[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2588 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2588

 To establish the Office of Enforcement and Border Affairs within the 
                         Department of Justice.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 30, 1997

    Mr. Reyes (for himself, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Becerra, Mr. Frost, Mr. 
Hinojosa, Mr. Green, Mr. Bono, Mr. Torres, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Boswell, Mr. 
 Edwards, and Mr. Underwood) introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish the Office of Enforcement and Border Affairs within the 
                         Department of Justice.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Border Security and Enforcement Act 
of 1997''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.

    (a) In General.--There is established in the Department of Justice 
an office to be known as the Office of Enforcement and Border Affairs.
    (b) Director.--The head of the Office of Enforcement and Border 
Affairs shall be the Director of the Office of Enforcement and Border 
Affairs, who--
            (1) shall be appointed by the President, by and with the 
        advice and consent of the Senate; and
            (2) shall report directly to the Attorney General.
    (c) Compensation.--The Director shall be paid at the rate of basic 
pay payable for level III of the Executive Schedule.
    (d) Functions.--The Director shall perform such functions as are 
transferred to the Director by this Act or otherwise vested in the 
Director by law.

SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.

    There are transferred from the Commissioner of the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service to the Director all functions performed under 
the following programs, and all personnel, infrastructure, and funding 
provided to the Commissioner in support of such programs immediately 
before the effective date of this Act:
            (1) The Border Patrol program.
            (2) The detention and deportation program.
            (3) The intelligence program.
            (4) The investigations program.
            (5) The inspections program.

SEC. 4. REFERENCES.

    With respect to any function transferred by this Act and exercised 
on or after the effective date of this Act, reference in any other 
Federal law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of 
authority, or any document of or pertaining to an office from which a 
function is transferred by this Act--
            (1) to the head of such office is deemed to refer to the 
        head of the office to which such function is transferred; or
            (2) to such office is deemed to refer to the office to 
        which such function is transferred.

SEC. 5. EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES.

    Except as otherwise provided by law, a Federal official to whom a 
function is transferred by this Act may, for purposes of performing the 
function, exercise all authorities under any other provision of law 
that were available with respect to the performance of that function to 
the official responsible for the performance of the function 
immediately before the effective date of the transfer of the function 
under this Act.

SEC. 6. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.

    (a) Legal Documents.--All orders, determinations, rules, 
regulations, permits, grants, loans, contracts, agreements, 
certificates, licenses, and privileges--
            (1) that have been issued, made, granted, or allowed to 
        become effective by the President, the Attorney General, the 
        Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the 
        Assistant Commissioner for Border Patrol, the Assistant 
        Commissioner for Detention and Deportation, the Assistant 
        Commissioner for Intelligence, the Assistant Commissioner for 
        Investigations, or any other Government official, or by a court 
        of competent jurisdiction, in the performance of any function 
        that is transferred by this Act; and
            (2) that are in effect on the effective date of such 
        transfer (or become effective after such date pursuant to their 
        terms as in effect on such effective date);
shall continue in effect according to their terms until modified, 
terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in accordance with law by 
the President, any other authorized official, a court of competent 
jurisdiction, or operation of law.
    (b) Proceedings.--This Act shall not affect any proceedings or any 
application for any benefits, service, license, permit, certificate, or 
financial assistance pending on the date of the enactment of this Act 
before an office whose functions are transferred by this Act, but such 
proceedings and applications shall be continued. Orders shall be issued 
in such proceedings, appeals shall be taken therefrom, and payments 
shall be made pursuant to such orders, as if this Act had not been 
enacted, and orders issued in any such proceeding shall continue in 
effect until modified, terminated, superseded, or revoked by a duly 
authorized official, by a court of competent jurisdiction, or by 
operation of law. Nothing in this subsection shall be considered to 
prohibit the discontinuance or modification of any such proceeding 
under the same terms and conditions and to the same extent that such 
proceeding could have been discontinued or modified if this Act had not 
been enacted.
    (c) Suits.--This Act shall not affect suits commenced before the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and in all such suits, proceeding 
shall be had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered in the same manner 
and with the same effect as if this Act had not been enacted.
    (d) Nonabatement of Actions.--No suit, action, or other proceeding 
commenced by or against the Department of Justice or the Immigration 
and Naturalization Service, or by or against any individual in the 
official capacity of such individual as an officer or employee in 
connection with a function transferred by this Act, shall abate by 
reason of the enactment of this Act.
    (e) Continuance of Suits.--If any Government officer in the 
official capacity of such officer is party to a suit with respect to a 
function of the officer, and under this Act such function is 
transferred to any other officer or office, then such suit shall be 
continued with the other officer or the head of such other office, as 
applicable, substituted or added as a party.
    (f) Administrative Procedure and Judicial Review.--Except as 
otherwise provided by this Act, any statutory requirements relating to 
notice, hearings, action upon the record, or administrative or judicial 
review that apply to any function transferred by this Act shall apply 
to the exercise of such function by the head of the office, and other 
officers of the office, to which such function is transferred by this 
Act.

SEC. 7. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND PERSONNEL.

    (a) In General.--The personnel of the Department of Justice 
employed in connection with the functions transferred by this Act, and 
the assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended 
balance of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other 
funds employed, held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made 
available to the Immigration and Naturalization Service in connection 
with the functions transferred by this Act, subject to section 202 of 
the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, shall be transferred 
to the Office of Enforcement and Border Affairs for appropriate 
allocation by the Director. Unexpended funds transferred pursuant to 
this subsection shall be used only for the purposes for which the funds 
were originally authorized and appropriated.
    (b) Effect on Personnel.--
            (1) In general.--The transfer under this Act of full-time 
        personnel (except special Government employees) and part-time 
        personnel holding permanent positions shall not cause any such 
        employee to be separated or reduced in grade or compensation 
        for 1 year after the date of transfer to the Office of 
        Enforcement and Border Affairs.
            (2) Executive schedule.--Any person who, on the day 
        preceding the effective date of this Act, held a position 
        compensated in accordance with the Executive Schedule 
        prescribed in chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, and 
        who, without a break in service, is appointed in the Office of 
        Enforcement and Border Affairs to a position having duties 
        comparable to the duties performed immediately preceding such 
        appointment shall continue to be compensated in such new 
        position at not less than the rate provided for such previous 
        position, for the duration of the service of such person in 
        such new position.

SEC. 8. DELEGATION AND ASSIGNMENT.

    Except as otherwise expressly prohibited by law or otherwise 
provided in this Act, an official to whom functions are transferred 
under this Act (including the head of any office to which functions are 
transferred under this Act) may delegate any of the functions so 
transferred to such officers and employees of the office of the 
official as the official may designate, and may authorize successive 
redelegations of such functions as may be necessary or appropriate. No 
delegation of functions under this section or under any other provision 
of this Act shall relieve the official to whom a function is 
transferred under this Act of responsibility for the administration of 
the function.

SEC. 9. AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET 
              WITH RESPECT TO FUNCTIONS TRANSFERRED.

    (a) Determinations.--If necessary, the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget shall make any determination of the functions 
that are transferred under this Act.
    (b) Incidental Transfers.--The Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget, at such time or times as the Director shall provide, may 
make such determinations as may be necessary with regard to the 
functions transferred by this Act, and to make such additional 
incidental dispositions of personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, 
contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of 
appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds held, 
used, arising from, available to, or to be made available in connection 
with such functions, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 
this Act. The Director shall provide for such further measures and 
dispositions as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this 
Act.

SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Except as otherwise provided, the term ``Director'' 
        means the Director of the Office of Enforcement and Border 
        Affairs.
            (2) The term ``function'' includes any duty, obligation, 
        power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, activity, 
        or program.
            (3) The term ``office'' includes any office, 
        administration, agency, bureau, institute, council, unit, 
        organizational entity, or component thereof.

SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect on October 1, 1999.
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