Sec. 2. Border and maritime security efficiencies
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Subtitle B of title IV of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 211 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following new sections: There is established within the Department an agency to be known as the Office of Biometric Identity Management. There shall be at the head of the Office of Biometric Identity Management a Director of the Office of Biometric Identity Management (in this section referred to as the Director ). The Director shall— have a minimum of five years professional management experience; lead the Department’s biometric identity services to support anti-terrorism, counter-terrorism, border security, national security, and public safety and enable operational missions across the Department by matching, storing, sharing, and analyzing biometric data; deliver biometric identity information and analysis capabilities to— the Department and its components; appropriate Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies; appropriate foreign governments; and appropriate private sector entities; support the law enforcement, public safety, national security, and homeland security missions of other Federal, state, local and tribal agencies; establish and manage the operation and maintenance of the Department’s biometric repository; establish, manage, and operate Biometric Support Centers to provide biometric identification and verification services to the Department, appropriate Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies, appropriate foreign governments, and appropriate private sector entities; in collaboration with the Undersecretary for Science and Technology, establish a Department-wide research and development program to support efforts in assessment, development, and exploration of biometric advancements and emerging technologies; oversee Department-wide standards for biometric conformity, and work to make such standards Government-wide; in coordination with the Department’s Office of Policy, and in consultation with relevant component offices, enter into data sharing agreements with appropriate Federal agencies to support immigration, law enforcement, national security, and public safety missions; and carry out the duties and powers prescribed by law or delegated by the Secretary.
There shall be in the Office of Biometric Identity Management a Deputy Director, who shall assist the Director in the management of the Office. There shall be in the Office of Biometric Identity Management a Chief Technology Officer. The Chief Technology Officer shall— ensure compliance with policies, processes, standards, guidelines, and procedures related to information technology systems management, enterprise architecture, and data management; provide engineering and enterprise architecture guidance and direction to the Office of Biometric Identity Management; and leverage emerging biometric technologies to recommend improvements to major enterprise applications, identify tools to optimize information technology systems performance, and develop and promote joint technology solutions to improve services to enhance mission effectiveness.
There shall be in the Office of Biometric Identity Management a Privacy Officer who shall ensure privacy protections and transparency in all Office activities, and conduct reviews of data sharing with external partners to ensure compliance with legal, policy, and privacy restrictions. The Director may establish such other Division Directors, agents, officers, and other offices of the Office of Biometric Identity Management as the Director determines necessary to carry out the missions, duties, functions, and authorities of the Office.
If the Director exercises the authority provided pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director shall notify the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate not later than 30 days before exercising such authority. The Secretary may establish and operate the following departmental Joint Task Forces (in this section referred to as Joint Task Force ) to conduct joint operations using Department component and office personnel and capabilities to secure the international borders of the United States:
Joint Task Force–East shall, at the direction of the Secretary and in coordination with Joint Task Force–West, create and execute a strategic plan to secure the land and maritime borders of the United States and shall operate and be located in a place or region determined by the Secretary. Joint Task Force–West shall, at the direction of the Secretary and in coordination with Joint Task Force–East, create and execute a strategic plan to secure the land and maritime borders of the United States and shall operate and be located in a place or region determined by the Secretary.
Joint Task Force–Investigation shall, at the direction of the Secretary, be responsible for coordinating criminal investigations supporting Joint Task Force–West and Joint Task Force–East. The Secretary shall appoint a Director to head each Joint Task Force. Each Director shall be senior official selected from a relevant component or office of the Department, rotating between relevant components and offices every two years. The Secretary may extend the appointment of a Director for up to two additional years, if the Secretary determines that such an extension is in the best interest of the Department.
The Secretary shall make the following appointments to the following Joint Task Forces: The initial Director of Joint Task Force–East shall be a senior officer of the Coast Guard. The initial Director of Joint Task Force–West shall be a senior official of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The initial Director of Joint Task Force–Investigation shall be a senior official of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Secretary shall appoint two Deputy Directors for each Joint Task Force.
The Deputy Directors of a Joint Task Force shall be officials of a different component or office than the Director of each Joint Task Force. Each Joint Task Force Director shall— identify and prioritize border and maritime security threats to the homeland; maintain situational awareness within their areas of responsibility, as determined by the Secretary; provide operational plans and requirements for standard operating procedures and contingency operations; plan and execute Joint Task Force activities within their areas of responsibility, as determined by the Secretary; set and accomplish strategic objectives through integrated operational planning and execution; exercise operational direction over personnel and equipment from Department components and offices allocated to the respective Joint Task Force to accomplish task force objectives; establish operational and investigative priorities within the Director’s operating areas; coordinate with foreign governments and other Federal, State, and local agencies, where appropriate, to carry out the mission of the Director’s Joint Task Force; identify and provide to the Secretary the joint mission requirements necessary to execute the strategic plan to secure the land and maritime borders of the United States referred to in subsection (a); and carry out other duties and powers the Secretary determines appropriate.
The heads of components and offices of the Department shall, upon request of the Director of a Joint Task Force, provide personnel and equipment to the requesting Joint Task Force on a temporary basis, if doing so does not affect the capability of such component or office to conduct its primary missions. As directed by the Secretary— each Director of a Joint Task Force shall be provided sufficient resources from relevant components and offices of the Department and the authority necessary to carry out the missions and responsibilities required under this section; the resources referred to in paragraph
(1)shall be under the operational authority, direction, and control of the Director of the Joint Task Force to which such resources were assigned; and the personnel and equipment of the Joint Task Forces shall remain under the administrative direction of its primary component or office. Each Joint Task Force shall have a staff to assist the Directors in carrying out the mission and responsibilities of the Joint Task Forces. Such staff shall be filled by officials from relevant components and offices of the Department. The Secretary may establish additional Joint Task Forces for the purposes of— coordinating operations along the northern border of the United States; preventing and responding to homeland security crises, as determined by the Secretary; establishing other regionally based operations; or cybersecurity. The Secretary shall submit a notification to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Reform of the Senate 90 days prior to the establishment of an additional Joint Task Force under subsection (i). The Secretary may waive the requirement of paragraph
(1)in the event of an emergency circumstance that imminently threatens the protection of human life or the protection of property. In this section, the term situational awareness means a knowledge and unified understanding of unlawful cross-border activity, including threats and trends concerning illicit trafficking and unlawful crossings, and the ability to forecast future shifts in such threats and trends, the ability to evaluate such threats and trends at a level sufficient to create actionable plans, and the operational capability to conduct continuous and integrated surveillance of the international borders of the United States. This section expires on September 30, 2018. Not later than 180 days after the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a maritime operations coordination plan for the coordination and cooperation of maritime operations undertaken by components and offices of the Department with responsibility for maritime security missions. Such plan shall update the maritime operations coordination plan released by the Department in July 2011, and shall address the following: Coordination of planning, integration of maritime operations, and development of joint situational awareness of any component or office of the Department with responsibility for maritime homeland security missions. Maintaining effective information sharing and, as appropriate, intelligence integration, with Federal, State, and local officials and the private sector, regarding threats to maritime security. Leveraging existing departmental coordination mechanisms, including the interagency operational centers as authorized under section 70107A of title 46, United States Code, Coast Guard’s Regional Coordinating Mechanisms, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations Center, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Operational Integration Center, and other regional maritime operational command centers. Cooperation and coordination with other departments and agencies of the Federal Government, and State and local agencies, in the maritime environment, in support of maritime homeland security missions. Work conducted within the context of other national and Department maritime security strategic guidance. Not later than July 1, 2020, the Secretary, acting through the Department’s Office of Operations Coordination and Planning, shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an update to the maritime operations coordination plan required under subsection (a). Any new asset deployment by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Air and Marine Operations following the date of the enactment of this section, shall, to the greatest extent practicable, occur in accordance with a risk-based assessment that considers mission needs, performance results, threats, costs, and any other relevant factors identified by the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Specific factors to be included in such assessment shall include, at a minimum, the following: Mission requirements that prioritize the operational needs of field commanders to secure the United States border and ports. Other Department assets available to help address any unmet border and port security mission requirements, in accordance with paragraph (1). Risk analysis showing positioning of the asset at issue to respond to intelligence on emerging terrorist or other threats. Cost-benefit analysis showing the relative ability to use the asset at issue in the most cost-effective way to reduce risk and achieve mission success. An assessment required under subsection
(a)shall consider applicable Federal guidance, standards, and agency strategic and performance plans, including the following: The most recent departmental Quadrennial Homeland Security Review under section 707, and any follow-up guidance related to such Review. The Department’s Annual Performance Plans. Department policy guiding use of integrated risk management in resource allocation decisions. Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Strategic Plans and Resource Deployment Plans. Applicable aviation guidance from the Department, including the DHS Aviation Concept of Operations. Other strategic and acquisition guidance promulgated by the Federal Government as the Secretary determines appropriate. The Inspector General of the Department shall biennially audit the deployment of new assets by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Air and Marine Operations and submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on the compliance of the Department with the requirements of this section. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an identification of facilities owned by the Federal Government in strategic locations along the maritime border of California that may be suitable for establishing Office of Air and Marine Operations marine interdiction stations. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a process to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that an individual who is not lawfully present in the United States cannot obtain or continue to use a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (in this section referred to as the TWIC ). In establishing the process under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— publish a list of documents that will identify non-United States citizen TWIC applicants and verify the immigration statuses of such applicants by requiring each such applicant to produce a document or documents that demonstrate— identity; and proof of lawful presence in the United States; and establish training requirements to ensure that trusted agents at TWIC enrollment centers receive training to identify fraudulent documents. A TWIC expires on the date of its expiration, or on the date on which the individual to whom such a TWIC is issued is no longer lawfully present in the United States, whichever is earlier. . The Secretary of Homeland Security may not change the location or reporting structure of the Office of Biometric Identity Management (established pursuant to section 420 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection
(a)of this section) unless the Secretary of Homeland Security receives prior authorization from Congress permitting such change. The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act is amended by adding after the item relating to section 419 the following new item: Sec. 420. Establishment of the Office of Biometric Identity Management. Sec. 420A. Border Security Joint Task Forces. Sec. 420B. Updates of maritime operations coordination plan. Sec. 420C. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine Operations asset deployment. Sec. 420D. Securing the Transportation Worker Identification Credential against use by unauthorized aliens. .
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Sec. 2
Border and maritime security efficiencies
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