I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 505 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to strengthen accountability 

for deployment of border security technology at the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Ms. MCSALLY (for herself, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. HURD, Mr. 

KATKO, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. 

FARENTHOLD, Ms. SINEMA, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mr. RUSSELL, Mr. DONOVAN, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. BIGGS, and Mr. ROGERS of Alabama) introduced 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to strengthen 

accountability for deployment of border security technology at 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 ‘‘Border Security Tech5 nology Accountability Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY ACCOUNT2 ABILITY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title IV of the 

4 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 434. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM 

7 MANAGEMENT. 

8 ‘‘(a) PLANNING DOCUMENTATION.—For each border 

9 security technology acquisition program of the Depart10 ment that is determined to be a major acquisition pro11 gram, the Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) ensure that each such program has a writ13 ten acquisition program baseline approved by the 

14 relevant acquisition decision authority; 

15 ‘‘(2) document that each such program is meet16 ing cost, schedule, and performance thresholds as 

17 specified in such baseline, in compliance with rel18 evant departmental acquisition policies and the Fed19 eral Acquisition Regulation; and 

20 ‘‘(3) have a plan for meeting program imple21 mentation objectives by managing contractor per22 formance. 

23 ‘‘(b) ADHERENCE TO STANDARDS.—The Secretary, 

24 acting through the Under Secretary for Management and 

25 the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 

26 shall ensure border security technology acquisition proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jan 26, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H505.IH H505

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1 gram managers who are responsible for carrying out this 

2 section adhere to relevant internal control standards iden3 tified by the Comptroller General of the United States. 

4 The Commissioner shall provide information, as needed, 

5 to assist the Under Secretary in monitoring proper pro6 gram management of border security technology acquisi7 tion programs under this section. 

8 ‘‘(c) PLAN.—The Secretary, acting through the 

9 Under Secretary for Management, in coordination with 

10 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology and the 

11 Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 

12 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

13 a plan for testing and evaluation, as well as the use of 

14 independent verification and validation resources, for bor15 der security technology so that new border security tech16 nologies are evaluated through a series of assessments, 

17 processes, and audits to ensure compliance with relevant 

18 departmental acquisition policies and the Federal Acquisi19 tion Regulation, as well as the effectiveness of taxpayer 

20 dollars. 

21 ‘‘(d) MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM DEFINED.—In 

22 this section, the term ‘major acquisition program’ means 

23 a Department acquisition program that is estimated by 

24 the Secretary to require an eventual total expenditure of 


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1 at least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 constant 

2 dollars) over its life cycle cost.’’. 

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

4 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by in5 serting after the item relating to section 433 the following 

6 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 434. Border security technology program management.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF 

8 APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 No additional funds are authorized to be appro10 priated to carry out this Act and the amendments made 

11 by this Act. This Act and such amendments shall be car12 ried out using amounts otherwise available for such pur13 poses. 

Æ 


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