security Act of 

2002 to create stronger accountability mechanisms for 

Joint Task Forces. 

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 ‘‘DHS Joint Task 

5 Forces Reauthorization Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDING SECTION 708 OF THE HOMELAND SECU7 RITY ACT OF 2002. 

8 Section 708(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

9 (6 U.S.C. 348(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(8) JOINT TASK FORCE STAFF.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each Joint Task 

5 Force shall have a staff, composed of officials 

6 from relevant components and offices of the De7 partment, to assist the Director of that Joint 

8 Task Force in carrying out the mission and re9 sponsibilities of that Joint Task Force. 

10 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—The Secretary shall in11 clude in the report submitted under paragraph 

12 (6)(F)— 

13 ‘‘(i) the number of personnel perma14 nently assigned to each Joint Task Force 

15 by each component and office; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the number of personnel assigned 

17 on a temporary basis to each Joint Task 

18 Force by each component and office.’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (9)— 

20 (A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘STRAT21 EGY AND OF’’ after ‘‘ESTABLISHMENT OF’’; 

22 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) and in23 serting the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) using leading practices in perform25 ance management and lessons learned by other 


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1 law enforcement task forces and joint oper2 ations, establish a strategy for each Joint Task 

3 Force that contains— 

4 ‘‘(i) the mission of each Joint Task 

5 Force and strategic goals and objectives to 

6 assist the Joint Task Force in accom7 plishing that mission; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) outcome-based and other appro9 priate performance metrics to evaluate the 

10 effectiveness of each Joint Task Force and 

11 measure progress towards the goals and 

12 objectives described in clause (i), which in13 clude— 

14 ‘‘(I) targets for current and fu15 ture fiscal years; and 

16 ‘‘(II) a description of the meth17 odology used to establish those 

18 metrics and any limitations with re19 spect to data or information used to 

20 assess performance.’’; 

21 (C) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘enactment of this sec23 tion’’ and insert ‘‘enactment of the DHS 

24 Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 

25 2022’’; 


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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘strategy and’’ after 

2 ‘‘Senate the’’; and 

3 (iii) by striking the period at the end 

4 and inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (D) by striking subparagraph (C) and in6 serting the following: 

7 ‘‘(C) beginning not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of enactment of the DHS Joint Task 

9 Forces Reauthorization Act of 2022, submit an10 nually to each committee specified in subpara11 graph (B) a report that— 

12 ‘‘(i) contains the evaluation described 

13 in subparagraphs (A) and (B); and 

14 ‘‘(ii) outlines the progress in imple15 menting outcome-based and other perform16 ance metrics referred to in subparagraph 

17 (A)(ii).’’; 

18 (3) in paragraph (11)(A), by striking the period 

19 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, which shall 

20 include— 

21 ‘‘(i) the justification, focus, and mis22 sion of the Joint Task Force; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) a strategy for the conduct of the 

24 Joint Task Force, including goals and perVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Jul 29, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4656.IS S4656

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1 formance metrics for the Joint Task 

2 Force.’’; 

3 (4) in paragraph (12)— 

4 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Jan5 uary 31, 2018, and January 31, 2021, the In6 spector General of the Department’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘1 year after the date of enactment of the 

8 DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 

9 2022, the Comptroller General of the United 

10 States’’; and 

11 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

12 clauses (i) and (ii) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) an assessment of the structure of 

14 each Joint Task Force; 

15 ‘‘(ii) an assessment of the effective16 ness of oversight over each Joint Task 

17 Force; 

18 ‘‘(iii) an assessment of the strategy of 

19 each Joint Task Force; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) an assessment of staffing levels 

21 and resources of each Joint Task Force.’’; 

22 and 

23 (5) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘2022’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘2024’’. 

Æ 


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