[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5990 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5990

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize Office of Field 
             Operations positions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 19, 2023

     Mr. Ciscomani (for himself and Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas) 
                     introduced the following bill

                            October 25, 2023

             Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize Office of Field 
             Operations positions, 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 Enforcement, Security, and 
Trade (BEST) Facilitation Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. NEW OFFICE OF FIELD OPERATIONS POSITIONS AUTHORIZED.

    Section 411(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
211(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Image technician positions.--
                    ``(A) Image technician.--
                            ``(i) In general.--There shall be in the 
                        Office of Field Operations, the position of 
                        Image Technician, who shall be appointed in 
                        accordance with the provisions under chapter 33 
                        (relating to appointments in the competitive 
                        service) and chapters 51 and 53 (relating to 
                        classification and rates of pay) of title 5, 
                        United States Code.
                            ``(ii) Duties.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Duties of an 
                                Image Technician shall include--
                                            ``(aa) reviewing non-
                                        intrusive inspection images of 
                                        conveyances and containers 
                                        entering or exiting the United 
                                        States through a land, sea, or 
                                        air port of entry or 
                                        international rail crossing;
                                            ``(bb) assessing whether 
                                        images of conveyances and 
                                        containers appear to contain 
                                        anomalies indicating the 
                                        potential presence of 
                                        contraband, persons unlawfully 
                                        seeking to enter or exit the 
                                        United States, or illicitly 
                                        concealed merchandise, 
                                        including illicit drugs and 
                                        terrorist weapons;
                                            ``(cc) recommend entry 
                                        release or exit release for any 
                                        conveyances and containers 
                                        where the images do not include 
                                        noticeable anomalies indicating 
                                        the potential presence of 
                                        contraband, persons seeking to 
                                        unlawfully enter or exit the 
                                        United States, or illicitly 
                                        concealed merchandise, 
                                        including illicit drugs or 
                                        terrorist weapons, to the U.S. 
                                        Customs and Border Protection 
                                        Officer responsible for 
                                        inspecting such conveyance or 
                                        container.
                                            ``(dd) recommend for 
                                        further inspection any 
                                        conveyances and containers 
                                        where any image the Image 
                                        Technician reasonably believes 
                                        contains anomalies indicating 
                                        the potential presence of 
                                        contraband, persons seeking to 
                                        unlawfully enter or exit the 
                                        United States, or illicitly 
                                        concealed merchandise, such as 
                                        illicit drugs or terrorist 
                                        weapons, to the U.S. Customs 
                                        and Border Protection Officer 
                                        who is responsible for 
                                        inspecting such conveyance or 
                                        container; and
                                            ``(ee) referring to a 
                                        Supervisory Image Technician 
                                        any image of conveyances or 
                                        containers that is difficult to 
                                        review or assess due to poor 
                                        image quality or other factors.
                                    ``(II) Rule of construction.--A 
                                U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
                                Officer shall retain the discretion and 
                                final decision-making authority to 
                                release conveyances or cargo for entry 
                                or exit or to refer such conveyance or 
                                cargo for further inspection.
                    ``(B) Supervisory image technician.--
                            ``(i) In general.--There shall be in the 
                        Office of Field Operations, the position of 
                        Supervisory Image Technician, who shall be 
                        appointed in accordance with the provisions 
                        under chapter 33 (relating to appointments in 
                        the competitive service) and chapters 51 and 53 
                        (relating to classification and rates of pay) 
                        of title 5, United States Code.
                            ``(ii) Duties.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Duties of a 
                                Supervisory Image Technician shall 
                                include--
                                            ``(aa) carrying out all of 
                                        the duties described in clauses 
                                        (i) through (iv) of 
                                        subparagraph (A);
                                            ``(bb) reviewing and making 
                                        a recommendation regarding 
                                        images referred by an Image 
                                        Technician pursuant to 
                                        subparagraph (A)(v) to the U.S. 
                                        Customs and Border Protection 
                                        Officer who is responsible for 
                                        inspecting such conveyance or 
                                        container;
                                            ``(cc) receiving 
                                        intelligence from the National 
                                        Targeting Center regarding 
                                        tactics, techniques, and 
                                        procedures being used at ports 
                                        of entry and in the border 
                                        environment by malign actors to 
                                        facilitate the unlawful entry 
                                        or exit of contraband, persons, 
                                        or illicitly concealed 
                                        merchandise such as illicit 
                                        drugs or terrorist weapons; and
                                            ``(dd) reporting new 
                                        information to the National 
                                        Targeting Center regarding 
                                        tactics, techniques, and 
                                        procedures being used at ports 
                                        of entry and in the border 
                                        environment by malign actors to 
                                        facilitate the unlawful entry 
                                        or exit of contraband, persons, 
                                        or concealed merchandise such 
                                        as illicit drugs or terrorist 
                                        weapons.
                                    ``(II) Rule of construction.--A 
                                U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
                                Officer shall retain the discretion and 
                                final decision-making authority to 
                                release conveyances or cargo for entry 
                                or exit or to refer such conveyance or 
                                cargo for further inspection.
                    ``(C) Training requirements.--All Image Technicians 
                and Supervisory Image Technicians shall receive annual 
                training and additional ad hoc training, to the extent 
                necessary based on current trends, regarding--
                            ``(i) privacy, and civil rights and civil 
                        liberties, including the protections against 
                        unreasonable searches and seizures afforded by 
                        the Fourth Amendment to the United States 
                        Constitution;
                            ``(ii) analyzing images generated by non-
                        intrusive inspection technologies or any 
                        successor technologies deployed by U.S. Customs 
                        and Border Protection;
                            ``(iii) identifying commodities and 
                        merchandise in images generated by non-
                        intrusive inspection technologies or any 
                        successor technologies deployed by U.S. Customs 
                        and Border Protection;
                            ``(iv) identifying contraband, persons who 
                        are seeking to unlawfully enter or exit United 
                        States, or illicitly concealed merchandise such 
                        as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons in images 
                        generated by non-intrusive technologies or any 
                        successor technologies deployed by U.S. Customs 
                        and Border Protection;
                            ``(v) tactics, techniques, and procedures 
                        being used at ports of entry and in the border 
                        environment by malign actors to facilitate the 
                        unlawful entry or exit of contraband, persons, 
                        or concealed merchandise such as illicit drugs 
                        or terrorist weapons; and
                            ``(vi) any other training that the 
                        Commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border 
                        Protection determines to be relevant to the 
                        duties described in subparagraphs (B) or (D) of 
                        this subsection.
                    ``(D) Annual assessment.--All Image Technicians and 
                Supervisory Image Technicians shall receive annual 
                testing with respect to their--
                            ``(i) accuracy in image analysis;
                            ``(ii) timeliness in image analysis; and
                            ``(iii) ability to ascertain tactics, 
                        techniques, and procedures being used at ports 
                        of entry and in the border environment by 
                        malign actors to facilitate the unlawful entry 
                        or exit of contraband, persons, or illicitly 
                        concealed merchandise such as illicit drugs or 
                        terrorist weapons.''.

SEC. 3. WORKFORCE STAFFING MODEL.

    (a) Development.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection shall develop a workforce staffing model for Image 
Technicians and Supervisory Image Technicians described in section 
211(g)(6) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended by section 
2, based upon--
            (1) the deployment of non-intrusive inspection technologies 
        at ports of entry and international rail crossings;
            (2) border traffic patterns; and
            (3) scanning goals at each port of entry and international 
        rail crossing.
    (b) Validation.--Not later than 6 months after the completion of 
the workforce staffing model described in subsection (a), the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall validate such workforce 
staffing model and transmit notification of such validation to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    Upon completion of the validation of the workforce staffing model 
pursuant to section 3(b), and quarterly thereafter, the Commissioner of 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in consultation with the Executive 
Assistant Commissioner, shall submit a report to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives that 
identifies--
            (1) the number of Image Technicians and Supervisory Image 
        Technicians hired during the reporting period;
            (2) the number of Image Technicians and Supervisory Image 
        Technicians currently employed by the Office of Field 
        Operations, disaggregated by port of entry or sector;
            (3) the daily average number of images scanned by each 
        Image Technician;
            (4) training methodologies utilized to train Image 
        Technicians and Supervisory Image Technicians;
            (5) assessment passage rates of Image Technicians and 
        Supervisory Image Technicians; and
            (6) the apparent impact of Image Technicians and 
        Supervisory Image Technicians on interdiction rates at ports of 
        entry and international rail crossings at which Image 
        Technicians or Supervisory Image Technicians are stationed or 
        from which Image Technicians or Supervisory Image Technicians 
        review images, including--
                    (A) throughput increases or decreases at such ports 
                of entry and international rail crossings;
                    (B) increases or decreases in waiting times at such 
                ports of entry and international rail crossings;
                    (C) average wait times at such ports of entry and 
                international rail crossings; and
                    (D) increases or decreases of seizures of 
                contraband, persons seeking to unlawfully enter or exit 
                the United States, or illicitly concealed merchandise 
                such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons, broken down 
                by type of seizure and port of entry or international 
                rail crossing.
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