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Union Calendar No. 487 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5531 

[Report No. 110–764] 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify criteria for certification relating to advanced spectroscopic portal monitors, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2008 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL of Texas) introduced 

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

JULY 22, 2008 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 5, 2008] 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify 

criteria for certification relating to advanced 

spectroscopic portal monitors, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Next Generation Radi3 ation Screening Act of 2008’’. 

4 SEC. 2. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING 

5 ADVANCED SPECTROSCOPIC PORTAL MON6 ITORS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XIX of the Homeland Secu8 rity Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new sections: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 1908. ADVANCED SPECTROSCOPIC PORTAL MON11 ITORS. 

12 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) The consequences of radiological or nuclear 

14 terrorism would be catastrophic. 

15 ‘‘(2) A system such as the Advanced 

16 Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) is intended to improve 

17 the process of screening passengers and cargo to pre18 vent the illicit transport of radiological and nuclear 

19 material. 

20 ‘‘(3) A system such as the ASP can always be 

21 improved, even after it is deployed. 

22 ‘‘(4) There is no upper limit to the functionality 

23 that can be incorporated into an engineering project 

24 of this magnitude. 

25 ‘‘(5) Delaying deployment of the ASP to increase 

26 functionality beyond what is minimally required for 


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1 deployment may limit the ability of the United States 

2 to screen passengers and cargo for radiological and 

3 nuclear material. 

4 ‘‘(6) There are operational differences between 

5 primary and secondary screening procedures. Consid6 eration should be given to the implication these dif7 ferences have on the minimum functionality for sys8 tems deployed for use in primary and secondary 

9 screening procedures. 

10 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENT ON FUNCTIONALITY OF ADVANCED

11 SPECTROSCOPIC PORTAL MONITORS.—The Director of the 

12 Domestic Nuclear Detection Office and the Commissioner 

13 of Customs and Border Protection shall enter into an agree14 ment regarding the minimum required functionality for the 

15 deployment of ASP by United States Customs and Border 

16 Protection (CBP). 

17 ‘‘(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 

19 shall provide Congress with the signed memorandum of un20 derstanding between the Office and CBP. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 1909. CRITERIA FOR CERTIFICATION. 

22 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) In developing criteria for Advanced 

24 Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) performance, special con25 sideration should be given to the unique challenges asVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:23 Jul 22, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5531.RH H5531

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1 sociated with detecting the presence of illicit radio2 logical or nuclear material that may be masked by 

3 the presence of radiation from naturally occurring ra4 dioactive material or legitimate radioactive sources 

5 such as those associated with medical or industrial 

6 use of radiation. 

7 ‘‘(2) Title IV of division E of the Consolidated 

8 Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110–161) re9 quires the Secretary to submit to Congress a report 

10 certifying that ‘a significant increase in operational 

11 effectiveness will be achieved’ with the ASP before 

12 ‘funds appropriated under this heading shall be obli13 gated for full-scale procurement of Advanced 

14 Spectroscopic Portal Monitors’, and requires that ‘the 

15 Secretary shall submit separate and distinct certifi16 cations prior to the procurement of Advanced 

17 Spectroscopic Portal Monitors for primary and sec18 ondary deployment that address the unique require19 ments for operational effectiveness of each type of de20 ployment.’. 

21 ‘‘(b) SPECIFICATION OF SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN

22 OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in ac24 cordance with the requirements of title IV of division 

25 E of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, and 


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1 in consultation with the National Academies, develop 

2 quantitative metrics that demonstrate any significant 

3 increased operational effectiveness (or lack thereof) of 

4 deploying the ASP in Primary and Secondary 

5 Screening sites, as determined by United States Cus6 toms and Border Protection (CBP). 

7 ‘‘(2) METRICS.—The metrics referred to in para8 graph (1) shall include the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) A quantitative definition of ‘signifi10 cant increase in operational effectiveness’. 

11 ‘‘(B) All relevant threat materials. 

12 ‘‘(C) All relevant masking scenarios. 

13 ‘‘(D) Cost benefit analysis in accordance 

14 with the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory 

15 Board Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. 

16 ‘‘(E) Any other measure the Director and 

17 the Commissioner determine appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION OF EXTERNAL REVIEWS IN THE

19 DECISION TO CERTIFY.—In determining whether or not to 

20 certify that the ASP shows a significant increase in oper21 ational effectiveness, the Secretary may consider the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(1) Relevant reports on the ASP from the Gov24 ernment Accountability Office. 


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1 ‘‘(2) An assessment of the ASP by the Inde2 pendent Review Team led by the Homeland Security 

3 Institute. 

4 ‘‘(3) An assessment of the ASP in consultation 

5 with the National Academies. 

6 ‘‘(4) Any other information the Secretary deter7 mines relevant. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1910. AUTHORIZATION OF SECURING THE CITIES INI9 TIATIVE. 

10 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) The Securing the Cities Initiative of the De12 partment uses next generation radiation detection 

13 technology to detect the transport of nuclear and radi14 ological material in urban areas by terrorists or other 

15 unauthorized individuals. 

16 ‘‘(2) The technology used by partners in the Se17 curing the Cities Initiative leverages Advanced 

18 Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) technology used at ports 

19 of entry. 

20 ‘‘(3) The Securing the Cities Initiative has fos21 tered unprecedented collaboration and coordination 

22 among its Federal, State, and local partners. 

23 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the Domes25 tic Nuclear Detection Office of the Department $40,000,000 


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1 for fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary 

2 for each subsequent fiscal year for the Securing the Cities 

3 Initiative.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

6 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1907 

7 the following new items: 

‘‘Sec. 1908. Advanced spectroscopic portal monitors. 

‘‘Sec. 1909. Criteria for certification. 

‘‘Sec. 1910. Authorization of Securing the Cities Initiative.’’. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the 

Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify criteria for certification relating to Advanced Spectroscopic Portal monitors, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 487 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5531 

[Report No. 110

–764] 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 

other purposes. vanced spectroscopic portal monitors, and for clarify criteria for certification relating to adJULY 22, 2008 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:24 Jul 22, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H5531.RH H5531

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