II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1253 

To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Customs 

and Border Protection officers and support staff and to require reports 

that identify staffing, infrastructure, and equipment needed to enhance 

security at ports of entry. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2023 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Customs and Border Protection officers and support 

staff and to require reports that identify staffing, infrastructure, and equipment needed to enhance security at 

ports of entry. 

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 ‘‘Securing America’s 

5 Ports of Entry Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTEC2 TION PERSONNEL. 

3 (a) OFFICERS.—The Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

4 and Border Protection shall hire, train, and assign not 

5 fewer than 600 new U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

6 officers above the current attrition level during every fiscal 

7 year until the total number of U.S. Customs and Border 

8 Protection officers equals and sustains the requirements 

9 identified each year in the Workload Staffing Model. 

10 (b) SUPPORT STAFF.—The Commissioner is author11 ized to hire, train, and assign support staff, including 

12 technicians and Enterprise Services mission support, to 

13 perform non-law enforcement administrative functions to 

14 support the new U.S. Customs and Border Protection offi15 cers hired pursuant to subsection (a). 

16 (c) TRAFFIC FORECASTS.—In calculating the number 

17 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers needed 

18 at each port of entry through the Workload Staffing 

19 Model, the Commissioner shall— 

20 (1) rely on data collected regarding the inspec21 tions and other activities conducted at each such 

22 port of entry; 

23 (2) consider volume from seasonal surges, other 

24 projected changes in commercial and passenger vol25 umes, the most current commercial forecasts, and 

26 other relevant information; and 


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1 (3) consider historical volume and forecasts 

2 prior to the COVID–19 pandemic and the impact on 

3 international travel. 

4 (d) GAO REPORT.—If the Commissioner does not 

5 hire the 600 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protec6 tion officers authorized under subsection (a) during fiscal 

7 year 2023, or during any subsequent fiscal year in which 

8 the hiring requirements set forth in the Workload Staffing 

9 Model have not been achieved, the Comptroller General 

10 of the United States shall— 

11 (1) conduct a review of U.S. Customs and Bor12 der Protection hiring practices to determine the rea13 sons that such requirements were not achieved and 

14 other issues related to hiring by U.S. Customs and 

15 Border Protection; and 

16 (2) submit a report to the Committee on Home17 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen18 ate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

19 House of Representatives that describes the results 

20 of the review conducted under paragraph (1). 

21 SEC. 3. PORTS OF ENTRY INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCE22 MENT REPORT. 

23 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 

25 Border Protection shall submit a report to the Committee 


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1 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

2 Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

3 House of Representatives that identifies— 

4 (1) infrastructure improvements at ports of 

5 entry that would enhance the ability of U.S. Cus6 toms and Border Protection officers to interdict 

7 opioids and other drugs that are being illegally 

8 transported into the United States, including a de9 scription of circumstances at specific ports of entry 

10 that prevent the deployment of technology used at 

11 other ports of entry; 

12 (2) detection equipment that would improve the 

13 ability of such officers to identify opioids, including 

14 precursors and derivatives, that are being illegally 

15 transported into the United States; and 

16 (3) safety equipment that would protect such 

17 officers from accidental exposure to such drugs or 

18 other dangers associated with the inspection of po19 tential drug traffickers. 

20 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

21 (a) TEMPORARY DUTY ASSIGNMENTS.— 

22 (1) QUARTERLY REPORT.—The Commissioner 

23 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit 

24 a quarterly report to the appropriate congressional 

25 committees that includes, for the reporting period— 


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1 (A) the number of temporary duty assign2 ments; 

3 (B) the number of U.S. Customs and Bor4 der Protection employees required for each tem5 porary duty assignment; 

6 (C) the ports of entry from which such em7 ployees were reassigned; 

8 (D) the ports of entry to which such em9 ployees were reassigned; 

10 (E) the ports of entry at which reimburs11 able service agreements have been entered into 

12 that may be affected by temporary duty assign13 ments; 

14 (F) the duration of each temporary duty 

15 assignment; 

16 (G) the cost of each temporary duty as17 signment; and 

18 (H) for each temporary duty assignment to 

19 the southwest border, a description of any ac20 tivities done in support of U.S. Border Patrol 

21 operations. 

22 (2) NOTICE.—Not later than 10 days before re23 deploying employees from 1 port of entry to another, 

24 absent emergency circumstances— 


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1 (A) the Commissioner shall notify the di2 rector of the port of entry from which employ3 ees will be reassigned of the intended redeploy4 ments; and 

5 (B) the port director shall notify impacted 

6 facilities (including airports, seaports, and land 

7 ports) of the intended redeployments. 

8 (3) STAFF BRIEFING.—The Commissioner shall 

9 brief all affected U.S. Customs and Border Protec10 tion employees regarding plans to mitigate 

11 vulnerabilities created by any planned staffing re12 ductions at ports of entry. 

13 (b) REPORTS ON U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PRO14 TECTION AGREEMENTS.—Section 907(a) of the Trade Fa15 cilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 

16 4451(a)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and an as18 sessment’’ and all that follows and inserting a pe19 riod; 

20 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

21 (12) as paragraphs (5) through (13), respectively; 

22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(4) A description of the factors that were con25 sidered before entering into the agreement, including 


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1 an assessment of how the agreement provides eco2 nomic benefits and security benefits (if applicable) 

3 at the port of entry to which the agreement re4 lates.’’; and 

5 (4) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by para6 graph (2), by inserting after ‘‘the report’’ the fol7 lowing: ‘‘, including the locations of such services 

8 and the total hours of reimbursable services under 

9 the agreement, if any’’. 

10 (c) ANNUAL WORKLOAD STAFFING MODEL RE11 PORT.—As part of the Annual Report on Staffing required 

12 under section 411(g)(5)(A) of the Homeland Security Act 

13 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(g)(5)(A)), the Commissioner shall 

14 include— 

15 (1) information concerning the progress made 

16 toward meeting the U.S. Customs and Border Pro17 tection officer and support staff hiring targets set 

18 forth in section 2, while accounting for attrition; 

19 (2) an update to the information provided in 

20 the Resource Optimization at the Ports of Entry re21 port, which was submitted to Congress on Sep22 tember 12, 2017, pursuant to the Department of 

23 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2017 (divi24 sion F of Public Law 115–31); and 


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1 (3) a summary of the information included in 

2 the reports required under subsection (a) and sec3 tion 907(a) of the Trade Facilitation and Trade En4 forcement Act of 2015, as amended by subsection 

5 (b). 

6 (d) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘ap7 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 

8 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

9 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

10 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

11 Senate; 

12 (3) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

13 House of Representatives; and 

14 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

15 House of Representatives. 

16 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

18 this Act— 

19 (1) $136,292,948 for fiscal year 2024; and 

20 (2) $156,918,590 for each of the fiscal years 

21 2025 through 2029. 

Æ 


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