IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4289 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2014 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require 

the Under Secretary for Management of the Department 

of Homeland Security to take administrative action to 

achieve and maintain interoperable communications capabilities among the components of the Department of 

Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 


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HR 4289 RFS 

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 ‘‘Department of Home5 land Security Interoperable Communications Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘DHS Interoperable Communications Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS 

8 CAPABILITIES IN RESPONSIBILITIES OF 

9 UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT. 

10 Section 701 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

11 (6 U.S.C. 341) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (4) of subsection (a), by in13 serting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 

14 including policies and directives to achieve and main15 tain interoperable communications among the com16 ponents of the Department’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub18 section: 

19 ‘‘(d) INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS DE20 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘interoperable commu21 nications’ means the ability of components of the Depart22 ment to communicate with each other as necessary, uti23 lizing information technology systems and radio commu24 nications systems to exchange voice, data, and video in 


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1 real time, as necessary, for acts of terrorism, daily oper2 ations, planned events, and emergencies.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. STRATEGY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 

6 for Management of the Department of Homeland Security 

7 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of 

8 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

9 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen10 ate a strategy, which shall be updated as necessary, for 

11 achieving and maintaining interoperable communications 

12 (as such term is defined in subsection (d) of section 701 

13 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by section 

14 2 of this Act) among the components of the Department 

15 of Homeland Security, including for daily operations, 

16 planned events, and emergencies, with corresponding mile17 stones, that includes, at a minimum the following: 

18 (1) An assessment of interoperability gaps in 

19 radio communications among the components of the 

20 Department, as of the date of the enactment of this 

21 Act. 

22 (2) Information on efforts and activities, includ23 ing current and planned policies, directives, and 

24 training, of the Department since November 1, 

25 2012, to achieve and maintain interoperable commuVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:57 Jul 10, 2014 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4289.RFS H4289

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1 nications among the components of the Department, 

2 and planned efforts and activities of the Department 

3 to achieve and maintain such interoperable commu4 nications. 

5 (3) An assessment of obstacles and challenges 

6 to achieving and maintaining interoperable commu7 nications among the components of the Department. 

8 (4) Information on, and an assessment of, the 

9 adequacy of mechanisms available to the Under Sec10 retary for Management to enforce and compel com11 pliance with interoperable communications policies 

12 and directives of the Department. 

13 (5) Guidance provided to the components of the 

14 Department to implement interoperable communica15 tions policies and directives of the Department. 

16 (6) The total amount of funds expended by the 

17 Department since November 1, 2012, and projected 

18 future expenditures, to achieve interoperable commu19 nications, including on equipment, infrastructure, 

20 and maintenance. 

21 (7) Dates upon which Department-wide inter22 operability is projected to be achieved for voice, 

23 data, and video communications, respectively, and 

24 interim milestones that correspond to the achieve25 ment of each such mode of communication. 


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1 (b) SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL.—Together with the 

2 strategy required under subsection (a), the Under Sec3 retary for Management shall submit to the Committee on 

4 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

5 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

6 Affairs of the Senate information on any intra-agency ef7 fort or task force that has been delegated certain respon8 sibilities by the Under Secretary relating to achieving and 

9 maintaining interoperable communications among the 

10 components of the Department by the dates referred to 

11 in paragraph (9) of subsection (a), and on who, within 

12 each such component, is responsible for implementing poli13 cies and directives issued by the Under Secretary to so 

14 achieve and maintain such interoperable communications. 

15 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

16 Not later than 220 days after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act and biannually thereafter, the Under Sec18 retary for Management shall submit to the Committee on 

19 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

20 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

21 Affairs of the Senate a report on the status of efforts, 

22 since the issuance of the strategy required under section 

23 3, to implement such strategy, including the following: 

24 (1) Progress on each interim milestone referred 

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1 ing and maintaining interoperable communications 

2 among the components of the Department. 

3 (2) Information on any policies, directives, 

4 guidance, and training established by the Under Sec5 retary. 

6 (3) An assessment of the level of compliance, 

7 adoption, and participation among the components 

8 of the Department with the policies, directives, guid9 ance, and training established by the Under Sec10 retary to achieve and maintain interoperable commu11 nications among such components. 

12 (4) Information on any additional resources or 

13 authorities needed by the Under Secretary. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 8, 2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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