114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 998 

AN ACT 

To establish the conditions under which the Secretary of 

Homeland Security may establish preclearance facilities, 

conduct preclearance operations, and provide customs 

services outside the United States, 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 ‘‘Preclearance Author3 ization Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITION. 

5 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means the Committee on Homeland Security and 

7 the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

9 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Finance 

10 of the Senate. 

11 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PRECLEARANCE OPERATIONS. 

12 Pursuant to section 1629 of title 19, United States 

13 Code, and subject to section 5, the Secretary of Homeland 

14 Security may establish U.S. Customs and Border Protec15 tion preclearance operations in a foreign country to— 

16 (1) prevent terrorists, instruments of terrorism, 

17 and other security threats from entering the United 

18 States; 

19 (2) prevent inadmissible persons from entering 

20 the United States; 

21 (3) ensure merchandise destined for the United 

22 States complies with applicable laws; 

23 (4) ensure the prompt processing of persons eli24 gible to travel to the United States; and 
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1 (5) accomplish such other objectives as the Sec2 retary determines necessary to protect the United 

3 States. 

4 SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION TO CONGRESS. 

5 (a) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 180 days before 

6 entering into an agreement with the government of a for7 eign country to establish U.S. Customs and Border Pro8 tection preclearance operations in such foreign country, 

9 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to the 

10 appropriate congressional committees the following: 

11 (1) A copy of the proposed agreement to estab12 lish such preclearance operations, including an iden13 tification of the foreign country with which U.S. 

14 Customs and Border Protection intends to enter into 

15 a preclearance agreement, the location at which such 

16 preclearance operations will be conducted, and the 

17 terms and conditions for U.S. Customs and Border 

18 Protection personnel operating at the location. 

19 (2) An estimate of the date on which U.S. Cus20 toms and Border Protection intends to establish 

21 preclearance operations under such agreement. 

22 (3) The anticipated funding sources for 

23 preclearance operations under such agreement, and 

24 other funding sources considered. 
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1 (4) An assessment of the impact such 

2 preclearance operations will have on legitimate trade 

3 and travel, including potential impacts on passengers 

4 traveling to the United States. 

5 (5) A homeland security threat assessment for 

6 the country in which such preclearance operations 

7 are to be established. 

8 (6) An assessment of the impacts such 

9 preclearance operations will have on U.S. Customs 

10 and Border Protection domestic port of entry staff11 ing. 

12 (7) Information on potential economic, competi13 tive, and job impacts on United States air carriers 

14 associated with establishing such preclearance oper15 ations. 

16 (8) Information on the anticipated homeland se17 curity benefits associated with establishing such 

18 preclearance operations. 

19 (9) Information on potential security 

20 vulnerabilities associated with commencing such 

21 preclearance operations, and mitigation plans to ad22 dress such potential security vulnerabilities. 

23 (10) A U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

24 staffing model for such preclearance operations, and 

25 plans for how such positions would be filled. 
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1 (11) Information on the anticipated costs over 

2 the next 5 fiscal years associated with commencing 

3 such preclearance operations. 

4 (12) A copy of the agreement referred to in 

5 subsection (a) of section 5. 

6 (13) Other factors that the Secretary of Home7 land Security determines to be necessary for Con8 gress to comprehensively assess the appropriateness 

9 of commencing such preclearance operations. 

10 (b) CERTIFICATIONS RELATING TO PRECLEARANCE

11 OPERATIONS ESTABLISHED AT AIRPORTS.—In the case of 

12 an airport, in addition to the notification requirements 

13 under subsection (a), not later than 90 days before enter14 ing into an agreement with the government of a foreign 

15 country to establish U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

16 preclearance operations at an airport in such foreign coun17 try, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to 

18 the appropriate congressional committees the following: 

19 (1) A certification that preclearance operations 

20 under such preclearance agreement would provide 

21 homeland security benefits to the United States. 

22 (2) A certification that preclearance operations 

23 within such foreign country will be established under 

24 such agreement only if— 
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1 (A) at least one United States passenger 

2 carrier operates at such airport; and 

3 (B) the access of all United States pas4 senger carriers to such preclearance operations 

5 is the same as the access of any non-United 

6 States passenger carrier. 

7 (3) A certification that the Secretary of Home8 land Security has considered alternative options to 

9 preclearance operations and has determined that 

10 such options are not the most effective means of 

11 achieving the objectives specified in section 3. 

12 (4) A certification that the establishment of 

13 preclearance operations in such foreign country will 

14 not significantly increase customs processing times 

15 at United States airports. 

16 (5) An explanation of other objectives that will 

17 be served by the establishment of preclearance oper18 ations in such foreign country. 

19 (6) A certification that representatives from 

20 U.S. Customs and Border Protection consulted pub21 lically with interested parties, including providers of 

22 commercial air service in the United States, employ23 ees of such providers, security experts, and such 

24 other parties as the Secretary determines to be ap-
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1 propriate, before entering into such an agreement 

2 with such foreign government. 

3 (7) A report detailing the basis for the certifi4 cations referred to in paragraphs (1) through (6). 

5 (c) MODIFICATION OF EXISTING AGREEMENTS.— 

6 Not later than 30 days before substantially modifying a 

7 preclearance agreement with the government of a foreign 

8 country in effect as of the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to 

10 the appropriate congressional committees a copy of the 

11 proposed agreement, as modified, and the justification for 

12 such modification. 

13 (d) REMEDIATION PLAN.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of U.S. 

15 Customs and Border Protection shall monthly meas16 ure the average customs processing time to enter the 

17 25 United States airports that support the highest 

18 volume of international travel (as determined by 

19 available Federal passenger data) and provide to the 

20 appropriate congressional committees such measure21 ments. 

22 (2) ASSESSMENT.—Based on the measurements 

23 described in paragraph (1), the Commissioner of 

24 U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall quarterly 

25 assess whether the average customs processing time 
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1 referred to in such paragraph significantly exceeds 

2 the average customs processing time to enter the 

3 United States through a preclearance operation. 

4 (3) SUBMISSION.—Based on the assessment 

5 conducted under paragraph (2), if the Commissioner 

6 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection determines 

7 that the average customs processing time referred to 

8 in paragraph (1) significantly exceeds the average 

9 customs processing time to enter the United States 

10 through a preclearance operation described in para11 graph (2), the Commissioner shall, not later than 60 

12 days after making such determination, provide to 

13 the appropriate congressional committees a remedi14 ation plan for reducing such average customs proc15 essing time referred to in paragraph (1). 

16 (4) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 30 days 

17 after submitting the remediation plan referred to in 

18 paragraph (3), the Commissioner of United States 

19 Customs and Border Protection shall implement 

20 those portions of such plan that can be carried out 

21 using existing resources, excluding the transfer of 

22 personnel. 

23 (5) SUSPENSION.—If the Commissioner of U.S. 

24 Customs and Border Protection does not submit the 

25 remediation plan referred to in paragraph (3) within 
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1 60 days in accordance with such paragraph, the 

2 Commissioner may not, until such time as such re3 mediation plan is submitted, conduct any negotia4 tions relating to preclearance operations at an air5 port in any country or commence any such 

6 preclearance operations. 

7 (6) STAKEHOLDER RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

8 remediation plan described in paragraph (3) shall 

9 consider recommendations solicited from relevant 

10 stakeholders. 

11 (e) CLASSIFIED REPORT.—The assessment required 

12 pursuant to subsection (a)(5) and the report required pur13 suant to subsection (b)(7) may be submitted in classified 

14 form if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines 

15 that such is appropriate. 

16 SEC. 5. AVIATION SECURITY SCREENING AT 

17 PRECLEARANCE AIRPORTS. 

18 (a) AVIATION SECURITY STANDARDS AGREEMENT.— 

19 Prior to the commencement of preclearance operations at 

20 an airport in a foreign country under this Act, the Admin21 istrator of the Transportation Security Administration 

22 shall enter into an agreement with the government of such 

23 foreign country that delineates and requires the adoption 

24 of aviation security screening standards that are deter-
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1 mined by the Administrator to be comparable to those of 

2 the United States. 

3 (b) AVIATION SECURITY RESCREENING.—If the Ad4 ministrator of the Transportation Security Administration 

5 determines that the government of a foreign country has 

6 not maintained security standards and protocols com7 parable to those of the United States at airports at which 

8 preclearance operations have been established in accord9 ance with an agreement entered into pursuant to sub10 section (a), the Administrator shall require the rescreening 

11 in the United States by the Transportation Security Ad12 ministration of passengers and their property before such 

13 passengers may deplane into sterile areas of airports in 

14 the United States. 

15 (c) SELECTEES.—Any passenger who is determined 

16 to be a selectee based on a check against a terrorist watch 

17 list and arrives on a flight originating from a foreign air18 port at which preclearance operations have been estab19 lished in accordance with an agreement entered into pur20 suant to subsection (a), shall be required to undergo secu21 rity rescreening by the Transportation Security Adminis22 tration before being permitted to board a domestic flight 

23 in the United States. 
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1 SEC. 6. LOST AND STOLEN PASSPORTS. 

2 The Secretary of Homeland Security may not enter 

3 into or renew an agreement with the government of a for4 eign country to establish or maintain U.S. Customs and 

5 Border Protection preclearance operations at an airport 

6 in such foreign country unless such government certifies— 

7 (1) that it routinely submits information about 

8 lost and stolen passports of its citizens and nationals 

9 to INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Document 

10 database; or 

11 (2) makes available to the United States Gov12 ernment such information through another com13 parable means of reporting. 

14 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 Except for subsection (c) of section 4, this Act shall 

16 apply only to the establishment of preclearance operations 

17 in a foreign country in which no preclearance operations 

18 have been established as of the date of the enactment of 

19 this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 27, 2015. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 998 

AN ACT 

To establish the conditions under which the SecUnited States, and for other purposes. ations, and provide customs services outside the preclearance facilities, conduct preclearance oper- retary of Homeland Security may establish