II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 853 

To direct the Secretary of State to establish a program to bolster the mutual 

security and safety of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2005 

Mr. LUGAR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of State to establish a program 

to bolster the mutual security and safety of the United 

States, Canada, and Mexico, 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 ‘‘North American Coop5 erative Security Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NORTH AMERICAN SECURITY INITIATIVE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall en8 hance the mutual security and safety of the United States, 

9 Canada, and Mexico by providing a framework for better 
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1 management, communication, and coordination between 

2 the Governments of North America. 

3 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—In implementing the provi4 sions of this Act, the Secretary of State shall carry out 

5 all of the activities described in this Act. 

6 SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION ON 

7 NORTH AMERICAN SECURITY. 

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

9 of enactment of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, 

10 the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary 

11 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Defense, each 

12 responsible for their pertinent areas of jurisdiction, shall 

13 submit a joint report, to the congressional committees list14 ed under subsection (b) that contains a description of the 

15 efforts to carry out this section and sections 4 through 

16 7. 

17 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

18 DEFINED.—The congressional committees listed under 

19 this subsection are— 

20 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

21 Senate; 

22 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

23 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

24 (3) the Committee on International Relations of 

25 the House of Representatives; 
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1 (4) the Select Committee on Homeland Security 

2 of the House of Representatives; 

3 (5) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

4 Senate; and 

5 (6) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

7 (c) CONTENTS.—A report submitted under sub8 section (a) shall contain a description of each of the fol9 lowing: 

10 (1) SECURITY AND THE MOVEMENT OF

11 GOODS.—The progress of the development and ex12 pansion of public-private partnerships to secure the 

13 supply chain of goods coming into North America 

14 and expedite the movement of low-risk goods, includ15 ing the status of— 

16 (A) the Fast and Secure Trade program 

17 (referred to in this subsection as ‘‘FAST’’) at 

18 major crossings, and the progress made in im19 plementing the Fast and Secure Trade program 

20 at all remaining commercial crossings between 

21 Canada and the United States; 

22 (B) marketing programs to promote enroll23 ment in FAST; 

24 (C) finding ways and means of increasing 

25 participation in FAST; and 
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1 (D) the implementation of FAST at the 

2 international border between Mexico and the 

3 United States. 

4 (2) CARGO SECURITY AND MOVEMENT OF

5 GOODS.—The progress made in developing and im6 plementing a North American cargo security strat7 egy that creates a common security perimeter by en8 hancing technical assistance for programs and sys9 tems to support advance reporting and risk manage10 ment of cargo data, improved integrity measures 

11 through automated collection of fees, and advance 

12 technology to rapidly screen cargo. 

13 (3) BORDER WAIT TIMES.—The progress made 

14 by the Secretary of State, in consultation with na15 tional, provincial, and municipal governments, to— 

16 (A) reduce waiting times at international 

17 border crossings through low-risk land ports of 

18 entry facilitating programs, including the status 

19 of the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers 

20 Rapid Inspection program (referred to in this 

21 section as ‘‘SENTRI’’) and the NEXUS pro22 gram; 

23 (B) measure and report wait times for 

24 commercial and non-commercial traffic at the 

25 land ports, and establish compatible perform-
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1 ance standards for operating under normal se2 curity alert conditions; and 

3 (C) identify, develop, and deploy new tech4 nologies to— 

5 (i) further advance the shared security 

6 goals of Canada, Mexico, and the United 

7 States; and 

8 (ii) promote the legitimate flow of 

9 both people and goods across international 

10 borders. 

11 (4) BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE.—Efforts to 

12 pursue joint investments in and protection of border 

13 infrastructure, including— 

14 (A) priority ports of entry; 

15 (B) plans to expand dedicated lanes and 

16 approaches and improve border infrastructure 

17 in order to meet the objectives of FAST; 

18 (C) the development of a strategic plan for 

19 expanding the number of dedicated FAST lanes 

20 at major crossings at the international border 

21 between Mexico and the United States; and 

22 (D) an inventory of border transportation 

23 infrastructure in major transportation cor24 ridors. 
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1 (5) SECURITY CLEARANCES AND DOCUMENT IN2 TEGRITY.—The development of more common or 

3 otherwise equivalent enrollment, security, technical, 

4 and biometric standards for the issuance, authen5 tication, validation, and repudiation of secure docu6 ments, including— 

7 (A) technical and biometric standards 

8 based on best practices and consistent with 

9 international standards for the issuance, au10 thentication, validation, and repudiation of trav11 el documents, including— 

12 (i) passports; 

13 (ii) visas; and 

14 (iii) permanent resident cards; 

15 (B) working with the Governments of Can16 ada and Mexico to encourage foreign govern17 ments to enact laws controlling alien smuggling 

18 and trafficking, use, and manufacture of fraud19 ulent travel documents and information shar20 ing; 

21 (C) applying the necessary pressures and 

22 support to ensure that other countries meet 

23 proper travel document standards and are 

24 equally committed to travel document 
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1 verification before transit to other countries, in2 cluding the United States; and 

3 (D) providing technical assistance for the 

4 development and maintenance of a national 

5 database built upon identified best practices for 

6 biometrics associated with visa and travel docu7 ments. 

8 (6) IMMIGRATION AND VISA MANAGEMENT.— 

9 The progress on efforts to share information on 

10 high-risk individuals that might attempt to travel to 

11 Canada, Mexico, or the United States, including— 

12 (A) immigration lookout data on high risk 

13 individuals by implementing the Statement of 

14 Mutual Understanding on Information Sharing, 

15 which was signed by Canada and the United 

16 States in February 2003; and 

17 (B) immigration fraud trends and analysis, 

18 including asylum and document fraud. 

19 (7) VISA POLICY COORDINATION AND IMMIGRA20 TION SECURITY.—The progress made by the Govern21 ments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States to 

22 enhance North American security by cooperating on 

23 visa policy and identifying best practices regarding 

24 immigration security, including— 
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1 (A) enhancing consultation among visa 

2 issuing officials at consulates or embassies of 

3 Canada, Mexico, and the United States 

4 throughout the world to share information, 

5 trends, and best practices on visa flows; 

6 (B) comparing the procedures and policies 

7 of Canada and the United States related to vis8 itor visa processing, including— 

9 (i) application process; 

10 (ii) interview policy; 

11 (iii) general screening procedures; 

12 (iv) visa validity; 

13 (v) quality control measures; and 

14 (vi) access to appeal or review; 

15 (C) converging the list of ‘‘visa waiver’’ 

16 countries; 

17 (D) providing technical assistance for the 

18 development and maintenance of a national 

19 database built upon identified best practices for 

20 biometrics associated with immigration viola21 tors; 

22 (E) developing and implementing a North 

23 American immigration security strategy that 

24 works toward the development of a common se25 curity perimeter by enhancing technical assist-
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1 ance for programs and systems to support ad2 vance automated reporting and risk targeting of 

3 international passengers; 

4 (F) the progress made toward sharing in5 formation on lost and stolen passports on a 

6 real-time basis among immigration or law en7 forcement officials of the Governments of Can8 ada, Mexico, and the United States; and 

9 (G) the progress made by the Department 

10 of State in collecting 10 fingerprints from all 

11 visa applicants. 

12 (8) NORTH AMERICAN VISITOR OVERSTAY PRO13 GRAM.—The progress made to implement parallel 

14 entry-exit tracking systems between Canada and the 

15 United States— 

16 (A) to share information on third country 

17 nationals who have overstayed in either country; 

18 and 

19 (B) that respect the privacy laws of each 

20 country. 

21 (9) TERRORIST WATCH LISTS.—The progress 

22 made to enhance capacity of the United States to 

23 combat terrorism through the coordination of 

24 counterterrorism efforts, including— 
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1 (A) bilateral agreements between Canada 

2 and the United States and between Mexico and 

3 the United States to govern the sharing of ter4 rorist watch list data and to comprehensively 

5 enumerate the uses of such data by the govern6 ments of each country; 

7 (B) establishing appropriate linkages be8 tween Canada, Mexico, and the United States 

9 Terrorist Screening Center; and 

10 (C) working to explore with foreign govern11 ments the establishment of a multilateral watch 

12 list mechanism that would facilitate direct co13 ordination between the country that identifies 

14 an individual as an individual included on a 

15 watch list, and the country that owns such list, 

16 including procedures that satisfy the security 

17 concerns and are consistent with the privacy 

18 and other laws of each participating country. 

19 (10) MONEY LAUNDERING, INCOME TAX EVA20 SION, CURRENCY SMUGGLING, AND ALIEN SMUG21 GLING.—The progress made to improve information 

22 sharing and law enforcement cooperation in orga23 nized crime, including— 

24 (A) information sharing and law enforce25 ment cooperation, especially in areas of cur-
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1 rency smuggling, money laundering, alien 

2 smuggling and trafficking in alcohol, firearms, 

3 and explosives; 

4 (B) implementing the Canada-United 

5 States Firearms Trafficking Action Plan; 

6 (C) the feasibility of formulating a fire7 arms trafficking action plan between Mexico 

8 and the United States; 

9 (D) developing a joint threat assessment 

10 on organized crime between Canada and the 

11 United States; 

12 (E) the feasibility of formulating a joint 

13 threat assessment on organized crime between 

14 Mexico and the United States; 

15 (F) developing mechanisms to exchange in16 formation on findings, seizures, and capture of 

17 individuals transporting undeclared currency; 

18 and 

19 (G) developing and implementing a plan to 

20 combat the transnational threat of illegal drug 

21 trafficking. 

22 (11) COUNTERTERRORISM PROGRAMS.—En23 hancements to counterterrorism coordination, includ24 ing— 
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1 (A) reviewing existing counterterrorism ef2 forts and coordination to maximize effective3 ness; and 

4 (B) identifying best practices regarding the 

5 sharing of information and intelligence. 

6 (12) LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION.—The 

7 enhancement of law enforcement cooperation 

8 through enhanced technical assistance for the devel9 opment and maintenance of a national database 

10 built upon identified best practices for biometrics as11 sociated with known and suspected criminals or ter12 rorists, including— 

13 (A) exploring the formation of law enforce14 ment teams that include personnel from the 

15 United States and Mexico, and appropriate pro16 cedures from such teams; and 

17 (B) assessing the threat and risk of the St. 

18 Lawrence Seaway System and the Great Lakes 

19 and developing appropriate marine enforcement 

20 programs based on the integrated border team 

21 framework. 

22 (13) BIOSECURITY COOPERATION.—The 

23 progress made to increase and promote cooperation 

24 in the analysis and assessments of intentional 

25 threats to biosecurity, including naturally occurring 
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1 threats, as well as in the United States prevention 

2 and response capacity and plans to respond to these 

3 threats, including— 

4 (A) mapping relationships among key reg5 ulatory and border officials to ensure effective 

6 cooperation in planning and responding to a 

7 biosecurity threat; and 

8 (B) working jointly in support of the Pub9 lic Health Security and Bioterrorism Prepared10 ness and Response Act of 2002 (Public Law 

11 107–188; 116 Stat. 594) to develop a regime 

12 that employs a risk management approach to 

13 the movement of foods and food products in our 

14 countries and across our shared border, and 

15 which builds upon and harmonizes with customs 

16 processes. 

17 (14) PROTECTION AGAINST NUCLEAR AND RA18 DIOLOGICAL THREATS.—The progress made to in19 crease cooperation to prevent nuclear and radio20 logical smuggling, including— 

21 (A) identifying opportunities to increase 

22 cooperation to prevent smuggling of nuclear or 

23 radioactive materials, including improving ex24 port controls for all materials identified on the 
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1 high-risk sources list maintained by the Inter2 national Atomic Energy Agency; 

3 (B) working collectively with other coun4 tries to install radiation detection equipment at 

5 foreign land crossings to examine cargo des6 tined for North America; 

7 (C) enhancing border controls through ef8 fective technical cooperation and other forms of 

9 cooperation to— 

10 (i) prevent the smuggling of radio11 logical materials; and 

12 (ii) examine related next-generation 

13 equipment; 

14 (D) enhancing physical protection of nu15 clear facilities in North America through effec16 tive technical and other forms of cooperation; 

17 and 

18 (E) developing a program on physical pro19 tection for Mexican nuclear installations that 

20 increases the level of the ‘‘nuclear security cul21 ture’’ of those responsible for the physical pro22 tection of nuclear installations and transport of 

23 nuclear material. 

24 (15) EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COOPERA25 TION.—The progress made regarding the appro-
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1 priate coordination of our systems and planning and 

2 operational standards for emergency management, 

3 including the development of an interoperable com4 munications system or the appropriate coordination 

5 of existing systems for Canada, Mexico, and the 

6 United States for cross-border incident management. 

7 (16) COOPERATIVE ENERGY POLICY.—The 

8 progress of efforts to— 

9 (A) increase reliable energy supplies for 

10 the region’s needs and development; 

11 (B) streamline and update regulations con12 cerning energy; 

13 (C) promote energy efficiency, conserva14 tion, and technologies; 

15 (D) work with the Governments of Canada 

16 and Mexico to develop a North American en17 ergy alliance to bolster our collective security by 

18 increased reliance on North American energy 

19 sources; and 

20 (E) work with the Government of Mexico 

21 to— 

22 (i) increase Mexico’s crude oil and 

23 natural gas production by obtaining the 

24 technology and financial resources needed 

25 by Mexico for energy sector development; 
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1 (ii) attract sufficient private direct in2 vestment in the upstream sector, within its 

3 constitutional framework, to foster the de4 velopment of additional crude oil and nat5 ural gas production; and 

6 (iii) attract the private direct invest7 ment in the downstream sector, within its 

8 domestic legal framework, to foster the de9 velopment of additional domestic refining 

10 capacity to reduce costs for consumers and 

11 to move Mexico toward self-sufficiency in 

12 meeting its domestic energy needs. 

13 (17) FEASIBILITY OF COMMON EXTERNAL TAR14 IFF AND DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO THE ECON15 OMY OF MEXICO.—The progress of efforts to deter16 mine the feasibility of— 

17 (A) harmonizing external tariffs on a sec18 tor-by-sector basis to the lowest prevailing rate 

19 consistent with multilateral obligations, with the 

20 goal of creating a long-term common external 

21 tariff; 

22 (B) accelerating and expanding the imple23 mentation of existing ‘‘smart border’’ actions 

24 plans to facilitate intra-North American travel 

25 and commerce; 
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1 (C) working with Mexican authorities to 

2 devise a set of policies designed to stimulate the 

3 Mexican economy that— 

4 (i) attracts investment; 

5 (ii) stimulates growth; and 

6 (iii) commands broad public support 

7 and provides for Mexicans to find jobs in 

8 Mexico; and 

9 (D) working to support the development of 

10 Mexican industries, job growth, and appropriate 

11 improvements to social services. 

12 SEC. 4. INFORMATION SHARING AGREEMENTS. 

13 The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Sec14 retary of Homeland Security and the Government of Mex15 ico, is authorized to negotiate an agreement with Mexico 

16 to— 

17 (1) cooperate in impeding the ability of third 

18 country nationals from using Mexico as a transit 

19 corridor for unauthorized entry into the United 

20 States; and 

21 (2) provide technical assistance to support 

22 stronger immigration control at the border with 

23 Mexico. 
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1 SEC. 5. IMPROVING THE SECURITY OF MEXICO’S SOUTH2 ERN BORDER. 

3 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

4 State, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Se5 curity, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, and 

6 the Government of Mexico, shall establish a program to— 

7 (1) assess the specific needs of Guatemala and 

8 Belize in maintaining the security of the borders of 

9 such countries; 

10 (2) use the assessment made under paragraph 

11 (1) to determine the financial and technical support 

12 needed by Guatemala and Belize from Canada, Mex13 ico, and the United States to meet such needs; 

14 (3) provide technical assistance to Guatemala 

15 and Belize to secure issuance of passports and travel 

16 documents by such countries; and 

17 (4) encourage Guatemala and Belize to— 

18 (A) control alien smuggling and traf19 ficking; 

20 (B) prevent the use and manufacture of 

21 fraudulent travel documents; and 

22 (C) share relevant information with Mex23 ico, Canada, and the United States. 

24 (b) IMMIGRATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se25 curity, in consultation with the Secretary of State and ap26 propriate officials of the Governments of Guatemala and 
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1 Belize, shall provide robust law enforcement assistance to 

2 Guatemala and Belize that specifically addresses migra3 tory issues to increase the ability of the Government of 

4 Guatemala to dismantle human smuggling organizations 

5 and gain tighter control over the border. 

6 (c) BORDER SECURITY BETWEEN MEXICO AND GUA7 TEMALA OR BELIZE.—The Secretary of State, in consulta8 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Govern9 ment of Mexico, and appropriate officials of the Govern10 ments of Guatemala, Belize, and neighboring contiguous 

11 countries, shall establish a program to provide needed 

12 equipment, technical assistance, and vehicles to manage, 

13 regulate, and patrol the international border between Mex14 ico and Guatemala and between Mexico and Belize. 

15 (d) TRACKING CENTRAL AMERICAN GANGS.—The 

16 Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of 

17 Homeland Security, the Director of the Federal Bureau 

18 of Investigation, the Government of Mexico, and appro19 priate officials of the Governments of Guatemala, Belize, 

20 and other Central American countries, shall— 

21 (1) assess the direct and indirect impact on the 

22 United States and Central America on deporting vio23 lent criminal aliens; 
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1 (2) establish a program and database to track 

2 Central American gang activities, focusing on the 

3 identification of returning criminal deportees; 

4 (3) devise an agreed-upon mechanism for notifi5 cation applied prior to deportation and for support 

6 for reintegration of these deportees; and 

7 (4) devise an agreement to share all relevant in8 formation with the appropriate agencies of Mexico 

9 and other Central American countries. 

10 (e) AERIAL INTERDICTION OF NARCOTRAFFICKING

11 THROUGH CENTRAL AMERICA AND PANAMA.—The Sec12 retary of State shall examine the feasibility of entering 

13 into an agreement with Panama and the other countries 

14 of Central America regarding the aerial interdiction pro15 gram commonly known as ‘‘Airbridge Denial’’. 

16 SEC. 6. NORTH AMERICAN DEFENSE INSTITUTIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in con18 sultation with the Secretary of State, shall examine the 

19 feasibility of— 

20 (1) strengthening institutions for consultations 

21 on defense issues among the United States, Mexico, 

22 and Canada, specifically through— 

23 (A) the Joint Interagency Task Force 

24 South; 
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1 (B) the Permanent Joint Board on De2 fense; 

3 (C) joint-staff talks; and 

4 (D) senior Army border talks; 

5 (2) proposing mechanisms to reach agreements 

6 with the Government of Canada or Mexico regarding 

7 contingency plans for responding to threats along 

8 the international borders of the United States; 

9 (3) in consultation with the Governments of 

10 Canada and Mexico, and with input from the United 

11 States Northern Command— 

12 (A) developing bilateral and trilateral capa13 bilities and coordination mechanisms to address 

14 common threats along shared borders; and 

15 (B) work together to clearly define the 

16 term ‘‘threats’’ to only encompass military or 

17 defense-related threats, rather than other 

18 threats to homeland security; 

19 (4) offering technical support to willing regional 

20 parties to maintain air space security, including con21 sultation mechanisms with the Joint Interagency 

22 Task Force and the North American Aerospace De23 fense Command, to improve security in the North 

24 American and Central American space; and 
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1 (5) proposing mechanisms to strengthen com2 munication information and intelligence sharing on 

3 defense issues among the United States, Mexico, and 

4 Canada. 

5 SEC. 7. REPATRIATION. 

6 The Secretary of State shall— 

7 (1) apply the necessary pressure on, and nego8 tiate with, other countries to accept the Inter9 national Civil Aviation Organization Annex 9 one10 time travel document provided by the United States 

11 in lieu of official travel documents if an inadmissible 

12 immigrant has not presented official travel docu13 ments or has presented fraudulent ones; and 

14 (2) provide the proper support and inter15 national pressure necessary to facilitate the removal 

16 of inadmissible aliens from the United States and 

17 their repatriation in, or reinstatement by, a respon18 sible country, with a focus on criminal aliens that 

19 are deemed particularly dangerous or potential ter20 rorists. 

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