IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1437 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 15, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Department 

3 of Homeland Security Firearms Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Se4 curing DHS Firearms Act of 2019’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

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

8 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

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

10 theft. 

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

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

13 (A) that the Department of Homeland Se14 curity issues to a Department employee; and 

15 (B) that either the Under Secretary for 

16 Management of the Department or a compo17 nent head determines requires special control 

18 and accounting. 

19 (4) UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT.— 

20 The term ‘‘Under Secretary for Management’’ 

21 means the Under Secretary for Management of the 

22 Department of Homeland Security. 


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1 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF SECURING FIREARMS AND OTHER 

2 SENSITIVE ASSETS IN RESPONSIBILITIES OF 

3 UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT. 

4 Section 701 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

5 (6 U.S.C. 341) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(6), by inserting ‘‘(includ7 ing firearms and other sensitive assets)’’ after 

8 ‘‘equipment’’; 

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

10 (relating to the definition of interoperable commu11 nications) as subsection (f); and 

12 (3) by amending such redesignated subsection 

13 (f) to read as follows: 

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

15 ‘‘(1) INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS.—The 

16 term ‘interoperable communications’ has the mean17 ing given such term in section 7303(g) of the Intel18 ligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 

19 2004 (6 U.S.C. 194(g)). 

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

21 assets’ means any asset, regardless of value— 

22 ‘‘(A) that the Department issues to a De23 partment employee; and 

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

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1 nent head determines requires special control 

2 and accounting.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT DIRECTIVE. 

4 (a) SAFEGUARDING FIREARMS AND SENSITIVE AS5 SETS DIRECTIVE.— 

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

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

8 Under Secretary for Management shall develop and 

9 disseminate a Department-wide directive for achiev10 ing adequate security over firearms and other sen11 sitive assets across the Department. 

12 (2) CONTENTS.—The directive required under 

13 subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, include the fol14 lowing: 

15 (A) Descriptions of what equipment, in ad16 dition to firearms, is classified as a sensitive 

17 asset for the purpose of carrying out this Act. 

18 (B) Requirements for securing Depart19 ment-issued firearms and other sensitive assets. 

20 (C) A classification system for all cat21 egories of Department-issued badges and cor22 responding requirements for safeguarding such 

23 assets. 

24 (D) Reporting requirements for lost fire25 arms and other sensitive assets, including 


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1 timelines for such reporting, to supervisors, 

2 local law enforcement, the Federal Bureau of 

3 Investigation’s National Crime Information 

4 Center, and Department headquarters. 

5 (E) Recordkeeping requirements for lost 

6 firearms and other sensitive assets in inventory 

7 systems, including a timeline for recording such 

8 losses. 

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

10 later than 1 year after the issuance of the directive 

11 required under subsection (a), the Under Secretary 

12 for Management shall review and update, as nec13 essary, such directive, including adding a require14 ment relating to recording in the inventory systems 

15 maintained by each component of the Department 

16 the acceptance or transfer of a firearm or other sen17 sitive asset by such component. 

18 (b) PERSONAL PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT

19 PROGRAM MANUAL.—Together with the issuance of the 

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

21 for Management shall disseminate a revised version of the 

22 Personal Property Asset Management Program Manual 

23 that includes the following: 


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1 (1) Requirements for component heads to de2 velop procedures to safeguard firearms and other 

3 sensitive assets during on and off-duty time. 

4 (2) Requirements for the issuance of safety 

5 locking devices and policies on the use of such as6 sets, as applicable. 

7 (3) Requirements for initial, recurrent, and re8 medial training on safeguarding such assets. 

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

10 record lost sensitive assets across components of the 

11 Department, and an enforcement mechanism to en12 sure supervisors maintain such records. 

13 (5) A requirement that the file maintained on 

14 a lost firearm or other sensitive asset contains both 

15 the corresponding police report and the Department 

16 report detailing the circumstances surrounding such 

17 loss, including information on adherence to safe18 guarding procedures. 

19 SEC. 5. COMPONENT RESPONSIBILITIES. 

20 Department component heads shall— 

21 (1) comply with Federal law, Federal regula22 tions, executive branch guidance, and Department 

23 policy, including directives required by this Act, re24 lating to the management and oversight of securing 

25 firearms and other sensitive assets; 


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

2 badges; 

3 (3) require component personnel to safeguard 

4 firearms and other sensitive assets in accordance 

5 with the directive issued by the Under Secretary for 

6 Management under section 4; 

7 (4) require that component personnel adhere to 

8 the procedures and timelines for properly reporting 

9 to supervisors lost firearms and other sensitive as10 sets; 

11 (5) require that lost firearms and other sen12 sitive assets are reported to local law enforcement, 

13 the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National 

14 Crime Information Center, and Department head15 quarters in the timeframe established in such direc16 tive; and 

17 (6) require that lost firearms and other sen18 sitive assets are recorded in inventory systems in the 

19 timeframe established by such directive. 

20 SEC. 6. INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW. 

21 The Inspector General of the Department of Home22 land Security shall, on an ongoing basis, review implemen23 tation of this Act and, not later than 180 days after 

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

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1 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a review of the 

3 progress and effectiveness of such directive, including an 

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

5 the level of compliance among the components of the De6 partment to achieve adequate security of sensitive assets 

7 across Department components. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 14, 2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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