[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2291 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2291

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To establish the Northern Border Coordination Center, 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 ``Northern Border Coordination Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Center.--The term ``Center'' means the Northern Border 
        Coordination Center established pursuant to section 3.
            (2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Homeland Security.
            (3) Northern border.--The term ``northern border'' means--
                    (A) the international border between the United 
                States and Canada; and
                    (B) the maritime border between Alaska and the 
                Russian Federation.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security.

SEC. 3. NORTHERN BORDER COORDINATION CENTER.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish the Northern 
Border Coordination Center.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of the Center shall be to serve as the 
Department's forward deployed centralized coordination center for 
operations, domain awareness, information sharing, intelligence, 
training, and stakeholder engagement with Federal, State, tribal, 
local, and international government partners along the northern border 
of the United States. The Center shall be placed along the northern 
border at a location that is collocated with an existing U.S. Border 
Patrol sector headquarters, an Air and Marine Operations branch, and a 
United States Coast Guard air station, and other existing Department 
activities.
    (c) Components.--
            (1) In general.--The Center shall collocate personnel and 
        activities of--
                    (A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including 
                U.S. Border Patrol and Air and Marine Operations;
                    (B) the United States Coast Guard;
                    (C) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 
                Homeland Security Investigations;
                    (D) other components and offices of the Department 
                that the Secretary determines to be necessary, 
                including to support the training, technology testing, 
                and development described in subsection (d); and
                    (E) additional Federal, State, tribal, local, and 
                international government partners, as the Secretary 
                determines to be necessary and appropriate to support 
                the coordination of operations described in this Act.
    (d) Functions.--The Center shall perform the functions described in 
this subsection in addition to any other functions assigned by the 
Secretary.
            (1) Northern border strategy.--The Center, in collaboration 
        with relevant offices and components of the Department, shall--
                    (A) serve as a coordination mechanism for 
                operational components for the implementation, 
                evaluation, and updating of the Northern Border 
                Strategy and any successor strategy; and
                    (B) support the development of best practices and 
                policies for personnel at the northern border to 
                support such implementation.
            (2) Training.--The Center shall serve as a training 
        location to support the delivery of training or exercises for 
        Department personnel and Federal, State, tribal, local, and 
        international government partners.
            (3) Metrics.--The Center, in collaboration with relevant 
        offices and components of the Department, shall coordinate the 
        development and tracking of border security metrics for the 
        northern border.
            (4) Resource and technological needs and challenges.--The 
        Center, in collaboration with relevant offices and components 
        of the Department, shall--
                    (A) identify resource and technological needs or 
                challenges affecting security along the northern 
                border; and
                    (B) serve as a testing ground and demonstration 
                location for the testing of border security technology, 
                including determining such technology's suitability and 
                performance in the northern border and maritime 
                environments.
            (5) Air and marine operations.--
                    (A) Quick reaction capabilities.--In support of the 
                Center, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and 
                Marine Operations--
                            (i) shall establish and maintain capability 
                        that is collocated with the Center and 
                        available for quick deployment in support of 
                        the northern border missions, U.S. Customs and 
                        Border Protection, and the Department, 
                        including missions in the Great Lakes region; 
                        and
                            (ii) in coordination with the Center and 
                        relevant offices and components of the 
                        Department, shall evaluate requirements and 
                        make recommendations to support the operations 
                        of large unmanned aircraft systems based at the 
                        Center.
                    (B) Northern border domain awareness.--In order to 
                coordinate with the Center and support its operations, 
                the Air and Marine Operations Center shall collocate 
                personnel and resources with the Center to enhance the 
                Department's capabilities to--
                            (i) support air and maritime domain 
                        awareness and information sharing efforts along 
                        the northern border;
                            (ii) provide dedicated monitoring of 
                        northern border systems; and
                            (iii) lead, in coordination with other U.S. 
                        Customs and Border Protection components, 
                        Federal, State, tribal, local, and 
                        international governments, and private sector 
                        partners, the Center's efforts to track and 
                        monitor legitimate cross-border traffic 
                        involving unmanned aircraft and unmanned 
                        aircraft systems.
            (6) Counter-unmanned aircraft systems.--
                    (A) In general.--Pursuant to policies established 
                by the Secretary, consistent with section 210G of the 
                Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124n), the 
                Center shall support counter-unmanned aircraft systems 
                operations along the northern border to respond to the 
                increased use of unmanned aircraft systems. Such 
                support may involve development, testing, and 
                evaluation of technologies.
                    (B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act may 
                be construed to provide additional authority related to 
                detection, mitigation, research, development, or 
                testing of unmanned aircraft systems or counter-
                unmanned aircraft systems.
            (7) Privacy and civil rights.--The Center, in collaboration 
        with the Chief Privacy Officer and the Office for Civil Rights 
        and Civil Liberties of the Department, shall ensure that 
        operations and practices of the Center comply with the privacy 
        and civil rights policies of the Department and its components.
            (8) Noncontiguous northern border.--The Center, in 
        collaboration with relevant offices and components of the 
        Department, shall--
                    (A) identify the specific challenges that exist 
                along the noncontiguous international land border with 
                Canada and the maritime border with Russia, including 
                resource, technological challenges, and domain 
                awareness;
                    (B) ensure that dedicated personnel, including 
                reachback support, are working to evaluate and address 
                the challenges identified pursuant to subparagraph (A); 
                and
                    (C) determine the feasibility of establishing a 
                satellite facility of the Center to address the 
                specific challenges identified pursuant to subparagraph 
                (A).
    (e) Annual Reporting.--Not later than 180 days after the 
establishment of the Center, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
shall submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Relations 
of the Senate, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
of the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
of the House of Representatives that describes the activities of the 
Center during the most recently concluded fiscal year, including--
            (1) personnel levels;
            (2) additional resources that are needed to support the 
        operations of the Center and northern border operations of the 
        Department; and
            (3) any additional assets or authorities that are needed to 
        increase security and domain awareness along the northern 
        border.
    (f) Temporary Duty Assignments.--The Secretary shall submit a 
quarterly report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
Representatives, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives regarding temporary duty assignments of U.S. Border 
Patrol agents during the reporting period, including--
            (1) the number of agents on temporary duty assignment;
            (2) the duration of the temporary duty assignment; and
            (3) the sectors from which the agents were assigned.
    (g) Rule of Construction.--The Center established pursuant to 
subsection (a) shall be established separate and distinct from the 
Secretary's authorities under section 708 of the Homeland Security Act 
of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 348).
    (h) Sunset.--This Act shall cease to be effective on the date that 
is 7 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

            Passed the Senate June 5, 2024.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
118th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2291

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

  To establish the Northern Border Coordination Center, and for other 
                               purposes.