I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2131 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 25, 2017 

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fixing Internal Re5 sponse to Misconduct Act’’ or the ‘‘DHS FIRM Act’’. 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2131 IH

1 SEC. 2. DHS POLICY ON DISCIPLINE AND ADVERSE AC2 TIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 704 of the Homeland Se4 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 344) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)— 

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

7 the end; 

8 (B) in paragraph (10), by striking the pe9 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(11) implement a Department-wide policy re13 lated to discipline and adverse actions described in 

14 subsection (e).’’; 

15 (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub16 section (f); and 

17 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol18 lowing new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(e) POLICY ON DISCIPLINE AND ADVERSE AC20 TIONS.— 

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

22 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

23 the Chief Human Capital Officer, in accordance with 

24 any established Department-wide policy that deals 

25 with discipline and adverse actions, shall provide— 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2131 IH

1 ‘‘(A) guidance to the senior human re2 sources official overseeing discipline and adverse 

3 actions for headquarters personnel and non4 component entities, as identified by the Chief 

5 Human Capital Officer, and relevant component 

6 heads regarding informing the public about how 

7 to report employee misconduct; 

8 ‘‘(B) guidance on how Department employ9 ees should report employee misconduct; and 

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

11 frequency of data regarding discipline and ad12 verse actions to be submitted to the Chief 

13 Human Capital Officer by the senior human re14 sources official overseeing discipline and adverse 

15 actions for headquarters personnel and non16 component entities, as identified by the Chief 

17 Human Capital Officer and component heads 

18 for the purposes of paragraph (3)(C). 

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

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

21 offenses and penalties exists for a component of 

22 the Department as of the date of the enactment 

23 of this subsection, the Chief Human Capital Of24 ficer shall review and, if appropriate, approve 

25 such table and any changes to such table made 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2131 IH

1 after such date of enactment. In cases in which 

2 such tables do not comply with Department pol3 icy, the Chief Human Capital Officer shall in4 struct component heads on corrective measures 

5 to be taken in order to achieve such compliance. 

6 ‘‘(B) NEW COMPONENT TABLES.—If a 

7 table of offenses and penalties does not exist for 

8 a component of the Department as of the date 

9 of enactment of this subsection, a component 

10 head may, in coordination with the Chief 

11 Human Capital Officer, develop a table of of12 fenses and penalties to be used by such compo13 nent. The Chief Human Capital Officer shall 

14 review and, if appropriate, approve such table 

15 and any changes to such table made after such 

16 date of enactment. In cases in which such ta17 bles or changes do not comply with Department 

18 policy, the Chief Human Capital Officer shall 

19 instruct the component head on corrective 

20 measures to be taken in order to achieve such 

21 compliance. 

22 ‘‘(3) COMPONENT RESPONSIBILITIES.—Compo23 nent heads shall comply with Department-wide pol24 icy (including guidance relating to such) regarding 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2131 IH

1 discipline and adverse actions for the Department’s 

2 workforce, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) providing any current table of of4 fenses and penalties or future changes to a 

5 component’s table to the Chief Human Capital 

6 Officer for review in accordance with paragraph 

7 (2)(A); 

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

9 and penalties or future changes to a compo10 nent’s table to the Chief Human Capital Officer 

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

12 and 

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

14 Officer any data regarding discipline and ad15 verse actions in accordance with paragraph 

16 (1)(C). 

17 ‘‘(4) OVERSIGHT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

19 days after the date of the enactment of this 

20 subsection, the Chief Human Capital Officer 

21 shall implement a process to oversee component 

22 compliance with any established Department23 wide policy regarding discipline and adverse ac24 tions referred to in paragraph (1), including— 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2131 IH

1 ‘‘(i) the degree to which components 

2 are complying with such policy; and 

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

4 a review of component adjudication of mis5 conduct data to— 

6 ‘‘(I) ensure consistent adherence 

7 to such policy and any Department8 wide table of offenses and penalties or 

9 any component-specific table of of10 fenses and penalties approved by the 

11 Chief Human Capital Officer pursu12 ant to paragraph (2); and 

13 ‘‘(II) determine whether em14 ployee training regarding such mis15 conduct policy or adjustment in such 

16 misconduct policy is necessary. 

17 ‘‘(B) WORKING GROUPS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Human 

19 Capital Officer may establish working 

20 groups, as necessary, to improve employee 

21 relations within the Department. If the 

22 Chief Human Capital Officer establishes 

23 such a working group, the Chief Human 

24 Capital Officer shall specify a timeframe 

25 for the completion of such group’s work. 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2131 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) FUNCTION.—A working group 

2 established pursuant to clause (i) shall 

3 identify the causes in persistent mis4 conduct referred to in such subparagraph, 

5 review component processes for addressing 

6 misconduct, and develop alternate strate7 gies to address such misconduct. 

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

9 group is established pursuant to clause (i), 

10 the relevant component head shall partici11 pate in such working group and implement 

12 any recommendations issued by such work13 ing group. 

14 ‘‘(iv) FOLLOW-UP REVIEWS.—The 

15 Chief Human Capital Officer shall conduct 

16 annual, or on a more frequent basis as de17 termined by the Chief Human Capital Offi18 cer, follow-up reviews of components with 

19 respect to which misconduct has been iden20 tified under this paragraph. In consulta21 tion with the Chief Human Capital Officer, 

22 the Secretary may request the Inspector 

23 General of the Department to investigate 

24 any concerns identified through the overVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Apr 26, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2131.IH H2131

asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2131 IH

1 sight process under this subsection that 

2 components have not addressed. 

3 ‘‘(5) INSPECTOR GENERAL FUNCTIONS.—The 

4 Inspector General of the Department may, as the 

5 Inspector General determines appropriate, issue 

6 management alerts regarding misconduct to the Sec7 retary. 

8 ‘‘(6) MISCONDUCT DEFINED.—In this sub9 section, the term ‘misconduct’ means the failure of 

10 a Department employee to comply with a perform11 ance plan, rule, regulation, or law within the scope 

12 of such employee’s duties, responsibilities, or func13 tions.’’. 

14 (b) REVIEW.—Not later than 30 days after the devel15 opment of the oversight process required under subsection 

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

17 (6 U.S.C. 344) (as added by subsection (a) of this sec18 tion), the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department 

19 of Homeland Security shall provide to the Committee on 

20 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

21 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

22 Affairs of the Senate information on such oversight proc23 ess, including component compliance with any policy re24 garding discipline and adverse actions, data collection efVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Apr 26, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2131.IH H2131

asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2131 IH

1 forts, and information on the development of any working 

2 groups under such subsection (e). 

3 (c) PROHIBITION ON NEW FUNDING.—No funds are 

4 authorized to carry out this section and the amendments 

5 made by this section. This section and such amendments 

6 shall be carried out using amounts otherwise made avail7 able. 

Æ 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS