OBIM Authorization Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1729 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Office of Biometric Identity Management, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 13, 2019 Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Office of Biometric Identity Management, 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 ‘‘Office of Biometric 4 Identity Management Authorization Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘OBIM Authorization Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1729.IH H1729 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1729 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF BIOMETRIC 1 IDENTITY MANAGEMENT. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu- 3 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 4 adding at the end the following new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 711. OFFICE OF BIOMETRIC IDENTITY MANAGEMENT. 6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Office of Biometric 7 Identity Management is established within the Manage- 8 ment Directorate of the Department. 9 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Biometric 11 Identity Management shall be administered by the 12 Director of the Office of Biometric Identity Manage- 13 ment (in this section referred to as the ‘Director’) 14 who shall report to the Secretary, or to another offi- 15 cial of the Department, as the Secretary may direct. 16 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES.—The Di- 17 rector shall— 18 ‘‘(A) have significant professional manage- 19 ment experience, as well as experience in the 20 field of biometrics and identity management; 21 ‘‘(B) lead the Department’s biometric iden- 22 tity services to support efforts and activities re- 23 lating to anti-terrorism, counter-terrorism, bor- 24 der security, credentialing, national security, 25 and public safety; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1729.IH H1729 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1729 IH ‘‘(C) enable operational missions across the 1 Department by receiving, matching, storing, 2 sharing, and analyzing biometric and associated 3 biographic and encounter data; 4 ‘‘(D) deliver biometric identity information 5 and analysis capabilities to— 6 ‘‘(i) the Department and its compo- 7 nents; 8 ‘‘(ii) appropriate Federal, State, local, 9 and tribal agencies; 10 ‘‘(iii) appropriate foreign govern- 11 ments; and 12 ‘‘(iv) appropriate private sector enti- 13 ties; 14 ‘‘(E) support the law enforcement, public 15 safety, national security, and homeland security 16 missions of other Federal, State, local, and trib- 17 al agencies, as appropriate; 18 ‘‘(F) manage the operation of the Depart- 19 ment’s primary biometric repository and identi- 20 fication system; 21 ‘‘(G) manage Biometric Support Centers 22 to provide biometric identification and 23 verification analysis and services to the Depart- 24 ment, appropriate Federal, State, local, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1729.IH H1729 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1729 IH tribal agencies, appropriate foreign govern- 1 ments, and appropriate private sector entities; 2 ‘‘(H) oversee the implementation of De- 3 partment-wide standards for biometric con- 4 formity, and work to make such standards Gov- 5 ernment-wide; 6 ‘‘(I) in coordination with the Department’s 7 Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, and in 8 consultation with relevant component offices 9 and headquarters offices, enter into data shar- 10 ing agreements with appropriate Federal, State, 11 local, and foreign agencies to support immigra- 12 tion, law enforcement, national security, and 13 public safety missions; 14 ‘‘(J) maximize interoperability with other 15 Federal, State, local, and foreign biometric sys- 16 tems, as appropriate; 17 ‘‘(K) ensure the activities of the Office of 18 Biometric Identity Management are carried out 19 in compliance with the policies and procedures 20 established by the Privacy Officer appointed 21 under section 222; and 22 ‘‘(L) carry out other duties and powers 23 prescribed by law or delegated by the Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1729.IH H1729 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1729 IH ‘‘(c) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—There shall be in the Of- 1 fice of Biometric Identity Management a Deputy Director, 2 who shall assist the Director in the management of the 3 Office. 4 ‘‘(d) OTHER AUTHORITIES.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may establish 6 such other offices within the Office of Biometric 7 Identity Management as the Director determines 8 necessary to carry out the missions, duties, func- 9 tions, and authorities of the Office. 10 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—If the Director exercises 11 the authority provided by paragraph (1), the Direc- 12 tor shall notify the Committee on Homeland Secu- 13 rity of the House of Representatives and the Com- 14 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 15 fairs of the Senate not later than 30 days before ex- 16 ercising such authority.’’. 17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 18 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 19 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 20 710 the following new item: 21 ‘‘Sec. 711. Office of Biometric Identity Management.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1729.IH H1729 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS