[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4294 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4294

  To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to negotiate with the 
Government of Canada regarding an agreement for integrated cross border 
       aerial law enforcement operations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 8, 2024

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to negotiate with the 
Government of Canada regarding an agreement for integrated cross border 
       aerial law enforcement operations, 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 ``Cross Border Aerial Law Enforcement 
Operations Act''.

SEC. 2. INTEGRATED CROSS BORDER AERIAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Authorization.--If authorized pursuant to a bilateral agreement 
between the United States Government and the Government of Canada, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security may establish an integrated cross border 
aerial law enforcement program (referred to in this section as the 
``Program'') along the international border between the United States 
and Canada, which should be modeled off the Framework Agreement on 
Integrated Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement Operations Between the 
Government of the United States of America and the Government of 
Canada, done at Detroit May 26, 2009.
    (b) Program Elements.--
            (1) Participants.--The Program may be staffed by approved 
        law enforcement officers from--
                    (A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including 
                personnel from Air and Marine Operations, U.S. Border 
                Patrol, or the Office of Field Operations;
                    (B) the United States Coast Guard; and
                    (C) any other Federal law enforcement agency 
                designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
            (2) Scope.--The jurisdiction of the Program shall be 
        limited to the territory located within 50 miles of the 
        international border between the United States and Canada 
        unless--
                    (A) a situation within such territory requires an 
                aircraft to leave from or return to an airport, 
                heliport, or base of operations located outside such 
                territory; or
                    (B) there are exigent circumstances relating to 
                authorized Program activities, including an emergency 
                on an aircraft or an emergency on the ground.
            (3) Civil rights.--The Program shall ensure that the civil 
        rights, civil liberties, and privacy of all individuals within 
        the jurisdiction of the United States are guaranteed in 
        accordance with Federal law.
    (c) Communications.--U.S. Customs and Border Protection and any 
other law enforcement agency designated by the Secretary of Homeland 
Security are authorized to establish necessary communication protocols 
for the safety of cross border aerial law enforcement operations.
    (d) Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) Unmanned aircraft system report.--Not later than 1 year 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security 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 
        Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
        that describes the use of unmanned aircraft systems (referred 
        to in this paragraph as ``UAS'') along the northern 
        international border of the United States, including--
                    (A) interagency coordination to mitigate incursions 
                from unauthorized UAS;
                    (B) any jurisdictional issues that would prevent 
                the mitigation of unauthorized UAS;
                    (C) the use of UAS by malign actors--
                            (i) to collect intelligence or surveil law 
                        enforcement operations;
                            (ii) to move contraband, persons, or 
                        payloads across the international border; or
                            (iii) to conduct espionage; and
                    (D) an assessment of the feasibility for joint, 
                cross-border law enforcement operations involving UAS 
                or counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
            (2) Failure to finalize program report.--If the Program is 
        not finalized on or before the date that is 2 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security shall submit a report to the committees referred to in 
        paragraph (1) that includes--
                    (A) a description of any unresolved issues that are 
                preventing the completion of such Program;
                    (B) any actions that Congress could take to 
                facilitate the completion of such Program; and
                    (C) a recommendation regarding whether--
                            (i) the Secretary should continue trying to 
                        establish such Program; or
                            (ii) such Program is not needed.
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