I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1609 

To amend the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 to authorize certain 

polygraph waiver authority, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2019 

Mr. CRENSHAW (for himself, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, and Mr. HIGGINS of 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 to authorize certain polygraph waiver authority, 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 ‘‘Anti-Border Corrup5 tion Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HIRING FLEXIBILITY. 

7 Section 3 of the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 

8 (Public Law 111–376; 6 U.S.C. 221) is amended by strikVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609

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1 ing subsection (b) and inserting the following new sub2 sections: 

3 ‘‘(b) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Commissioner of 

4 U.S. Customs and Border Protection may waive the appli5 cation of subsection (a)(1) in the following circumstances: 

6 ‘‘(1) In the case of a current, full-time law en7 forcement officer employed by a State or local law 

8 enforcement agency, if such officer— 

9 ‘‘(A) has served as a law enforcement offi10 cer for not fewer than three years with no 

11 break in service; 

12 ‘‘(B) is authorized by law to engage in or 

13 supervise the prevention, detection, investiga14 tion, or prosecution of, or the incarceration of 

15 any person for, any violation of law, and has 

16 statutory powers for arrest or apprehension; 

17 ‘‘(C) is not currently under investigation, 

18 has not been found to have engaged in criminal 

19 activity or serious misconduct, has not resigned 

20 from a law enforcement officer position under 

21 investigation or in lieu of termination, and has 

22 not been dismissed from a law enforcement offi23 cer position; and 

24 ‘‘(D) has, within the past ten years, suc25 cessfully completed a polygraph examination, 


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1 described in subsection (c), as a condition of 

2 employment with such officer’s current law en3 forcement agency. 

4 ‘‘(2) In the case of a current, full-time law en5 forcement officer employed by a Federal law enforce6 ment agency, if such officer— 

7 ‘‘(A) has served as a law enforcement offi8 cer for not fewer than three years with no 

9 break in service; 

10 ‘‘(B) has authority to make arrests, con11 duct investigations, conduct searches, make sei12 zures, carry firearms, and serve orders, war13 rants, and other processes; 

14 ‘‘(C) is not currently under investigation, 

15 has not been found to have engaged in criminal 

16 activity or serious misconduct, has not resigned 

17 from a law enforcement officer position under 

18 investigation or in lieu of termination, and has 

19 not been dismissed from a law enforcement offi20 cer position; and 

21 ‘‘(D) holds a current background investiga22 tion to the level required for service as a law 

23 enforcement officer with U.S. Customs and 

24 Border Protection. 


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1 ‘‘(3) In the case of an individual who is a mem2 ber of the Armed Forces (or a reserve component 

3 thereof) or a veteran, if such individual— 

4 ‘‘(A) has served in the Armed Forces for 

5 not fewer than three years; 

6 ‘‘(B) holds, or has held within the past five 

7 years, a Secret, Top Secret, or Top Secret/Sen8 sitive Compartmented Information clearance; 

9 ‘‘(C) holds or has undergone and passed a 

10 background investigation to the level required 

11 for service as a law enforcement officer with 

12 U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 

13 ‘‘(D) received, or is eligible to receive, an 

14 honorable discharge from service in the Armed 

15 Forces and has not engaged in criminal activity 

16 or committed a serious military or civil offense 

17 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(E) was not granted any waivers to ob20 tain the clearance referred to subparagraph 

21 (B). 

22 ‘‘(c) CERTAIN POLYGRAPH EXAMINATION.—A poly23 graph examination described in this subsection is a poly24 graph examination that satisfies requirements established 


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1 by the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 

2 with the Director of National Intelligence. 

3 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

4 authority to issue a waiver under subsection (b) shall ter5 minate on the date that is five years after the date of the 

6 enactment of the Anti-Border Corruption Reauthorization 

7 Act of 2019.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL COMMISSIONER AUTHORITY AND 

9 DEFINITIONS. 

10 (a) SUPPLEMENTAL COMMISSIONER AUTHORITY.— 

11 Section 4 of the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 

12 (Public Law 111–376) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 4. SUPPLEMENTAL COMMISSIONER AUTHORITY. 

14 ‘‘(a) NON-EXEMPTION.—An individual who receives 

15 a waiver under subsection (b) of section 3 shall not be 

16 exempt from other hiring requirements relating to suit17 ability for employment and eligibility to hold a national 

18 security designated position, as determined by the Com19 missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

20 ‘‘(b) BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS.—Any indi21 vidual who receives a waiver under subsection (b) of sec22 tion 3 who holds a current background investigation may 

23 be subject to further background investigation to the level 

24 required for service as a law enforcement officer with U.S. 

25 Customs and Border Protection. 


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1 ‘‘(c) CONTINUOUS EVALUATION.—Any individual 

2 who receives a waiver under subsection (b) of section 3 

3 shall not be exempt from any requirement relating to con4 tinuous evaluation established by the Commissioner of 

5 U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

6 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION OF POLYGRAPH EXAMINA7 TION.—The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 

8 Protection is authorized to administer a polygraph exam9 ination to an applicant or employee who is eligible for or 

10 receives a waiver under subsection (b) of section 3 if infor11 mation is discovered prior to the completion of a back12 ground investigation that results in a determination that 

13 a polygraph examination is necessary to make a final de14 termination regarding suitability for employment or con15 tinued employment, as the case may be.’’. 

16 (b) REPORT.—The Anti-Border Corruption Act of 

17 2010 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

18 section: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 5. REPORTING. 

20 ‘‘Not later than on year after the date of the enact21 ment of this section and every year for the next four years 

22 thereafter, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 

23 Protection shall provide the Committee on Homeland Se24 curity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

25 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 


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1 Senate information on the number, disaggregated with re2 spect to each of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection 

3 (b) of section 3, of waivers requested, granted, and denied, 

4 and the reasons for any such denial, and the final outcome 

5 of the application for employment at issue. Such informa6 tion shall also include the number of instances a polygraph 

7 examination was administered under the conditions de8 scribed in subsection (d) of section 4, the result of such 

9 examination, and the final outcome of the application for 

10 employment at issue.’’. 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—The Anti-Border Corruption Act 

12 of 2010, as amended by subsection (b) of this section, is 

13 further amended by adding at the end the following new 

14 section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

16 ‘‘In this Act: 

17 ‘‘(1) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 

18 ‘law enforcement officer’ has the meaning given such 

19 term in sections 8331(20) and 8401(17) of title 5, 

20 United States Code. 

21 ‘‘(2) VETERAN.—The term ‘veteran’ has the 

22 meaning given such term in section 101(2) of title 

23 38, United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(3) SERIOUS MILITARY OR CIVIL OFFENSE.— 

2 The term ‘serious military or civil offense’ means an 

3 offense for which— 

4 ‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces may 

5 be discharged or separated from service in the 

6 Armed Forces; and 

7 ‘‘(B) a punitive discharge is, or would be, 

8 authorized for the same or a closely related of9 fense under the Manual for Court-Martial, as 

10 pursuant to Army Regulation 635–200 chapter 

11 14–12.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

13 Paragraph (15) of section 411(c) of the Homeland 

14 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(c)) is amended by 

15 striking ‘‘section 3(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 3’’. 

Æ 


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