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

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2291

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 13, 2023

Mr. Peters (for himself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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) C-UAS.--The term ``C-UAS'' means counter-unmanned 
        aircraft systems.
            (3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Homeland Security.
            (4) Northern border.--The term ``northern border'' means 
        the international border between the United States and Canada.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security.
            (6) Unmanned aircraft; unmanned aircraft systems.--The 
        terms ``unmanned aircraft'' and ``unmanned aircraft system'' 
        have the meanings given such terms in section 44801 of title 
        49, United States Code.

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 at a location that is collocated with an existing 
U.S. Border Patrol sector headquarters, the U.S. Border Patrol Northern 
Border Coordination Center, an Air and Marine Operations branch, and a 
United States Coast Guard air station.
    (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) Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers;
                    (D) the Science and Technology Directorate;
                    (E) other components and offices of the Department 
                that the Secretary determines to be necessary; and
                    (F) additional Federal, State, tribal, local, and 
                international government partners, as the Secretary 
                determines to be necessary and appropriate to support 
                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 security 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 
                Security 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;
                    (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; and
                    (C) develop and test new technological capabilities 
                to respond to the increased use of unmanned aircraft 
                systems, including to specifically improve domain 
                awareness along the northern border.
            (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 of the Center, 
                        U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the 
                        Department, specifically 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 establish a 
                unit at the Center to provide the Center the 
                capability--
                            (i) to support air and maritime domain 
                        awareness and information sharing efforts along 
                        the northern border;
                            (ii) to provide dedicated monitoring of 
                        northern border systems; and
                            (iii) to 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.--The Center shall 
        support counter-unmanned aircraft systems operations along the 
        northern border to respond to the increased use of 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.
    (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 and the Committee on Homeland 
Security 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.
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