Anti-Border Corruption Improvement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1609 To amend the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 to authorize certain polygraph waiver authority, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 7, 2019 Mr. CRENSHAW (for himself, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, and Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Homeland Security A BILL To amend the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 to author- ize certain polygraph waiver authority, 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 ‘‘Anti-Border Corrup- 4 tion Improvement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. HIRING FLEXIBILITY. 6 Section 3 of the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 7 (Public Law 111–376; 6 U.S.C. 221) is amended by strik- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1609 IH ing subsection (b) and inserting the following new sub- 1 sections: 2 ‘‘(b) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Commissioner of 3 U.S. Customs and Border Protection may waive the appli- 4 cation of subsection (a)(1) in the following circumstances: 5 ‘‘(1) In the case of a current, full-time law en- 6 forcement officer employed by a State or local law 7 enforcement agency, if such officer— 8 ‘‘(A) has served as a law enforcement offi- 9 cer for not fewer than three years with no 10 break in service; 11 ‘‘(B) is authorized by law to engage in or 12 supervise the prevention, detection, investiga- 13 tion, or prosecution of, or the incarceration of 14 any person for, any violation of law, and has 15 statutory powers for arrest or apprehension; 16 ‘‘(C) is not currently under investigation, 17 has not been found to have engaged in criminal 18 activity or serious misconduct, has not resigned 19 from a law enforcement officer position under 20 investigation or in lieu of termination, and has 21 not been dismissed from a law enforcement offi- 22 cer position; and 23 ‘‘(D) has, within the past ten years, suc- 24 cessfully completed a polygraph examination, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1609 IH described in subsection (c), as a condition of 1 employment with such officer’s current law en- 2 forcement agency. 3 ‘‘(2) In the case of a current, full-time law en- 4 forcement officer employed by a Federal law enforce- 5 ment agency, if such officer— 6 ‘‘(A) has served as a law enforcement offi- 7 cer for not fewer than three years with no 8 break in service; 9 ‘‘(B) has authority to make arrests, con- 10 duct investigations, conduct searches, make sei- 11 zures, carry firearms, and serve orders, war- 12 rants, and other processes; 13 ‘‘(C) is not currently under investigation, 14 has not been found to have engaged in criminal 15 activity or serious misconduct, has not resigned 16 from a law enforcement officer position under 17 investigation or in lieu of termination, and has 18 not been dismissed from a law enforcement offi- 19 cer position; and 20 ‘‘(D) holds a current background investiga- 21 tion to the level required for service as a law 22 enforcement officer with U.S. Customs and 23 Border Protection. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1609 IH ‘‘(3) In the case of an individual who is a mem- 1 ber of the Armed Forces (or a reserve component 2 thereof) or a veteran, if such individual— 3 ‘‘(A) has served in the Armed Forces for 4 not fewer than three years; 5 ‘‘(B) holds, or has held within the past five 6 years, a Secret, Top Secret, or Top Secret/Sen- 7 sitive Compartmented Information clearance; 8 ‘‘(C) holds or has undergone and passed a 9 background investigation to the level required 10 for service as a law enforcement officer with 11 U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 12 ‘‘(D) received, or is eligible to receive, an 13 honorable discharge from service in the Armed 14 Forces and has not engaged in criminal activity 15 or committed a serious military or civil offense 16 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice; 17 and 18 ‘‘(E) was not granted any waivers to ob- 19 tain the clearance referred to subparagraph 20 (B). 21 ‘‘(c) CERTAIN POLYGRAPH EXAMINATION.—A poly- 22 graph examination described in this subsection is a poly- 23 graph examination that satisfies requirements established 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1609 IH by the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 1 with the Director of National Intelligence. 2 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 3 authority to issue a waiver under subsection (b) shall ter- 4 minate on the date that is five years after the date of the 5 enactment of the Anti-Border Corruption Reauthorization 6 Act of 2019.’’. 7 SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL COMMISSIONER AUTHORITY AND 8 DEFINITIONS. 9 (a) SUPPLEMENTAL COMMISSIONER AUTHORITY.— 10 Section 4 of the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 11 (Public Law 111–376) is amended to read as follows: 12 ‘‘SEC. 4. SUPPLEMENTAL COMMISSIONER AUTHORITY. 13 ‘‘(a) NON-EXEMPTION.—An individual who receives 14 a waiver under subsection (b) of section 3 shall not be 15 exempt from other hiring requirements relating to suit- 16 ability for employment and eligibility to hold a national 17 security designated position, as determined by the Com- 18 missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 19 ‘‘(b) BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS.—Any indi- 20 vidual who receives a waiver under subsection (b) of sec- 21 tion 3 who holds a current background investigation may 22 be subject to further background investigation to the level 23 required for service as a law enforcement officer with U.S. 24 Customs and Border Protection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1609 IH ‘‘(c) CONTINUOUS EVALUATION.—Any individual 1 who receives a waiver under subsection (b) of section 3 2 shall not be exempt from any requirement relating to con- 3 tinuous evaluation established by the Commissioner of 4 U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 5 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION OF POLYGRAPH EXAMINA- 6 TION.—The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 7 Protection is authorized to administer a polygraph exam- 8 ination to an applicant or employee who is eligible for or 9 receives a waiver under subsection (b) of section 3 if infor- 10 mation is discovered prior to the completion of a back- 11 ground investigation that results in a determination that 12 a polygraph examination is necessary to make a final de- 13 termination regarding suitability for employment or con- 14 tinued employment, as the case may be.’’. 15 (b) REPORT.—The Anti-Border Corruption Act of 16 2010 is amended by adding at the end the following new 17 section: 18 ‘‘SEC. 5. REPORTING. 19 ‘‘Not later than on year after the date of the enact- 20 ment of this section and every year for the next four years 21 thereafter, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 22 Protection shall provide the Committee on Homeland Se- 23 curity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 24 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1609 IH Senate information on the number, disaggregated with re- 1 spect to each of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection 2 (b) of section 3, of waivers requested, granted, and denied, 3 and the reasons for any such denial, and the final outcome 4 of the application for employment at issue. Such informa- 5 tion shall also include the number of instances a polygraph 6 examination was administered under the conditions de- 7 scribed in subsection (d) of section 4, the result of such 8 examination, and the final outcome of the application for 9 employment at issue.’’. 10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—The Anti-Border Corruption Act 11 of 2010, as amended by subsection (b) of this section, is 12 further amended by adding at the end the following new 13 section: 14 ‘‘SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 15 ‘‘In this Act: 16 ‘‘(1) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 17 ‘law enforcement officer’ has the meaning given such 18 term in sections 8331(20) and 8401(17) of title 5, 19 United States Code. 20 ‘‘(2) VETERAN.—The term ‘veteran’ has the 21 meaning given such term in section 101(2) of title 22 38, United States Code. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1609 IH ‘‘(3) SERIOUS MILITARY OR CIVIL OFFENSE.— 1 The term ‘serious military or civil offense’ means an 2 offense for which— 3 ‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces may 4 be discharged or separated from service in the 5 Armed Forces; and 6 ‘‘(B) a punitive discharge is, or would be, 7 authorized for the same or a closely related of- 8 fense under the Manual for Court-Martial, as 9 pursuant to Army Regulation 635–200 chapter 10 14–12.’’. 11 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 12 Paragraph (15) of section 411(c) of the Homeland 13 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(c)) is amended by 14 striking ‘‘section 3(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 3’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS