I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4958 

To increase the number of trained detection canines of the Department 

of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2006 

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama (for himself, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. MCCAUL of 

Texas, and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To increase the number of trained detection canines 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Canine Detection 

5 Team Augmentation and Certification Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Canine detection teams, which consist of a 

2 canine and a canine handler, are an important part 

3 of a layered homeland security system to prepare 

4 for, respond to, mitigate against, and prevent acts of 

5 terrorism. 

6 (2) Canine detection teams can be deployed 

7 quickly and can move easily throughout a variety of 

8 areas, including mass transit systems, airports, 

9 cargo areas, sea ports, the Nation’s borders, ports of 

10 entry, office buildings, and stadiums. 

11 (3) Canine detection teams can be trained to 

12 detect a variety of items, such as explosives, nar13 cotics, concealed humans, cadavers, and chemical 

14 and biological materials. 

15 (4) Canine detection teams can be utilized in 

16 situations where detection technologies are unavail17 able, immobile, or not cost-effective. 

18 (5) There is a shortage of canine detection 

19 teams available to assist Federal, State, and local 

20 law enforcement personnel as they put their lives at 

21 risk daily to protect the Nation. 

22 (6) The Congress has authorized 2,000 new 

23 Border Patrol agents for each of fiscal years 2006 

24 through 2010 without a corresponding increase in 


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1 the number of detection canines deployed with these 

2 Border Patrol agents. 

3 (7) Canine detection teams have been deployed 

4 to the Nation’s busiest airports. However, the 

5 Transportation Security Administration must in6 crease the capacity of its canine training program in 

7 order to train and deploy canines to the Nation’s 

8 mass transit systems. 

9 (8) Urban search and rescue canines and ca10 daver detection canines were used effectively in the 

11 Gulf Coast region to respond to Hurricanes Katrina 

12 and Rita. 

13 (9) The Bureau of United States Customs and 

14 Border Protection, the United States Secret Service, 

15 the Coast Guard, and the Federal Protective Service 

16 regularly use canine detection teams to secure Na17 tional Special Security Events, protect Federal 

18 buildings and their occupants, and protect the Na19 tion’s sea ports. 

20 (10) State, local, and tribal agencies and the 

21 private sector rely on canine detection teams for se22 curity purposes, like the Federal Government. In the 

23 absence of national training and certification stand24 ards, there have been a number of fraudulent oper25 ations and the use of inadequately trained canines 


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1 and canine handlers. In one documented case, in 

2 2003, a Virginia man, Russell Lee Ebersole, sup3 plied explosive detection canine teams to several gov4 ernment agencies, including the Federal Reserve 

5 Board, that failed explosives detection tests on five 

6 different occasions. 

7 (11) The Subcommittee on Management, Inte8 gration, and Oversight of the Committee on Home9 land Security of the House of Representatives held 

10 a hearing on September 28, 2005, regarding the use 

11 of canine detection teams in support of homeland se12 curity activities. At the hearing, Subcommittee Mem13 bers were informed by several Federal agencies, a 

14 local transit police department, a private canine se15 curity company, and a university-based canine train16 ing center that— 

17 (A) there is a shortage of trained canine 

18 detection teams; 

19 (B) there is a need for a national canine 

20 detection team training standard, or multiple 

21 standards, in order to strengthen the quality of 

22 canine detection teams and their interchange23 ability among Federal, State, and local agencies 

24 and the private sector; and 


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1 (C) there is a demonstrated need for Fed2 eral leadership to ensure that certifying entities 

3 are qualified and that they do not inappropri4 ately certify canine detection teams that may 

5 put homeland security and public safety at risk. 

6 SEC. 3. CANINE DETECTION TEAM AUGMENTATION AND 

7 CERTIFICATION. 

8 (a) INCREASING THE NUMBER OF TRAINED CANINE

9 DETECTION TEAMS.— 

10 (1) INCREASE.—In each of fiscal years 2007 

11 through 2011, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

12 shall, subject to the availability of appropriations for 

13 such purpose, increase the number of trained canine 

14 detection teams of the Department over the number 

15 of such teams deployed or available on the last day 

16 of the preceding fiscal year as follows: 

17 (A) CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTEC18 TION.—An increase of not less than 25 percent 

19 the number of trained canine detection teams 

20 deployed at and between the Nation’s ports of 

21 entry. 

22 (B) TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINIS23 TRATION.—Increase by not less than 25 percent 

24 the number of trained detection canines deVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:50 Mar 16, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4958.IH H4958

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1 ployed at the Nation’s airports and mass tran2 sit systems. 

3 (C) COAST GUARD, UNITED STATES SE4 CRET SERVICE, FEDERAL PROTECTIVE SERVICE, 

5 AND FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

6 AGENCY.—Increase by not less than 25 percent 

7 the number of trained canine detection teams 

8 available to Coast Guard stations, Secret Serv9 ice operations, and Federal Protective Service 

10 operations across the country, and to the Fed11 eral Emergency Management Agency to ensure 

12 their availability as needed in emergencies. 

13 (2) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—If the Sec14 retary determines that an agency referred to in sub15 section (a) is unable to achieve the increase required 

16 under subsection (a) for such reasons as cost or 

17 availability, the Secretary shall notify the Committee 

18 on Homeland Security of the House of Representa19 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

20 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, describing the 

21 reasons why the agency is unable to achieve the in22 crease. 

23 (b) COORDINATION, ENHANCEMENT, AND IMPROVE24 MENT OF CANINE DETECTION TEAMS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Homeland Security Act 

2 of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘TITLE XIX—MISCELLANEOUS 

5 PROVISIONS 

6 ‘‘Subtitle A—Canine Detection 

7 Teams 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1901. COORDINATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF CA9 NINE PROTECTION TEAM TRAINING. 

10 ‘‘The Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) fully coordinate the canine training pro12 grams of the Department that support the Depart13 ment’s counter-terrorism, counter-smuggling, trans14 portation security, and border security missions and 

15 other missions of the Department, including, with 

16 respect to the research and development of new ca17 nine training methods, the optimum number and 

18 type of training aids, and measurements for effi19 ciency and effectiveness; 

20 ‘‘(2) ensure that the Department is maximizing 

21 its use of existing training facilities and resources to 

22 train canines throughout the year; and 

23 ‘‘(3) coordinate the use of detection canines 

24 trained by other Federal agencies, nonprofit organi25 zations, universities, and private training facilities in 


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1 order to increase the number of trained detection ca2 nines available to Federal, State, and local law en3 forcement agencies. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 1902. CANINE PROCUREMENT. 

5 ‘‘The Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) make it a priority to increase the number 

7 of domestically bred canines used by the Department 

8 to assist in its counter-terrorism mission, including 

9 the protection of ports of entry and along the United 

10 States border; 

11 ‘‘(2) increase the utilization of domestically 

12 bred canines from universities and private and non13 profit sources in the United States; and 

14 ‘‘(3) consult with other Federal, State, and 

15 local agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities, 

16 and private entities that use detection canines, such 

17 as those participating in the Scientific Working 

18 Group on Dog and Orthogonal Detectors (popularly 

19 known as ‘SWGDOG’), as well as the Office of Man20 agement and Budget, to encourage domestic breed21 ing of canines and consolidate canine procurement, 

22 where possible, across the Federal Government to 

23 reduce the cost of purchasing canines. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1903. DOMESTIC CANINE BREEDING GRANT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

4 shall establish a competitive grant program for domestic 

5 breeders of canines. The purpose of the grant program 

6 shall be to encourage the development and growth of ca7 nine breeds that are best suited for detection training pur8 poses within the United States. 

9 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

11 $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 1904. HOMELAND SECURITY CANINE DETECTION AC13 CREDITATION BOARD. 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCREDITATION BOARD.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date on which the national voluntary con17 sensus standards referred to in subsection (b)(1) are 

18 issued, the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec19 retary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and the 

20 Attorney General, shall establish a Homeland Secu21 rity Canine Detection Accreditation Board to de22 velop and implement a process for certifying compli23 ance with such standards. 

24 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of the 

25 Accreditation Board shall consist of experts in the 

26 fields of canine training and explosives detection 


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1 from Federal and State agencies, universities, other 

2 research institutions, and the private sector, such as 

3 those represented on the Executive Board of 

4 SWGDOG. 

5 ‘‘(b) ACCREDITATION PROCESS.—The Accreditation 

6 Board shall establish and implement a voluntary accredi7 tation process to— 

8 ‘‘(1) certify that persons conducting certifi9 cation of canine detection teams appropriately en10 sure that the canine detection teams meet the na11 tional voluntary consensus standards developed by 

12 SWGDOG; 

13 ‘‘(2) ensure that canine detection teams do not 

14 put public safety and the safety of law enforcement 

15 personnel at risk due to fraud or weaknesses in the 

16 initial or maintenance training curriculum; and 

17 ‘‘(3) maintain and update a public list of enti18 ties accredited by the Department to certify canine 

19 detection teams. 

20 ‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS.—Beginning 

21 not later than the date that is 180 days after the date 

22 on which the standards referred to in subsection (b)(1) 

23 are issued, the Secretary shall require that grant funds 

24 administered by the Department may not be used to ac25 quire a canine detection team unless— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the canine detection team is certified 

2 under the process established under subsection (b); 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(2) the Secretary determines that the appli5 cant has shown special circumstances that justify 

6 the acquisition of canines that are not certified 

7 under the process established under subsection (b). 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1905. DEFINITIONS. 

9 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

10 ‘‘(1) CANINE DETECTION TEAM.—The term ‘ca11 nine detection team’ means a canine and a canine 

12 handler. 

13 ‘‘(2) CERTIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘certi14 fying entity’ means an entity that oversees the proc15 esses and procedures used to train and test canine 

16 detection teams. 

17 ‘‘(3) SWGDOG.—The term ‘SWGDOG’ means 

18 the Scientific Working Group of Dog and Orthog19 onal Detectors.’’. 

20 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec21 tions in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by add22 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘TITLE XIX—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

‘‘Subtitle A—Canine Detection Teams 

‘‘Sec. 1901. Coordination and enhancement of canine protection team training. 

‘‘Sec. 1902. Canine procurement. 

‘‘Sec. 1903. Domestic canine breeding grant program. 


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‘‘Sec. 1904. Homeland Security Canine Detection Accreditation Board. 

‘‘Sec. 1905. Definitions.’’. 

1 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 of Homeland Security shall report to the Committee 

4 on Homeland Security of the House of Representa5 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

6 Governmental Affairs of the Senate on the plan of 

7 the Secretary to coordinate and consolidate the ca8 nine training and related programs of the Depart9 ment of Homeland Security in accordance with sec10 tion 1901 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 

11 added by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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