II 

Calendar No. 95 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 615 

[Report No. 114–53] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 

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

Governmental Affairs 

MAY 21, 2015 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

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

AN ACT 

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 01:15 May 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H615.RS 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. 

12 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

13 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home14 land Security Interoperable Communications Act’’ or the 

15 ‘‘DHS Interoperable Communications Act’’. 

16 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act— 

18 (1) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart19 ment of Homeland Security; 

20 (2) the term ‘‘interoperable communications’’ has 

21 the meaning given that term in section 701(d) of the 

22 Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by section 

23 3; and 


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1 (3) the term ‘‘Under Secretary for Management’’ 

2 means the Under Secretary for Management of the 

3 Department of Homeland Security. 

4 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS 

5 CAPABILITIES IN RESPONSIBILITIES OF 

6 UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT. 

7 Section 701 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

8 U.S.C. 341) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)(4), by inserting before the 

10 period at the end the following: ‘‘, including policies 

11 and directives to achieve and maintain interoperable 

12 communications among the components of the Depart13 ment’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(d) INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS DEFINED.— 

16 In this section, the term ‘interoperable communications’ has 

17 the meaning given that term in section 7303(g) of the Intel18 ligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 

19 U.S.C. 194(g)).’’. 

20 SEC. 4. STRATEGY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary for Man23 agement shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu24 rity of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

25 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 


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1 a strategy, which shall be updated as necessary, for achiev2 ing and maintaining interoperable communications among 

3 the components of the Department, including for daily oper4 ations, planned events, and emergencies, with cor5 responding milestones, that includes the following: 

6 (1) An assessment of interoperability gaps in 

7 radio communications among the components of the 

8 Department, as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 (2) Information on efforts and activities, includ10 ing current and planned policies, directives, and 

11 training, of the Department since November 1, 2012 

12 to achieve and maintain interoperable communica13 tions among the components of the Department, and 

14 planned efforts and activities of the Department to 

15 achieve and maintain such interoperable communica16 tions. 

17 (3) An assessment of obstacles and challenges to 

18 achieving and maintaining interoperable communica19 tions among the components of the Department. 

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

21 adequacy of mechanisms available to the Under Sec22 retary for Management to enforce and compel compli23 ance with interoperable communications policies and 

24 directives of the Department. 


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1 (5) Guidance provided to the components of the 

2 Department to implement interoperable communica3 tions policies and directives of the Department. 

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

5 Department since November 1, 2012 and projected fu6 ture expenditures, to achieve interoperable commu7 nications, including on equipment, infrastructure, 

8 and maintenance. 

9 (7) Dates upon which Department-wide inter10 operability is projected to be achieved for voice, data, 

11 and video communications, respectively, and interim 

12 milestones that correspond to the achievement of each 

13 such mode of communication. 

14 (b) SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL.—Together with the 

15 strategy required under subsection (a), the Under Secretary 

16 for Management shall submit to the Committee on Home17 land Security of the House of Representatives and the Com18 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of 

19 the Senate information on— 

20 (1) any intra-agency effort or task force that has 

21 been delegated certain responsibilities by the Under 

22 Secretary for Management relating to achieving and 

23 maintaining interoperable communications among 

24 the components of the Department by the dates re25 ferred to in subsection (a)(7); and 


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1 (2) who, within each such component, is respon2 sible for implementing policies and directives issued 

3 by the Under Secretary for Management to so achieve 

4 and maintain such interoperable communications. 

5 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

6 Not later than 100 days after the date on which the 

7 strategy required under section 4(a) is submitted, and every 

8 2 years thereafter for 6 years, the Under Secretary for Man9 agement shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu10 rity of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

11 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 

12 a report on the status of efforts to implement the strategy 

13 required under section 4(a), including the following: 

14 (1) Progress on each interim milestone referred 

15 to in section 4(a)(7) toward achieving and maintain16 ing interoperable communications among the compo17 nents of the Department. 

18 (2) Information on any policies, directives, guid19 ance, and training established by the Under Secretary 

20 for Management. 

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

22 adoption, and participation among the components of 

23 the Department with the policies, directives, guidance, 

24 and training established by the Under Secretary for 


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1 Management to achieve and maintain interoperable 

2 communications among the components. 

3 (4) Information on any additional resources or 

4 authorities needed by the Under Secretary for Man5 agement. 

6 SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY. 

7 Sections 4 and 5 shall only apply with respect to the 

8 interoperable communications capabilities within the De9 partment and components of the Department to commu10 nicate within the Department. 


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Calendar No. 95 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 615 

[Report No. 114–53] 

AN ACT 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 

Security, and for other purposes. the components of the Department of Homeland interoperable communications capabilities among administrative action to achieve and maintain the Department of Homeland Security to take require the Under Secretary for Management of 

MAY 21, 2015 

Reported with an amendment 


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