I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5206 

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 7, 2018 

Ms. MCSALLY (for herself, Mr. BACON, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. HIGGINS of 

Louisiana, and Mr. MCCAUL) 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 2018’’ or the 

6 ‘‘OBIM Authorization Act of 2018’’. 


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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. 710. OFFICE OF BIOMETRIC IDENTITY MANAGEMENT. 

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

8 Identity Management is established within the Depart9 ment. 

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 anti-terrorism, counter24 terrorism, border security, credentialing, na25 tional security, and public safety; 


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1 ‘‘(C) enable operational missions across the 

2 Department by matching, storing, sharing, and 

3 analyzing biometric data; 

4 ‘‘(D) deliver biometric identity information 

5 and analysis capabilities to— 

6 ‘‘(i) the Department and its compo7 nents; 

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

9 and tribal agencies; 

10 ‘‘(iii) appropriate foreign govern11 ments; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) appropriate private sector enti13 ties; 

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

15 safety, national security, and homeland security 

16 missions of other Federal, State, local, and trib17 al agencies, as appropriate; 

18 ‘‘(F) manage the operation of the Depart19 ment’s sole biometric repository; 

20 ‘‘(G) manage Biometric Support Centers 

21 to provide biometric identification and 

22 verification analysis and services to the Depart23 ment, appropriate Federal, State, local, and 

24 tribal agencies, appropriate foreign govern25 ments, and appropriate private sector entities; 


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1 ‘‘(H) in collaboration with the Under Sec2 retary for Science and Technology, establish a 

3 Department-wide research and development 

4 program to support efforts in assessment, devel5 opment, and exploration of biometric advance6 ments and emerging technologies; 

7 ‘‘(I) oversee Department-wide standards 

8 for biometric conformity, and work to make 

9 such standards Government-wide; 

10 ‘‘(J) in coordination with the Department’s 

11 Office of Policy, and in consultation with rel12 evant component offices and headquarters of13 fices, enter into data sharing agreements with 

14 appropriate Federal agencies to support immi15 gration, law enforcement, national security, and 

16 public safety missions; 

17 ‘‘(K) maximize interoperability with other 

18 Federal, State, local, and international biomet19 ric systems, as appropriate; and 

20 ‘‘(L) carry out the duties and powers pre21 scribed by law or delegated by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(c) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—There shall be in the Of23 fice of Biometric Identity Management a Deputy Director, 

24 who shall assist the Director in the management of the 

25 Office. 


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1 ‘‘(d) OTHER AUTHORITIES.— 

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

3 such other offices within the Office of Biometric 

4 Identity Management as the Director determines 

5 necessary to carry out the missions, duties, func6 tions, and authorities of the Office. 

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

8 the authority provided by paragraph (1), the Direc9 tor shall notify the Committee on Homeland Secu10 rity of the House of Representatives and the Com11 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af12 fairs of the Senate not later than 30 days before ex13 ercising such authority.’’. 

14 (b) TRANSFER LIMITATION.—The Secretary of 

15 Homeland Security may not transfer the location or re16 porting structure of the Office of Biometric Identity Man17 agement (established pursuant to section 710 of the 

18 Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection 

19 (a) of this section) to any component of the Department 

20 of Homeland Security. 

21 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

23 amended by adding after the item relating to section 709 

24 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 710. Office of Biometric Identity Management.’’. 

Æ 


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