I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1729 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Office of 

Biometric Identity Management, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2019 

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

the Office of Biometric Identity Management, 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 ‘‘Office of Biometric 

5 Identity Management Authorization Act of 2019’’ or the 

6 ‘‘OBIM Authorization Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF BIOMETRIC 

2 IDENTITY MANAGEMENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu4 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 711. OFFICE OF BIOMETRIC IDENTITY MANAGEMENT. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Office of Biometric 

8 Identity Management is established within the Manage9 ment Directorate of the Department. 

10 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Biometric 

12 Identity Management shall be administered by the 

13 Director of the Office of Biometric Identity Manage14 ment (in this section referred to as the ‘Director’) 

15 who shall report to the Secretary, or to another offi16 cial of the Department, as the Secretary may direct. 

17 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES.—The Di18 rector shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) have significant professional manage20 ment experience, as well as experience in the 

21 field of biometrics and identity management; 

22 ‘‘(B) lead the Department’s biometric iden23 tity services to support efforts and activities re24 lating to anti-terrorism, counter-terrorism, bor25 der security, credentialing, national security, 

26 and public safety; 


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1 ‘‘(C) enable operational missions across the 

2 Department by receiving, matching, storing, 

3 sharing, and analyzing biometric and associated 

4 biographic and encounter data; 

5 ‘‘(D) deliver biometric identity information 

6 and analysis capabilities to— 

7 ‘‘(i) the Department and its compo8 nents; 

9 ‘‘(ii) appropriate Federal, State, local, 

10 and tribal agencies; 

11 ‘‘(iii) appropriate foreign govern12 ments; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) appropriate private sector enti14 ties; 

15 ‘‘(E) support the law enforcement, public 

16 safety, national security, and homeland security 

17 missions of other Federal, State, local, and trib18 al agencies, as appropriate; 

19 ‘‘(F) manage the operation of the Depart20 ment’s primary biometric repository and identi21 fication system; 

22 ‘‘(G) manage Biometric Support Centers 

23 to provide biometric identification and 

24 verification analysis and services to the Depart25 ment, appropriate Federal, State, local, and 


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1 tribal agencies, appropriate foreign govern2 ments, and appropriate private sector entities; 

3 ‘‘(H) oversee the implementation of De4 partment-wide standards for biometric con5 formity, and work to make such standards Gov6 ernment-wide; 

7 ‘‘(I) in coordination with the Department’s 

8 Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, and in 

9 consultation with relevant component offices 

10 and headquarters offices, enter into data shar11 ing agreements with appropriate Federal, State, 

12 local, and foreign agencies to support immigra13 tion, law enforcement, national security, and 

14 public safety missions; 

15 ‘‘(J) maximize interoperability with other 

16 Federal, State, local, and foreign biometric sys17 tems, as appropriate; 

18 ‘‘(K) ensure the activities of the Office of 

19 Biometric Identity Management are carried out 

20 in compliance with the policies and procedures 

21 established by the Privacy Officer appointed 

22 under section 222; and 

23 ‘‘(L) carry out other duties and powers 

24 prescribed by law or delegated by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—There shall be in the Of2 fice of Biometric Identity Management a Deputy Director, 

3 who shall assist the Director in the management of the 

4 Office. 

5 ‘‘(d) OTHER AUTHORITIES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may establish 

7 such other offices within the Office of Biometric 

8 Identity Management as the Director determines 

9 necessary to carry out the missions, duties, func10 tions, and authorities of the Office. 

11 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—If the Director exercises 

12 the authority provided by paragraph (1), the Direc13 tor shall notify the Committee on Homeland Secu14 rity of the House of Representatives and the Com15 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af16 fairs of the Senate not later than 30 days before ex17 ercising such authority.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

19 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

20 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

21 710 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 711. Office of Biometric Identity Management.’’. 

Æ 


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