[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8644 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8644

To establish Joint Operations Centers along the southern border of the 
                 United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 2, 2022

 Mr. Joyce of Ohio (for himself, Mrs. Flores, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, and 
 Mr. Pappas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways 
   and Means, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish Joint Operations Centers along the southern border of the 
                 United States, 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 ``Advanced Border Coordination Act of 
2022''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT OPERATIONS CENTERS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Department shall establish not fewer than 2 
Joint Operations Centers along the southern border of the United States 
to provide unified coordination centers, where law enforcement from 
multiple Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies can collaborate in 
accordance with the purposes described in subsection (b).
    (b) Matters Covered.--The Centers shall provide centralized 
operations hubs for matters related to the following:
            (1) Implementing coordination and communication for field 
        operations between participating Federal, State, local, and 
        Tribal agencies, as needed.
            (2) Coordinating operations across participating Federal, 
        State, local, and Tribal agencies, as needed, including ground, 
        air, and sea or amphibious operations.
            (3) Coordinating and supporting border operations, 
        including deterring and detecting criminal activity related 
        to--
                    (A) transnational criminal organizations;
                    (B) illegal border crossings;
                    (C) the seizure of weapons;
                    (D) the seizure of drugs;
                    (E) the seizure of high valued property;
                    (F) terrorism;
                    (G) human trafficking;
                    (H) drug trafficking; and
                    (I) such additional matters as the Secretary 
                considers appropriate.
    (c) Information Sharing.--To ensure effective transmission of 
information between participating Federal, State, local, and Tribal 
agencies, for purposes of subsection (b), coordination and 
communication shall include--
            (1) Federal agencies sharing pertinent information with 
        participating State, local, and Tribal agencies through the 
        Centers; and
            (2) Federal agencies notifying participating State, local, 
        and Tribal agencies of operations occurring within the 
        jurisdictions of those agencies.
    (d) Workforce Capabilities.--The Centers shall--
            (1) track and coordinate deployment of participating 
        personnel; and
            (2) coordinate training, as needed.
    (e) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 
consult with participating Federal agencies, and shall seek feedback 
from participating State, local, and Tribal agencies, to report to 
Congress--
            (1) a description of the efforts undertaken to establish 
        the Centers;
            (2) an identification of the resources used for the 
        operations of the Centers;
            (3) a description of the key operations coordinated and 
        supported by each Center;
            (4) a description of any significant interoperability and 
        communication gaps identified between participating Federal, 
        State, local, and Tribal agencies within each Center;
            (5) recommendations for improved coordination and 
        communication between participating Federal agencies in 
        developing and operating current and future Centers; and
            (6) other data as the Secretary determines appropriate.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Centers.--The term ``Centers'' means the Joint 
        Operations Centers established under section 3(a).
            (2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Homeland Security.
            (3) Participating federal agency.--The term ``participating 
        Federal agency'' means--
                    (A) the Department;
                    (B) the Department of Defense;
                    (C) the Department of Justice; and
                    (D) any other Federal agency as the Secretary 
                determines appropriate.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, and any territory or 
        possession of the United States.
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