I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2590 

To require a Department of Homeland Security overseas personnel 

enhancement plan, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2019 

Mr. KATKO (for himself and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To require a Department of Homeland Security overseas 

personnel enhancement plan, 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 ‘‘DHS Overseas Per5 sonnel Enhancement Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OVERSEAS PERSONNEL BRIEFING. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after sub8 mission of the comprehensive 3-year strategy required 

9 under section 1910 of the National Defense Authorization 

10 Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328) and every 


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1 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

2 shall brief the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

3 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home4 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate re5 garding Department of Homeland Security personnel with 

6 primary duties that take place outside of the United 

7 States. 

8 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The briefings required under 

9 subsection (a) shall include the following: 

10 (1) A detailed summary of each type of per11 sonnel position with primary duties that take place 

12 outside of the United States and how each such po13 sition contributes to the Department of Homeland 

14 Security’s counterterrorism mission. 

15 (2) Information related to how the geographic 

16 and regional placement of such positions contributes 

17 to the Department’s counterterrorism mission. 

18 (3) Information related to the position-specific 

19 training received by such personnel before and dur20 ing placement at a foreign location. 

21 (4) Challenges that may impede the commu22 nication of counterterrorism information between 

23 Department personnel at foreign locations and De24 partment entities in the United States, including 

25 technical, resource, and administrative challenges. 


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1 (5) The status of efforts to implement the 

2 strategy referred to in subsection (a). 

3 (6) The status of efforts (beginning with the 

4 second briefing required under this section) to imple5 ment the enhancement plan under section 3. 

6 SEC. 3. OVERSEAS PERSONNEL ENHANCEMENT PLAN. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

8 first briefing required under section 2, the Secretary shall 

9 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

10 House and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov11 ernmental Affairs of the Senate a plan to enhance the ef12 fectiveness of Department of Homeland Security per13 sonnel at foreign locations. 

14 (b) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The plan required under 

15 subsection (a) shall include proposals to— 

16 (1) improve efforts of Department of Homeland 

17 Security personnel at foreign locations, as necessary, 

18 for purposes of providing foreign partner capacity 

19 development and furthering the Department’s 

20 counterterrorism mission; 

21 (2) as appropriate, redeploy Department per22 sonnel to respond to changing threats to the United 

23 States; 


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1 (3) enhance collaboration among Department 

2 personnel at foreign locations, other Federal per3 sonnel at foreign locations, and foreign partners; 

4 (4) improve the communication of counterter5 rorism information between Department personnel 

6 at foreign locations and Department entities in the 

7 United States, including to address technical, re8 source, and administrative challenges; and 

9 (5) maintain practices to guard against 

10 counter-espionage threats associated with Depart11 ment personnel. 

12 SEC. 4. TERMINATION. 

13 The briefing requirement under section 2 shall termi14 nate on the date that is four years after the submission 

15 of the strategy referred to in such section. 

Æ 


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