[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 32 (Monday, February 29, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1094-S1096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3339. Mr. JOHNSON submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 524, to authorize the Attorney General to award
grants to address the national epidemics of prescription opioid abuse
and heroin use; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of the amendment, add the following:
TITLE VIII--BORDER SECURITY METRICS
SEC. 801. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Department of Homeland
Security Border Security Metrics Act of 2016''.
SEC. 802. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives;
(C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and
(D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Consequence delivery system.--The term ``Consequence
Delivery System'' means the series of consequences applied by
the Border Patrol to persons unlawfully entering the United
States to prevent unlawful border crossing recidivism.
(3) Got away.--The term ``got away'' means an unlawful
border crosser who--
(A) is directly or indirectly observed making an unlawful
entry into the United States;
(B) is not a turn back; and
(C) is not apprehended.
(4) Known migrant flow.--The term ``known migrant flow''
means the sum of the number of undocumented migrants--
(A) interdicted at sea;
(B) identified at sea, but not interdicted;
(C) that successfully entered the United States through the
maritime border; or
(D) not described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), which
were otherwise reported, with a significant degree of
certainty, as having entered, or attempted to enter, the
United States through the maritime border.
(5) Major violator.--The term ``major violator'' means a
person or entity that has engaged in serious criminal
activities at any land, air, or sea port of entry,
including--
(A) possession of illicit drugs;
(B) smuggling of prohibited products;
(C) human smuggling;
(D) weapons possession;
(E) use of fraudulent United States documents; or
(F) other offenses that are serious enough to result in
arrest.
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Homeland Security.
(7) Situational awareness.--The term ``situational
awareness'' means knowledge and unified understanding of
current unlawful cross-border activity, including--
(A) threats and trends concerning illicit trafficking and
unlawful crossings;
(B) the ability to forecast future shifts in such threats
and trends;
(C) the ability to evaluate such threats and trends at a
level sufficient to create actionable plans; and
(D) the operational capability to conduct persistent and
integrated surveillance of the international borders of the
United States.
(8) Transit zone.--The term ``transit zone'' means the sea
corridors of the western Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico,
the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern Pacific Ocean through
which undocumented migrants and illicit drugs transit, either
directly or indirectly, to the United States.
(9) Turn back.--The term ``turn back'' means an unlawful
border crosser who, after making an unlawful entry into the
United States, promptly returns to the country from which
such crosser entered.
(10) Unlawful border crossing effectiveness rate.--The term
``unlawful border crossing effectiveness rate'' means the
percentage that results from dividing--
(A) the number of apprehensions and turn backs; and
(B) the number of apprehensions, estimated unlawful
entries, turn backs, and got aways.
(11) Unlawful entry.--The term ``unlawful entry'' means an
unlawful border crosser who enters the United States and is
not apprehended by a border security component of the
Department of Homeland Security.
SEC. 803. METRICS FOR SECURING THE BORDER BETWEEN PORTS OF
ENTRY.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop
metrics, informed by situational awareness, to measure the
effectiveness of security between ports of entry. The
Secretary shall annually implement the metrics developed
under this subsection, which shall include--
(1) estimates, using alternative methodologies, including
recidivism data, survey data, known-flow data, and
technologically measured data, of--
(A) total attempted unlawful border crossings;
(B) the rate of apprehension of attempted unlawful border
crossers; and
(C) the number of unlawful entries;
(2) a situational awareness achievement metric, which
measures situational awareness achieved in each Border Patrol
sector;
(3) an unlawful border crossing effectiveness rate;
(4) a probability of detection, which compares the
estimated total unlawful border crossing attempts not
detected by the Border Patrol to the unlawful border crossing
effectiveness rate, as informed by paragraph (1);
(5) an illicit drugs seizure rate for drugs seized by the
Border Patrol, which compares the ratio of the amount and
type of illicit drugs seized by the Border Patrol in any
fiscal year to the average of the amount and type of illicit
drugs seized by the Border Patrol in the immediately
preceding 5 fiscal years;
(6) a weight-to-frequency rate, which compares the average
weight of marijuana seized per seizure by the Border Patrol
in any fiscal year to such weight-to-frequency rate for the
immediately preceding 5 fiscal years;
(7) estimates of the impact of the Consequence Delivery
System on the rate of recidivism of unlawful border crossers
over multiple fiscal years; and
(8) an examination of each consequence referred to in
paragraph (7), including--
(A) voluntary return;
(B) warrant of arrest or notice to appear;
(C) expedited removal;
(D) reinstatement of removal;
(E) alien transfer exit program;
(F) Operation Streamline;
(G) standard prosecution; and
(H) Operation Against Smugglers Initiative on Safety and
Security.
(b) Metrics Consultation.--In developing the metrics
required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
(1) consult with the appropriate components of the
Department of Homeland Security; and
(2) work with other agencies, as appropriate, including the
Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health
and Human Services and the Executive Office for Immigration
Review of the Department of Justice, to ensure that
authoritative data sources are utilized.
(c) Manner of Collection.--The data used by the Secretary
shall be collected and reported in a consistent and
standardized manner across all Border Patrol sectors,
informed by situational awareness.
SEC. 804. METRICS FOR SECURING THE BORDER AT PORTS OF ENTRY.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop
metrics, informed by situational awareness, to measure the
effectiveness of security at ports of entry. The Secretary
shall annually implement the metrics developed under this
subsection, which shall include--
(1) estimates, using alternative methodologies, including
survey data and randomized secondary screening data, of--
(A) total attempted inadmissible border crossings;
(B) the rate of apprehension of attempted inadmissible
border crossings; and
(C) the number of unlawful entries;
(2) the amount and type of illicit drugs seized by the
Office of Field Operations of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection at United States land, air, and sea ports during
the previous fiscal year;
(3) an illicit drugs seizure rate for drugs seized by the
Office of Field Operations, which compares the ratio of the
amount and type of illicit drugs seized by the Office of
Field Operations in any fiscal year to the average of the
amount and type of illicit drugs seized by the Office of
Field Operations in the immediately preceding 5 fiscal years;
[[Page S1095]]
(4) in consultation with the Office of National Drug
Control Policy and the United States Southern Command, a
cocaine seizure effectiveness rate, which is the percentage
resulting from dividing--
(A) the amount of cocaine seized by the Office of Field
Operations; and
(B) the total estimated cocaine flow rate at ports of entry
along the land border;
(5) the number of infractions related to travelers and
cargo committed by major violators who are apprehended by the
Office of Field Operations at ports of entry, and the
estimated number of such infractions committed by major
violators who are not apprehended;
(6) a measurement of how border security operations affect
crossing times, including--
(A) a wait time ratio that compares the average wait times
to total commercial and private vehicular traffic volumes at
each port of entry;
(B) an infrastructure capacity utilization rate that
measures traffic volume against the physical and staffing
capacity at each port of entry;
(C) a secondary examination rate that measures the
frequency of secondary examinations at each port of entry;
and
(D) an enforcement rate that measures the effectiveness of
secondary examinations at detecting major violators; and
(7) a cargo scanning rate that includes--
(A) a comparison of the number of high-risk cargo
containers scanned by the Office of Field Operations at each
United States seaport during the fiscal year to the total
number of high-risk cargo containers entering the United
States at each seaport during the previous fiscal year;
(B) the percentage of all cargo that is considered ``high-
risk'' cargo; and
(C) the percentage of high-risk cargo scanned--
(i) upon arrival at a United States seaport before entering
United States commerce; and
(ii) before being laden on a vessel destined for the United
States.
(b) Metrics Consultation.--In developing the metrics
required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
(1) consult with the appropriate components of the
Department of Homeland Security; and
(2) as appropriate, work with other agencies, including the
Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health
and Human Services and the Executive Office for Immigration
Review of the Department of Justice, to ensure that
authoritative data sources are utilized.
(c) Manner of Collection.--The data used by the Secretary
shall be collected and reported in a consistent and
standardized manner across all field offices, informed by
situational awareness.
SEC. 805. METRICS FOR SECURING THE MARITIME BORDER.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop
metrics, informed by situational awareness, to measure the
effectiveness of security in the maritime environment. The
Secretary shall annually implement the metrics developed
under this subsection, which shall include--
(1) situational awareness achieved in the maritime
environment;
(2) an undocumented migrant interdiction rate, which
compares the migrants interdicted at sea to the total known
migrant flow;
(3) an illicit drugs removal rate, for drugs removed inside
and outside of a transit zone, which compares the amount and
type of illicit drugs removed, including drugs abandoned at
sea, by the Department of Homeland Security's maritime
security components in any fiscal year to the average of the
amount and type of illicit drugs removed by the Department of
Homeland Security's maritime components for the immediately
preceding 5 fiscal years;
(4) in consultation with the Office of National Drug
Control Policy and the United States Southern Command, a
cocaine removal effectiveness rate, for cocaine removed
inside a transit zone and outside a transit zone; which
compares the amount of cocaine removed by the Department of
Homeland Security's maritime security components by the total
documented cocaine flow rate, as contained in Federal drug
databases;
(5) a response rate, which compares the ability of the
maritime security components of the Department of Homeland
Security to respond to and resolve known maritime threats,
whether inside and outside a transit zone, by placing assets
on-scene, to the total number of events with respect to which
the Department has known threat information; and
(6) an intergovernmental response rate, which compares the
ability of the maritime security components of the Department
of Homeland Security or other United States Government
entities to respond to and resolve actionable maritime
threats, whether inside or outside the Western Hemisphere
transit zone, by targeting maritime threats in order to
detect them, and of those threats detected, the total number
of maritime threats interdicted or disrupted.
(b) Metrics Consultation.--In developing the metrics
required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
(1) consult with the appropriate components of the
Department of Homeland Security; and
(2) as appropriate, work with other agencies, including the
Drug Enforcement Agency, the Department of Defense, and the
Department of Justice, to ensure that authoritative data
sources are utilized.
(c) Manner of Collection.--The data used by the Secretary
shall be collected and reported in a consistent and
standardized manner, informed by situational awareness.
SEC. 806. AIR AND MARINE SECURITY METRICS IN THE LAND DOMAIN.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop
metrics, informed by situational awareness, to measure the
effectiveness of the aviation assets and operations of the
Office of Air and Marine of U.S. Customs and Border
Enforcement. The Secretary shall annually implement the
metrics developed under this subsection, which shall
include--
(1) an effectiveness rate, which compares Office of Air and
Marine flight hours requirements to the number of flight
hours flown by such Office;
(2) a funded flight hour effectiveness rate, which compares
the number of funded flight hours appropriated to the Office
of Air and Marine to the number of actual flight hours flown
by such Office;
(3) a readiness rate, which compares the number of aviation
missions flown by the Office of Air and Marine to the number
of aviation missions cancelled by such Office due to
maintenance, operations, or other causes;
(4) the number of missions cancelled by such Office due to
weather compared to the total planned missions;
(5) the number of subjects detected by the Office of Air
and Marine through the use of unmanned aerial systems and
manned aircrafts;
(6) the number of apprehensions assisted by the Office of
Air and Marine through the use of unmanned aerial systems and
manned aircrafts;
(7) the number and quantity of illicit drug seizures
assisted by the Office of Air and Marine through the use of
unmanned aerial systems and manned aircrafts; and
(8) the number of times that usable intelligence related to
border security was obtained through the use of unmanned
aerial systems and manned aircraft.
(b) Metrics Consultation.--In developing the metrics
required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
(1) consult with the appropriate components of the
Department of Homeland Security; and
(2) as appropriate, work with other agencies, including the
Department of Justice, to ensure that authoritative data
sources are utilized.
(c) Manner of Collection.--The data used by the Secretary
shall be collected and reported in a consistent and
standardized manner, informed by situational awareness.
SEC. 807. DATA TRANSPARENCY.
The Secretary shall--
(1) in accordance with applicable privacy laws, make data
related to apprehensions, inadmissible aliens, drug seizures,
and other enforcement actions available to the public,
academic research, and law enforcement communities; and
(2) provide the Office of Immigration Statistics of the
Department of Homeland Security with unfettered access to the
data described in paragraph (1).
SEC. 808. EVALUATION BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
AND THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY.
(a) Metrics Report.--
(1) Mandatory disclosures.--The Secretary shall submit an
annual report containing the metrics required under sections
803 through 806 and the data and methodology used to develop
such metrics to--
(A) the appropriate congressional committees; and
(B) the Comptroller General of the United States.
(2) Permissible disclosures.--The Secretary, for the
purpose of validation and verification, may submit the annual
report described in paragraph (1) to--
(A) the National Center for Border Security and
Immigration;
(B) the head of a national laboratory within the Department
of Homeland Security laboratory network with prior expertise
in border security; and
(C) a Federally Funded Research and Development Center
sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security.
(b) GAO Report.--Not later than 270 days after receiving
the first report under subsection (a)(1), and biennially
thereafter for the following 10 years, the Comptroller
General of the United States, shall submit a report to the
appropriate congressional committees that--
(1) analyzes the suitability and statistical validity of
the data and methodology contained in such report; and
(2) includes recommendations to Congress on--
(A) the feasibility of other suitable metrics that may be
used to measure the effectiveness of border security; and
(B) improvements that need to be made to the metrics being
used to measure the effectiveness of border security.
(c) State of the Border Report.--Not later than 60 days
after the end of each fiscal year through fiscal year 2025,
the Secretary shall submit a ``State of the Border'' report
to the appropriate congressional committees that--
(1) provides trends for each metric under sections 803
through 806 for the last 10 years, to the extent possible;
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(2) provides selected analysis into related aspects of
illegal flow rates, including legal flows and stock
estimation techniques; and
(3) includes any other information that the Secretary
determines appropriate.
(d) Metrics Update.--
(1) In general.--After submitting the final report to the
Comptroller General under subsection (a), the Secretary may
reevaluate and update any of the metrics required under
sections 803 through 806 to ensure that such metrics--
(A) meet the Department of Homeland Security's performance
management needs; and
(B) are suitable to measure the effectiveness of border
security.
(2) Congressional notification.--Not later than 30 days
before updating the metrics under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall notify the appropriate congressional
committees of such updates.
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