II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1873 

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 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY ACCOUNT7 ABILITY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title IV of the 

9 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 434. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM 

2 MANAGEMENT. 

3 ‘‘(a) PLANNING DOCUMENTATION.—Each border se4 curity technology acquisition program of the Department 

5 with a significant lifecycle cost estimate shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) have written documentation demonstrating 

7 that each such program has an acquisition program 

8 baseline approved by the relevant acquisition deci9 sion authority; and 

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

11 meeting agreed-upon cost, schedule, and perform12 ance thresholds, in compliance with the Federal Ac13 quisition Regulation. 

14 ‘‘(b) ADHERENCE TO STANDARDS.—The Under Sec15 retary for Management, in coordination with the Commis16 sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall en17 sure border security technology acquisition program man18 agers who are responsible for carrying out this section ad19 here to relevant internal control standards identified by 

20 the Comptroller General of the United States. The Com21 missioner shall provide information, as needed, to assist 

22 the Under Secretary in monitoring proper program man23 agement of border security technology acquisition pro24 grams under this section. 

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

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


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1 and Border Protection, shall submit to the appropriate 

2 congressional committees a plan for testing and evalua3 tion, as well as the use of independent verification and 

4 validation resources, for border security technology so that 

5 new border security technologies are evaluated through a 

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

7 effectiveness of taxpayer dollars.’’. 

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

9 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by in10 serting after the item relating to section 433 the following 

11 new item: 

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

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF 

13 APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 No additional funds are authorized to be appro15 priated to carry out this Act and the amendments made 

16 by this Act. This Act and such amendments shall be car17 ried out using amounts otherwise available for such pur18 poses. 

Æ 


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