[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4436 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4436

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 21, 2022

 Ms. Cortez Masto introduced the following bill; which was read twice 
  and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (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.

SEC. 3. 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 less 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.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after 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.
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