[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5064-S5065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2832. Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Mr. Kelly) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4638, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2025 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 E of title X, add the following:

     SECTION 1049. OFFICE OF FIELD OPERATIONS IMAGE TECHNICIAN 
                   PILOT PROGRAM.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Border 
     Enforcement, Security, and Trade (BEST) Facilitation Act of 
     2023''.
       (b) In General.--Section 411(g) of the Homeland Security 
     Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(g)) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following:
       ``(6) Image technician pilot program.--
       ``(A) Image technician 1.--
       ``(i) In general.--There shall be in the Office of Field 
     Operations, Image Technician 1 positions, which shall be 
     filled in accordance with the provisions under chapter 33 
     (relating to appointments in the competitive service) and 
     chapters 51 and 53 (relating to classification and rates of 
     pay) of title 5, United States Code.
       ``(ii) Conditions.--Image Technician 1 positions--

       ``(I) may be filled by existing U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection employees;
       ``(II) are not law enforcement officer positions; and
       ``(III) may not be filled by independent contractors.

       ``(iii) Duties.--The duties of an Image Technician 1 shall 
     include--

       ``(I) reviewing non-intrusive inspection images of 
     conveyances and containers entering or exiting the United 
     States through a land, sea, or air port of entry or 
     international rail crossing;
       ``(II) assessing whether images of conveyances and 
     containers appear to contain anomalies indicating the 
     potential presence of contraband, persons unlawfully seeking 
     to enter or exit the United States, or illicitly concealed 
     merchandise, including illicit drugs and terrorist weapons;
       ``(III) recommending entry release or exit release for any 
     conveyances and containers whenever the images of such items 
     do not include noticeable anomalies indicating the potential 
     presence of contraband, persons seeking to unlawfully enter 
     or exit the United States, or illicitly concealed 
     merchandise, including illicit drugs or terrorist weapons, to 
     the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer responsible 
     for inspecting such conveyance or container; and
       ``(IV) recommending further inspection of any conveyances 
     and containers whenever the Image Technician reasonably 
     believes that an image of any such item contains anomalies 
     indicating the potential presence of contraband, persons 
     seeking to unlawfully enter or exit the United States, or 
     illicitly concealed merchandise, such as illicit drugs or 
     terrorist weapons, to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
     officer who is responsible for inspecting such conveyance or 
     container.

       ``(B) Image technician 2.--
       ``(i) In general.--There shall be in the Office of Field 
     Operations, Image Technician 2 positions, which shall be 
     filled in accordance with the provisions under chapter 33 
     (relating to appointments in the competitive service) and 
     chapters 51 and 53 (relating to classification and rates of 
     pay) of title 5, United States Code.
       ``(ii) Conditions.--Image Technician 2 positions--

       ``(I) may be filled by existing U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection employees;
       ``(II) are not law enforcement officer positions; and
       ``(III) may not be filled by independent contractors.

       ``(iii) Duties.--The duties of an Image Technician 2 shall 
     include--

       ``(I) carrying out all of the duties described in 
     subclauses (I) through (IV) of subparagraph (A)(ii);
       ``(II) receiving intelligence from the National Targeting 
     Center regarding tactics, techniques, and procedures being 
     used at ports of entry and in the border environment by 
     malign actors to facilitate the unlawful entry or exit of 
     contraband, persons, or illicitly concealed merchandise, such 
     as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons; and
       ``(III) reporting new information to the National Targeting 
     Center regarding tactics, techniques, and procedures being 
     used at ports of entry and in the border environment by 
     malign actors to facilitate the unlawful entry or exit of 
     contraband, persons, or concealed merchandise, such as 
     illicit drugs or terrorist weapons.

       ``(C) Supervisory u.s. customs and border protection 
     officers.--
       ``(i) Supervision.--All image technicians shall be 
     supervised by a Supervisory U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection Officer.
       ``(ii) Discretion and decision-making authority.--The 
     appropriate Supervisory U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
     Officer, while working with image technicians, shall retain 
     the discretion and final decision-making authority--

       ``(I) to release conveyances or cargo for entry; or
       ``(II) to refer such conveyance or cargo for further 
     inspection.

[[Page S5065]]

       ``(iii) Training.--A Supervisory U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection Officer who supervises image technicians shall 
     receive additional training in accordance with subparagraph 
     (D).
       ``(D) Training requirements.--All image technicians shall 
     receive annual training and additional ad hoc training, to 
     the extent necessary based on current trends, regarding--
       ``(i) respecting privacy, civil rights, and civil 
     liberties, including the protections against unreasonable 
     searches and seizures afforded by the First and Fourth 
     Amendments to the Constitution of the United States;
       ``(ii) analyzing images generated by non-intrusive 
     inspection technologies or any successor technologies 
     deployed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
       ``(iii) identifying commodities and merchandise in images 
     generated by non-intrusive inspection technologies or any 
     successor technologies deployed by U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection;
       ``(iv) identifying contraband, persons who are seeking to 
     unlawfully enter or exit the United States, or illicitly 
     concealed merchandise, such as illicit drugs or terrorist 
     weapons, in images generated by non-intrusive technologies or 
     any successor technologies deployed by U.S. Customs and 
     Border Protection;
       ``(v) tactics, techniques, and procedures being used at 
     ports of entry and in the border environment by malign actors 
     to facilitate the unlawful entry or exit of contraband, 
     persons, or illicitly concealed merchandise, such as illicit 
     drugs or terrorist weapons; and
       ``(vi) any other training that the Commissioner of U.S. 
     Customs and Border Protection determines to be relevant to 
     the duties described in subparagraphs (A)(iii) or (B)(iii).
       ``(E) Annual assessment.--All image technicians shall 
     receive annual testing with respect to their--
       ``(i) accuracy in image analysis;
       ``(ii) timeliness in image analysis; and
       ``(iii) ability to ascertain tactics, techniques, and 
     procedures being used at ports of entry and in the border 
     environment by malign actors to facilitate the unlawful entry 
     or exit of contraband, persons, or illicitly concealed 
     merchandise, such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons.
       ``(F) Command centers.--As part of the pilot program 
     established under this paragraph, the Executive Assistant 
     Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations shall 
     establish 12 regional command centers at land, rail, air, and 
     sea ports in which image technicians shall review non-
     intrusive inspection images.
       ``(G) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this paragraph may 
     be construed to affect the discretion and final decision-
     making authority given to U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
     Officers to release conveyances or cargo for entry or exit or 
     to refer such conveyances or cargo for further inspection.''.
       (c) Effective Date.--
       (1) Sunset.--The amendment made by subsection (b) shall 
     cease to have effect on the date that is 5 years after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.
       (2) Transfers authorized.--Upon the termination of the 
     pilot program established by section 411(g)(6) of the 
     Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a), 
     individuals occupying Image Technician 1 or Image Technician 
     2 positions in the Office of Field Operations may transfer to 
     comparable positions within U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection or the Department of Homeland Security.
       (d) Semiannual Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     hiring of the first positions described in section 411(g)(6) 
     of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection 
     (b), and every 180 days thereafter, the Commissioner of U.S. 
     Customs and Border Protection, in consultation with the 
     Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Field 
     Operations, 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 identifies--
       (1) the number of Image Technician 1 and Image Technician 2 
     positions filled during the reporting period;
       (2) the number of Image Technician 1 and Image Technician 2 
     positions currently employed by the Office of Field 
     Operations, disaggregated by--
       (A) port of entry or field office;
       (B) image technician position; and
       (C) command center, as applicable;
       (3) the daily average number of images scanned by each 
     Image Technician 1 and each Image Technician 2;
       (4) training methodologies utilized to train image 
     technicians;
       (5) assessment passage rates of image technicians;
       (6) the impact of image technicians on interdiction rates 
     at ports of entry and international rail crossings at which 
     image technicians are stationed or from which image 
     technicians review images, including--
       (A) throughput increases or decreases at such ports of 
     entry and international rail crossings;
       (B) increases or decreases in waiting times at such ports 
     of entry and international rail crossings;
       (C) average wait times at such ports of entry and 
     international rail crossings; and
       (D) increases or decreases of seizures of contraband, 
     persons seeking to unlawfully enter or exit the United 
     States, or illicitly concealed merchandise, such as illicit 
     drugs or terrorist weapons, broken down by type of seizure 
     and port of entry or international rail crossing;
       (7) the impact of image technicians on U.S. Customs and 
     Border Protection's capability to review non-intrusive 
     inspection images of conveyances and containers entering or 
     exiting the United States through a land, sea, or air port of 
     entry or international rail crossing;
       (8) an assessment of the effectiveness with which image 
     technicians carry out the duties described in subparagraphs 
     (A)(iii) and (B)(iii) of section 411(g)(6) of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002, as added by section 2(a), compared to 
     any U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who are 
     assigned such duties.
       (9) the progress made in establishing command centers under 
     the pilot program established by such section;
       (10) any infrastructure or resource needs required to 
     establish such command centers; and
       (11) the ports of entry and international rail crossing, as 
     applicable, that are supported by such a command center.
       (e) Biannual Briefings.--The Executive Assistant 
     Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations shall provide 
     biannual briefings to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
     Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
     Homeland Security of the House of Representatives regarding 
     the information described in the latest report submitted 
     pursuant to subsection (d).
                                 ______