648 
TITLE VI—ALIEN SMUGGLING 
SEC. 601. MARITIME LAW ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) PENALTIES.—Subsection (b) of section 
2237 of title 18, United States Code, is amend-
ed to read as follows: 
‘‘(b)(1) Whoever intentionally violates this 
section shall, unless the offense is described in 
paragraph (2), be fined under this title or im-
prisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. 
‘‘(2) If the offense— 
‘‘(A) is committed in the course of a 
violation of section 274 of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (alien smug-
gling); chapter 77 (peonage, slavery, and 
trafficking in persons), section 111 (ship-
ping), 111A (interference with vessels), 113 
(stolen property), or 117 (transportation 
for illegal sexual activity) of this title; 
chapter 705 (maritime drug law enforce-
ment) of title 46, or title II of the Act of 
June 15, 1917 (Chapter 30; 40 Stat. 220), 
the offender shall be fined under this title 
or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, 
or both; 
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‘‘(B) results in serious bodily injury 
(as defined in section 1365 of this title) or 
transportation under inhumane condi-
tions, the offender shall be fined under 
this title, imprisoned not more than 15 
years, or both; or 
‘‘(C) results in death or involves kid-
naping, an attempt to kidnap, the conduct 
required for aggravated sexual abuse (as 
defined in section 2241 without regard to 
where it takes place), or an attempt to 
commit such abuse, or an attempt to kill, 
be fined under such title or imprisoned 
for any term of years or life, or both.’’. 
(b) LIMITATION
ON NECESSITY DEFENSE.— 
Section 2237(c) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) In a prosecution for a violation of this 
section, no defense based on necessity can be 
raised unless the defendant— 
‘‘(A) as soon as practicable upon 
reaching shore, delivered the person with 
respect to which the necessity arose to 
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emergency medical or law enforcement 
personnel; 
‘‘(B) as soon as practicable, reported 
to the Coast Guard the circumstances of 
the necessity resulting giving rise to the 
defense; and 
‘‘(C) did not bring, attempt to bring, 
or in any manner intentionally facilitate 
the entry of any alien, as that term is de-
fined in section 101(a)(3) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 
(a)(3)), into the land territory of the 
United States without lawful authority, 
unless exigent circumstances existed that 
placed the life of that alien in danger, in 
which case the reporting requirement of 
subparagraph (B) is satisfied by notifying 
the Coast Guard as soon as practicable 
after delivering that person to emergency 
medical or law enforcement personnel 
ashore.’’. 
(c) DEFINITION.—Section 2237(e) of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 
paragraph (3); 
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(2) by striking the period at the end of 
paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) the term ‘transportation under in-
humane conditions’ means the transpor-
tation of persons in an engine compart-
ment, storage compartment, or other con-
fined space, transportation at an exces-
sive speed, transportation of a number of 
persons in excess of the rated capacity of 
the means of transportation, or inten-
tionally grounding a vessel in which per-
sons are being transported.’’. 
SEC. 602. AMENDMENT TO THE SENTENCING GUIDELINES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to its authority 
under section 994 of title 28, United States 
Code, and in accordance with this section, the 
United States Sentencing Commission shall re-
view and, if appropriate, amend the sen-
tencing guidelines and policy statements ap-
plicable to persons convicted of alien smug-
gling offenses and criminal failure to heave to 
or obstruction of boarding. 
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(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out this 
subsection, 
the 
Sentencing 
Commission, 
shall— 
(1) consider providing sentencing en-
hancements or stiffening existing en-
hancements for those convicted of offenses 
described in paragraph (1) of this sub-
section that— 
(A) involve a pattern of continued 
and flagrant violations; 
(B) are part of an ongoing com-
mercial organization or enterprise; 
(C) involve aliens who were trans-
ported in groups of 10 or more; 
(D) involve the transportation or 
abandonment of aliens in a manner 
that endangered their lives; or 
(E) involve the facilitation of ter-
rorist activity; and 
(2) consider cross-references to the 
guidelines for Criminal Sexual Abuse and 
Attempted Murder. 
(c) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—The Commis-
sion may promulgate the guidelines or amend-
ments under this subsection in accordance 
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with the procedures set forth in section 21(a) 
of the Sentencing Act of 1987, as though the 
authority under that Act had not expired. 
TITLE 
VII—MISCELLANEOUS 
HOMELAND SECURITY PROVI-
SIONS 
SEC. 701. MARITIME HOMELAND SECURITY PUBLIC AWARE-
NESS PROGRAM. 
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
establish a program to help prevent acts of ter-
rorism and other activity that jeopardizes 
maritime homeland security, by seeking the co-
operation of the commercial and recreational 
boating industries and the public to improve 
awareness of activity in the maritime domain 
and report suspicious and unusual activity. 
SEC. 702. TRANSPORTATION WORKER IDENTIFICATION 
CREDENTIAL. 
(a) ASSESSMENT OF TWIC PROGRAM IMPLE-
MENTATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 120 
days after implementing the Transpor-
tation Worker Identification Credential 
program (in this section referred to as 
‘‘TWIC’’) at the ten ports designated top 
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priority by the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity, 
as 
required 
by 
section 
70105(i)(2)(A) of title 46, United States 
Code, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Homeland Security of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure of 
the House of Represetatives, the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
portation of the Senate, and the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs of the Senate and to the 
Comptroller General of the United States 
a report containing an assessment of the 
progress of the program’s implementation. 
The report shall include— 
(A) the number of workers en-
rolled in the program to date and the 
extent to which key metrics and con-
tract requirements have been met; and 
(B) an overview of the challenges 
encountered during implementation of 
the enrollment process, and plans for 
how these challenges will be ad-
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655 
dressed as the program is imple-
mented at additional ports. 
(2) 
GAO 
ASSESSMENT.—The 
Comp-
troller General shall review the report 
and submit to the Committee on Home-
land Security of the House of Representa-
tives, the Committee on Transportation 
and 
Infrastructure 
of 
the 
House 
of 
Represetatives, the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate, and the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate an assessment of the report’s find-
ings and recommendations. 
(b) ASSESSMENT OF TWIC PILOT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 120 
days after completing the pilot program 
under section 70105(k)(1) of title 46, 
United States Code, to test TWIC access 
control technologies at port facilities and 
vessels nationwide, the Secretary of Home-
land Security shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the 
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House of Represetatives, the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
of the Senate, and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs of the Senate and to the Comptroller 
General a report containing an assess-
ment of the results of the pilot. The report 
shall include— 
(A) the findings of the pilot pro-
gram with respect to key technical 
and operational aspects of imple-
menting TWIC technologies in the 
maritime sector; 
(B) a comprehensive listing of the 
extent to which established metrics 
were achieved during the pilot pro-
gram; and 
(C) an analysis of the viability of 
those technologies for use in the ma-
rine environment, including any chal-
lenges to implementing those tech-
nologies and strategies for mitigating 
identified challenges. 
(2) 
GAO 
ASSESSMENT.—The 
Comp-
troller General shall review the report 
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and submit to the Committee on Home-
land Security of the House of Representa-
tives, the Committee on Transportation 
and 
Infrastructure 
of 
the 
House 
of 
Represetatives, the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate, and the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate an assessment of the report’s find-
ings and recommendations. 
SEC. 703. STUDY TO IDENTIFY REDUNDANT BACKGROUND 
RECORDS CHECKS. 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall conduct a study com-
paring those background records checks re-
quired under section 70105 of title 46, United 
States Code, and those conducted by States for 
similar homeland security purposes. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit a report to the Committee on Homeland 
Security of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture of the House of Represetatives, the Com-
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mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate, and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
of the Senate on the results of the study, in-
cluding— 
(1) an identification of redundancies 
and inefficiencies in connection with such 
checks referred to in subsection (a); and 
(2) recommendations for eliminating 
such redundancies and inefficiencies. 
SEC. 704. REVIEW OF INTERACENCY OPERATIONAL CEN-
TERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days of enact-
ment of this Act, the Department of Homeland 
Security Inspector General shall provide a re-
port to the Committee on Homeland Security of 
the House of Representatives and the Commit-
tees on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs and Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate concerning the establish-
ment of Interagency Operational Centers for 
Port Security required by section 108 of the 
SAFE Port Act (Public Law 109–347). 
(b) REPORT.—The report shall include— 
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(1) an examination of the Depart-
ment’s efforts to establish the Interagency 
Operational Centers; 
(2) a timeline for construction; 
(3) a detailed breakdown, by center, 
as to the incorporation of those represent-
atives required by section 70107A(b)(3) of 
title 46, United States Code; 
(4) an analysis of the hurdles faced by 
the Department in developing these cen-
ters; 
(5) information on the number of secu-
rity clearances attained by State, local, 
and tribal officials participating in the 
program; and 
(6) an examination of the relationship 
between the Interagency Operational Cen-
ters and State, local and regional fusion 
centers participating in the Department 
of Homeland Security’s State, Local, and 
Regional Fusion Center Initiative under 
section 511 of the Implementing the Rec-
ommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act 
of 2007 (Public Law 110–53), with a par-
ticular emphasis on— 
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