[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5695-S5696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 6159. Mr. PETERS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) 
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the 
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel 
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was 
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle B of title X, add the following:

     SEC. 1012. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY JOINT TASK FORCES.

       (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``DHS 
     Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 2022''.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.-- It is the sense of the Senate 
     that the Department of Homeland Security should consider 
     using the authority under section 708(b) of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 348(b)) to create a Joint Task 
     Force described in such subsection to improve coordination 
     and response to the number of encounters and amount of 
     seizures of illicit narcotics along the southwest border.
       (c) Amending Section 708 of the Homeland Security Act of 
     2002.--Section 708(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
     U.S.C. 348(b)) is amended--
       (1) by amending paragraph (8) to read as follows:
       ``(8) Joint task force staff.--
       ``(A) In general.--Each Joint Task Force shall have a 
     staff, composed of officials from relevant components and 
     offices of the Department, to assist the Director of that 
     Joint Task Force in carrying out the mission and 
     responsibilities of the Joint Task Force.
       ``(B) Report.--The Secretary shall include in the report 
     submitted under paragraph (6)(F)--
       ``(i) the number of personnel permanently assigned to each 
     Joint Task Force by each component and office; and
       ``(ii) the number of personnel assigned on a temporary 
     basis to each Joint Task Force by each component and 
     office.'';
       (2) in paragraph (9)--
       (A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting ``strategy and'' 
     after ``Establishment of'';
       (B) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
       ``(A) use leading practices in performance management and 
     lessons learned by other law enforcement task forces and 
     joint operations to establish a strategy for each Joint Task 
     Force that contains--
       ``(i) the mission of each Joint Task Force and strategic 
     goals and objectives to assist the Joint Task Force in 
     accomplishing that mission; and
       ``(ii) outcome-based and other appropriate performance 
     metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of each Joint Task 
     Force and measure progress towards the goals and objectives 
     described in clause (i), which include--

       ``(I) targets for current and future fiscal years; and
       ``(II) a description of the methodology used to establish 
     those metrics and any limitations with respect to data or 
     information used to assess performance;'';

       (C) in subparagraph (B)--
       (i) by striking ``enactment of this section'' and insert 
     ``enactment of the DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act 
     of 2022'';
       (ii) by inserting ``strategy and'' after ``Senate the''; 
     and
       (iii) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
     and''; and

[[Page S5696]]

       (D) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
       ``(C) beginning not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of the DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 
     2022, submit an annual report to each committee referred to 
     in subparagraph (B) that--
       ``(i) contains the evaluation described in subparagraphs 
     (A) and (B); and
       ``(ii) outlines the progress in implementing outcome-based 
     and other performance metrics referred to in subparagraph 
     (A)(ii).'';
       (3) in paragraph (11)(A), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting the following: ``, which shall include--
       ``(i) the justification, focus, and mission of the Joint 
     Task Force; and
       ``(ii) a strategy for the conduct of the Joint Task Force, 
     including goals and performance metrics for the Joint Task 
     Force.'';
       (4) in paragraph (12)--
       (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``January 31, 2018, 
     and January 31, 2021, the Inspector General of the 
     Department'' and inserting ``1 year after the date of 
     enactment of the DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 
     2022, the Comptroller General of the United States''; and
       (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking clauses (i) and (ii) 
     and inserting the following:
       ``(i) an assessment of the structure of each Joint Task 
     Force;
       ``(ii) an assessment of the effectiveness of oversight over 
     each Joint Task Force;
       ``(iii) an assessment of the strategy of each Joint Task 
     Force; and
       ``(iv) an assessment of staffing levels and resources of 
     each Joint Task Force.''; and
       (5) in paragraph (13), by striking ``September 30, 2022'' 
     and inserting ``September 30, 2024''.
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