[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 146 (Tuesday, September 4, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7796-H7799]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MARITIME BORDER SECURITY REVIEW ACT

  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 5869) to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct a 
maritime border threat analysis, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows

                               H.R. 5869

       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 ``Maritime Border Security 
     Review Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
     Representatives;
       (B) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 
     the House of Representatives;
       (C) the Committee on Homeland Security and Government 
     Affairs of the Senate; and
       (D) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
     of the Senate.
       (2) Maritime border.--The term ``maritime border'' means--
       (A) the transit zone; and
       (B) the borders and territorial waters of Puerto Rico and 
     the United States Virgin Islands.
       (3) Transit zone.--The term ``transit zone'' has the 
     meaning given such term in section 1092(a)(8) of the National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (6 U.S.C. 
     223(a)(8)).

     SEC. 3. MARITIME BORDER THREAT ANALYSIS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
     shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
     maritime border threat analysis that includes an 
     identification and description of the following:
       (1) Current and potential terrorism and criminal threats 
     posed by individuals and groups seeking to--
       (A) enter the United States through the maritime border; or
       (B) exploit border vulnerabilities on the maritime border.
       (2) Improvements needed at United States sea ports to--
       (A) prevent terrorists and instruments of terror from 
     entering the United States; and
       (B) reduce criminal activity, as measured by the total flow 
     of illegal goods and illicit drugs, related to the maritime 
     border.
       (3) Improvements needed with respect to the maritime border 
     to--
       (A) prevent terrorists and instruments of terror from 
     entering the United States; and
       (B) reduce criminal activity related to the maritime 
     border.
       (4) Vulnerabilities in law, policy, cooperation between 
     State, territorial, and local law enforcement, or 
     international agreements that hinder effective and efficient 
     border security, counterterrorism, anti-human trafficking 
     efforts, and the flow of legitimate trade with respect to the 
     maritime border.
       (5) Metrics and performance parameters used by the 
     Department of Homeland Security to evaluate maritime security 
     effectiveness, as appropriate.
       (b) Analysis Requirements.--In preparing the threat 
     analysis required under subsection (a), the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security shall consider and examine the following:
       (1) Technology needs and challenges.
       (2) Personnel needs and challenges.
       (3) The role of State, territorial, and local law 
     enforcement in general border security activities.
       (4) The need for cooperation among Federal, State, 
     territorial, local, and appropriate international law 
     enforcement entities relating to border security.
       (5) The geographic challenges of the maritime border.
       (6) The impact and consequences of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, 
     Maria, and Nate on general border security activities with 
     respect to the maritime border.
       (c) Classified Threat Analysis.--To the extent possible, 
     the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit the threat 
     analysis required under subsection (a) in unclassified form. 
     The Secretary may submit a portion of the threat analysis in 
     classified form if the Secretary determines that such form is 
     appropriate for such portion.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Katko) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.

                              {time}  1730


                             General Leave

  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5869, the Maritime 
Border Security Review Act, sponsored by the gentlewoman from Puerto 
Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon), my friend and colleague.
  With increasing focus on the threats at the southwest border, we must 
be mindful that our adversaries can and will adapt as they seek to gain 
entry into our homeland. As illicit pathways are squeezed on the 
southwest border, the Nation's maritime border is a likely alternative 
route for our adversaries to utilize.
  The brave men and women of the United States Coast Guard are 
responsible for patrolling our Nation's maritime border, conducting 
counter-drug and migrant interdiction operations, as well as search and 
rescue missions to ensure the safety and legitimacy of travel and trade 
in the maritime environment.
  The Coast Guard also interdicts and often rescues migrants who are 
attempting to reach the United States not only from the Caribbean and 
Latin American region but, as recent cases have indicated, from 
countries outside the Western Hemisphere, including China, India, 
Pakistan, and Jordan.
  Cocaine is one of the most highly trafficked drugs throughout the 
maritime border, especially in the transit zone, a 7-million-square-
mile area that includes the sea corridors of the western Atlantic 
Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Pacific 
Ocean. I know that firsthand from the time I spent for 2 years in the 
mid-nineties prosecuting international drug organizations in San Juan, 
Puerto Rico.
  The Coast Guard interdicts thousands of pounds of cocaine every year; 
though, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General, only about 
8.2 percent of the total cocaine flow through the transit zone was 
interdicted in fiscal year 2017.
  Unfortunately, we currently do not have the resources to turn back or 
interdict all the threats in the maritime environment. To make matters 
worse, the devastating effects of the 2017 hurricane season diminished 
local law enforcement operational capabilities and resources available 
to combat maritime-based threats in the U.S. territories, putting 
further strain on our Federal law enforcement agents and officers.
  Many of the hurricane-affected areas are still not back to pre-
hurricane conditions. Under this environment, by the time a threat 
reaches our coastal waters, it is too easy to slip into the country and 
often too late, from a law enforcement standpoint, to intercept that 
threat.
  H.R. 5869 requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct a 
threat analysis of the greater U.S. maritime border, to include the 
territorial waters of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands 
as well as the transit zone. The bill requires the examination of 
terrorist and criminal threats posed by individuals and groups seeking 
to enter the U.S. through the maritime border.
  The bill also requires the Secretary to identify vulnerabilities in 
law, policy, and cooperation between State, territorial, and local law 
enforcement, and it asks the Secretary to review the impact of the 
geographic challenges of the maritime border and of Hurricanes Harvey, 
Irma, Maria, and Nate on general border security activities related to 
the maritime border.
  The Maritime Border Security Review Act is a necessary and timely 
piece of legislation, and I want to thank the gentlewoman from Puerto 
Rico for introducing it.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in supporting H.R. 5869, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.


[[Page H7797]]


         Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of 
           Representatives,
                                Washington, DC, September 4, 2018.
     Hon. Michael T. McCaul,
     Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman McCaul: I write concerning H.R. 5869, the 
     Maritime Border Security Review Act. This legislation 
     includes matters that I believe fall within the Rule X 
     jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation and 
     Infrastructure.
       In order to expedite floor consideration of H.R. 5869, the 
     Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will forgo 
     action on this bill, including seeking a sequential referral. 
     However, this is conditional on our mutual understanding that 
     forgoing consideration of the bill does not prejudice the 
     Committee with respect to the appointment of conferees or to 
     any future jurisdictional claim over the subject matters 
     contained in the bill or similar legislation that fall within 
     the Committee's Rule X jurisdiction. Finally, should a 
     conference on the bill be necessary, I ask that you support 
     my request to have the Committee represented on the 
     conference committee.
       Please place a copy of this letter and your response 
     acknowledging our jurisdictional interest in the 
     Congressional Record during House Floor consideration of the 
     bill. I look forward to working with the Committee on 
     Homeland Security as the bill moves through the legislative 
     process.
           Sincerely,
                                                     Bill Shuster,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                   Committee on Homeland Security,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                Washington, DC, September 4, 2018.
     Hon. Bill Shuster,
     Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Shuster: Thank you for your letter regarding 
     H.R. 5869, the ``Maritime Border Security Review Act.'' I 
     appreciate your support in bringing this legislation before 
     the House of Representatives, and accordingly, understand 
     that the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will 
     not seek a sequential referral on the bill, to the extent it 
     may have a jurisdictional claim.
       The Committee on Homeland Security concurs with the mutual 
     understanding that by foregoing a sequential referral of this 
     bill, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure does 
     not waive any jurisdiction over the subject matter contained 
     in this bill or similar legislation in the future. In 
     addition, should a conference on this bill be necessary, I 
     would support a request by the Committee on Transportation 
     and Infrastructure for conferees on those provisions 
     determined to be within its jurisdiction.
       I will insert copies of this exchange in the Congressional 
     Record during consideration of this bill on the House floor. 
     I thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
           Sincerely,
                                                Michael T. McCaul,
                                                         Chairman.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5869, the Maritime Border 
Security Review Act.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5869 would require the Department of Homeland 
Security to conduct a threat analysis of the maritime border. The bill 
directs the threat analysis to identify terrorist and criminal elements 
looking to enter the U.S. through, or exploit vulnerabilities of, our 
maritime border. Further, H.R. 5869 directs DHS to identify 
improvements to mitigate such threats.
  In carrying out this analysis, DHS is directed to look at 
vulnerabilities in law and policy that hinder border security and other 
criminal efforts along the maritime border. It is important to note 
that the bill limits the scope of the legal and policy analysis 
provisions to maritime security and, as such, has no relationship to 
the Jones Act.
  In the current climate where we have a President who repeatedly 
threatens to shut down the Federal Government if Congress fails to 
provide funding to build a wall along the southwest border that 
candidate Trump repeatedly told would be paid for by the Mexican 
Government, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that border security 
concerns more than the U.S.-Mexico land border.
  I commend the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico for reminding us of the 
need to secure maritime borders and seaports.
  Cargo volume is up. In fiscal year 2017 alone, U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection processed $2.39 trillion in imports. This translates 
into our ports of entry processing more than 28.5 million in imported 
cargo containers.
  Seaports are critical infrastructure that drive our economy. As such, 
it is critical that DHS stay abreast of the maritime security threat 
picture. To that end, I support H.R. 5869, the Maritime Border Security 
Review Act, and urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon).
  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman 
Katko for leading this effort today. I want to thank the chairman of 
the committee and Ranking Member Thompson for supporting this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of my bill, H.R. 5869, 
the Maritime Border Security Review Act.
  As we move to secure our borders, it is imperative that we confront 
the threats posed by criminal and drug trafficking organizations 
seeking to enter the Nation through our maritime frontier. Illicit 
trafficking through the transit zone, a 7-million-square-mile area, 
includes the sea corridors of the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean 
Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Pacific Ocean. This is the 
transit zone.
  According to the Coast Guard, the total known flow of undocumented 
migrants attempting to enter the U.S. by maritime routes in 2017 was 
almost 4,800 individuals. The known cocaine flow throughout the transit 
zone reached about 2,700 metric tons in 2017.
  This bill also addresses the public safety challenges faced by Puerto 
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the only two U.S. territories located 
geographically within the transit zone.
  The United States' Caribbean border has long been exploited as both a 
destination and a transshipment point for illicit drugs shipped to the 
mainland, endangering the lives of Americans in the two territories, 
but also in the continental U.S. About two-thirds of the cocaine 
transiting the Caribbean in early 2016 was destined for the U.S., most 
of it being smuggled through Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
  In 2017, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized about 
66,000 pounds of narcotics in and around Puerto Rico from drug cartels 
and smugglers. And let me tell you something: The CBP, or the Customs 
and Border Patrol, is outside the mainland. So this is the only CBP 
office outside the mainland operating not just in Puerto Rico and the 
U.S. Virgin Islands, but our frontier with Venezuela and the whole 
Caribbean. The year 2017 was a record high for drug smugglers over the 
previous year.
  Last year's devastating hurricane season disrupted interdiction 
efforts in the United States' maritime border. According to the 2019 
Threat Assessment from the Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands High 
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the damage inflicted by the storms 
severely diminished the operational capabilities of local and Federal 
law enforcement on both islands.
  The U.S. Coast Guard recently testified before the U.S. Senate that 
responding in force to the hurricanes meant fewer resources for drug 
interdiction and border protection. They also admitted that, despite 
their best efforts, they have struggled to keep up with the volume of 
illicit traffic due to a shortage of planes, ships, helicopters, and 
resources, further highlighting the needs at our maritime border.
  H.R. 5869 would help us better understand these and other challenges 
the United States faces along its maritime border by requiring the 
Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct a detailed threat analysis of 
the region. These assessments must include the terrorism and criminal 
threats posed by those seeking to enter the U.S. throughout the 
maritime border; improvements needed at all U.S. seaports to reduce 
criminal activity; and all vulnerabilities in law that prevent 
effective border security, similar to those recently released in the 
Northern Border Threat Analysis of 2017 that were approved by the House 
of Representatives.
  The Secretary of Homeland Security must consider technology and 
personnel needs, the role of State and local enforcement in border 
security activities, the geographic challenges of the region, and the 
impact of last year's hurricanes on general border security activities.

[[Page H7798]]

  Protecting and ensuring the safety of the American people both on the 
mainland and in the territories is very important not just for me, but 
for all of us, and should be one of our priorities. An assessment of 
the threats posed at our Nation's maritime border will help us achieve 
just that. The reason behind this bill is to promote that kind of 
analysis.

  I want to thank Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Thompson, and 
Congressmen Katko and Perry for their leadership in assisting and 
moving forward this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support 
H.R. 5869.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I have no speakers on this 
bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I will be prepared to close in a moment, but I do want 
to follow up on a couple of remarks from my colleague from Puerto Rico.
  I served there as a Federal organized crime prosecutor in the mid-
1990s in San Juan, and during that time I saw firsthand how much of a 
vulnerability the maritime areas have of the United States in general, 
but Puerto Rico in particular.
  The HIDTA report, which refers to the high intensity drug trafficking 
report, talks about severely diminished capabilities for law 
enforcement post-hurricane. But that doesn't begin to describe what 
really goes on down there.
  When I first walked into the U.S. Attorney's Office in 1996 in Puerto 
Rico, there were about five or six major fast boats lined up in a 
parking lot that had been seized. They were seized because of large 
shipments of cocaine coming across the water directly from Colombia, 
which is only about 500 nautical miles away. These boats could go 
anywhere within Puerto Rico. It doesn't have to come to a port. It can 
pull up to shore anywhere and offload whatever contraband they are 
trafficking.
  Certainly any one of those boats carried millions upon millions of 
dollars of poison that were going into drug users in this country, but 
they could easily be carrying terrorists. Once they get into Puerto 
Rico, you are in the United States. That is what people have to 
understand. Once you are in the United States, there is more customs 
scrutiny.
  So getting it into Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, or the Virgin Islands, or 
other territories of the United States, and not knowing what those 
vulnerabilities are is a serious gap in our security in this Nation.
  We did a similar threat assessment of the northern border, and it was 
very illuminating to see how much the northern border is wide open and 
how much of a threat it actually is. I would venture to guess that what 
we will see from this report when it is issued is much more eye-
opening. It is a vulnerability in the world where people don't want us 
to survive as a democracy and, instead, want to impose terroristic 
views on our society. It is incumbent we pass this bill to get the full 
scope of the extent of the threat.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, in the current climate, it is easy to lose sight of the 
fact that border security encompasses land, air, and maritime borders. 
Maintaining situational awareness along our maritime borders and in the 
transit zone can be a daunting task for the U.S. Coast Guard and 
Customs and Border Protection, given the vastness of the maritime 
domain. H.R. 5869 will position DHS to better understand what 
additional resources are required to protect our maritime ports and 
borders.
  Given that the measures before us were authored by the gentlewoman 
from Puerto Rico, I would be remiss if I didn't take this moment to 
acknowledge September 20 will mark a year since Hurricane Maria upended 
the lives of millions of Americans living in Puerto Rico.

                              {time}  1745

  The death and destruction caused by this category 4 storm was 
compounded by the Trump administration's flat-footed, weak, and slow 
response to the suffering.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a piece published by The New 
York Times this past weekend entitled ``Don't Give Trump a Pass on 
Puerto Rico.''

                [From the New York Times, Sept. 1, 2018]

                 Don't Give Trump a Pass on Puerto Rico


   The president thinks the government did a fantastic job last year 
handling Hurricane Maria. But the revision of the death toll, to nearly 
                     3,000 from 64, says different

                       (By Mekela Panditharatne)

       The wind and rain began lashing New Orleans in the early 
     hours of Aug. 29, 2005, while President George W. Bush was on 
     vacation at his ranch in Texas. As the levees buckled and 
     water poured into the city, the federal government tarried. 
     Later, Hurricane Katrina's long pall--the more than 1,800 
     related deaths, the devastation and the slow federal 
     response--would come to haunt Mr. Bush's presidency, 
     cratering his approval rating.
       President Trump, who has overseen his own hurricane crisis 
     after last year's storms in Texas and Puerto Rico, has 
     largely escaped the presidency-defining censure that dogged 
     Mr. Bush after Hurricane Katrina. Last week, Puerto Rico's 
     government increased the island's official death toll, 
     estimating that 2,975 people died as a result of the 
     hurricane and its effects--up from the tally of just 64 that 
     had been the official count until then. Nearly one year after 
     the storm hit, we now know that Hurricane Maria may be among 
     the deadliest natural disasters to occur in the United States 
     in a century.
       So why the pass for President Trump?
       Mr. Trump's scandal-plagued presidency has benefited from a 
     deliberate pattern of diversion and the deep executive 
     dysfunction he has created in the federal government. Under 
     his tenure, the president has given the impression it is not 
     the White House's job to coordinate with federal agencies and 
     that by extension, he does not own his agencies' failures. 
     This shouldn't stand.
       The scope of the administration's negligence is reflected 
     in a report released by the Federal Emergency Management 
     Agency in July. FEMA said the agency ``had thousands fewer 
     workers than it needed'' and that many of those it had 
     weren't qualified to take on a catastrophe of this scale. The 
     report also states that the agency took longer than expected 
     to secure supplies and lost track of much of the aid it 
     delivered.
       An investigation by Politico found that FEMA provided 
     roughly a third of the meals, half as much water and a small 
     fraction of tarps to Puerto Rico than it provided to Texas 
     after Hurricane Harvey in the first nine days after the 
     storm. Several weeks elapsed before FEMA and the Defense 
     Department increased their presence on the island, even 
     though airports and ports had reopened after a few days. The 
     agencies failed to direct the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham 
     Lincoln and other ships to Puerto Rico to aid with the 
     response. Mr. Trump remained largely out of the picture.
       No president in recent memory has upended internal 
     executive branch norms so much. In immigration, military and 
     other matters, major executive orders have been introduced by 
     the Trump administration without consulting with his cabinet. 
     Agency heads have been caught off guard when policies 
     affecting them are put into motion. The robust interagency 
     exchange that typically characterizes complex decisions has 
     atrophied.
       All of this makes it easy for Mr. Trump to escape blame for 
     his agencies' missteps. But this isn't normal. In an unwieldy 
     bureaucracy, pressure and high-level oversight from the White 
     House ensure that disaster response does not fall by the 
     wayside. Where agencies are ill-equipped to handle the on-
     the-ground devastation and local authorities cannot fill the 
     void, presidential leadership assumes greater import.
       The Trump administration has additionally taken actions 
     that may set back Puerto Rico's recovery. The funding request 
     the White House sent to Congress last November drew 
     condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats for being 
     too low. The administration gave Puerto Rico little choice 
     but to adopt an experimental funding formula to rebuild its 
     public infrastructure. The formula gives Puerto Rico 
     flexibility during the rebuilding process but requires the 
     island to pay for any cost overruns, putting it at risk of 
     being on the hook for costly receipts down the road. To make 
     matters worse, last Thursday a federal judge ruled that 
     Puerto Ricans who have been living in motels and hotels on 
     the mainland as part of FEMA's temporary housing aid after 
     Hurricane Maria have to check out on Sept. 14, possibly 
     rendering many of them homeless.
       Going forward, Mr. Trump must ensure that his agencies 
     focus attention and resources on the resilient, sustainable 
     rebuilding of the outdated power grid and on restoration of 
     the water infrastructure and health care system in Puerto 
     Rico to buttress the island against future disasters. If not, 
     it's up to us, as fellow Americans, to hold him to task.
       The image of Mr. Trump lobbing rolls of paper towels to a 
     crowd last October in Puerto Rico, arms arched, mimicking a 
     basketball player, should rank high in the pantheon of 
     presidential slip-ups. It brings to mind another iconic 
     image--Mr. Bush surveilling Hurricane Katrina's wreckage in 
     New Orleans, from Air Force One. Mr. Trump has defied many 
     dogmas in politics. But the abnormal executive branch 
     dynamics that he

[[Page H7799]]

     has created should not absolve him from responsibility for 
     the grave humanitarian situation in Puerto Rico.

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  September 4, 2018, on page H7799, the following appeared: has 
created should not absolve him from responsibility for the grave 
humanitarian situation in Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, I yield back 
the balance of my time. Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent to reclaim the balance of my time.
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: has created 
should not absolve him from responsibility for the grave 
humanitarian situation in Puerto Rico. Mr. THOMPSON of 
Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. 
KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask uanimous consent to reclaim the balance 
of my time.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 

  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to reclaim the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5869, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5869, the 
``Maritime Border Security Review Act,'' which directs the Secretary of 
the Department of Homeland Security to submit a report on DHS's 
maritime border threat analysis based on the work that the agency is 
doing to secure the border.
  During the markup of this legislation by the Committee on Homeland 
Security, a Jackson Lee amendment for this bill was adopted.
  This Jackson Lee Amendment requires a review of the metrics and 
performance parameters used by the Department of Homeland Security to 
evaluate maritime security effectiveness.
  This amendment will provide a report on the data that is required by 
this bill's report.
  The generation, collection, and use of data can create greater 
transparency on processes that can better inform our work on the 
Committee.
  Reporting requirements are an important committee oversight tool that 
can provide relevant information on the programs and policies 
authorized by Congress.
  The more important aspects of data collection require that the 
information be relevant, accurate, and consistent.
  The private sector is making great strides in the use of data science 
and big data to better understand the past and present in order to make 
more informed decisions that will impact the future.
  Data collected and used for the purposes of this bill can support 
data analytics for Maritime Border Security.
  Data analytics is the process of examining data sets in order to draw 
conclusions about the information they contain, increasingly with the 
aid of specialized systems and software.
  Data analytics technologies and techniques are widely used in 
commercial industries to enable organizations to make more-informed 
business decisions and by scientists and researchers to verify or 
disprove scientific models, theories and hypotheses.
  The Jackson Lee amendment supports data analytics for the maritime 
border threat analysis the bill will provide to the committee.
  I urge my colleagues to vote for the passage of H.R. 5869.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5869, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________