I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 163 

To authorize certain appropriations for certain fiscal years for Operation 

Stonegarden, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize certain appropriations for certain fiscal years 

for Operation Stonegarden, 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 ‘‘Security First Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. OPERATION STONEGARDEN APPROPRIATIONS AND 

6 TRUST FUND. 

7 (a) CERTAIN APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized 

8 to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

9 2027 $180,000,000 for the Operation Stonegarden grant 


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1 program, and not less than $60,000,000 for each of fiscal 

2 years 2024 through 2027 to procure technology and equip3 ment, including communications equipment, sensors, and 

4 drone technology. 

5 (b) OPERATION STONEGARDEN TRUST FUND.— 

6 (1) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is es7 tablished in the Treasury of the United States a 

8 trust fund to be known as the ‘‘Operation 

9 Stonegarden Trust Fund’’ (referred to in this sec10 tion as the ‘‘Trust Fund’’), consisting of amounts 

11 transferred to the Trust Fund under paragraph (2). 

12 (2) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUND.—The Sec13 retary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Trust 

14 Fund, from the general fund of the Treasury, for 

15 fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter until 

16 2027, an amount equivalent to the amount received 

17 into the general fund during that fiscal year attrib18 utable to unreported monetary instruments seized by 

19 U.S. Customs and Border Protection from individ20 uals crossing the United States and Mexico border. 

21 (3) USE OF TRUST FUND.—Amounts in the 

22 Trust Fund shall be made available to the Secretary 

23 of Homeland Security, without further appropria24 tion, to fund the Operation Stonegarden grant pro25 gram. 


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1 (4) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may only ex2 pend funds made available from the Trust Fund to 

3 carry out the activity described in paragraph (3). 

4 (5) MONETARY INSTRUMENT.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

6 subparagraph (B), a monetary instrument 

7 means— 

8 (i) coin or currency of the United 

9 States or of any other country; 

10 (ii) traveler’s checks in any form; 

11 (iii) negotiable instruments, including 

12 checks, promissory notes, and money or13 ders in bearer form, endorsed without re14 striction, made out to a fictitious payee, or 

15 otherwise in such form that title thereto 

16 passes upon delivery; 

17 (iv) incomplete instruments, including 

18 checks, promissory notes, and money or19 ders that are signed but on which the 

20 name of the payee has been omitted; and 

21 (v) securities or stock in bearer form 

22 or otherwise in such form that title thereto 

23 passes upon delivery. 


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1 (B) EXCEPTION.—A monetary instrument 

2 referred to in subparagraph (A) does not in3 clude— 

4 (i) checks or money orders made pay5 able to the order of a named person which 

6 have not been endorsed or which bear re7 strictive endorsements; 

8 (ii) warehouse receipts; or 

9 (iii) bills of lading. 

10 SEC. 3. REPORT RELATING TO HIRING PRACTICES OF THE 

11 DEPARTMENT FROM 2018 TO 2021. 

12 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

14 to the appropriate congressional committees a report relat15 ing to the hiring practices of the Department that in16 cludes— 

17 (1) information relating to the recruiting prac18 tices of the Department from 2018 to 2021; and 

19 (2) recommendations with respect to improving 

20 the operational capacity of the Department work21 force. 

22 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT24 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

3 House of Representatives; and 

4 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

5 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee 

6 on Appropriations of the Senate. 

7 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

8 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

9 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

11 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AS TER12 RORIST ORGANIZATIONS. 

13 (a) REPORT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com17 mittees a report on whether Mexican drug cartels 

18 meet the criteria for designation as foreign terrorist 

19 organizations. 

20 (2) MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS DESCRIBED.—The 

21 Mexican drug cartels described in this paragraph are 

22 each of the following: 

23 (A) Jalisco New Generation Cartel. 

24 (B) Sinaloa Cartel. 

25 (C) Juarez Cartel. 


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1 (D) Tijuana Cartel. 

2 (E) Gulf Cartel. 

3 (F) Los Zetas. 

4 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

9 the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

10 House of Representatives; and 

11 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

12 and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

13 Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

14 (2) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.—The 

15 term ‘‘foreign terrorist organization’’ has the mean16 ing given the term in section 219 of the Immigration 

17 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189). 

18 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of State. 

20 SEC. 5. SOUTHERN BORDER TECHNOLOGY NEEDS ANAL21 YSIS AND UPDATES. 

22 (a) TECHNOLOGY NEEDS ANALYSIS.—Not later than 

23 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

24 Secretary shall submit, to the appropriate congressional 


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1 committees, a technology needs analysis for border secu2 rity technology along the Southwest border. 

3 (b) CONTENTS.—The analysis required under sub4 section (a) shall include an assessment of— 

5 (1) the technology needs and gaps along the 

6 Southwest border— 

7 (A) to prevent terrorists and instruments 

8 of terror from entering the United States; 

9 (B) to combat and reduce cross-border 

10 criminal activity, including, but not limited to— 

11 (i) the transport of illegal goods, such 

12 as illicit drugs; and 

13 (ii) human smuggling and human 

14 trafficking; and 

15 (C) to facilitate the flow of legal trade 

16 across the Southwest border; 

17 (2) recent technological advancements in— 

18 (A) manned aircraft sensor, communica19 tion, and common operating picture technology; 

20 (B) unmanned aerial systems and related 

21 technology, including counter-unmanned aerial 

22 system technology; 

23 (C) surveillance technology, including— 

24 (i) mobile surveillance vehicles; 


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1 (ii) associated electronics, including 

2 cameras, sensor technology, and radar; 

3 (iii) tower-based surveillance tech4 nology; 

5 (iv) advanced unattended surveillance 

6 sensors; and 

7 (v) deployable, lighter-than-air, 

8 ground surveillance equipment; 

9 (D) nonintrusive inspection technology, in10 cluding non-X-ray devices utilizing muon to11 mography and other advanced detection tech12 nology; 

13 (E) tunnel detection technology; and 

14 (F) communications equipment, includ15 ing— 

16 (i) radios; 

17 (ii) long-term evolution broadband; 

18 and 

19 (iii) miniature satellites; 

20 (3) any other technological advancements that 

21 the Secretary determines to be critical to the De22 partment’s mission along the Southwest border; 

23 (4) whether the use of the technological ad24 vances described in paragraphs (2) and (3) will— 

25 (A) improve border security; 


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1 (B) improve the capability of the Depart2 ment to accomplish its mission along the South3 west border; 

4 (C) reduce technology gaps along the 

5 Southwest border; and 

6 (D) enhance the safety of any officer or 

7 agent of the Department or any other Federal 

8 agency; 

9 (5) the Department’s ongoing border security 

10 technology development efforts, including efforts 

11 by— 

12 (A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 

13 (B) the Science and Technology Direc14 torate; and 

15 (C) the technology assessment office of any 

16 other operational component; 

17 (6) the technology needs for improving border 

18 security, such as— 

19 (A) information technology or other com20 puter or computing systems data capture; 

21 (B) biometrics; 

22 (C) cloud storage; and 

23 (D) intelligence data sharing capabilities 

24 among agencies within the Department; 


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1 (7) any other technological needs or factors, in2 cluding border security infrastructure, such as phys3 ical barriers or dual-purpose infrastructure, that the 

4 Secretary determines should be considered; and 

5 (8) currently deployed technology or new tech6 nology that would improve the Department’s abil7 ity— 

8 (A) to reasonably achieve operational con9 trol and situational awareness along the South10 west border; and 

11 (B) to collect metrics for securing the bor12 der at and between ports of entry, as required 

13 under subsections (b) and (c) of section 1092 of 

14 division A of the National Defense Authoriza15 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (6 U.S.C. 223). 

16 (c) UPDATES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

18 the submission of the analysis required under sub19 section (a), and biannually thereafter for the fol20 lowing 4 years, the Secretary shall submit an update 

21 to such analysis to the appropriate congressional 

22 committees. 

23 (2) CONTENTS.—Each update required under 

24 paragraph (1) shall include a plan for utilizing the 

25 resources of the Department to meet the border seVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H163.IH H163

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1 curity technology needs and gaps identified pursuant 

2 to subsection (b), including developing or acquiring 

3 technologies not currently in use by the Department 

4 that would allow the Department to bridge existing 

5 border technology gaps along the Southwest border. 

6 (d) ITEMS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In compiling the 

7 technology needs analysis and updates required under this 

8 section, the Secretary shall consider and examine— 

9 (1) technology that is deployed and is sufficient 

10 for the Department’s use along the Southwest bor11 der; 

12 (2) technology that is deployed, but is insuffi13 cient for the Department’s use along the Southwest 

14 border; 

15 (3) technology that is not deployed, but is nec16 essary for the Department’s use along the Southwest 

17 border; 

18 (4) current formal departmental requirements 

19 documentation examining current border security 

20 threats and challenges faced by any component of 

21 the Department; 

22 (5) trends and forecasts regarding migration 

23 across the Southwest border; 

24 (6) the impact on projected staffing and deploy25 ment needs for the Department, including staffing 


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1 needs that may be fulfilled through the use of tech2 nology; 

3 (7) the needs and challenges faced by employees 

4 of the Department who are deployed along the 

5 Southwest border; 

6 (8) the need to improve cooperation among 

7 Federal, State, Tribal, local, and Mexican law en8 forcement entities to enhance security along the 

9 Southwest border; 

10 (9) the privacy implications of existing tech11 nology and the acquisition and deployment of new 

12 technologies and supporting infrastructure, with an 

13 emphasis on how privacy risks might be mitigated 

14 through the use of technology, training, and policy; 

15 (10) the impact of any ongoing public health 

16 emergency that impacts Department operations 

17 along the Southwest border; and 

18 (11) the ability of, and the needs for, the De19 partment to assist with search and rescue efforts for 

20 individuals or groups that may be in physical danger 

21 or in need of medical assistance. 

22 (e) FORM.—To the extent possible, the Secretary 

23 shall submit the technology needs analysis and updates re24 quired under this section in unclassified form, but may 

25 submit such documents, or portions of such documents, 


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1 in classified form if the Secretary determines that such 

2 action is appropriate. 

3 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT5 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means— 

7 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

8 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

9 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

10 of the House of Representatives. 

11 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

12 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

13 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

15 (4) SOUTHWEST BORDER.—The term ‘‘South16 west border’’ means the international land border 

17 between the United States and Mexico, including the 

18 ports of entry along such border. 

Æ 


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