Oversight of Law Enforcement Surveillance Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2856 To require the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security to report on the use of surveillance technology, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 26, 2021 Mr. TORRES of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security to report on the use of surveillance technology, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Oversight of Law En- 4 forcement Surveillance Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. REPORTING ON SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY. 6 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 7 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, a 8 law enforcement agency of a major metropolitan area re- 9 ceiving any Federal funds from the Department of Home- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2856.IH H2856 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2856 IH land Security shall report the use of surveillance tech- 1 nology to: 2 (1) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 3 (2) The Inspector General of the Department of 4 Homeland Security. 5 (3) The United States Congress. 6 (b) REPORT BY INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not later 7 than one year after the enactment of this Act, and annu- 8 ally thereafter, the Inspector General of the Department 9 of Homeland Security shall report to the Committee on 10 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 11 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 12 Affairs of the Senate on the use of surveillance technology 13 and the impact the use of such technology has on civil 14 liberties and privacy. 15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 17 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a State, local, In- 18 dian tribal, or campus public agency engaged in the 19 prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, or 20 adjudication of violations of criminal laws. 21 (2) MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREA.—The term 22 ‘‘major metropolitan area’’ means an area including 23 250,000 residents or more. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2856.IH H2856 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2856 IH (3) SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY.—The term 1 ‘‘surveillance technology’’ means equipment, soft- 2 ware, or system capable of, or used or designed for, 3 collecting, retaining, processing, or sharing audio, 4 video, location, thermal, biometric, or similar infor- 5 mation, that is operated by or at the direction of the 6 department. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2856.IH H2856 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS