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Union Calendar No. 184 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1299 

[Report No. 112–274] 

To achieve operational control of and improve security at the international 

land borders of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mrs. MILLER of Michigan (for herself, Mr. KING of New York, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. WALBERG, 

Mr. QUAYLE, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. LONG, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. 

WALSH of Illinois, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. CANSECO, Mr. DANIEL E. 

LUNGREN of California, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, and Mrs. MCMORRIS

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

NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

Additional sponsors: Mr. GOHMERT, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. OLSON, Mr. FORBES, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, 

Mr. BARLETTA, Mr. YOUNG of Indiana, Mr. KLINE, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. 

BRADY of Texas, Mr. HUNTER, and Mr. GOSAR

NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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A BILL 

To achieve operational control of and improve security at 

the international land borders of the United States, and 

for other purposes. 

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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 ‘‘Secure Border Act of 

5 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE OPERATIONAL CONTROL 

7 OF THE BORDER. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The border shared by the United States and 

10 Mexico, and numerous Mexican towns in close prox11 imity to that border, have experienced a dramatic 

12 surge in crime and violence to ongoing activity 

13 among rival Mexican drug cartels and criminal 

14 smuggling organizations that employ predatory tac15 tics to realize their profits. 

16 (2) In August 2005, the States of New Mexico 

17 and Arizona declared states of emergency in order to 

18 provide local law enforcement immediate assistance 

19 in addressing criminal activity along the Southwest 

20 border. 

21 (3) A recent Government Accountability Office 

22 report found that only 44 percent of the Southwest 

23 border was under operational control, and less than 

24 two percent of the Northern border is under oper25 ational control. 

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1 (4) It is the obligation of the Federal Govern2 ment to adequately secure the borders of the United 

3 States and prevent the flow into the United States 

4 of undocumented persons, unlawful drugs, and other 

5 contraband. 

6 (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home8 land Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

9 Security of the House of Representatives and the Com10 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

11 Committee of the Senate a comprehensive strategy for 

12 gaining operational control of the international borders of 

13 the United States within five years. The strategy shall in14 clude an analysis of the following: 

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, and sensors. 

21 (4) Cooperation agreements with international, 

22 State, local, tribal, and other Federal law enforce23 ment agencies that have jurisdiction on the border. 

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

2 and interdict cross-border unlawful 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) Considerations of risks to border commu8 nities and law enforcement. 

9 (c) OPERATIONAL CONTROL DEFINED.—In this Act, 

10 the term ‘‘operational control’’ has the meaning given such 

11 term in section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 

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

13 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure Border Act of 

15 2011’’. 

16 SEC. 2. STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE OPERATIONAL CONTROL OF 

17 THE BORDER. 

18 (a) STRATEGY TO SECURE THE BORDER BETWEEN

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

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

21 Security shall submit to the appropriate congressional com22 mittees a comprehensive strategy for gaining, within five 

23 years, operational control of the international borders be24 tween the ports of entry of the United States. The strategy 

25 shall include an analysis of the following: 

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1 (1) Staffing requirements for all border security 

2 functions. 

3 (2) Investment in infrastructure, including pe4 destrian fencing, vehicle barriers, and roads. 

5 (3) The use of unmanned aerial vehicles, camera 

6 technology, sensors, and other innovative technology 

7 as the Secretary may determine. 

8 (4) Cooperative agreements with international, 

9 State, local, tribal, and other Federal law enforcement 

10 agencies that have jurisdiction on the northern border 

11 and southern border. 

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

13 and interdict unlawful cross-border activity and to 

14 reduce the level of violence. 

15 (6) A schedule for implementing security meas16 ures, including a prioritization for future invest17 ments. 

18 (7) A comprehensive technology plan for major 

19 surveillance and detection technology programs, in20 cluding a justification and rationale for technology 

21 choices and deployment locations. 

22 (8) The recommendations made in the December 

23 2010 Government Accountability Office report enti24 tled ‘‘Enhanced DHS Oversight and Assessment of 

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1 Interagency Coordination is Needed for the Northern 

2 Border’’. 

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

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

5 this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall develop 

6 metrics to measure the effectiveness of security at ports of 

7 entry, which shall consider, at minimum, the following: 

8 (1) The number of infractions related to per9 sonnel and cargo committed by major violators who 

10 are apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protec11 tion at such ports of entry. 

12 (2) The estimated number of such infractions 

13 committed by major violators who are not so appre14 hended. 

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

16 Border Protection Officers, Agricultural Specialists, 

17 and Canine Enforcement Officers necessary to achieve 

18 operational control at such ports of entry. 

19 (4) Infrastructure improvements required to 

20 achieve operational control at such ports of entry, in21 cluding the installation of nonintrusive detection 

22 equipment, radiation portal monitors, biometrics, and 

23 other sensors and technology that the Secretary deter24 mines necessary. 

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1 (5) The deployment of resources based on the 

2 overall commercial and passenger traffic, cargo vol3 ume, and threat environment at such ports of entry. 

4 (6) The recommendations made in the December 

5 2010 Government Accountability Office report enti6 tled ‘‘Enhanced DHS Oversight and Assessment of 

7 Interagency Coordination is Needed for the Northern 

8 Border’’. 

9 (c) EVALUATION BY DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NA10 TIONAL LABORATORY.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu11 rity shall request the head of an appropriate Department 

12 of Energy National Laboratory with prior expertise in bor13 der security to evaluate the measurement system required 

14 under subsection (b) to ensure its suitability and statistical 

15 validity for analyzing progress for the interdiction of illegal 

16 crossing and contraband at ports of entry. 

17 (d) CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVE BORDER SECU18 RITY STANDARDS.—If in developing the strategic plan re19 quired under subsection (a) the Secretary of Homeland Se20 curity makes a determination to measure security between 

21 border ports of entry by a standard other than operational 

22 control, the Secretary shall request the head of an appro23 priate Department of Energy National Laboratory with 

24 prior expertise in border security to evaluate such alter25 native standard to ensure the suitability and statistical vamstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 lidity of such standard with respect to measuring the 

2 progress for the interdiction of illegal crossings and contra3 band that pass between such ports of entry. 

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

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

6 Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit the appro7 priate congressional committee a report on the following: 

8 (1) A resource allocation model for current and 

9 future year staffing requirements that includes opti10 mal staffing levels at all land, air, and sea ports of 

11 entry and an explanation of U.S. Customs and Bor12 der Protection methodology for aligning staffing levels 

13 and workload to threats and vulnerabilities across all 

14 mission areas. 

15 (2) Detailed information on the level of man16 power data available at all land, air, and sea ports 

17 of entry, including the number of canine and agricul18 tural officers assigned to each such port of entry. 

19 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

20 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM21 MITTEE.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com22 mittee’’ means the Committee on Homeland Security 

23 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

24 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

25 Senate. 

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1 (2) MAJOR VIOLATOR.—The term ‘‘major viola2 tor’’ means a person or entity that is or has engaged 

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

4 port of entry, including possession of narcotics, smug5 gling of prohibited products, human smuggling, weap6 ons possession, use of fraudulent United States docu7 ments, and other offenses serious enough to result in 

8 arrest. 

9 (3) OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—The term ‘‘oper10 ational control’’ has the meaning given such term in 

11 section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 U.S.C. 

12 1701 note; Public Law 109–367). 

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Union Calendar No. 184 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1299 

[Report No. 112–274] 

A BILL 

To achieve operational control of and improve secuUnited States, and for other purposes. rity at the international land borders of the 

NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS