IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1299 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2012 

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

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To achieve operational control of and improve security at 

the international land borders of 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 ‘‘Secure Border Act of 

3 2012’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE OPERATIONAL CONTROL 

5 OF THE BORDER. 

6 (a) STRATEGY TO SECURE THE BORDER BETWEEN

7 THE PORTS OF ENTRY.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security shall submit to the appropriate con10 gressional committees a comprehensive strategy for gain11 ing, within five years, operational control of the inter12 national borders between the ports of entry of the United 

13 States. The strategy shall include an analysis of the fol14 lowing: 

15 (1) Staffing requirements for all border security 

16 functions. 

17 (2) Investment in infrastructure, including pe18 destrian fencing, vehicle barriers, and roads. 

19 (3) The use of unmanned aerial vehicles, cam20 era technology, sensors, and other innovative tech21 nology as the Secretary may determine. 

22 (4) Cooperative agreements with international, 

23 State, local, tribal, and other Federal law enforce24 ment agencies that have jurisdiction on the northern 

25 border and southern border. 


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1 (5) Other means designed to detect, respond to, 

2 and interdict unlawful cross-border activity and to 

3 reduce the level of violence. 

4 (6) A schedule for implementing security meas5 ures, including a prioritization for future invest6 ments. 

7 (7) A comprehensive technology plan for major 

8 surveillance and detection technology programs, in9 cluding a justification and rationale for technology 

10 choices and deployment locations. 

11 (8) The recommendations made in the Decem12 ber 2010 Government Accountability Office report 

13 entitled ‘‘Enhanced DHS Oversight and Assessment 

14 of Interagency Coordination is Needed for the 

15 Northern Border’’. 

16 (b) SECURING THE BORDER AT PORTS OF ENTRY.— 

17 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall de19 velop metrics to measure the effectiveness of security at 

20 ports of entry, which shall consider, at minimum, the fol21 lowing: 

22 (1) The number of infractions related to per23 sonnel and cargo committed by major violators who 

24 are apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Pro25 tection at such ports of entry. 


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1 (2) The estimated number of such infractions 

2 committed by major violators who are not so appre3 hended. 

4 (3) The required number of U.S. Customs and 

5 Border Protection Officers, Agricultural Specialists, 

6 and Canine Enforcement Officers necessary to 

7 achieve operational control at such ports of entry. 

8 (4) Infrastructure improvements required to 

9 achieve operational control at such ports of entry, 

10 including the installation of nonintrusive detection 

11 equipment, radiation portal monitors, biometrics, 

12 and other sensors and technology that the Secretary 

13 determines necessary. 

14 (5) The deployment of resources based on the 

15 overall commercial and passenger traffic, cargo vol16 ume, and threat environment at such ports of entry. 

17 (6) The recommendations made in the Decem18 ber 2010 Government Accountability Office report 

19 entitled ‘‘Enhanced DHS Oversight and Assessment 

20 of Interagency Coordination is Needed for the 

21 Northern Border’’. 

22 (c) EVALUATION BY DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NA23 TIONAL LABORATORY.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu24 rity shall request the head of an appropriate Department 

25 of Energy National Laboratory with prior expertise in borVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:34 Jun 05, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1299.RFS H1299

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1 der security to evaluate the measurement system required 

2 under subsection (b) to ensure its suitability and statis3 tical validity for analyzing progress for the interdiction of 

4 illegal crossing and contraband at ports of entry. 

5 (d) CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVE BORDER SE6 CURITY STANDARDS.—If in developing the strategic plan 

7 required under subsection (a) the Secretary of Homeland 

8 Security makes a determination to measure security be9 tween border ports of entry by a standard other than oper10 ational control, the Secretary shall request the head of an 

11 appropriate Department of Energy National Laboratory 

12 with prior expertise in border security to evaluate such al13 ternative standard to ensure the suitability and statistical 

14 validity of such standard with respect to measuring the 

15 progress for the interdiction of illegal crossings and con16 traband that pass between such ports of entry. 

17 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the 

19 Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit the appro20 priate congressional committee a report on the following: 

21 (1) A resource allocation model for current and 

22 future year staffing requirements that includes opti23 mal staffing levels at all land, air, and sea ports of 

24 entry and an explanation of U.S. Customs and Bor25 der Protection methodology for aligning staffing levVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:34 Jun 05, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1299.RFS H1299

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1 els and workload to threats and vulnerabilities 

2 across all mission areas. 

3 (2) Detailed information on the level of man4 power data available at all land, air, and sea ports 

5 of entry, including the number of canine and agri6 cultural officers assigned to each such port of entry. 

7 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM9 MITTEE.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittee’’ means the Committee on Homeland Security 

11 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

12 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of 

13 the Senate. 

14 (2) MAJOR VIOLATOR.—The term ‘‘major viola15 tor’’ means a person or entity that is or has engaged 

16 in serious criminal activities at any land, air, or sea 

17 port of entry, including possession of narcotics, 

18 smuggling of prohibited products, human smuggling, 

19 weapons possession, use of fraudulent United States 

20 documents, and other offenses serious enough to re21 sult in arrest. 

22 (3) OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—The term ‘‘oper23 ational control’’ has the meaning given such term in 


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1 section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 

2 U.S.C. 1701 note; Public Law 109–367). 

Passed the House of Representatives May 30, 2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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