Combating TCOs Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3273 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish programs to combat transnational criminal organizations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 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 programs to combat transnational criminal organizations, 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 ‘‘Combating 4 Transnational Criminal Organizations Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘Combating TCOs Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. INTEGRATED BORDER ENFORCEMENT TEAMS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title IV of the 8 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) 9 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3273 IH ‘‘SEC. 437. INTEGRATED BORDER ENFORCEMENT TEAMS. 1 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 2 the Department a program to be known as the Integrated 3 Border Enforcement Team program (referred to in this 4 section as ‘IBET’). 5 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of IBET is to enhance 6 border security in a manner that results in a cooperative 7 approach between the United States and Canada to— 8 ‘‘(1) strengthen security between designated 9 ports of entry; 10 ‘‘(2) detect, investigate, prevent, and respond to 11 terrorism, transnational criminal organizations, and 12 other violations of law related to border security; 13 ‘‘(3) facilitate collaboration among components 14 and offices within the Department and international 15 partners; 16 ‘‘(4) execute coordinated activities in further- 17 ance of border security and homeland security; and 18 ‘‘(5) enhance information-sharing, including the 19 dissemination of homeland security information 20 among such components and offices. 21 ‘‘(c) COMPOSITION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF 22 UNITS.— 23 ‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—IBET units may be com- 24 prised of personnel from the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3273 IH ‘‘(A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 1 led by the U.S. Border Patrol. 2 ‘‘(B) U.S. Immigration and Customs En- 3 forcement, led by Homeland Security Investiga- 4 tions. 5 ‘‘(C) Other Department personnel, as ap- 6 propriate. 7 ‘‘(D) Other Federal, State, local, Tribal, 8 and foreign law enforcement agencies, as appro- 9 priate. 10 ‘‘(E) Other appropriate personnel at the 11 discretion of the Secretary. 12 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITS.—The Sec- 13 retary is authorized to establish IBET units in re- 14 gions in which such units can contribute to IBET 15 missions, as appropriate. When establishing an 16 IBET unit, the Secretary shall apply risk-based cri- 17 teria that takes into consideration the following: 18 ‘‘(A) Whether the region in which the 19 IBET unit would be established is significantly 20 impacted by cross-border threats, including 21 threats posed by transnational criminal organi- 22 zations and terrorist groups. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3273 IH ‘‘(B) The availability of Federal, State, 1 local, Tribal, and foreign law enforcement re- 2 sources to participate in the IBET unit. 3 ‘‘(C) Whether, in accordance with para- 4 graph (3), other joint cross-border initiatives al- 5 ready take place within the region in which the 6 IBET unit would be established. 7 ‘‘(3) DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.—In deter- 8 mining whether to establish a new IBET unit or to 9 expand an existing IBET unit in a given region, the 10 Secretary shall ensure that the IBET unit under 11 consideration does not duplicate the efforts of other 12 existing interagency task forces or centers within 13 such region, including the Border Enforcement Se- 14 curity Task Force established under section 432. 15 ‘‘(d) OPERATION.—After determining the regions in 16 which to establish IBET units under subsection (c)(2), the 17 Secretary may— 18 ‘‘(1) direct the assignment of Federal personnel 19 to such IBET units; 20 ‘‘(2) take other actions to assist Federal, State, 21 local, and Tribal entities to participate in such 22 IBET units, including providing financial assistance, 23 as appropriate, for operational, administrative, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3273 IH technological costs associated with such participa- 1 tion; 2 ‘‘(3) direct the development of policy and guid- 3 ance necessary to identify, assess, and integrate the 4 available partner resources in relevant border sector 5 security assessments and resource planning docu- 6 ments; 7 ‘‘(4) establish targets and performance meas- 8 ures for such IBET units; and 9 ‘‘(5) direct leadership of such IBET units to 10 monitor progress on such targets and performance 11 measures. 12 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordinate 13 IBET activities with other similar border security and 14 antiterrorism programs within the Department in accord- 15 ance with the strategic objectives of the Cross-Border Law 16 Enforcement Advisory Committee. 17 ‘‘(f) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec- 18 retary may enter into memoranda of understanding with 19 appropriate representatives of the entities specified in sub- 20 section (c)(1) as necessary to carry out this section. Such 21 memoranda with entities specified in subsection (c)(1)(G) 22 shall be entered into with the concurrence of the Secretary 23 of State. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3273 IH ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 1 date on which IBET is established and biannually there- 2 after for the following six years, the Secretary shall submit 3 to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 4 Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 5 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report that— 6 ‘‘(1) describes targets and performance meas- 7 ures for IBET units; 8 ‘‘(2) describes the effectiveness of IBET units 9 in fulfilling the purposes specified in subsection (b); 10 ‘‘(3) identifies and assesses the impact of cer- 11 tain challenges on the sustainment of cross-border 12 IBET operations, including challenges faced by 13 international partners, and planned corrective ac- 14 tions; 15 ‘‘(4) identifies and assesses costs associated 16 with IBET units broken down by relevant categories 17 designated at the Secretary’s discretion; 18 ‘‘(5) identifies ways to support joint training 19 for IBET stakeholder agencies and radio interoper- 20 ability to allow for secure cross-border radio commu- 21 nications; and 22 ‘‘(6) identifies and assesses ways IBET, Border 23 Tunnel Task Forces, Border Enforcement Security 24 Task Forces, and the Integrated Cross-Border Mari- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3273 IH time Law Enforcement Operation Program can bet- 1 ter align operations, including interdiction and inves- 2 tigation activities.’’. 3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 4 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 5 amended by striking the items relating to sections 435 and 6 436 and inserting the following new items: 7 ‘‘Sec. 435. Maritime operations coordination plan. ‘‘Sec. 436. Maritime security capabilities assessments. ‘‘Sec. 437. Integrated Border Enforcement Teams.’’. SEC. 3. BORDER TUNNEL DETECTION. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title IV of the 9 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211 et seq.) 10 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 11 ‘‘SEC. 420. BORDER TUNNEL TASK FORCES. 12 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 13 the Department a program to be known as the Border 14 Tunnel Task Force program (referred to in this section 15 as ‘BTTF’). 16 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of BTTF established 17 pursuant to subsection (a) is to enhance and integrate bor- 18 der security efforts by identifying, reducing, and remedi- 19 ating cross-border tunnel related threats by— 20 ‘‘(1) facilitating collaboration among Federal, 21 State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies to 22 execute coordinated activities; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3273 IH ‘‘(2) enhancing information-sharing, including 1 the dissemination of homeland security information, 2 among such agencies. 3 ‘‘(c) COMPOSITION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF BOR- 4 DER TUNNEL TASK FORCE UNITS.— 5 ‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—BTTF units may be com- 6 prised of personnel from the following: 7 ‘‘(A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 8 led by the U.S. Border Patrol. 9 ‘‘(B) U.S. Immigration and Customs En- 10 forcement, led by Homeland Security Investiga- 11 tions. 12 ‘‘(C) Other Department components and 13 offices, as appropriate. 14 ‘‘(D) Other Federal, State, local, Tribal, 15 and foreign law enforcement agencies, as appro- 16 priate. 17 ‘‘(E) Other appropriate personnel at the 18 discretion of the Secretary. 19 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITS.—The Sec- 20 retary is authorized to establish BTTF units in re- 21 gions in which the Secretary determines such units 22 can contribute to the Department’s border security 23 efforts to identify, reduce, and remediate cross-bor- 24 der tunnel threats. When establishing a BTTF unit, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3273 IH the Secretary shall apply risk-based criteria that 1 takes into consideration the following: 2 ‘‘(A) Whether the areas in which such 3 BTTF units would be established are signifi- 4 cantly impacted by cross-border tunnel threats. 5 ‘‘(B) The availability of Federal, State, 6 local, and Tribal law enforcement resources to 7 participate in such BTTF units. 8 ‘‘(C) Whether other similar joint cross-bor- 9 der tunnel detection initiatives already take 10 place within the region in which the BTTF unit 11 would be established. 12 ‘‘(d) DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.—In determining 13 whether to establish a new BTTF unit or to expand an 14 existing BTTF unit in a given region, the Secretary shall 15 ensure that the BTTF unit under consideration does not 16 unnecessarily duplicate the efforts of other existing inter- 17 agency task forces or centers within such jurisdiction. 18 ‘‘(e) OPERATION.—After determining the regions in 19 which to establish BTTF units under subsection (c)(2), 20 the Secretary may— 21 ‘‘(1) direct the assignment of Federal personnel 22 to such BTTF units; 23 ‘‘(2) take other actions to assist Federal, State, 24 local, and Tribal entities to participate in such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 3273 IH BTTF units, including providing financial assist- 1 ance, as appropriate, for operational, administrative, 2 and technological costs associated with such partici- 3 pation; 4 ‘‘(3) direct the development of policy and guid- 5 ance necessary to identify, assess, and integrate the 6 available partner resources in relevant border sector 7 security assessments and resource planning docu- 8 ments; 9 ‘‘(4) establish targets and performance meas- 10 ures for BTTF units; 11 ‘‘(5) direct leadership of each BTTF unit to 12 monitor progress on such targets and performance 13 measures for each such unit; and 14 ‘‘(6) dedicate appropriate research and develop- 15 ment resources to improve cross-border tunnel detec- 16 tion and remediation capabilities. 17 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordinate 18 BTTF activities with other similar border security and 19 antiterrorism programs within the Department that han- 20 dle matters relating to cross-border tunnel threat detec- 21 tion. 22 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF TUNNEL REMEDIATION AC- 23 CESS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, U.S. 24 Customs and Border Protection shall have immediate ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 3273 IH cess to Federal land for the remediation of tunnels used 1 to facilitate illicit cross-border activities across the inter- 2 national borders of the United States. 3 ‘‘(h) TUNNEL DETECTION AND REMEDIATION TECH- 4 NOLOGY PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 90 days after 5 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 6 shall establish a pilot program to test and evaluate new 7 and emerging technologies for the purpose of detection 8 and remediation of cross-border tunnel threats. 9 ‘‘(i) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 10 date on which BTTF is established and biannually there- 11 after for the following six years, the Secretary shall submit 12 to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 13 Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 14 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report that— 15 ‘‘(1) describes targets and performance meas- 16 ures for BTTF units; 17 ‘‘(2) describes the effectiveness of BTTF in ful- 18 filling the purposes specified in subsection (b); 19 ‘‘(3) identifies and assesses the impact of cer- 20 tain challenges on the sustainment of cross-border 21 BTTF operations and planned corrective actions; 22 ‘‘(4) identifies and assesses costs associated 23 with BTTF units broken down by relevant cat- 24 egories designated at the Secretary’s discretion; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3273.IH H3273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 3273 IH ‘‘(5) identifies ways to support joint training 1 for BTTF stakeholder agencies; 2 ‘‘(6) identifies and assesses ways BTTF, IBET, 3 and Border Enforcement Security Task Forces can 4 better align operations, including interdiction and in- 5 vestigation activities; and 6 ‘‘(7) identifies and assesses gaps in BTTF tech- 7 nological capability to detect cross-border tunnel 8 threats.’’. 9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]