II 

Calendar No. 406 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1873 

[Report No. 114–234] 

To strengthen accountability for deployment of border security technology 

at the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2015 

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

APRIL 4, 2016 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

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 2015’’. 


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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.—Each border se9 curity technology acquisition program of the Department 

10 with a significant lifecycle cost estimate shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) have written documentation demonstrating 

12 that each such program has an acquisition program 

13 baseline approved by the relevant acquisition deci14 sion authority; and 

15 ‘‘(2) demonstrate that each such program is 

16 meeting agreed-upon cost, schedule, and perform17 ance thresholds, in compliance with the Federal Ac18 quisition Regulation. 

19 ‘‘(b) ADHERENCE TO STANDARDS.—The Under Sec20 retary for Management, in coordination with the Commis21 sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall en22 sure border security technology acquisition program man23 agers who are responsible for carrying out this section ad24 here to relevant internal control standards identified by 

25 the Comptroller General of the United States. The Com26 missioner shall provide information, as needed, to assist 


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1 the Under Secretary in monitoring proper program man2 agement of border security technology acquisition pro3 grams under this section. 

4 ‘‘(c) PLAN.—The Under Secretary for Management, 

5 in coordination with the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

6 and Border Protection, shall submit to the appropriate 

7 congressional committees a plan for testing and evalua8 tion, as well as the use of independent verification and 

9 validation resources, for border security technology so that 

10 new border security technologies are evaluated through a 

11 series of assessments, processes, and audits to ensure the 

12 effectiveness of taxpayer dollars.’’. 

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

14 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by in15 serting after the item relating to section 433 the following 

16 new item: 

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

17 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF 

18 APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 No additional funds are authorized to be appro20 priated to carry out this Act and the amendments made 

21 by this Act. This Act and such amendments shall be car22 ried out using amounts otherwise available for such pur23 poses. 


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•S 1873 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Security Tech3 nology Accountability Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY ACCOUNTABILITY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title IV of the Home6 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 434. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM 

9 MANAGEMENT. 

10 ‘‘(a) PLANNING DOCUMENTATION.—For each border se11 curity technology acquisition program of the Department 

12 that is determined to be a major acquisition program, the 

13 Secretary shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) ensure that each such program has a writ15 ten acquisition program baseline approved by the rel16 evant acquisition decision authority; 

17 ‘‘(2) document that each such program is meet18 ing cost, schedule, and performance thresholds as spec19 ified in such baseline, in compliance with relevant de20 partmental acquisition policies and the Federal Ac21 quisition Regulation; and 

22 ‘‘(3) have a plan for meeting program implemen23 tation objectives by managing contractor performance. 

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

25 acting through the Under Secretary for Management and 

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


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1 shall ensure border security technology acquisition program 

2 managers who are responsible for carrying out this section 

3 adhere to relevant internal control standards identified by 

4 the Comptroller General of the United States. The Commis5 sioner shall provide information, as needed, to assist the 

6 Under Secretary in monitoring proper program manage7 ment of border security technology acquisition programs 

8 under this section. 

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

10 Secretary for Management, in coordination with the Under 

11 Secretary for Science and Technology and the Commis12 sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall submit 

13 to the appropriate congressional committees a plan for test14 ing and evaluation, as well as the use of independent 

15 verification and validation resources, for border security 

16 technology so that new border security technologies are eval17 uated through a series of assessments, processes, and audits 

18 to ensure compliance with relevant departmental acquisi19 tion policies and the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as 

20 well as the effectiveness of taxpayer 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 the 

24 Secretary to require an eventual total expenditure of at 


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1 least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2015 constant dol2 lars) over its life cycle cost.’’. 

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

4 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting 

5 after the item relating to section 433 the following new item: 

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

6 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF 

7 APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 

9 to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this 

10 Act. This Act and such amendments shall be carried out 

11 using amounts otherwise available for such purposes. 


sradovich on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with BILLS

sradovich on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 406 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1873 

[Report No. 114–234] 

A BILL 

To strengthen accountability for deployment of borHomeland Security, and for other purposes. der security technology at the Department of 

APRIL 4, 2016 

Reported with an amendment 


sradovich on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with BILLS