I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1437 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Under Secretary 

for Management of the Department of Homeland Security to achieve 

security of sensitive assets among the components of the Department 

of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Mr. CORREA (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require 

the Under Secretary for Management of the Department 

of Homeland Security to achieve security of sensitive 

assets among the components of 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 ‘‘Securing Department 

5 of Homeland Security Firearms Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Se6 curing DHS Firearms Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

4 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

5 (2) LOST.—The term ‘‘lost’’ includes loss by 

6 theft. 

7 (3) SENSITIVE ASSETS.—The term ‘‘sensitive 

8 assets’’ means any asset, regardless of value— 

9 (A) that the Department of Homeland Se10 curity issues to a Department employee; and 

11 (B) that either the Under Secretary for 

12 Management of the Department or a compo13 nent head determines requires special control 

14 and accounting. 

15 (4) UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT.— 

16 The term ‘‘Under Secretary for Management’’ 

17 means the Under Secretary for Management of the 

18 Department of Homeland Security. 

19 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF SECURING FIREARMS AND OTHER 

20 SENSITIVE ASSETS IN RESPONSIBILITIES OF 

21 UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT. 

22 Section 701 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

23 (6 U.S.C. 341) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)(6), by inserting ‘‘(includ25 ing firearms and other sensitive assets)’’ after 

26 ‘‘equipment’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating the second subsection (e) 

2 (relating to the definition of interoperable commu3 nications) as subsection (f); and 

4 (3) by amending such redesignated subsection 

5 (f) to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS.—The 

8 term ‘interoperable communications’ has the mean9 ing given such term in section 7303(g) of the Intel10 ligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 

11 2004 (6 U.S.C. 194(g)). 

12 ‘‘(2) SENSITIVE ASSETS.—The term ‘sensitive 

13 assets’ means any asset, regardless of value— 

14 ‘‘(A) that the Department issues to a De15 partment employee; and 

16 ‘‘(B) that either the Under Secretary for 

17 Management of the Department or a compo18 nent head determines requires special control 

19 and accounting.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT DIRECTIVE. 

21 (a) SAFEGUARDING FIREARMS AND SENSITIVE AS22 SETS DIRECTIVE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

25 Under Secretary for Management shall develop and 


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1 disseminate a Department-wide directive for achiev2 ing adequate security over firearms and other sen3 sitive assets across the Department. 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The directive required under 

5 subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, include the fol6 lowing: 

7 (A) Descriptions of what equipment, in ad8 dition to firearms, is classified as a sensitive 

9 asset for the purpose of carrying out this Act. 

10 (B) Requirements for securing Depart11 ment-issued firearms and other sensitive assets. 

12 (C) A classification system for all cat13 egories of Department-issued badges and cor14 responding requirements for safeguarding such 

15 assets. 

16 (D) Reporting requirements for lost fire17 arms and other sensitive assets, including 

18 timelines for such reporting, to supervisors, 

19 local law enforcement, the Federal Bureau of 

20 Investigation’s National Crime Information 

21 Center, and Department headquarters. 

22 (E) Recordkeeping requirements for lost 

23 firearms and other sensitive assets in inventory 

24 systems, including a timeline for recording such 

25 losses. 


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1 (3) REVIEW AND UPDATE OF DIRECTIVE.—Not 

2 later than one year after the issuance of the direc3 tive required under subsection (a), the Under Sec4 retary for Management shall review and update, as 

5 necessary, such directive, including adding a require6 ment relating to recording in the inventory systems 

7 maintained by each component of the Department 

8 the acceptance or transfer of a firearm or other sen9 sitive asset by such component. 

10 (b) PERSONAL PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT

11 PROGRAM MANUAL.—Together with the issuance of the 

12 directive pursuant to subsection (a), the Under Secretary 

13 for Management shall disseminate a revised version of the 

14 Personal Property Asset Management Program Manual 

15 that includes the following: 

16 (1) Requirements for component heads to de17 velop procedures to safeguard firearms and other 

18 sensitive assets during on and off-duty time. 

19 (2) Requirements for the issuance of safety 

20 locking devices and policies on the use of such as21 sets, as applicable. 

22 (3) Requirements for initial, recurrent, and re23 medial training on safeguarding such assets. 

24 (4) Examples, with detail, of how to report and 

25 record lost sensitive assets across components of the 


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1 Department, and an enforcement mechanism to en2 sure supervisors maintain such records. 

3 (5) A requirement that the file maintained on 

4 a lost firearm or other sensitive asset contains both 

5 the corresponding police report and the Department 

6 report detailing the circumstances surrounding such 

7 loss, including information on adherence to safe8 guarding procedures. 

9 SEC. 5. COMPONENT RESPONSIBILITIES. 

10 Department component heads shall— 

11 (1) comply with Federal law, Federal regula12 tions, executive branch guidance, and Department 

13 policy, including directives required by this Act, re14 lating to the management and oversight of securing 

15 firearms and other sensitive assets; 

16 (2) review the need for non-law enforcement 

17 badges; 

18 (3) require component personnel to safeguard 

19 firearms and other sensitive assets in accordance 

20 with the directive issued by the Under Secretary for 

21 Management under section 4; 

22 (4) require that component personnel adhere to 

23 the procedures and timelines for properly reporting 

24 to supervisors lost firearms and other sensitive as25 sets; 


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1 (5) require that lost firearms and other sen2 sitive assets are reported to local law enforcement, 

3 the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National 

4 Crime Information Center, and Department head5 quarters in the timeframe established in such direc6 tive; and 

7 (6) require that lost firearms and other sen8 sitive assets are recorded in inventory systems in the 

9 timeframe established by such directive. 

10 SEC. 6. INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW. 

11 The Inspector General of the Department of Home12 land Security shall, on an ongoing basis, review implemen13 tation of this Act and, not later than 180 days after 

14 issuance of the directive under section 4, submit to the 

15 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep16 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

17 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a review of the 

18 progress and effectiveness of such directive, including an 

19 assessment of the adequacy of such directive, as well as 

20 the level of compliance among the components of the De21 partment to achieve adequate security of sensitive assets 

22 across Department components. 

Æ 


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