IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4577 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 10, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To establish a working group to determine ways to develop 

a domestic canine breeding network to produce high 

quality explosives detection canines, 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 ‘‘Domestic Explosives 

3 Detection Canine Capacity Building Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘be7 havioral standards’’ means standards for the evalua8 tion of explosives detection working canines for cer9 tain factors, including canine temperament, work 

10 drive, suitability for training, environmental factors 

11 used in evaluations, and canine familiarity with nat12 ural or man-made surfaces or working conditions 

13 relevant to the canine’s expected work area. 

14 (2) MEDICAL STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘medical 

15 standards’’ means standards for the evaluation of 

16 explosives detection working canines for certain fac17 tors, including canine health, management of hered18 ity health conditions, breeding practices, genetics, 

19 pedigree, and long-term health tracking. 

20 (3) TECHNICAL STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘tech21 nical standards’’ means standards for the evaluation 

22 of explosives detection working canines for certain 

23 factors, including canine search techniques, handler24 canine communication, detection testing conditions 

25 and logistics, and learned explosive odor libraries. 


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1 SEC. 3. DOMESTIC CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home4 land Security, acting through the Administrator of the 

5 Transportation Security Administration, shall establish a 

6 working group to determine ways to develop a decentral7 ized domestic canine breeding network to produce high 

8 quality explosives detection canines and modernize canine 

9 training standards. 

10 (b) WORKING GROUP COMPOSITION.—The working 

11 group established under subsection (a) shall be comprised 

12 of representatives from the following: 

13 (1) The Transportation Security Administra14 tion. 

15 (2) The Science and Technology Directorate of 

16 the Department of Homeland Security. 

17 (3) National domestic canine associations with 

18 expertise in breeding and pedigree. 

19 (4) Universities with expertise related to explo20 sives detection canines and canine breeding. 

21 (5) Domestic canine breeders and vendors. 

22 (c) CHAIRPERSONS.—The Administrator for the 

23 Transportation Security Administration shall approve of 

24 two individuals from among the representatives of the 

25 working group specified in subsection (b) to serve as the 

26 Chairpersons of the working group. One such Chairperson 


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1 shall be from the entities specified in paragraphs (1) and 

2 (2) of such subsection, and the other such Chairperson 

3 shall be from the entities specified in paragraphs (3), (4), 

4 and (5) of such subsection. 

5 (d) PRELIMINARY STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDA6 TIONS.—Not later than 180 days after the establishment 

7 of the working group under subsection (a), such working 

8 group shall submit to the Administrator of the Transpor9 tation Security Administration preliminary behavioral 

10 standards, medical standards, and technical standards for 

11 the domestic canine breeding network and canine training 

12 described in such subsection, including recommendations 

13 on how the Transportation Security Administration can 

14 engage stakeholders to further the development of such 

15 network and training. 

16 (e) STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after sub17 mission of recommendations to the Administrator of the 

18 Transportation Security Administration under subsection 

19 (c), the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on 

20 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

21 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

22 of the Senate a strategy for expanding the domestic canine 

23 breeding network described in subsection (a), based on 

24 such recommendations. 


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1 (f) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strategy re2 quired under subsection (e), the Administrator of the 

3 Transportation Security Administration shall consult with 

4 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the 

5 Department of Homeland Security, the Commissioner for 

6 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Director of the 

7 United States Secret Service, and the heads of other De8 partment of Homeland Security components determined 

9 appropriate by the Administrator to incorporate, to the ex10 tent practicable, mission needs across the Department for 

11 an expanded domestic explosives detection canine breeding 

12 network that can be leveraged to help meet the Depart13 ment’s operational needs. 

14 (g) SUNSET.—The working group established under 

15 subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that is 2 years 

16 after the submission of the strategy required under sub17 section (e). 

18 SEC. 4. ACQUIRING BASELINE CAPACITY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

20 submission of recommendations to the Administrator of 

21 the Transportation Security Administration under section 

22 3, the Administrator shall issue baseline behavioral stand23 ards, medical standards, and technical standards for ex24 plosives detection canines. 


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1 (b) STANDARDS.—The baseline behavioral standards, 

2 medical standards, and technical standards referred to in 

3 subsection (a) shall be incorporated, as appropriate, into 

4 all statements of work for the Transportation Security Ad5 ministration explosives detection canine contracts and re6 flect the detection capabilities required to effectively miti7 gate terrorist threats. Such standards may be revised by 

8 the Administrator of the Transportation Security Admin9 istration, as necessary. 

10 SEC. 5. NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM11 MITTEE ACT. 

12 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

13 shall not apply to the working group established under this 

14 Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 9, 

2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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