I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2463 

To provide for the next generation of border and maritime security 

technologies. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 8, 2011 

Mr. HALL (for himself, Mr. QUAYLE, Mr. WU, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. SMITH of 

Texas, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. BENISHEK, Mr. BARTON of Texas, 

Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, and Mrs. BIGGERT) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 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 provide for the next generation of border and maritime 

security technologies. 

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 ‘‘Border Security Tech5 nology Innovation Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SOURCE OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 Appropriations for carrying out this Act and the 

3 amendments made by this Act shall be derived from au4 thorizations of appropriations under the Homeland Secu5 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.). 

6 SEC. 3. ENSURING RESEARCH ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPART7 MENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INCLUDE AP8 PROPRIATE CONCEPTS OF OPERATION. 

9 The Under Secretary for Science and Technology of 

10 the Department of Homeland Security (in this Act re11 ferred to as the ‘‘Under Secretary’’) shall ensure that any 

12 Federal Government interagency or intra-agency agree13 ment entered into by the Under Secretary to develop and 

14 transition new technology explicitly characterizes the re15 quirements, expected use, and concept of operations for 

16 that technology, including— 

17 (1) the manpower needed to effectively operate 

18 the technology; 

19 (2) the expected training requirements; and 

20 (3) the expected operations and maintenance 

21 costs. 


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1 SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

2 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COM3 MITTEE. 

4 Section 311(j) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

5 (6 U.S.C. 191(j)) is amended by striking ‘‘on December 

6 31, 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘on December 31, 2014’’. 

7 SEC. 5. REPORT ON BASIC RESEARCH NEEDS FOR BORDER/ 

8 MARITIME SECURITY. 

9 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Comptroller General shall as10 sess the basic science research needs in the border and 

11 maritime security domain. The assessment shall include 

12 consideration of the need for research on— 

13 (1) detection, tracking, and identification tech14 nologies for cargo and people; 

15 (2) personal protective equipment; 

16 (3) document security and authentication tech17 nologies; 

18 (4) nonradiological advanced screening tech19 nologies at ports of entry; and 

20 (5) technologies for real time tactical scene 

21 awareness. 

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

23 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

24 transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech25 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 


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1 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

2 a report on the assessment under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 6. INCORPORATING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES 

4 INTO BORDER/MARITIME AIRSPACE. 

5 (a) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—Using 

6 amounts made available under section 307 of the Home7 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 187), the Secretary 

8 of Homeland Security and the Director of the Joint Plan9 ning and Development Office shall continue to research 

10 and develop technologies to permit routine operation of 

11 unmanned aerial vehicles, including autonomously piloted 

12 drones, within the national airspace for border and mari13 time security missions without any degradation of existing 

14 levels of safety for all national airspace system users. 

15 (b) PILOT PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall coordi16 nate with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad17 ministration acting through the Director of the Joint 

18 Planning and Development Office to enter into pilot 

19 projects in designated test ranges in sparsely populated, 

20 low-density air traffic airspace to conduct research, experi21 ments, and data collection in order to accelerate the safe 

22 integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the national 

23 airspace system as part of research activities of the Joint 

24 Planning and Development Office. 


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1 SEC. 7. RESEARCH PROGRAM IN TUNNEL DETECTION. 

2 (a) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—Using 

3 amounts made available under section 307 of the Home4 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 187), the Under Sec5 retary shall continue to research and develop technologies 

6 to permit detection of near surface voids, such as tunnels, 

7 with an emphasis on technologies with real time capability. 

8 (b) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se9 curity shall coordinate with other appropriate Federal 

10 agencies, including the Department of Defense and the 

11 United States Geological Survey, and ensure the integra12 tion of activities under subsection (a) with relevant efforts 

13 of such other agencies and the Department of Homeland 

14 Security’s Centers of Excellence Program. 

15 SEC. 8. RESEARCH IN ANTICOUNTERFEIT TECHNOLOGIES. 

16 (a) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—Using 

17 amounts made available under section 307 of the Home18 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 187), the Under Sec19 retary, in coordination with the Director of the National 

20 Institute of Standards and Technology, shall continue a 

21 joint research and development program on 

22 anticounterfeit technologies and standards. The program 

23 may include development of counterfeit-resistant docu24 mentation, counterfeit-resistant devices, document valida25 tion technologies, and document identification standards. 


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1 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the program in 

2 subsection (a), the Under Secretary or his designee shall 

3 consult with other Federal agencies engaged in similar ac4 tivities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 

5 the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and 

6 the Department of Justice. 

7 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 12 

8 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Under 

9 Secretary and the Director of the National Institute of 

10 Standards and Technology shall provide to the Committee 

11 on Homeland Security and the Committee on Science, 

12 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, 

13 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern14 ment Affairs of the Senate, a report detailing the actions 

15 taken by the Under Secretary and the Director under this 

16 section. 

17 SEC. 9. STUDY OF MOBILE BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGIES AT 

18 THE BORDER. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Using amounts made available 

20 under section 307 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

21 (6 U.S.C. 187), the Under Secretary, in coordination with 

22 the Commissioner of United States Customs and Border 

23 Protection, shall continue research on the use of mobile 

24 biometric technology at the Nation’s borders between the 

25 ports of entry, including— 


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1 (1) conducting an analysis of existing mobile bi2 ometric technologies and the extent to which they 

3 can be deployed in Border Patrol agents’ vehicles 

4 and used at the border, in terms of operability, reli5 ability, cost, and overall benefit to border operations; 

6 (2) undertaking an examination of the potential 

7 end-user requirements of mobile biometric tech8 nology by the Border Patrol and other relevant end9 users; 

10 (3) developing recommendations for addressing 

11 capability gaps in mobile biometric technologies; and 

12 (4) examining the feasibility of implementing a 

13 pilot program for use of mobile biometric tech14 nologies at the border. 

15 (b) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the research pro16 gram under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall con17 sult the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

18 other appropriate Federal agencies, and appropriate Fed19 eral, State, and local law enforcement officials. 

20 (c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

21 the research program is coordinated with other biometric 

22 identification programs within the Department of Home23 land Security. 

24 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall 


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1 transmit to Congress a report on the findings of the re2 search program conducted under this section. 

Æ 


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