116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1433 

AN ACT 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to improve 

morale within the Department of Homeland Security 

workforce by conferring new responsibilities to the Chief 

Human Capital Officer, establishing an employee engagement steering committee, requiring action plans, and authorizing an annual employee award program, and for 

other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Department of Home5 land Security Morale, Recognition, Learning and Engage6 ment Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DHS MORALE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. CHIEF HUMAN CAPITAL OFFICER RESPONSIBIL8 ITIES. 

9 Section 704 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

10 (6 U.S.C. 344) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) by inserting ‘‘, including with re14 spect to leader development and employee 

15 engagement,’’ after ‘‘policies’’; 

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘and in line’’ and in17 serting ‘‘, in line’’; and 

18 (iii) by inserting ‘‘and informed by 

19 best practices within the Federal govern20 ment and the private sector,’’ after ‘‘prior21 ities,’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘develop 

23 performance measures to provide a basis for 

24 monitoring and evaluating’’ and inserting ‘‘use 
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1 performance measures to evaluate, on an ongo2 ing basis,’’; 

3 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘that, 

4 to the extent practicable, are informed by em5 ployee feedback’’ after ‘‘policies’’; 

6 (D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘includ7 ing leader development and employee engage8 ment programs,’’ before ‘‘in coordination’’; 

9 (E) in paragraph (5), by inserting before 

10 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘that is 

11 informed by an assessment, carried out by the 

12 Chief Human Capital Officer, of the learning 

13 and developmental needs of employees in super14 visory and non-supervisory roles across the De15 partment and appropriate workforce planning 

16 initiatives’’; 

17 (F) by redesignating paragraphs (9) and 

18 (10) as paragraphs (12) and (13), respectively; 

19 and 

20 (G) by inserting after paragraph (8) the 

21 following new paragraphs: 

22 ‘‘(9) maintain a catalogue of available employee 

23 development opportunities, including the Homeland 

24 Security Rotation Program pursuant to section 844, 

25 departmental leadership development programs, 
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1 interagency development programs, and other rota2 tional programs; 

3 ‘‘(10) ensure that employee discipline and ad4 verse action programs comply with the requirements 

5 of all pertinent laws, rules, regulations, and Federal 

6 guidance, and ensure due process for employees; 

7 ‘‘(11) analyze each Department or Government8 wide Federal workforce satisfaction or morale survey 

9 not later than 90 days after the date of the publica10 tion of each such survey and submit to the Secretary 

11 such analysis, including, as appropriate, rec12 ommendations to improve workforce satisfaction or 

13 morale within the Department;’’; 

14 (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

15 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; 

16 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol17 lowing new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(d) CHIEF LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT OFFI19 CER.—The Chief Human Capital Officer may designate 

20 an employee of the Department to serve as a Chief Learn21 ing and Engagement Officer to assist the Chief Human 

22 Capital Officer in carrying out this section.’’; and 

23 (4) in subsection (e), as so redesignated— 
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1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), 

2 and (4) as paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respec3 tively; and 

4 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

5 following new paragraphs: 

6 ‘‘(2) information on employee development op7 portunities catalogued pursuant to paragraph (9) of 

8 subsection (b) and any available data on participa9 tion rates, attrition rates, and impacts on retention 

10 and employee satisfaction; 

11 ‘‘(3) information on the progress of Depart12 ment-wide strategic workforce planning efforts as 

13 determined under paragraph (2) of subsection (b); 

14 ‘‘(4) information on the activities of the steer15 ing committee established pursuant to section 

16 711(a), including the number of meetings, types of 

17 materials developed and distributed, and rec18 ommendations made to the Secretary;’’. 

19 SEC. 3. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STEERING COMMITTEE 

20 AND ACTION PLAN. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu22 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 

23 adding at the end the following new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 711. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT. 

2 ‘‘(a) STEERING COMMITTEE.—Not later than 120 

3 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

4 Secretary shall establish an employee engagement steering 

5 committee, including representatives from operational 

6 components, headquarters, and field personnel, including 

7 supervisory and non-supervisory personnel, and employee 

8 labor organizations that represent Department employees, 

9 and chaired by the Under Secretary for Management, to 

10 carry out the following activities: 

11 ‘‘(1) Identify factors that have a negative im12 pact on employee engagement, morale, and commu13 nications within the Department, such as percep14 tions about limitations on career progression, mobil15 ity, or development opportunities, collected through 

16 employee feedback platforms, including through an17 nual employee surveys, questionnaires, and other 

18 communications, as appropriate. 

19 ‘‘(2) Identify, develop, and distribute initiatives 

20 and best practices to improve employee engagement, 

21 morale, and communications within the Department, 

22 including through annual employee surveys, ques23 tionnaires, and other communications, as appro24 priate. 

25 ‘‘(3) Monitor efforts of each component to ad26 dress employee engagement, morale, and commu-
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1 nications based on employee feedback provided 

2 through annual employee surveys, questionnaires, 

3 and other communications, as appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(4) Advise the Secretary on efforts to improve 

5 employee engagement, morale, and communications 

6 within specific components and across the Depart7 ment. 

8 ‘‘(5) Conduct regular meetings and report, not 

9 less than once per quarter, to the Under Secretary 

10 for Management, the head of each component, and 

11 the Secretary on Department-wide efforts to improve 

12 employee engagement, morale, and communications. 

13 ‘‘(b) ACTION PLAN; REPORTING.—The Secretary, 

14 acting through the Chief Human Capital Officer, shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) not later than 120 days after the date of 

16 the establishment of the employee engagement steer17 ing committee under subsection (a), issue a Depart18 ment-wide employee engagement action plan, reflect19 ing input from the steering committee and employee 

20 feedback provided through annual employee surveys, 

21 questionnaires, and other communications in accord22 ance with paragraph (1) of such subsection, to exe23 cute strategies to improve employee engagement, 

24 morale, and communications within the Department; 

25 and 
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1 ‘‘(2) require the head of each component to— 

2 ‘‘(A) develop and implement a component3 specific employee engagement plan to advance 

4 the action plan required under paragraph (1) 

5 that includes performance measures and objec6 tives, is informed by employee feedback pro7 vided through annual employee surveys, ques8 tionnaires, and other communications, as appro9 priate, and sets forth how employees and, where 

10 applicable, their labor representatives are to be 

11 integrated in developing programs and initia12 tives; 

13 ‘‘(B) monitor progress on implementation 

14 of such action plan; and 

15 ‘‘(C) provide to the Chief Human Capital 

16 Officer and the steering committee quarterly re17 ports on actions planned and progress made 

18 under this paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—This section shall terminate on 

20 the date that is five years after the date of the enactment 

21 of this section.’’. 

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

23 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

24 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

25 710 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 711. Employee engagement.’’. 
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1 (c) SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS.— 

2 (1) DEPARTMENT-WIDE EMPLOYEE ENGAGE3 MENT ACTION PLAN.—The Secretary of Homeland 

4 Security, acting through the Chief Human Capital 

5 Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, 

6 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu7 rity of the House of Representatives and the Com8 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af9 fairs of the Senate the Department-wide employee 

10 engagement action plan required under subsection 

11 (b)(1) of section 711 of the Homeland Security Act 

12 of 2002 (as added by subsection (a) of this section) 

13 not later than 30 days after the issuance of such 

14 plan under such subsection (b)(1). 

15 (2) COMPONENT-SPECIFIC EMPLOYEE ENGAGE16 MENT PLANS.—Each head of a component of the 

17 Department of Homeland Security shall submit to 

18 the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

19 of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 

20 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate the 

21 component-specific employee engagement plan of 

22 each such component required under subsection 

23 (b)(2) of section 711 of the Homeland Security Act 

24 of 2002 not later than 30 days after the issuance of 

25 each such plan under such subsection (b)(2). 
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1 SEC. 4. ANNUAL EMPLOYEE AWARD PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu3 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.), as amended by 

4 section 3 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the 

5 end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 712. ANNUAL EMPLOYEE AWARD PROGRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may establish an 

8 annual employee award program to recognize Department 

9 employees or groups of employees for significant contribu10 tions to the achievement of the Department’s goals and 

11 missions. If such a program is established, the Secretary 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) establish within such program categories 

14 of awards, each with specific criteria, that empha15 sizes honoring employees who are at the non-super16 visory level; 

17 ‘‘(2) publicize within the Department how any 

18 employee or group of employees may be nominated 

19 for an award; 

20 ‘‘(3) establish an internal review board com21 prised of representatives from Department compo22 nents, headquarters, and field personnel to submit to 

23 the Secretary award recommendations regarding 

24 specific employees or groups of employees; 

25 ‘‘(4) select recipients from the pool of nominees 

26 submitted by the internal review board under para-
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1 graph (3) and convene a ceremony at which employ2 ees or groups of employees receive such awards from 

3 the Secretary; and 

4 ‘‘(5) publicize such program within the Depart5 ment. 

6 ‘‘(b) INTERNAL REVIEW BOARD.—The internal re7 view board described in subsection (a)(3) shall, when car8 rying out its function under such subsection, consult with 

9 representatives from operational components and head10 quarters, including supervisory and non-supervisory per11 sonnel, and employee labor organizations that represent 

12 Department employees. 

13 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion may be construed to authorize additional funds to 

15 carry out the requirements of this section or to require 

16 the Secretary to provide monetary bonuses to recipients 

17 of an award under this section.’’. 

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

19 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 

20 amended by section 3 of this Act, is further amended by 

21 inserting after the item relating to section 711 the fol22 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 712. Annual employee award program.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION AND IMPLEMENTA2 TION PLAN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

5 of the United States shall investigate whether the applica6 tion in the Department of Homeland Security of discipline 

7 and adverse actions are administered in an equitable and 

8 consistent manner that results in the same or substantially 

9 similar disciplinary outcomes across the Department for 

10 misconduct by a non-supervisory or supervisor employee 

11 who engaged in the same or substantially similar mis12 conduct. 

13 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the investiga14 tion described in subsection (a), the Comptroller General 

15 of the United States shall consult with the Under Sec16 retary for Management of the Department of Homeland 

17 Security and the employee engagement steering committee 

18 established pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of section 711 

19 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (as added by sec20 tion 3(a) of this Act). 

21 (c) ACTION BY UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGE22 MENT.—Upon completion of the investigation described in 

23 subsection (a), the Under Secretary for Management of 

24 the Department of Homeland Security shall review the 

25 findings and recommendations of such investigation and 

26 implement a plan, in consultation with the employee en-
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1 gagement steering committee established pursuant to sub2 section (b)(1) of section 711 of the Homeland Security 

3 Act of 2002, to correct any relevant deficiencies identified 

4 by the Comptroller General of the United States in such 

5 investigation. The Under Secretary for Management shall 

6 direct the employee engagement steering committee to re7 view such plan to inform committee activities and action 

8 plans authorized under such section 711. 

9 SEC. 6. IMPACTS OF SHUTDOWN. 

10 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

12 report to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

13 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home14 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate re15 garding the direct and indirect impacts of the lapse in ap16 propriations between December 22, 2018, and January 

17 25, 2019, on— 

18 (1) Department of Homeland Security human 

19 resources operations; 

20 (2) the Department’s ability to meet hiring 

21 benchmarks; and 
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1 (3) retention, attrition, and morale of Depart2 ment personnel. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 1, 2019. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1433 

AN ACT 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 

and for other purposes. thorizing an annual employee award program, ing committee, requiring action plans, and aucer, establishing an employee engagement steersponsibilities to the Chief Human Capital Offiland Security workforce by conferring new reimprove morale within the Department of Home-