II 

Calendar No. 379 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 146 

[Report No. 115–230] 

To strengthen accountability for deployment of border security technology 

at the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, and Mrs. MCCASKILL) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

APRIL 16, 2018 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, without amendment 

A BILL 

To strengthen accountability for deployment of border security technology at 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 Security Tech5 nology Accountability Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY ACCOUNT2 ABILITY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title IV of the 

4 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 434. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM 

7 MANAGEMENT. 

8 ‘‘(a) PLANNING DOCUMENTATION.—For each border 

9 security technology acquisition program of the Depart10 ment that is determined to be a major acquisition pro11 gram, the Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) ensure that each such program has a writ13 ten acquisition program baseline approved by the 

14 relevant acquisition decision authority; 

15 ‘‘(2) document that each such program is meet16 ing cost, schedule, and performance thresholds as 

17 specified in such baseline, in compliance with rel18 evant departmental acquisition policies and the Fed19 eral Acquisition Regulation; and 

20 ‘‘(3) have a plan for meeting program imple21 mentation objectives by managing contractor per22 formance. 

23 ‘‘(b) ADHERENCE TO STANDARDS.—The Secretary, 

24 acting through the Under Secretary for Management and 

25 the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 

26 shall ensure that border security technology acquisition 


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1 program managers who are responsible for carrying out 

2 this section adhere to relevant internal control standards 

3 identified by the Comptroller General of the United 

4 States. The Commissioner shall provide information, as 

5 needed, to assist the Under Secretary in monitoring prop6 er program management of border security technology ac7 quisition programs under this section. 

8 ‘‘(c) PLAN.—The Secretary, acting through the 

9 Under Secretary for Management, and in coordination 

10 with the Under Secretary for Science and Technology and 

11 the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 

12 shall submit a plan to the appropriate congressional com13 mittees for testing and evaluation, and the use of inde14 pendent verification and validation resources, for border 

15 security technology so that new border security tech16 nologies are evaluated through a series of assessments, 

17 processes, and audits to ensure— 

18 ‘‘(1) compliance with relevant departmental ac19 quisition policies and the Federal Acquisition Regu20 lation; and 

21 ‘‘(2) the effectiveness of taxpayer dollars. 

22 ‘‘(d) MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM DEFINED.—In 

23 this section, the term ‘major acquisition program’ means 

24 a Department acquisition program that is estimated by 

25 the Secretary to require an eventual total expenditure of 


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1 at least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 constant 

2 dollars) over its life cycle cost.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by in5 serting after the item relating to section 433 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 434. Border security technology program management.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF 

7 APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 No additional funds are authorized to be appro9 priated to carry out this Act or the amendments made 

10 by this Act. This Act and such amendments shall be car11 ried out using amounts otherwise available for such pur12 poses. 


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rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 379 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 146 

[Report No. 115–230] 

A BILL 

To strengthen accountability for deployment of borHomeland Security, and for other purposes. der security technology at the Department of 

APRIL 16, 2018 

Reported without amendment 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS