IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5206 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2018 

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 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Office of Biometric 

3 Identity Management Authorization Act of 2018’’ or the 

4 ‘‘OBIM Authorization Act of 2018’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF BIOMETRIC 

6 IDENTITY MANAGEMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu8 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 710. OFFICE OF BIOMETRIC IDENTITY MANAGEMENT. 

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

12 Identity Management is established within the Manage13 ment Directorate of the Department. 

14 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.— 

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

16 Identity Management shall be administered by the 

17 Director of the Office of Biometric Identity Manage18 ment (in this section referred to as the ‘Director’) 

19 who shall report to the Secretary, or to another offi20 cial of the Department, as the Secretary may direct. 

21 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES.—The Di22 rector shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) have significant professional manage24 ment experience, as well as experience in the 

25 field of biometrics and identity management; 


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1 ‘‘(B) lead the Department’s biometric iden2 tity services to support anti-terrorism, counter3 terrorism, border security, credentialing, na4 tional security, and public safety; 

5 ‘‘(C) enable operational missions across the 

6 Department by receiving, matching, storing, 

7 sharing, and analyzing biometric and associated 

8 biographic and encounter data; 

9 ‘‘(D) deliver biometric identity information 

10 and analysis capabilities to— 

11 ‘‘(i) the Department and its compo12 nents; 

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

14 and tribal agencies; 

15 ‘‘(iii) appropriate foreign govern16 ments; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) appropriate private sector enti18 ties; 

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

20 safety, national security, and homeland security 

21 missions of other Federal, State, local, and trib22 al agencies, as appropriate; 

23 ‘‘(F) manage the operation of the Depart24 ment’s primary biometric repository and identi25 fication system; 


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1 ‘‘(G) manage Biometric Support Centers 

2 to provide biometric identification and 

3 verification analysis and services to the Depart4 ment, appropriate Federal, State, local, and 

5 tribal agencies, appropriate foreign govern6 ments, and appropriate private sector entities; 

7 ‘‘(H) oversee the implementation of De8 partment-wide standards for biometric con9 formity, and work to make such standards Gov10 ernment-wide; 

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

12 Office of Policy, and in consultation with rel13 evant component offices and headquarters of14 fices, enter into data sharing agreements with 

15 appropriate Federal, State, local, and foreign 

16 agencies to support immigration, law enforce17 ment, national security, and public safety mis18 sions; 

19 ‘‘(J) maximize interoperability with other 

20 Federal, State, local, and foreign biometric sys21 tems, as appropriate; 

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

23 Biometric Identity Management are carried out 

24 in compliance with the policies and procedures 


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1 established by the Privacy Officer appointed 

2 under section 222; and 

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

4 prescribed by law or delegated by the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(c) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—There shall be in the Of6 fice of Biometric Identity Management a Deputy Director, 

7 who shall assist the Director in the management of the 

8 Office. 

9 ‘‘(d) OTHER AUTHORITIES.— 

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

11 such other offices within the Office of Biometric 

12 Identity Management as the Director determines 

13 necessary to carry out the missions, duties, func14 tions, and authorities of the Office. 

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

16 the authority provided by paragraph (1), the Direc17 tor shall notify the Committee on Homeland Secu18 rity of the House of Representatives and the Com19 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af20 fairs of the Senate not later than 30 days before ex21 ercising such authority.’’. 

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

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


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1 amended by adding after the item relating to section 709 

2 the following new item: 

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

Passed the House of Representatives June 25, 2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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