II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2315 

To expand the Global Entry Program and strengthen the Model Ports of 

Entry Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2014 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. SCOTT, and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To expand the Global Entry Program and strengthen the 

Model Ports of Entry Program, 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 ‘‘Improving the Nation’s 

5 Visitors’ International Travel Experience Act of 2014’’ or 

6 the ‘‘INVITE Act of 2014’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

8 The purposes of this Act are— 

9 (1) to create a welcoming experience at United 

10 States ports of entry; 


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1 (2) to encourage international travelers to visit 

2 the United States; and 

3 (3) to support jobs and economic prosperity for 

4 the Nation. 

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT8 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com9 mittees’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

11 and Transportation of the Senate; 

12 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

13 the Senate; 

14 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security 

15 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

16 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

17 the Senate; 

18 (E) the Committee on Energy and Com19 merce of the House of Representatives; 

20 (F) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

21 the House of Representatives; 

22 (G) the Committee on Homeland Security 

23 of the House of Representatives; and 

24 (H) the Committee on Appropriations of 

25 the House of Representatives. 


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1 (2) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis2 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

3 and Border Protection. 

4 (3) GLOBAL ENTRY PROGRAM.—The term 

5 ‘‘Global Entry Program’’ means the program de6 scribed in section 235.12 of title 8, Code of Federal 

7 Regulations. 

8 (4) MODEL PORTS OF ENTRY PROGRAM.—The 

9 term ‘‘Model Ports of Entry Program’’ means the 

10 program established by the Secretary of Homeland 

11 Security under section 725 of the Implementing 

12 Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 

13 2007 (8 U.S.C. 1752a). 

14 SEC. 4. GLOBAL ENTRY PROGRAM EXPANSION. 

15 (a) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of State and the 

16 Secretary of Homeland Security shall explore the feasi17 bility of— 

18 (1)(A) coordinating the enrollment and inter19 view processes for individuals who— 

20 (i) are nationals of countries with which 

21 the United States has a reciprocal trusted trav22 eler program agreement; and 

23 (ii) simultaneously apply for a United 

24 States visa and enroll in the Global Entry Pro25 gram; and 


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1 (B) collecting a single application fee from such 

2 applicants; and 

3 (2) coordinating the passport application and 

4 Global Entry Program enrollment processes for eligi5 ble United States citizens. 

6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and 

8 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly submit, 

9 to the appropriate congressional committees, a report that 

10 describes— 

11 (1) the status of bilateral negotiations to ex12 pand reciprocal trusted traveler programs such as 

13 the Global Entry Program; 

14 (2) barriers to the expansion of the Global 

15 Entry Program; 

16 (3) the number of United States citizens and 

17 nationals of other countries who are enrolled in the 

18 Global Entry Program, the NEXUS Program, or the 

19 SENTRI Program; 

20 (4) the feasibility of coordinating Global Entry 

21 Program enrollment with the visa and passport ap22 plication processes; 

23 (5) if the Secretaries determine that such co24 ordination is infeasible, the specific reasons for such 

25 determination; and 


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1 (6) the resources needed and the next steps 

2 that the Department of State and the Department 

3 of Homeland Security would need to take to imple4 ment the coordinated Global Entry and visa and 

5 passport application process described in subsection 

6 (a). 

7 SEC. 5. STRENGTHENING THE MODEL PORTS OF ENTRY 

8 PROGRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 725 of the Implementing 

10 Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (8 

11 U.S.C. 1752a) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

14 the end; 

15 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe16 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(3) modify the program, to the extent deter19 mined to be necessary by the Commissioner of U.S. 

20 Customs and Border Protection, including by ex21 panding the program beyond the 20 airports at 

22 which the program was initially implemented.’’; 

23 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub24 section (e); and 


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1 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM METRICS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT.—To ensure the effective5 ness of the Model Ports of Entry Program (referred 

6 to in this subsection as the ‘program’), the Commis7 sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall 

8 develop metrics to measure the performance of the 

9 program, including metrics to measure customer sat10 isfaction among passengers using the ports of entry 

11 at the Model Ports of Entry airports. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

13 date of the enactment of the INVITE Act of 2014, 

14 the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro15 tection shall submit a report to the appropriate con16 gressional committees that includes— 

17 ‘‘(A) a list of the program airports; 

18 ‘‘(B) an explanation of how the program 

19 has been implemented at each program airport; 

20 ‘‘(C) an analysis of the program’s perform21 ance against the metrics established under 

22 paragraph (1) to measure customer satisfaction; 

23 ‘‘(D) recommendations for improving pub24 lic-private collaboration between U.S. Customs 

25 and Border Protection, airports, and other inVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:59 May 14, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2315.IS S2315

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1 dustry stakeholders to improve the user experi2 ence at United States ports of entry; and 

3 ‘‘(E) recommendations on whether the pro4 gram should be expanded to more airports. 

5 ‘‘(d) MODEL PORTS OF ENTRY GRANT PROGRAM.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

7 after the date of the enactment of the INVITE Act 

8 of 2014, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

9 establish the Model Ports of Entry Grant Program 

10 to award, on a competitive basis, up to 10 grants of 

11 an amount deemed appropriate by the Commissioner 

12 to airports designated by the Commissioner of U.S. 

13 Customs and Border Protection to establish public14 private sector collaboration to improve the inter15 national arrival process at United States airports. 

16 ‘‘(2) SOURCE OF FUNDING.—The funding for 

17 the grant program established under this subsection 

18 shall come from the operating budget of U.S. Cus19 toms and Border Protection. 

20 ‘‘(3) MATCHING GRANT.—The Secretary may 

21 not make a grant to an airport under this subsection 

22 unless the airport agrees to match the grant funding 

23 with an equal amount of non-Federal funds. 

24 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants received under 

25 the subsection— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall be used to improve the grantee’s 

2 international passenger processing facility in ac3 cordance with the objectives of the Model Ports 

4 of Entry Program through activities such as— 

5 ‘‘(i) the installation of informational 

6 television monitors; 

7 ‘‘(ii) improvements to queue manage8 ment; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the use of technology that will 

10 improve the entry process; 

11 ‘‘(B) shall be used to provide a more effi12 cient and welcoming international arrival proc13 ess to facilitate and promote business and tour14 ist travel to the United States; and 

15 ‘‘(C) may not be used to replace funding 

16 for airport improvement projects paid for 

17 with— 

18 ‘‘(i) passenger facility charges author19 ized under section 40117 of title 49, 

20 United States Code; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) grants received through the Air22 port Improvement Program under sub23 chapter I of chapter 471 of such title 49. 

24 ‘‘(5) WORKING GROUPS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Grantees shall es2 tablish public-private partnership working 

3 groups with U.S. Customs and Border Protec4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(B) OTHER MEMBERS.—Working groups 

6 established under this paragraph may include 

7 representatives of the travel and tourism indus8 try, including— 

9 ‘‘(i) the air passenger sector; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the hotel sector; 

11 ‘‘(iii) the theme park sector; 

12 ‘‘(iv) the rental car sector 

13 ‘‘(v) the tour operator sector; 

14 ‘‘(vi) the travel distribution sector; 

15 ‘‘(vii) the retail sector; 

16 ‘‘(viii) the State tourism authority; 

17 ‘‘(ix) the local convention and visitors 

18 authority; 

19 ‘‘(x) local cultural interest groups; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(xi) the event management sector. 

22 ‘‘(C) COLLABORATION.—The working 

23 groups established under this paragraph shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) support ongoing collaborative ef2 forts to share best practices for improving 

3 the international arrivals process; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) provide recommendations for 

5 overall facility design enhancements and 

6 the integration of public and cultural art 

7 into port of entry facilities at United 

8 States airports. 

9 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

10 ACT.—The provisions of the Federal Advisory 

11 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 

12 to working groups established under this para13 graph. 

14 ‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATION AND SELECTION CRI15 TERIA.—The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 

16 Border Protection shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) administer the Model Ports of Entry 

18 Grant Program; and 

19 ‘‘(B) establish the criteria for selecting 

20 grantees. 

21 ‘‘(7) METRICS.—The Commissioner of U.S. 

22 Customs and Border Protection shall establish 

23 metrics to determine the effectiveness of the Model 

24 Ports of Entry Grant Program.’’. 


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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall sub3 mit a report to the appropriate congressional committees 

4 that includes— 

5 (1) a description of the status of the Model 

6 Ports of Entry Grant Program; 

7 (2) a description of the metrics U.S. Customs 

8 and Border Protection will use to measure the effec9 tiveness of the Model Ports of Entry Grant Pro10 gram; 

11 (3) an analysis comparing the results of the 

12 Model Ports of Entry Grant Program with the 

13 metrics established pursuant to section 725(d)(6) of 

14 the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 

15 Commission Act of 2007, as added by subsection 

16 (a)(3); 

17 (4) recommendations on whether the Model 

18 Ports of Entry Grant Program should be made 

19 available on a competitive basis to additional air20 ports; and 

21 (5) a description of the improvements the Com22 missioner intends to make to the Model Ports of 

23 Entry Grant Program. 


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1 SEC. 6. U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION WAIT 

2 TIME METRICS. 

3 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there5 after, the Commissioner shall submit a report to the ap6 propriate congressional committees that— 

7 (1) includes data on average passenger wait 

8 times and peak wait times for each month at each 

9 port of entry; 

10 (2) provides an analysis of the performance of 

11 U.S. Customs and Border Protection against the 

12 metrics developed pursuant to section 571(a) of the 

13 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations 

14 Act, 2014 (division F of Public Law 113–76); and 

15 (3) provides an update on the development and 

16 implementation of operational work plans that sup17 port the goal of reducing passenger processing times 

18 at air, land, and sea ports of entry in accordance 

19 with section 571(b) of such Act. 

20 (b) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF WAIT TIMES.—The 

21 Commissioner shall— 

22 (1) prominently post the latest information on 

23 wait times for processing arriving international pas24 sengers at United States airports and land ports of 

25 entry on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 


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1 website so that such information is easily accessible 

2 to website visitors; and 

3 (2) continuously update the information de4 scribed in paragraph (1) during the hours in which 

5 the air and land ports are open and receiving cus6 tomers. 

7 SEC. 7. REPORT ON EFFORTS TO LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY 

8 IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS PROCESS. 

9 Not later than 1 year after date of the enactment 

10 of this Act, the Commissioner shall submit a report to 

11 Congress that— 

12 (1) describes efforts to develop new technologies 

13 and procedures to improve the passenger screening 

14 process at United States ports of entry; 

15 (2) lists the Department of Homeland Security 

16 components for which each technology is being devel17 oped; and 

18 (3) identifies methods for more effectively proc19 essing inbound international travelers to the United 

20 States while strengthening security. 

21 SEC. 8. INCREASING THE TRANSPARENCY OF DEPARTMENT 

22 OF HOMELAND SECURITY CUSTOMER SERV23 ICE ENHANCEMENTS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu25 rity shall collect and analyze traveler feedback— 


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1 (1) to develop customer service best practices 

2 across all relevant component agencies; 

3 (2) to ensure a welcoming environment; and 

4 (3) to improve the image of the United States 

5 around the world. 

6 (b) USE OF TRAVELER FEEDBACK.—The Secretary 

7 of Homeland Security shall— 

8 (1) coordinate the collection of all traveler feed9 back across all relevant component agencies to im10 prove the transparency of customer service enhance11 ments; 

12 (2) publicly report the feedback described in 

13 paragraph (1) on a quarterly basis; and 

14 (3) analyze and utilize such feedback to develop 

15 customer service best practices throughout the De16 partment of Homeland Security, which shall include 

17 cultural sensitivity and diversity training. 

18 (c) MONTHLY REPORT.—The Secretary of Homeland 

19 Security shall report all U.S. Customs and Border Protec20 tion traveler feedback to the Department of Transpor21 tation for publication in its monthly Air Travel Consumer 

22 Report. 

23 (d) INFO CENTER STAFFING.—The Commissioner 

24 shall ensure that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 


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1 INFO Center is adequately staffed in order to limit caller 

2 wait times to shorter than 10 minutes. 

Æ 


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