[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3892 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3892

  To reduce the number of deaths along the border between the United 
States and Mexico by improving the placement of rescue beacons, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 14, 2006

Mr. Frist (for himself, Mr. McCain, and Mrs. Hutchison) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To reduce the number of deaths along the border between the United 
States and Mexico by improving the placement of rescue beacons, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 Death Reduction Act of 
2006''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF A RESCUE BEACON.

    In this Act, the term ``rescue beacon'' means a clearly visible 
device with an internal power source that is placed in an area likely 
to experience extreme weather, that contains instructions for its use, 
and by means of lights, radio signals, and other means, allows 
individuals to alert the United States Customs and Border Protection of 
their presence.

SEC. 3. COLLECTION OF STATISTICS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Customs shall begin 
collecting data relevant to deaths occurring at the border between the 
United States and Mexico, divided by sector, and including--
            (1) the causes of the deaths;
            (2) the total number of deaths;
            (3) the location of deaths; and
            (4) demographic characteristics, including the sex and 
        approximate age of those deceased.
    (b) Development of Protocols.--The Commissioner of Customs shall 
develop consistent, formal, written protocols for the collection of 
data described in subsection (a).

SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON BORDER DEATHS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Customs shall submit to 
the Secretary of Homeland Security a report that contains--
            (1) an analysis of trends with respect to the statistics 
        collected under section (3)(a)(1) during the preceding year;
            (2) an evaluation, using multivariate statistical 
        approaches, of the Border Safety Initiative, including any 
        rescue beacons deployed, and any successor program designed to 
        reduce deaths along the border described in section 3(a); and
            (3) recommendations of particular actions to reduce the 
        deaths described in section 3(a).

SEC. 5. REPORT ON BEACON PLACEMENT.

    (a) Report Required.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Customs shall submit to the 
Secretary of Homeland Security a report on enhancing the deployment of 
rescue beacons.
    (b) Focus of Report.--Such report shall contain particular emphasis 
on enhancing the deployment of rescue beacons in the Tucson Sector.
    (c) Contents of Report.--The report required by subsection (a) 
shall include--
            (1) an assessment of the efficacy of the deployment of 
        rescue beacons in light of the statistics gathered under 
        section 3, including analysis of the locations of deaths 
        recorded and areas frequented by illegal migrants; and
            (2) recommendations on where additional rescue beacons 
        should be placed to reduce the number of deaths in the area 
        described by section 3 and section 5(b).
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $500,000 to carry out the provisions of this section.

SEC. 6. DEPLOYMENT OF ENHANCED BEACON NETWORK.

    (a) Deployment of Rescue Beacons.--Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Customs shall 
deploy additional rescue beacons in all areas recommended in the report 
required by section 5.
    (b) Guidelines for Placement of Rescue Beacons.--Not later than 1 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of 
Customs shall issue to all sector chiefs formal, written guidelines for 
the ongoing placement and removal of rescue beacons and the appropriate 
response to the activation of such beacons.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $1,500,000 to carry out the provisions of this section.

SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON ABANDONMENT OF ALIENS IN A BORDER ZONE.

    (a) In General.--Any person who commits an act described in section 
274(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324(a)(1)(A)) and abandons an alien with respect to that act in a 
place not within sight of a paved road or rescue beacon, shall be 
considered to have placed in jeopardy the life of a person as described 
in section 274(a)(1)(B)(iii) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(1)(B)(iii)).
    (b) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
prohibit any person from being held in violation of section 
274(a)(1)(B)(iii) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1324 (B)(iii)).
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