Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 527 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1004 [Report No. 116–264] 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 secu- rity at ports of entry. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 3, 2019 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. TESTER, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. ROMNEY, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. KING, and Mr. DAINES) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, without amendment A BILL To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protec- tion Office of Field Operations officers and support staff and to require reports that identify staffing, infrastruc- ture, and equipment needed to enhance security at ports of entry. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1004 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing America’s 2 Ports of Entry Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTEC- 4 TION PERSONNEL. 5 (a) OFFICERS.—The Commissioner of U.S. Customs 6 and Border Protection shall hire, train, and assign not 7 fewer than 600 new Office of Field Operations officers 8 above the current attrition level during every fiscal year 9 until the total number of Office of Field Operations offi- 10 cers equals and sustains the requirements identified each 11 year in the Workload Staffing Model. 12 (b) SUPPORT STAFF.—The Commissioner is author- 13 ized to hire, train, and assign support staff, including 14 technicians, to perform non-law enforcement administra- 15 tive functions to support the new Office of Field Oper- 16 ations officers hired pursuant to subsection (a). 17 (c) TRAFFIC FORECASTS.—In calculating the number 18 of Office of Field Operations officers needed at each port 19 of entry through the Workload Staffing Model, the Office 20 of Field Operations shall— 21 (1) rely on data collected regarding the inspec- 22 tions and other activities conducted at each such 23 port of entry; and 24 (2) consider volume from seasonal surges, other 25 projected changes in commercial and passenger vol- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1004 RS umes, the most current commercial forecasts, and 1 other relevant information. 2 (d) GAO REPORT.—If the Commissioner does not 3 hire the 600 additional Office of Field Operations officers 4 authorized under subsection (a) during fiscal year 2020, 5 or during any subsequent fiscal year in which the hiring 6 requirements set forth in the Workload Staffing Model 7 have not been achieved, the Comptroller General of the 8 United States shall— 9 (1) conduct a review of U.S. Customs and Bor- 10 der Protection hiring practices to determine the rea- 11 sons that such requirements were not achieved and 12 other issues related to hiring by U.S. Customs and 13 Border Protection; and 14 (2) submit a report to the Committee on Home- 15 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 16 ate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 17 House of Representatives that describes the results 18 of the review conducted under paragraph (1). 19 SEC. 3. PORTS OF ENTRY INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCE- 20 MENT REPORT. 21 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 22 ment of this Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 23 Border Protection shall submit a report to the Committee 24 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1004 RS Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 1 House of Representatives that identifies— 2 (1) infrastructure improvements at ports of 3 entry that would enhance the ability of Office of 4 Field Operations officers to interdict opioids and 5 other drugs that are being illegally transported into 6 the United States, including a description of cir- 7 cumstances at specific ports of entry that prevent 8 the deployment of technology used at other ports of 9 entry; 10 (2) detection equipment that would improve the 11 ability of such officers to identify opioids, including 12 precursors and derivatives, that are being illegally 13 transported into the United States; and 14 (3) safety equipment that would protect such 15 officers from accidental exposure to such drugs or 16 other dangers associated with the inspection of po- 17 tential drug traffickers. 18 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 19 (a) TEMPORARY DUTY ASSIGNMENTS.— 20 (1) QUARTERLY REPORT.—The Commissioner 21 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in consulta- 22 tion with the Executive Assistant Commissioner of 23 the Office of Field Operations, shall submit a quar- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1004 RS terly report to the appropriate congressional commit- 1 tees that includes, for the reporting period— 2 (A) the number of temporary duty assign- 3 ments; 4 (B) the number of U.S. Customs and Bor- 5 der Protection employees required for each tem- 6 porary duty assignment; 7 (C) the ports of entry from which such em- 8 ployees were reassigned; 9 (D) the ports of entry to which such em- 10 ployees were reassigned; 11 (E) the ports of entry at which reimburs- 12 able service agreements have been entered into 13 that may be affected by temporary duty assign- 14 ments; 15 (F) the duration of each temporary duty 16 assignment; and 17 (G) the cost of each temporary duty as- 18 signment. 19 (2) SOUTHWEST BORDER.—The report required 20 under paragraph (1) shall identify, with respect to 21 each of the statistics described in subparagraphs (A) 22 through (G) of such paragraph, information relating 23 to preventing or responding to illegal entries along 24 the southwest border of the United States, including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1004 RS the costs relating to temporary redeployments along 1 the southwest border. 2 (3) NOTICE.—Not later than 10 days before re- 3 deploying employees from 1 port of entry to another, 4 absent emergency circumstances— 5 (A) the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 6 and Border Protection shall notify the director 7 of the port of entry from which employees will 8 be reassigned of the intended redeployments; 9 and 10 (B) the port director shall notify impacted 11 facilities (including airports, seaports, and land 12 ports) of the intended redeployments. 13 (4) STAFF BRIEFING.—The Commissioner of 14 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in consulta- 15 tion with the Assistant Commissioner of the Office 16 of Field Operations, shall brief all affected U.S. Cus- 17 toms and Border Protection employees regarding 18 plans to mitigate vulnerabilities created by any 19 planned staffing reductions at ports of entry. 20 (b) REIMBURSABLE SERVICES AGREEMENTS QUAR- 21 TERLY REPORT.—The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 22 Border Protection shall submit a quarterly report to the 23 appropriate congressional committees regarding the use of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1004 RS reimbursable service agreements by U.S. Customs and 1 Border Protection, which shall include— 2 (1) the governmental or private entities with an 3 active reimbursable service agreement, including the 4 locations at which the contracted services are being 5 performed; 6 (2) a description of the factors that were con- 7 sidered before entering into each of the active reim- 8 bursable service agreements referred to in paragraph 9 (1); 10 (3) the number of hours that U.S. Customs and 11 Border Protection Officers worked during the re- 12 porting period in fulfillment of responsibilities 13 agreed to under each of the reimbursable service 14 agreements; and 15 (4) the total costs incurred by U.S. Customs 16 and Border Protection relating to each reimbursable 17 service agreement, including the amount of such 18 costs that were reimbursed by the contracted entity. 19 (c) ANNUAL WORKLOAD STAFFING MODEL RE- 20 PORT.—As part of the Annual Report on Staffing required 21 under section 411(g)(5)(A) of the Homeland Security Act 22 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(g)(5)(A)), the Commissioner shall 23 include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1004 RS (1) information concerning the progress made 1 toward meeting the Office of Field Operations offi- 2 cer and support staff hiring targets set forth in sec- 3 tion 2, while accounting for attrition; 4 (2) an update to the information provided in 5 the Resource Optimization at the Ports of Entry re- 6 port, which was submitted to Congress on Sep- 7 tember 12, 2017, pursuant to the Department of 8 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2017 (divi- 9 sion F of Public Law 115–31); and 10 (3) a summary of the information included in 11 the quarterly reports required under subsections (a) 12 and (b). 13 (d) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘ap- 14 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 15 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 16 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 17 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 18 Senate; 19 (3) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 20 House of Representatives; and 21 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 22 House of Representatives. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1004 RS SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 2 this Act— 3 (1) $80,908,929 for fiscal year 2020; and 4 (2) $97,132,268 for each of the fiscal years 5 2021 through 2026. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 527 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1004 [Report No. 116–264] A BILL To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Bor- der 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. SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1004.RS S1004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS