Title: Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019
This bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to increase the number of field operations officers to specified levels. If the CBP does not adequately increase personnel, the Government Accountability Office must report on CBP hiring practices.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1004 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1004

To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of 
Field Operations officers and support staff and to require reports that 
  identify staffing, infrastructure, and equipment needed to enhance 
                      security at ports of entry.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 3, 2019

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of 
Field Operations officers and support staff and to require reports that 
  identify staffing, infrastructure, and equipment needed to enhance 
                      security at ports of entry.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Securing America's Ports of Entry 
Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION PERSONNEL.

    (a) Officers.--The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection shall hire, train, and assign not fewer than 600 new Office 
of Field Operations officers above the current attrition level during 
every fiscal year until the total number of Office of Field Operations 
officers equals and sustains the requirements identified each year in 
the Workload Staffing Model.
    (b) Support Staff.--The Commissioner is authorized to hire, train, 
and assign support staff, including technicians, to perform non-law 
enforcement administrative functions to support the new Office of Field 
Operations officers hired pursuant to subsection (a).
    (c) Traffic Forecasts.--In calculating the number of Office of 
Field Operations officers needed at each port of entry through the 
Workload Staffing Model, the Office of Field Operations shall--
            (1) rely on data collected regarding the inspections and 
        other activities conducted at each such port of entry; and
            (2) consider volume from seasonal surges, other projected 
        changes in commercial and passenger volumes, the most current 
        commercial forecasts, and other relevant information.
    (d) GAO Report.--If the Commissioner does not hire the 600 
additional Office of Field Operations officers authorized under 
subsection (a) during fiscal year 2020, or during any subsequent fiscal 
year in which the hiring requirements set forth in the Workload 
Staffing Model have not been achieved, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall--
            (1) conduct a review of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
        hiring practices to determine the reasons that such 
        requirements were not achieved and other issues related to 
        hiring by U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and
            (2) submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security 
        and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
        Homeland Security of the House of Representatives that 
        describes the results of the review conducted under paragraph 
        (1).

SEC. 3. PORTS OF ENTRY INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCEMENT REPORT.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a 
report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
Representatives that identifies--
            (1) infrastructure improvements at ports of entry that 
        would enhance the ability of Office of Field Operations 
        officers to interdict opioids and other drugs that are being 
        illegally transported into the United States, including a 
        description of circumstances at specific ports of entry that 
        prevent the deployment of technology used at other ports of 
        entry;
            (2) detection equipment that would improve the ability of 
        such officers to identify opioids, including precursors and 
        derivatives, that are being illegally transported into the 
        United States; and
            (3) safety equipment that would protect such officers from 
        accidental exposure to such drugs or other dangers associated 
        with the inspection of potential drug traffickers.

SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Temporary Duty Assignments.--
            (1) Quarterly report.--The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 
        Border Protection, in consultation with the Executive Assistant 
        Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations, shall submit a 
        quarterly report to the appropriate congressional committees 
        that includes, for the reporting period--
                    (A) the number of temporary duty assignments;
                    (B) the number of U.S. Customs and Border 
                Protection employees required for each temporary duty 
                assignment;
                    (C) the ports of entry from which such employees 
                were reassigned;
                    (D) the ports of entry to which such employees were 
                reassigned;
                    (E) the ports of entry at which reimbursable 
                service agreements have been entered into that may be 
                affected by temporary duty assignments;
                    (F) the duration of each temporary duty assignment; 
                and
                    (G) the cost of each temporary duty assignment.
            (2) Southwest border.--The report required under paragraph 
        (1) shall identify, with respect to each of the statistics 
        described in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of such paragraph, 
        information relating to preventing or responding to illegal 
        entries along the southwest border of the United States, 
        including the costs relating to temporary redeployments along 
        the southwest border.
            (3) Notice.--Not later than 10 days before redeploying 
        employees from 1 port of entry to another, absent emergency 
        circumstances--
                    (A) the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 
                Protection shall notify the director of the port of 
                entry from which employees will be reassigned of the 
                intended redeployments; and
                    (B) the port director shall notify impacted 
                facilities (including airports, seaports, and land 
                ports) of the intended redeployments.
            (4) Staff briefing.--The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 
        Border Protection, in consultation with the Assistant 
        Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations, shall brief all 
        affected U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees regarding 
        plans to mitigate vulnerabilities created by any planned 
        staffing reductions at ports of entry.
    (b) Reimbursable Services Agreements Quarterly Report.--The 
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a 
quarterly report to the appropriate congressional committees regarding 
the use of reimbursable service agreements by U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection, which shall include--
            (1) the governmental or private entities with an active 
        reimbursable service agreement, including the locations at 
        which the contracted services are being performed;
            (2) a description of the factors that were considered 
        before entering into each of the active reimbursable service 
        agreements referred to in paragraph (1);
            (3) the number of hours that U.S. Customs and Border 
        Protection Officers worked during the reporting period in 
        fulfillment of responsibilities agreed to under each of the 
        reimbursable service agreements; and
            (4) the total costs incurred by U.S. Customs and Border 
        Protection relating to each reimbursable service agreement, 
        including the amount of such costs that were reimbursed by the 
        contracted entity.
    (c) Annual Workload Staffing Model Report.--As part of the Annual 
Report on Staffing required under section 411(g)(5)(A) of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(g)(5)(A)), the Commissioner shall 
include--
            (1) information concerning the progress made toward meeting 
        the Office of Field Operations officer and support staff hiring 
        targets set forth in section 2, while accounting for attrition;
            (2) an update to the information provided in the Resource 
        Optimization at the Ports of Entry report, which was submitted 
        to Congress on September 12, 2017, pursuant to the Department 
        of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2017 (division F of 
        Public Law 115-31); and
            (3) a summary of the information included in the quarterly 
        reports required under subsections (a) and (b).
    (d) Defined Term.--In this section, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs of the Senate;
            (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
            (3) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act--
            (1) $80,908,929 for fiscal year 2020; and
            (2) $97,132,268 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 
        2026.
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