II Calendar No. 696 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1253 [Report No. 118–290] To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Customs and Border Protection officers and support staff and to require reports that identify staffing, infrastructure, and equipment needed to enhance security at ports of entry. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 20, 2023 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs DECEMBER 16, 2024 Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment and an amendment to the title [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protec- tion Customs and Border Protection officers and support staff and to require reports that identify staffing, infra- structure, and equipment needed to enhance security at ports of entry. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1253 RS Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing America’s 4 Ports of Entry Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTEC- 6 TION PERSONNEL. 7 (a) OFFICERS.—The Commissioner of U.S. Customs 8 and Border Protection shall hire, train, and assign not 9 fewer than 600 new U.S. Customs and Border Protection 10 officers above the current attrition level during every fiscal 11 year until the total number of U.S. Customs and Border 12 Protection officers equals and sustains the requirements 13 identified each year in the Workload Staffing Model. 14 (b) SUPPORT STAFF.—The Commissioner is author- 15 ized to hire, train, and assign support staff, including 16 technicians and Enterprise Services mission support, to 17 perform non-law enforcement administrative functions to 18 support the new U.S. Customs and Border Protection offi- 19 cers hired pursuant to subsection (a). 20 (c) TRAFFIC FORECASTS.—In calculating the number 21 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers needed 22 at each port of entry through the Workload Staffing 23 Model, the Commissioner shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1253 RS (1) rely on data collected regarding the inspec- 1 tions and other activities conducted at each such 2 port of entry; 3 (2) consider volume from seasonal surges, other 4 projected changes in commercial and passenger vol- 5 umes, the most current commercial forecasts, and 6 other relevant information; and 7 (3) consider historical volume and forecasts 8 prior to the COVID–19 pandemic and the impact on 9 international travel. 10 (d) GAO REPORT.—If the Commissioner does not 11 hire the 600 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protec- 12 tion officers authorized under subsection (a) during fiscal 13 year 2023, or during any subsequent fiscal year in which 14 the hiring requirements set forth in the Workload Staffing 15 Model have not been achieved, the Comptroller General 16 of the United States shall— 17 (1) conduct a review of U.S. Customs and Bor- 18 der Protection hiring practices to determine the rea- 19 sons that such requirements were not achieved and 20 other issues related to hiring by U.S. Customs and 21 Border Protection; and 22 (2) submit a report to the Committee on Home- 23 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 24 ate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1253 RS House of Representatives that describes the results 1 of the review conducted under paragraph (1). 2 SEC. 3. PORTS OF ENTRY INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCE- 3 MENT REPORT. 4 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 5 ment of this Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 6 Border Protection shall submit a report to the Committee 7 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 8 Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 9 House of Representatives that identifies— 10 (1) infrastructure improvements at ports of 11 entry that would enhance the ability of U.S. Cus- 12 toms and Border Protection officers to interdict 13 opioids and other drugs that are being illegally 14 transported into the United States, including a de- 15 scription of circumstances at specific ports of entry 16 that prevent the deployment of technology used at 17 other ports of entry; 18 (2) detection equipment that would improve the 19 ability of such officers to identify opioids, including 20 precursors and derivatives, that are being illegally 21 transported into the United States; and 22 (3) safety equipment that would protect such 23 officers from accidental exposure to such drugs or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1253 RS other dangers associated with the inspection of po- 1 tential drug traffickers. 2 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 3 (a) TEMPORARY DUTY ASSIGNMENTS.— 4 (1) QUARTERLY REPORT.—The Commissioner 5 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit 6 a quarterly report to the appropriate congressional 7 committees that includes, for the reporting period— 8 (A) the number of temporary duty assign- 9 ments; 10 (B) the number of U.S. Customs and Bor- 11 der Protection employees required for each tem- 12 porary duty assignment; 13 (C) the ports of entry from which such em- 14 ployees were reassigned; 15 (D) the ports of entry to which such em- 16 ployees were reassigned; 17 (E) the ports of entry at which reimburs- 18 able service agreements have been entered into 19 that may be affected by temporary duty assign- 20 ments; 21 (F) the duration of each temporary duty 22 assignment; 23 (G) the cost of each temporary duty as- 24 signment; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1253 RS (H) for each temporary duty assignment to 1 the southwest border, a description of any ac- 2 tivities done in support of U.S. Border Patrol 3 operations. 4 (2) NOTICE.—Not later than 10 days before re- 5 deploying employees from 1 port of entry to another, 6 absent emergency circumstances— 7 (A) the Commissioner shall notify the di- 8 rector of the port of entry from which employ- 9 ees will be reassigned of the intended redeploy- 10 ments; and 11 (B) the port director shall notify impacted 12 facilities (including airports, seaports, and land 13 ports) of the intended redeployments. 14 (3) STAFF BRIEFING.—The Commissioner shall 15 brief all affected U.S. Customs and Border Protec- 16 tion employees regarding plans to mitigate 17 vulnerabilities created by any planned staffing re- 18 ductions at ports of entry. 19 (b) REPORTS ON U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PRO- 20 TECTION AGREEMENTS.—Section 907(a) of the Trade Fa- 21 cilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 22 4451(a)) is amended— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1253 RS (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and an as- 1 sessment’’ and all that follows and inserting a pe- 2 riod; 3 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 4 (12) as paragraphs (5) through (13), respectively; 5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(4) A description of the factors that were con- 8 sidered before entering into the agreement, including 9 an assessment of how the agreement provides eco- 10 nomic benefits and security benefits (if applicable) 11 at the port of entry to which the agreement re- 12 lates.’’; and 13 (4) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by para- 14 graph (2), by inserting after ‘‘the report’’ the fol- 15 lowing: ‘‘, including the locations of such services 16 and the total hours of reimbursable services under 17 the agreement, if any’’. 18 (c) ANNUAL WORKLOAD STAFFING MODEL RE- 19 PORT.—As part of the Annual Report on Staffing required 20 under section 411(g)(5)(A) of the Homeland Security Act 21 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(g)(5)(A)), the Commissioner shall 22 include— 23 (1) information concerning the progress made 24 toward meeting the U.S. Customs and Border Pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1253 RS tection officer and support staff hiring targets set 1 forth in section 2, while accounting for attrition; 2 (2) an update to the information provided in 3 the Resource Optimization at the Ports of Entry re- 4 port, which was submitted to Congress on Sep- 5 tember 12, 2017, pursuant to the Department of 6 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2017 (divi- 7 sion F of Public Law 115–31); and 8 (3) a summary of the information included in 9 the reports required under subsection (a) and sec- 10 tion 907(a) of the Trade Facilitation and Trade En- 11 forcement Act of 2015, as amended by subsection 12 (b). 13 (d) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘ap- 14 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 15 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 16 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 17 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 18 Senate; 19 (3) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 20 House of Representatives; and 21 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 22 House of Representatives. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1253 RS SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 2 this Act— 3 (1) $136,292,948 for fiscal year 2024; and 4 (2) $156,918,590 for each of the fiscal years 5 2025 through 2029. 6 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 7 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing America’s 8 Ports of Entry Act of 2023’’. 9 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTEC- 10 TION PERSONNEL. 11 (a) OFFICERS.—Subject to appropriations, the Com- 12 missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall hire, 13 train, and assign not fewer than 600 new U.S. Customs 14 and Border Protection officers above the current attrition 15 level during every fiscal year until the total number of U.S. 16 Customs and Border Protection officers equals and sustains 17 the requirements identified each year in the Workload Staff- 18 ing Model. 19 (b) SUPPORT STAFF.—The Commissioner is author- 20 ized to hire, train, and assign support staff, including tech- 21 nicians and Enterprise Services mission support, to per- 22 form non-law enforcement administrative functions to sup- 23 port the new U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers 24 hired pursuant to subsection (a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1253 RS (c) TRAFFIC FORECASTS.—In calculating the number 1 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers needed at 2 each port of entry through the Workload Staffing Model, 3 the Commissioner shall— 4 (1) rely on data collected regarding the inspec- 5 tions and other activities conducted at each such port 6 of entry; 7 (2) consider volume from seasonal surges, other 8 projected changes in commercial and passenger vol- 9 umes, the most current commercial forecasts, and 10 other relevant information; 11 (3) consider historical volume and forecasts prior 12 to the COVID–19 pandemic and the impact on inter- 13 national travel; and 14 (4) incorporate personnel requirements for in- 15 creasing the rate of outbound inspection operations at 16 land ports of entry. 17 (d) GAO REPORT.—If the Commissioner does not hire 18 the 600 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection of- 19 ficers authorized under subsection (a) during fiscal year 20 2024, or during any subsequent fiscal year in which the 21 hiring requirements set forth in the Workload Staffing 22 Model have not been achieved, the Comptroller General of 23 the United States shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1253 RS (1) conduct a review of U.S. Customs and Bor- 1 der Protection hiring practices to determine the rea- 2 sons that such requirements were not achieved and 3 other issues related to hiring by U.S. Customs and 4 Border Protection; and 5 (2) submit a report to the Committee on Home- 6 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 7 ate, the Committee on Finance of the Senate, the 8 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 9 Representatives, and the Committee on Ways and 10 Means of the House of Representatives that describes 11 the results of the review conducted pursuant to para- 12 graph (1). 13 SEC. 3. PORTS OF ENTRY INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCE- 14 MENT REPORT. 15 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 16 of this Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 17 Protection shall submit a report to the Committee on Home- 18 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the 19 Committee on Finance of the Senate, the Committee on 20 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and 21 the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep- 22 resentatives that identifies— 23 (1) infrastructure improvements at ports of 24 entry that would enhance the ability of U.S. Customs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1253.RS S1253 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1253 RS and Border Protection officers to interdict opioids 1 and other drugs that are being illegally transported 2 into the United States, including a description of cir- 3 cumstances at specific ports of entry that prevent the 4 deployment of technology used at other ports of entry; 5 (2) detection equipment that would improve the 6 ability of such officers to identify opioids, including 7 precursors and derivatives, that are being illegally 8 transported into the United States; and 9 (3) safety equipment that would protect such of- 10 ficers from accidental exposure to such drugs or other 11 dangers associated with the inspection of potential 12 drug traffickers. 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