IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2131 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2017 

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

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct 

the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department 

of Homeland Security to improve consistency regarding 

discipline and adverse actions in the Department’s workforce, 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, 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 2131 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fixing Internal Re3 sponse to Misconduct Act’’ or the ‘‘DHS FIRM Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DHS POLICY ON DISCIPLINE AND ADVERSE AC5 TIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 704 of the Homeland Se7 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 344) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (B) in paragraph (10), by striking the pe12 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(11) implement a Department-wide policy re16 lated to discipline and adverse actions described in 

17 subsection (e).’’; 

18 (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub19 section (f); and 

20 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol21 lowing new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(e) POLICY ON DISCIPLINE AND ADVERSE AC23 TIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

26 the Chief Human Capital Officer, in accordance with 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 2131 RFS

1 any established Department-wide policy that deals 

2 with discipline and adverse actions, shall provide— 

3 ‘‘(A) guidance to the senior human re4 sources official overseeing discipline and adverse 

5 actions for headquarters personnel and non6 component entities, as identified by the Chief 

7 Human Capital Officer, and relevant component 

8 heads regarding informing the public about how 

9 to report employee misconduct; 

10 ‘‘(B) guidance on how Department employ11 ees should report employee misconduct; 

12 ‘‘(C) guidance on the type, quantity, and 

13 frequency of data regarding discipline and ad14 verse actions to be submitted to the Chief 

15 Human Capital Officer by the senior human re16 sources official overseeing discipline and adverse 

17 actions for headquarters personnel and non18 component entities, as identified by the Chief 

19 Human Capital Officer and component heads 

20 for the purposes of paragraph (3)(C); 

21 ‘‘(D) guidance on how to implement any 

22 such Department-wide policy in a manner that 

23 promotes greater uniformity and transparency 

24 in the administration of such policy across the 

25 Department; and 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 2131 RFS

1 ‘‘(E) guidance and appropriate training on 

2 prohibited personnel practices, employee rights, 

3 and procedures and processes related to such. 

4 ‘‘(2) TABLE OF OFFENSES AND PENALTIES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) PRE-EXISTING TABLES.—If a table of 

6 offenses and penalties exists for a component of 

7 the Department as of the date of the enactment 

8 of this subsection, the Chief Human Capital Of9 ficer shall review and, if appropriate, approve 

10 such table and any changes to such table made 

11 after such date of enactment. In cases in which 

12 such tables do not comply with Department pol13 icy, the Chief Human Capital Officer shall in14 struct component heads on corrective measures 

15 to be taken in order to achieve such compliance. 

16 ‘‘(B) NEW COMPONENT TABLES.—If a 

17 table of offenses and penalties does not exist for 

18 a component of the Department as of the date 

19 of enactment of this subsection, a component 

20 head may, in coordination with the Chief 

21 Human Capital Officer, develop a table of of22 fenses and penalties to be used by such compo23 nent. The Chief Human Capital Officer shall 

24 review and, if appropriate, approve such table 

25 and any changes to such table made after such 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 2131 RFS

1 date of enactment. In cases in which such ta2 bles or changes do not comply with Department 

3 policy, the Chief Human Capital Officer shall 

4 instruct the component head on corrective 

5 measures to be taken in order to achieve such 

6 compliance. 

7 ‘‘(3) COMPONENT RESPONSIBILITIES.—Compo8 nent heads shall comply with Department-wide pol9 icy (including guidance relating to such) regarding 

10 discipline and adverse actions for the Department’s 

11 workforce, including— 

12 ‘‘(A) providing any current table of of13 fenses and penalties or future changes to a 

14 component’s table to the Chief Human Capital 

15 Officer for review in accordance with paragraph 

16 (2)(A); 

17 ‘‘(B) providing any new table of offenses 

18 and penalties or future changes to a compo19 nent’s table to the Chief Human Capital Officer 

20 for review in accordance with paragraph (2)(B); 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(C) providing to the Chief Human Capital 

23 Officer any data regarding discipline and ad24 verse actions in accordance with paragraph 

25 (1)(C). 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 2131 RFS

1 ‘‘(4) OVERSIGHT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

3 days after the date of the enactment of this 

4 subsection, the Chief Human Capital Officer 

5 shall implement a process to oversee component 

6 compliance with any established Department7 wide policy regarding discipline and adverse ac8 tions referred to in paragraph (1), including— 

9 ‘‘(i) the degree to which components 

10 are complying with such policy; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) at a minimum, each fiscal year, 

12 a review of component adjudication of mis13 conduct data to— 

14 ‘‘(I) ensure consistent adherence 

15 to such policy and any Department16 wide table of offenses and penalties or 

17 any component-specific table of of18 fenses and penalties approved by the 

19 Chief Human Capital Officer pursu20 ant to paragraph (2); and 

21 ‘‘(II) determine whether em22 ployee training regarding such mis23 conduct policy or adjustment in such 

24 misconduct policy is appropriate. 

25 ‘‘(B) WORKING GROUPS.— 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

HR 2131 RFS

1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Human 

2 Capital Officer may establish working 

3 groups, as necessary, to address employee 

4 misconduct within the Department. If the 

5 Chief Human Capital Officer establishes 

6 such a working group, the Chief Human 

7 Capital Officer shall specify a timeframe 

8 for the completion of such group’s work. 

9 ‘‘(ii) FUNCTION.—A working group 

10 established pursuant to clause (i) shall 

11 seek to identify any trends in misconduct 

12 referred to in such subparagraph, review 

13 component processes for addressing mis14 conduct, and, where appropriate, develop 

15 possible alternate strategies to address 

16 such misconduct. 

17 ‘‘(iii) PARTICIPATION.—If a working 

18 group is established pursuant to clause (i), 

19 the relevant component head shall partici20 pate in such working group and shall con21 sider implementing, as appropriate, any 

22 recommendations issued by such working 

23 group. 

24 ‘‘(iv) FOLLOW-UP REVIEWS.—The 

25 Chief Human Capital Officer shall conduct 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
8 

HR 2131 RFS

1 annual, or on a more frequent basis as de2 termined by the Chief Human Capital Offi3 cer, follow-up reviews of components re4 garding implementation of working group 

5 recommendations. In consultation with the 

6 Chief Human Capital Officer, the Sec7 retary may request the Inspector General 

8 of the Department to investigate any con9 cerns identified through the oversight proc10 ess under this subsection that components 

11 have not addressed.’’. 

12 (b) REVIEW.—Not later than 60 days after the devel13 opment of the oversight process required under subsection 

14 (e) of section 704 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

15 (6 U.S.C. 344) (as added by subsection (a) of this sec16 tion), the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department 

17 of Homeland Security shall provide to the Committee on 

18 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

19 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

20 Affairs of the Senate information on such oversight proc21 ess, including component compliance with any policy re22 garding discipline and adverse actions, data collection ef23 forts, and information on the development of any working 

24 groups under such subsection (e). 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
9 

HR 2131 RFS

1 (c) PROHIBITION ON NEW FUNDING.—No additional 

2 funds are authorized to carry out the requirements of this 

3 Act and the amendments made by this Act. Such require4 ments shall be carried out using amounts otherwise au5 thorized. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 21, 2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS