I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5990 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize Office of Field 
Operations positions, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 19, 2023 
Mr. CISCOMANI (for himself and Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas) 
introduced the following bill 
OCTOBER 25, 2023 
Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
A BILL 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize 
Office of Field Operations positions, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Enforcement, 
Security, and Trade (BEST) Facilitation Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. NEW OFFICE OF FIELD OPERATIONS POSITIONS AU-
THORIZED. 
Section 411(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
(6 U.S.C. 211(g)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(6) IMAGE TECHNICIAN POSITIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IMAGE TECHNICIAN.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in 
the Office of Field Operations, the position 
of Image Technician, who shall be ap-
pointed in accordance with the provisions 
under chapter 33 (relating to appointments 
in the competitive service) and chapters 51 
and 53 (relating to classification and rates 
of pay) of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(ii) DUTIES.— 
‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Duties of an 
Image Technician shall include— 
‘‘(aa) reviewing non-intru-
sive inspection images of convey-
ances and containers entering or 
exiting the United States through 
a land, sea, or air port of entry 
or international rail crossing; 
‘‘(bb) assessing whether im-
ages of conveyances and con-
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tainers appear to contain anoma-
lies indicating the potential pres-
ence of contraband, persons un-
lawfully seeking to enter or exit 
the United States, or illicitly con-
cealed merchandise, including il-
licit drugs and terrorist weapons; 
‘‘(cc) recommend entry re-
lease or exit release for any con-
veyances and containers where 
the images do not include notice-
able anomalies indicating the po-
tential presence of contraband, 
persons seeking to unlawfully 
enter or exit the United States, 
or illicitly concealed merchandise, 
including illicit drugs or terrorist 
weapons, to the U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection Officer re-
sponsible for inspecting such con-
veyance or container. 
‘‘(dd) recommend for further 
inspection any conveyances and 
containers where any image the 
Image Technician reasonably be-
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lieves contains anomalies indi-
cating the potential presence of 
contraband, persons seeking to 
unlawfully enter or exit the 
United States, or illicitly con-
cealed merchandise, such as illicit 
drugs or terrorist weapons, to the 
U.S. Customs and Border Pro-
tection Officer who is responsible 
for inspecting such conveyance or 
container; and 
‘‘(ee) referring to a Super-
visory Image Technician any 
image of conveyances or con-
tainers that is difficult to review 
or assess due to poor image qual-
ity or other factors. 
‘‘(II) 
RULE
OF
CONSTRUC-
TION.—A U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection Officer shall retain the dis-
cretion and final decision-making au-
thority to release conveyances or 
cargo for entry or exit or to refer such 
conveyance or cargo for further in-
spection. 
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‘‘(B) SUPERVISORY IMAGE TECHNICIAN.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in 
the Office of Field Operations, the position 
of Supervisory Image Technician, who 
shall be appointed in accordance with the 
provisions under chapter 33 (relating to 
appointments in the competitive service) 
and chapters 51 and 53 (relating to classi-
fication and rates of pay) of title 5, United 
States Code. 
‘‘(ii) DUTIES.— 
‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Duties of a 
Supervisory Image Technician shall 
include— 
‘‘(aa) carrying out all of the 
duties described in clauses (i) 
through (iv) of subparagraph 
(A); 
‘‘(bb) reviewing and making 
a recommendation regarding im-
ages referred by an Image Tech-
nician pursuant to subparagraph 
(A)(v) to the U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection Officer who is 
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responsible for inspecting such 
conveyance or container; 
‘‘(cc) receiving intelligence 
from the National Targeting 
Center regarding tactics, tech-
niques, and procedures being 
used at ports of entry and in the 
border environment by malign ac-
tors to facilitate the unlawful 
entry or exit of contraband, per-
sons, or illicitly concealed mer-
chandise such as illicit drugs or 
terrorist weapons; and 
‘‘(dd) reporting new infor-
mation to the National Targeting 
Center regarding tactics, tech-
niques, and procedures being 
used at ports of entry and in the 
border environment by malign ac-
tors to facilitate the unlawful 
entry or exit of contraband, per-
sons, or concealed merchandise 
such as illicit drugs or terrorist 
weapons. 
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‘‘(II) 
RULE
OF
CONSTRUC-
TION.—A U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection Officer shall retain the dis-
cretion and final decision-making au-
thority to release conveyances or 
cargo for entry or exit or to refer such 
conveyance or cargo for further in-
spection. 
‘‘(C) 
TRAINING
REQUIREMENTS.—All 
Image Technicians and Supervisory Image 
Technicians shall receive annual training and 
additional ad hoc training, to the extent nec-
essary based on current trends, regarding— 
‘‘(i) privacy, and civil rights and civil 
liberties, including the protections against 
unreasonable searches and seizures af-
forded by the Fourth Amendment to the 
United States Constitution; 
‘‘(ii) analyzing images generated by 
non-intrusive inspection technologies or 
any successor technologies deployed by 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 
‘‘(iii) identifying commodities and 
merchandise in images generated by non- 
intrusive inspection technologies or any 
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successor technologies deployed by U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection; 
‘‘(iv) identifying contraband, persons 
who are seeking to unlawfully enter or exit 
United States, or illicitly concealed mer-
chandise such as illicit drugs or terrorist 
weapons in images generated by non-intru-
sive technologies or any successor tech-
nologies deployed by U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection; 
‘‘(v) tactics, techniques, and proce-
dures being used at ports of entry and in 
the border environment by malign actors to 
facilitate the unlawful entry or exit of con-
traband, persons, or concealed merchandise 
such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons; 
and 
‘‘(vi) any other training that the Com-
missioner of the U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection determines to be relevant to the 
duties described in subparagraphs (B) or 
(D) of this subsection. 
‘‘(D) ANNUAL
ASSESSMENT.—All Image 
Technicians and Supervisory Image Technicians 
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