II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1199 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to reauthorize the Border 

Enforcement Security Task Force program within the Department of 

Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2017 

Mrs. MCCASKILL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to reauthorize 

the Border Enforcement Security Task Force program 

within 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 ‘‘Border Enforcement 

5 Security Task Force Reauthorization Act of 2017’’. 


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•S 1199 IS

1 SEC. 2. MODIFIED INSTRUCTIONS. 

2 (a) UPDATED CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE ESTAB3 LISHMENT OF UNITS.—Section 432(c)(2) of the Home4 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 240(c)) is amended— 

5 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

6 by striking ‘‘shall consider’’ and inserting ‘‘shall 

7 apply risk-based criteria that takes into consider8 ation’’; 

9 (2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, includ10 ing threats posed by transnational criminal organi11 zations’’ before the semicolon at the end; 

12 (3) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

13 the end; 

14 (4) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

15 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

16 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(E) the extent to which the BEST unit 

18 would advance the Department’s homeland and 

19 border security strategic priorities and related 

20 objectives; and 

21 ‘‘(F) whether departmental Joint Task 

22 Force operations established pursuant to sec23 tion 708 and other joint cross-border initiatives 

24 would be enhanced, improved, or otherwise as25 sisted by the BEST unit.’’. 


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•S 1199 IS

1 (b) PORT SECURITY.—Section 432(c) of the Home2 land Security Act of 2002, as amended by subsection (a), 

3 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(4) PORT SECURITY BEST UNITS.—A BEST 

5 unit established pursuant to paragraph (2) with a 

6 port security nexus shall be composed of at least 1 

7 member of each of the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) The Coast Guard Investigative Serv9 ice. 

10 ‘‘(B) The geographically responsible Coast 

11 Guard Sector Intelligence Office.’’. 

12 (c) UPDATED REPORT ELEMENTS.—Section 432(e) 

13 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 240(e)) 

14 is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this subsection, and annually 

17 thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary shall 

18 submit to Congress a report that includes— 

19 ‘‘(1) a description of the effectiveness of BEST 

20 in enhancing border security, disrupting and dis21 mantling transnational criminal organizations, and 

22 reducing drug trafficking, arms smuggling, illegal 

23 alien trafficking and smuggling, violence, and kid24 napping along and across the international borders 

25 of the United States, as measured by crime statisVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 May 30, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1199.IS S1199

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•S 1199 IS

1 tics, including violent deaths, incidents of violence, 

2 and drug-related arrests; 

3 ‘‘(2) an assessment of how BEST enhances in4 formation-sharing, including the dissemination of 

5 homeland security information, among Federal, 

6 State, local, tribal, and foreign law enforcement 

7 agencies; 

8 ‘‘(3) a description of how BEST advances the 

9 Department’s homeland and border security stra10 tegic priorities and effectiveness of BEST in achiev11 ing related objectives; and 

12 ‘‘(4) an assessment of BEST’s joint operational 

13 efforts with departmental Joint Task Force oper14 ations established pursuant to section 708 and other 

15 joint cross-border initiatives.’’. 

Æ 


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