I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 615 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Under Secretary 

for Management of the Department of Homeland Security to take administrative action to achieve and maintain interoperable communications 

capabilities among the components of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2015 

Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 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 require 

the Under Secretary for Management of the Department 

of Homeland Security to take administrative action to 

achieve and maintain interoperable communications capabilities among the components of 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home3 land Security Interoperable Communications Act’’ or the 

4 ‘‘DHS Interoperable Communications Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS 

6 CAPABILITIES IN RESPONSIBILITIES OF 

7 UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT. 

8 Section 701 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

9 (6 U.S.C. 341) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (4) of subsection (a), by in11 serting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 

12 including policies and directives to achieve and main13 tain interoperable communications among the com14 ponents of the Department’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub16 section: 

17 ‘‘(d) INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS DE18 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘interoperable commu19 nications’ means the ability of components of the Depart20 ment to communicate with each other as necessary, uti21 lizing information technology systems and radio commu22 nications systems to exchange voice, data, and video in 

23 real time, as necessary, for acts of terrorism, daily oper24 ations, planned events, and emergencies.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. STRATEGY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 

4 for Management of the Department of Homeland Security 

5 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of 

6 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

7 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen8 ate a strategy, which shall be updated as necessary, for 

9 achieving and maintaining interoperable communications 

10 (as such term is defined in subsection (d) of section 701 

11 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by section 

12 2 of this Act) among the components of the Department 

13 of Homeland Security, including for daily operations, 

14 planned events, and emergencies, with corresponding mile15 stones, that includes, at a minimum the following: 

16 (1) An assessment of interoperability gaps in 

17 radio communications among the components of the 

18 Department, as of the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act. 

20 (2) Information on efforts and activities, includ21 ing current and planned policies, directives, and 

22 training, of the Department since November 1, 

23 2012, to achieve and maintain interoperable commu24 nications among the components of the Department, 

25 and planned efforts and activities of the Department 


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1 to achieve and maintain such interoperable commu2 nications. 

3 (3) An assessment of obstacles and challenges 

4 to achieving and maintaining interoperable commu5 nications among the components of the Department. 

6 (4) Information on, and an assessment of, the 

7 adequacy of mechanisms available to the Under Sec8 retary for Management to enforce and compel com9 pliance with interoperable communications policies 

10 and directives of the Department. 

11 (5) Guidance provided to the components of the 

12 Department to implement interoperable communica13 tions policies and directives of the Department. 

14 (6) The total amount of funds expended by the 

15 Department since November 1, 2012, and projected 

16 future expenditures, to achieve interoperable commu17 nications, including on equipment, infrastructure, 

18 and maintenance. 

19 (7) Dates upon which Department-wide inter20 operability is projected to be achieved for voice, 

21 data, and video communications, respectively, and 

22 interim milestones that correspond to the achieve23 ment of each such mode of communication. 

24 (b) SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL.—Together with the 

25 strategy required under subsection (a), the Under SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:31 Jan 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H615.IH H615

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1 retary for Management shall submit to the Committee on 

2 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

3 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

4 Affairs of the Senate information on any intra-agency ef5 fort or task force that has been delegated certain respon6 sibilities by the Under Secretary relating to achieving and 

7 maintaining interoperable communications among the 

8 components of the Department by the dates referred to 

9 in paragraph (9) of subsection (a), and on who, within 

10 each such component, is responsible for implementing poli11 cies and directives issued by the Under Secretary to so 

12 achieve and maintain such interoperable communications. 

13 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

14 Not later than 220 days after the date of the enact15 ment of this Act and biannually thereafter, the Under Sec16 retary for Management shall submit to the Committee on 

17 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

18 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

19 Affairs of the Senate a report on the status of efforts, 

20 since the issuance of the strategy required under section 

21 3, to implement such strategy, including the following: 

22 (1) Progress on each interim milestone referred 

23 to in paragraph (9) of subsection (a) toward achiev24 ing and maintaining interoperable communications 

25 among the components of the Department. 


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1 (2) Information on any policies, directives, 

2 guidance, and training established by the Under Sec3 retary. 

4 (3) An assessment of the level of compliance, 

5 adoption, and participation among the components 

6 of the Department with the policies, directives, guid7 ance, and training established by the Under Sec8 retary to achieve and maintain interoperable commu9 nications among such components. 

10 (4) Information on any additional resources or 

11 authorities needed by the Under Secretary. 

Æ 


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