zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Border Patrol Pay Reform Act of 2013 - Sets forth additional requirements relating to the rates of pay and terms of employment for U.S. Border Patrol agents (i.e., federal employees who detect and prevent illegal entry and smuggling of aliens, commercial goods, narcotics, weapons, or contraband into the United States).

Requires Border Patrol agents to elect each year to: (1) be assigned to either a specified level one or level two border patrol rate of pay governing regular rates of pay and overtime work requirements, or (2) decline both levels. Expresses the sense of Congress that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) should ensure that not more than 10% of agents stationed at a location decline to be assigned to either the level 1 or level 2 border patrol rate of pay. Empowers CBP, without limitation, to require agents to perform overtime work in accordance with agency needs, including if needed in the event of a local or national emergency.

Date: 2013-11-13
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to award Urban Area Security Initiative grants to nonprofit organizations located in areas that are not designated as high-risk urban areas.

Date: 2014-01-15
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on June 19, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Social Media Working Group Act of 2014 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a social media working group (the Group) to provide guidance and best practices to the emergency preparedness and response community on the use of social media technologies before, during, and after a terrorist attack or other emergency.

Requires the Group to submit an annual report that includes: (1) a review of current and emerging social media technologies being used to support preparedness and response activities related to terrorist attacks and other emergencies; (2) a review of best practices and lessons learned on the use of social media during the response to terrorist attacks and other emergencies that occurred during the period covered by the report; (3) recommendations to improve DHS's use of social media for emergency management purposes, to improve public awareness of the type of information disseminated through social media and how to access such information during a terrorist attack or other emergency, and to improve information sharing among DHS and its components and among state and local governments; (4) a review of available training for government officials on the use of social media in response to a terrorist attack or other emergency; and (5) a summary of coordination efforts with the private sector to discuss and resolve legal, operational, technical, privacy, and security concerns.

Date: 2014-03-14
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 with respect to the establishment in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (formerly the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

Date: 2014-03-21
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Immigration
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Department of Homeland Security Interoperable Communications Act or the DHS Interoperable Communications Act - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to include among the responsibilities of the Under Secretary for Management responsibilities with respect to policies and directives to achieve and maintain interoperable communications among the components of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Requires such Under Secretary to submit to the House and Senate homeland security committees a strategy, which shall be updated as necessary, for achieving and maintaining interoperable communications, including for daily operations, planned events, and emergencies, with corresponding milestones, that includes:

 an assessment of interoperability gaps in radio communications among the DHS components, as of this Act's enactment date; information on DHS efforts and activities, including current and planned policies, directives, and training, since November 1, 2012, to achieve and maintain interoperable communications, and planned efforts and activities to achieve and maintain interoperable communications; an assessment of obstacles and challenges to achieving and maintaining interoperable communications; information on, and an assessment of, the adequacy of mechanisms available to the Under Secretary to enforce and compel compliance with interoperable communications policies and directives of DHS; guidance provided to DHS components to implement interoperable communications policies and directives; the total amount of funds expended by DHS since November 1, 2012, and projected future expenditures, to achieve interoperable communications; and dates upon which DHS-wide interoperability is projected to be achieved for voice, data, and video communications, respectively, and interim milestones. Directs the Under Secretary to submit information on any intra-agency effort or task force that has been delegated responsibilities by the Under Secretary relating to achieving and maintaining interoperable communications within a specified time frame, and on who, within each component, is responsible for implementing policies and directives issued by the Under Secretary to achieve and maintain interoperable communications.

Directs the Under Secretary to report on the status of efforts since the issuance of the strategy to implement such strategy, including: (1) progress on each interim milestone; (2) information on any policies, directives, guidance, and training established by the Under Secretary; (3) an assessment of the level of compliance, adoption, and participation among the DHS components with the policies, directives, guidance, and training established by the Under Secretary; and (4) information on any additional resources or authorities needed by the Under Secretary.

Date: 2014-03-24
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense Act or the GRID Act - Amends the Federal Power Act to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with or without notice, hearing, or report, to issue orders for emergency measures to protect the reliability of either the bulk-power system or the defense critical electric infrastructure whenever the President issues a written directive or determination identifying an imminent grid security threat.

Requires either the President or the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to notify specified congressional committees promptly whenever the President issues such a directive.

Instructs FERC, to the extent practicable in light of the nature of the grid security threat and the urgency for emergency measures, to consult with certain governmental authorities, including in Canada and Mexico, regarding implementation of such emergency measures.

Prescribes: (1) implementation procedures; and (2) related cost recovery measures affecting owners, operators, or users of either the bulk-power system or the defense critical electric infrastructure.

Directs FERC to require any owner, user, or operator of the bulk-power system in the United States to implement measures necessary to protect the bulk-power system against specified vulnerabilities.

Directs FERC to order the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to submit reliability standards requiring owners or operators of large transformers to ensure their adequate availability to restore promptly the reliable operation of the bulk-power system in the event that any such transformer is destroyed or disabled as a result of a reasonably foreseeable physical or other attack or a geomagnetic storm event.

Directs the President to designate for FERC the domestic facilities that are: (1) critical to the national defense, and (2) vulnerable to an electric energy supply disruption.

Directs FERC to require an owner or operator of defense critical electric infrastructure to implement measures to protect it against any vulnerability that has not been adequately addressed.

Directs FERC, before promulgating a rule or issuing such order, to request and consider recommendations from the ERO.

Directs the Secretary to establish a program to develop technical expertise in the protection of systems for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy against either geomagnetic storms or malicious acts using electronic communications or electromagnetic pulse.

Exempts the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Bonneville Power Administration for 11 years from any requirement under this Act pertaining to emergency response measures or measures to address grid security vulnerabilities (except for a requirement addressing a malicious act using electronic communication).

Date: 2014-03-26
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Energy
Border Enforcement Accountability, Oversight, and Community Engagement Act of 2014 - Establishes: (1) the Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Commission, and (2) a northern border subcommittee and a southern border subcommittee within the Commission.

Requires the Commission and the subcommittees to: (1) recommend border enforcement policy improvements; (2) evaluate policies of federal agencies operating along the borders to protect due process and human rights of border residents and visitors, protect land owner private property rights, and reduce the number of migrant deaths; (3) recommend safety improvements for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel; and (4) evaluate training and the extent to which CBP supervisory and management personnel practices encourage workforce development and promote field safety.

Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to rename the position of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the Ombudsman for Border and Immigration Related Concerns. Revises related function and administrative provisions, including requiring the Ombudsman to establish a Border Community Liaison Office in each Border Patrol sector on the northern and southern borders.

Sets forth specified training and continuing education requirements for CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit to Congress an assessment of current guidelines for managing ports of entry under DHS control.

 Directs: (1) CBP to report to Congress regarding deaths occurring along the U.S.-Mexico border, and (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review such report.

Directs: (1) GAO to examine the extent to which CBP has clarified use of force policies, and (2) the Secretary to require CBP to implement any recommendations contained in such examination.

Date: 2014-03-26
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Immigration
United States Commission on an Open Society with Security Act of 2014 - Establishes the United States Commission on an Open Society with Security to study how the government may provide for both security in, and public access to, federal buildings and other federal property and sites.

Directs the Commission to examine: (1) government and private security practices and proposals, building design, public space management, counterterrorism needs, and refurbishment of existing federal facilities; (2) the effect of access to public facilities and spaces on free speech, the right to petition the government, other constitutional rights and civil liberties, economies of affected jurisdictions, architectural aesthetics, traffic and congestion, and employee job performance; (3) technology to augment or replace traditional modes of security; and (4) methods of assessing the risks posed by terrorism, balanced against the needs and values of open access.

Date: 2014-06-18
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument Correction Act - Prohibits construing either the national monument designation or any management plan in furtherance of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico (designated on May 21, 2014) as: (1) preventing the Secretary of Homeland Security from undertaking law enforcement and border security activities within the areas designated as the Monument, including the ability to use motorized vehicles within it; (2) limiting the 2006 Memorandum of Understanding among the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding cooperative national security and counterterrorism efforts on federal land along U.S. borders; (3) preventing the DHS Secretary from conducting low-level overflights over the Monument for law enforcement and border security purposes; or (4) preventing the Secretary of the Interior from allowing within the Monument the installation and maintenance of communication or surveillance infrastructure necessary for law enforcement or border security activities.

Makes the route excluded from the Potrillo Mountains, identified as "Restricted--Administrative Access" on the map entitled "Potrillo Mountains Complex," dated December 10, 2013, available for administrative and law enforcement uses, including border security activities.

Specifies that nothing in the national monument designation or any management plan in furtherance of the Monument shall restrict or preclude low-level overflights of military aircraft, the designation of new units of special airspace, or the use or establishment of military flight training routes, over the Monument.

Date: 2014-07-22
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Border Health Security Act of 2014 - Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to revise the duties of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission to include: (1) cooperating with the Canada-United States Pan Border Public Health Preparedness Council, and (2) serving as an independent and objective body to both recommend and implement initiatives that solve border health issues. Authorizes members of the Commission and the Council to provide advice or recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Congress, or any Member of Congress concerning issues that are considered by the Commission or Council.

Requires the Secretary to award grants: (1) to eligible entities to improve the health of individuals residing in the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada border areas, and (2) for Early Warning Infectious Disease Surveillance to eligible entities for infection disease surveillance activities in such areas.

Requires the Commission and the Council to each: (1) prepare a binational strategic plan to guide the operations of the Commission and the Council, and (2) develop and approve an operational work plan and budget based on the strategic plan.

Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct an evaluation of Commission and Counsel activities.

Authorizes the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response to coordinate with the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) in establishing a health alert system that: (1) alerts clinicians and public health officials of emerging disease clusters and syndromes along the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada border areas; and (2) warns of health threats, extreme weather conditions, disasters of mass scale, bioterrorism, and other emerging threats along those border areas.

Date: 2014-07-28
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Health
Bank Account Seizure of Terrorist Assets Act or BASTA Act - Amends the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 to subject the blocked assets of a terrorist party to execution or attachment in aid of execution in order to satisfy a judgment based upon an act of terrorism, regardless of whether the terrorist party ceases to be a terrorist party after judgment is entered.

Redefines a blocked asset to include any asset seized or frozen by the United States under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

Date: 2014-07-31
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Law
Border State Protection Act of 2014 - Authorizes the governor of any state on an international border of the United States to take necessary action to establish operational control of that portion of the international border within the state.

 Shields a state from liability in any federal action for any act taken pursuant to this Act that is otherwise in conformity with law.

Allows repayment of state costs from discretionary appropriations made available for non-security foreign aid to Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

Date: 2014-08-01
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Immigration
Verified And Legitimate ID (VALID) Act of 2014 - Prohibits the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from accepting an I-862 Notice to Appear form as identification in the course of a passenger screening.

Date: 2014-09-10
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Transportation and public works
First Responder Anthrax Preparedness Act - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), for the purpose of domestic preparedness for and collective response to terrorism, to: (1) make available surplus vaccines and antimicrobials, and vaccines and antimicrobials with short shelf lives, from the strategic national stockpile for administration to emergency response providers who voluntarily consent to such administration; (2) establish any necessary logistical and tracking systems to facilitate making such vaccines and antimicrobials available; and (3) distribute disclosures regarding associated risks to end users.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct an 18-month pilot program to administer such vaccines and antimicrobials to emergency response providers, (2) select providers based in at least two states to participate in the program, and (3) provide to each participating provider disclosures and educational materials regarding the risks of any vaccine or antimicrobial administered and of exposure to anthrax.

Requires the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis to: (1) support homeland security-focused risk analysis and assessments of the threats posed by anthrax from an act of terror; (2) leverage homeland security intelligence capabilities and structures to enhance prevention, protection, response, and recovery efforts with respect to an anthrax terror attack; and (3) share information and provide tailored analytical support on threats posed by anthrax to state, local, and tribal authorities, as well as other national biosecurity and biodefense stakeholders.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Health
Strengthening Domestic Nuclear Security Act of 2014 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize appropriations for the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office for FY2015-FY2016.

Requires the Director for Domestic Nuclear Detection: (1) in developing and implementing the enhanced global nuclear detection architecture, to provide support for planning, organization, equipment, training, exercises, and operational assessments to federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal entities to assist in implementing radiological and nuclear detection capabilities in the event of a radiological or nuclear act of terror or other attack; and (2) to establish the Securing the Cities (STC) program to enhance the ability of the United States to detect and prevent a radiological or nuclear act of terror or other attack in high-risk urban areas. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit to specified congressional committees an assessment of the STC program within one year after enactment of this Act.

Requires, in the event of an acquisition of a new system for a component of DHS or any other DHS-related or -associated end-user, the head of such component to complete and sign a Mission Need Statement and Operational Requirements Document.

Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to change the joint annual interagency review of global nuclear detection architecture and the required annual report thereon to a biennial review and report.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
State Wide Interoperable Communications Enhancement Act or the SWIC Enhancement Act - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require a state to include in its application for State Homeland Security Grant Program funding a certification: (1) that the governor of the state has designated a Statewide Interoperability Coordinator, or (2) indicating that the state is performing the functions of such a Coordinator in another manner and identifying the primary point of contact for performance of such functions.

Sets forth as such Coordinator's functions:

 overseeing the daily operations of the state's interoperability efforts; coordinating state interoperability and communications projects and grant applications for such projects; establishing and maintaining working groups to develop and implement key interoperability initiatives; and implementing and updating a Statewide Communications Interoperability Plan that specifies the current status of state efforts to enhance communications interoperability within the state, including future goals for communications interoperability among emergency response agencies in the state.

Date: 2014-11-19
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
No Armed Drones for DHS Act - Prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from purchasing, operating, or maintaining armed unmanned aerial vehicles.

Date: 2014-12-11
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
DHS Private Sector Office Engagement Act of 2014 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to replace provisions directing the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to appoint a Special Assistant responsible for private sector matters with provisions establishing within DHS a Private Sector Office, to be headed by an Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Coordination.

Establishes as the Office's mission to: (1) create and foster strategic engagement with the private sector to enhance the primary mission of DHS to protect the United States; and (2) conduct ongoing economic impact analysis to reduce the burden of DHS decisions, regulations, and initiatives on the private sector and the U.S. economy.

Includes among the Assistant Secretary's responsibilities:

 to create a strategic plan for the Office; to advise the Secretary regarding the impact of DHS's policies, regulations, processes, and actions on the private sector; to analyze the economic impact of changes in homeland security policy; to determine actions needed to reduce associated homeland security burdens on the private sector; to foster strategic engagement with the private sector to improve homeland security; to promote to the private sector best practices regarding cyber security and critical infrastructure protection; to promote and develop public-private partnerships to provide for collaboration and mutual support to address homeland security challenges; and to collaborate with the Chief Human Capital Officer to facilitate the DHS Loaned Executive Program. Terminates the Office on December 31, 2018. Directs the Secretary to conduct an assessment of the Office concurrently with the next Quadrennial Homeland Security Review.

Date: 11/14/2014
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
Secure Chemical Facilities Act - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to set forth provisions for the regulation of security practices at chemical facilities.

Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate: (1) any chemical substance as a substance of concern and establish and adjust the threshold quantity for each such substance after considering the potential extent of death, injury, and serious adverse effects that could result from a chemical facility terrorist incident; and (2) a chemical facility as a covered chemical facility if the Secretary determines such facility is a sufficient security risk (e.g., a likely target of a chemical facility terrorist incident and close to large population centers).

Directs the Secretary to: (1) maintain a list of covered chemical facilities that are of sufficient security risk; (2) assign each covered facility to one of four risk-based tiers; (3) establish standards and procedures for security vulnerability assessments and site security plans; (4) require each facility owner or operator to submit and, once approved, to implement such an assessment and plan; and (5) establish risk-based chemical security performance standards for site security plans.

Permits the Secretary, under specified circumstances, to: (1) accept an alternate security program submitted by the owner or operator of the facility, (2) conduct facility security inspections, and (3) obtain access to and copy records necessary for reviewing or analyzing a security vulnerability assessment or site security plan.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) share threat information with owners, operators, or security officers of a covered chemical facility and with relevant state and local government authorities in a timely manner; and (2) disapprove a security vulnerability assessment or site security plan if the Secretary determines that such assessment or security plan does not comply with the requirements of this Act. Establishes whistleblower protections for employees of a covered chemical facility who report safety violations.

Establishes in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) an Office of Chemical Facility Security.

Authorizes civil actions by individuals alleging violations of this Act.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a notification system to report, via telephonic and Internet-based means, a suspected security deficiency or suspected noncompliance with the requirements of this Act; and (2) assess the emergency response resources that would be required to feasibly respond to a worst-case chemical facility terrorist incident.

Date: 2013-01-23
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
HUBZone Expansion Act of 2013 - Amends the Small Business Act to include as a base closure area for purposes of the HUBZONE (historically underutilized business zone) program of the Small Business Administration (SBA) a military installation's municipality, county, census tract, or contiguous census tract having a total population of no more than 50,000, as determined by the most recent census.

Date: 2013-01-31
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Commerce
Never Forget 9/11 Heroes Act - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to add the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and the World Trade Center Health Program Fund to the list of programs exempt from any presidential sequestration order.

Requires the President, if the amendment made by this Act takes effect after the final sequester order for FY2014 is issued, to revise the order to account for the amendment and issue a new order.

Date: 2013-02-25
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Military Sexual Assault Prevention Act of 2013 - Prohibits any person convicted under federal or state law of rape, sexual assault, forcible sodomy, or incest from being commissioned or enlisting in the Armed Forces. Requires administrative separation from the Armed Forces, when not punitively discharged, for any member of the Armed Forces (member) on active duty, and any reserve member in an active status, who is convicted of rape, sexual assault, forcible sodomy, or an attempt thereof (covered offenses). Allows the Secretary of the military department concerned to waive such a separation in the interests of national security on a case-by-case basis.

Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD), with respect to any charge under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) that alleges any of the covered offenses, to require the military department Secretaries to restrict disposition authority to specified high-command officers authorized to convene special courts-martial under the UCMJ.

States as the policy of the United States that any charge regarding the covered offenses should be disposed of by court-martial rather than non-judicial punishment or administrative action.

Requires a commanding officer who receives a report of a sexual-related offense involving a member to act upon the report within 24 hours, including by submitting the report to the next higher officer in that chain of command or referring such report to the appropriate office of special investigation.

Requires inclusion in a member's personnel service record of a substantiated complaint of a sexual-related offense. Requires commanding officer review of a member's history of substantiated sexual offenses upon a member's transfer to the new command.

Requires sexual assault forms and records to be retained for at least 50 years.

Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 to require the Secretary to retain for at least 50 years certain records concerning an incident of sexual assault. (Current law mandates such retention only at the request of a member who files a specified report.)

Date: 2013-03-13
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Border Security Results Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) report, every 180 days, on the state of operational control of the international borders of the United States; and (2) achieve situational awareness of such borders within two years.

Requires the Secretary to submit: (1) a comprehensive strategy for gaining and maintaining operational control of all sectors of such borders within a two-year period, (2) an implementation plan for each DHS border security component to carry out such strategy, and (3) an updated strategy and implementation plan after submission of each Quadrennial Homeland Security Review. Requires such strategy to include: (1) an assessment of principal border security threats, (2) efforts to analyze and disseminate border security and threat information between DHS border security components, (3) a comprehensive border security technology plan, (4) Department of Defense (DOD) surveillance capabilities, (5) the use of manned aircraft and unmanned aerial systems, (6) agreements with foreign governments that support U.S. border security efforts, (7) staffing requirements for all border security functions, (8) measures necessary to achieve a 50% reduction in the average wait times for vehicles at international land ports of entry, and (9) specified metrics.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) implement metrics to measure the effectiveness of security between ports of entry, at ports of entry, and in the maritime environment; (2) request the head of a national laboratory within the DHS laboratory network with prior expertise in border security to provide an independent assessment of, and ensure statistical validity of, such metrics; and (3) make such assessment and the metrics data and methodology available to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for a report to Congress.

Directs: (1) the Secretary to submit a certification to Congress and the Comptroller General upon determining that operational control of such borders has been achieved, and (2) the Comptroller General to verify the accuracy of such certification.

Directs the Comptroller General to submit a report addressing areas of overlap in responsibilities within DHS's border security functions.

Directs the Secretary to report annually on: (1) a resource allocation model for current and future year staffing requirements for optimal staffing levels at all land, air, and sea ports of entry; (2) detailed information on the level of manpower available at and between such ports of entry; and (3) detailed information describing the difference between such optimal and actual levels.

Date: 2013-04-09
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Immigration
Border Health Security Act of 2013 - Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to: (1) revise the duties of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission to include cooperating with the Canada-United States Pan Border Public Health Preparedness Council and serving as an independent and objective body to recommend and implement initiatives that solve border health issues, and (2) authorize appropriations.

Designates the Commissioner of the U.S. section of the Commission as the Chair (currently, leader) of the section. Authorizes members of the Commission and the Council to provide advice or recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Congress, or any Member of Congress concerning issues that are considered by the Commission or Council.

Requires the Secretary to award grants: (1) to eligible entities to improve the health of individuals residing in the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada border areas, and (2) for Early Warning Infectious Disease Surveillance to eligible entities for infection disease surveillance activities in such areas.

Requires the Commission and the Council to each: (1) prepare (every five years) a binational strategic plan to guide its operation, (2) develop and approve (every two years) an operational work plan and budget based on the strategic plan, and (3) issue a biannual report to the Secretary that provides independent policy recommendations related to border health issues.

Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) (every two years) to conduct an evaluation of Commission and Counsel activities.

Requires plans, systems, and activities supported under such Act for all hazard preparedness, and general border health, to be coordinated with authorities in Mexico, Canada, and the United States to the extent practicable.

Authorizes the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response to coordinate with the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) in establishing a health alert system that: (1) alerts clinicians and public health officials of emerging disease clusters and syndromes along the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada border areas; and (2) warns of health threats, extreme weather conditions, disasters of mass scale, bioterrorism, and other emerging threats along such areas.

Date: 2014-04-29
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Health
Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act - Requires the head of each federal agency to identify cybersecurity workforce positions within the agency, determine the primary Cybersecurity Work Category and Specialty Area (CWCSA) of such positions, and assign the corresponding Data Element Code.

Directs each agency head to establish procedures to: (1) identify open positions that include cybersecurity functions, and (2) assign the appropriate employment code to each such position and to each agency employee who carries out cybersecurity functions.

Directs each agency head, beginning not later than one year after such employment codes are assigned and annually through 2021, to submit a report to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that identifies the CWCSAs of critical need in the agency's cybersecurity workforce and substantiates the critical need designations.

Requires the Director to: (1) provide agencies with timely guidance for identifying CWCSAs of critical need, including current categories and areas with acute skill shortages and with emerging skill shortages; and (2) identify Specialty Areas of critical need for the cybersecurity workforce across all federal agencies.

Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to analyze, monitor, and report on this Act's implementation.

Date: 2014-05-21
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Government operations and politics
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on September 16, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

DHS OIG Mandates Revision Act of 2014 - Repeals requirements that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General: (1) conduct an annual evaluation of the Cargo Inspection Targeting System pursuant to the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004, (2) conduct an annual review of Coast Guard Performance pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (HSA), and (3) conduct an annual review of grants to states and high-risk urban areas under HSA.

Date: 2014-07-24
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2014 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to: (1) modernize the integrated U.S. public alert and warning system to help ensure that under all conditions the President, federal agencies, and state, tribal, and local governments can alert and warn the civilian population in areas endangered by natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters or threats to public safety; and (2) implement such system to disseminate timely and effective warnings and homeland security information.

Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish common alerting and warning protocols, standards, terminology, and operating procedures for the system; (2) include in such system the capability to adapt the distribution and content of communications on the basis of geographic location, risks, and multiple communication technologies and to alert, warn, and provide equivalent information to individuals with disabilities, access and functional needs, or limited English proficiency; (3) ensure that specified training, tests, and exercises for such system are conducted and that the system is resilient, secure, and can withstand external attacks; and (4) conduct public education efforts and a general market awareness campaign about the system.

Requires the system to: (1) be designed to adapt to and incorporate future technologies for communicating directly with the public, provide alerts to the largest portion of the affected population feasible, and improve the ability of remote areas to receive alerts; (2) promote local and regional public and private partnerships to enhance community preparedness and response; (3) provide redundant alert mechanisms; and (4) protect individual privacy.

Directs the Administrator to establish the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Subcommittee to develop and submit recommendations for an integrated public alert and warning system to the National Advisory Council, which shall report the recommendations it approves to agencies represented on the Subcommittee and to specified congressional committees.

Date: 2014-07-24
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
Counterterrorism Border Security Enhancement Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct an assessment (which shall consider the visa waiver program requirements for travelers and program countries) and report to Congress regarding: (1) needed border security and entry procedures improvements in response to homeland threats from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and (2) growing participation by U.S. and European nationals as foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq and in terrorist activity.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act regarding the visa waiver program to: (1) expand pre-travel clearance procedures, and (2) increase information-sharing requirements, including suspension of countries not fully cooperating with such requirements.

Directs the Secretary of State to submit a plan to Congress for training consular officers on visa interviewing techniques that emphasizes counterterrorism efforts.

Directs the Secretary of DHS, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General (DOJ) to submit to Congress a plan for: (1) increasing the scrutiny of U.S. citizens who have recently traveled to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Libya; and (2) enhancing DOJ and other federal agency capabilities to investigate, arrest, and prosecute U.S. citizens suspected of engaging in terrorist acts or involvement with a terrorist organization.

Authorizes the Secretary of State to revoke and confiscate any passport issued to a U.S. citizen who is suspected of, or who has demonstrated an intent to engage in, terrorist activities.

Amends the federal criminal code to include adherence to terrorist organizations within the definition of "treason."

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Immigration
Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit knowingly going upon any critical infrastructure used in or affecting interstate commerce to commit a criminal offense.

Defines "critical infrastructure" as a vital physical system or asset, including a national monument, the incapacity or destruction of which would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, or national public health or safety.

Date: 2014-11-17
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Border Security, Cooperation, and Act Now Drug War Prevention Act of 2015

 Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General to provide to a state on a U.S. border up to 500 additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) agents to patrol and defend the border, combat drug trafficking, and combat smuggling of firearms, explosives, alcohol, and tobacco if the state's governor declares an international border security emergency and requests such agents.

Directs the Secretary  to: (1) increase the number of U.S. Border Patrol helicopters and power boats; (2) establish a fleet of motor vehicles appropriate for use by the Border Patrol; (3) equip such motor vehicles with portable computers with access to law enforcement databases; (4) augment existing radio communication systems in areas in which the Border Patrol operates; and (5) provide Border Patrol agents with global positioning system devices, night vision equipment, high-quality body armor, reliable and effective weapons, and uniforms. Establishes the ATF, DEA, and Border Patrol Task Force to monitor and report to Congress and the President on the trade and sale of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives along U.S. borders.

Authorizes the Attorney General to make border security grants to sheriffs' offices and police departments in counties within 25 miles of the southern U.S. border.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Immigration
Cyber Security Education and Federal Workforce Enhancement Act

Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) an Office of Cybersecurity Education and Awareness Branch to make recommendations to DHS regarding: (1) recruitment of information assurance, cybersecurity, and computer security professionals; (2) grants, training programs, and other support for kindergarten through grade 12, secondary, and post-secondary computer security education programs; (3) guest lecturer programs in which professional computer security experts lecture computer science students at institutions of higher education; (4) youth training programs for students to work in part-time or summer positions at federal agencies; and (5) programs to support underrepresented minorities in computer security fields with programs at minority-serving institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Native American colleges, Asian-American institutions, and rural colleges and universities.

Directs DHS to provide matching funds to local educational agencies for after-school programs dedicated to science, technology, engineering, and math.

Provides for the establishment of:

 a Research K-12 Science and Technology Education Board of Advisors to make recommendations regarding K-12 science and technology education domestically and internationally; a Computing and Information Security Post-Secondary Education Working Group to assist DHS in developing voluntary guidelines for federal civil agency training programs, certification authorities, and accreditation bodies; a Post-Secondary Laboratory Research Development Task Force to recommend best practices for baseline equipment, skilled instruction, and certification needed by college and university laboratory facilities; an Office of Computing and Information Security Professional's Mentoring Program for outreach to institutions of higher education, critical infrastructure owners, and federal agencies to promote professional mentors for students; a program under which DHS may designate colleges and universities as Centers of Academic Computer and Information Assurance Distinction; programs in conjunction with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award grants to institutions of higher education for cybersecurity and information security professional development programs and degrees; and an E-Security Fellows Program for state, local, tribal, and private sector officials to participate in DHS's National Cybersecurity Division. Authorizes DHS to make grants to post-secondary institutions to equip computer laboratories for teaching and research purposes.

Requires the NSF to report to Congress regarding the causes of the high dropout rates of women and minority students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
Biometric Exit Improvement Act of 2015

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) submit an implementation plan to establish a biometric exit data system to complete the integrated biometric entry and exit data system required under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004; (2) establish such a system, within two years after enactment of this Act, at the 10 U.S. airports, 10 U.S. seaports, and 10 land ports of entry that support the highest volume of international air travel, international sea travel, and pedestrian crossings, respectively; and (3) submit a report that analyzes the effectiveness of such system.

Directs the Secretary: (1) within 18 months after enactment of this Act, in collaboration with industry stakeholders and the head of a university-based center with prior expertise in border security and counterterrorism, to establish a 6-month pilot program to test such system on non-pedestrian outbound traffic at not fewer than three land ports of entry with significant cross-border traffic; (2) after receiving a Government Accounting Office review of such program and acting through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to submit a plan with an integrated master schedule to implement such a system at all land ports of entry for non-pedestrian outbound traffic; (3) within three years after submitting such master schedule, to expand the system to all land ports of entry for non-pedestrian outbound traffic; and (4) within five years after enactment of this Act, to expand the system to all air and sea ports of entry and to all land ports of entry for pedestrian traffic.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) ensure that the collection of biometric data under such system causes the least possible disruption to the movement of people or cargo in air, sea, or land transportation; (2) terminate the proceeding entitled "Collection of Alien Biometric Data Upon Exit From the United States at Air and Sea Ports of Departure," issued on April 24, 2008; and (3) make every every effort to collect biometric data using additional modes of biometric technology.

Prohibits the Secretary from requiring any non-federal person to collect biometric data under the system, except through a contractual agreement.

Date: 2015-01-08
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act

 Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the use of Urban Area Security Initiative and State Homeland Security Grant Program funding for enhancing medical preparedness, medical surge capacity, and mass prophylaxis capabilities, including the development and maintenance of an initial pharmaceutical stockpile, including medical kits, and diagnostics sufficient to protect first responders, their families, immediate victims, and vulnerable populations from a chemical or biological event.

Date: 2015-01-14
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management