[Senate Report 114-53]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 95
114th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 114-53
_______________________________________________________________________
Calendar No. 95
DHS INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
H.R. 615
TO AMEND THE HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002 TO REQUIRE THE UNDER
SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO TAKE
ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION TO ACHIEVE AND MAINTAIN INTEROPERABLE
COMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITIES AMONG THE COMPONENTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
May 21, 2015.--Ordered to be printed
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2015
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin Chairman
JOHN McCAIN, Arizona THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri
RAND PAUL, Kentucky JON TESTER, Montana
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota
KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey
JONI ERNST, Iowa GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
BEN SASSE, Nebraska
Keith B. Ashdown, Staff Director
Christopher R. Hixon, Chief Counsel
David S. Luckey, Director of Homeland Security
William H.W. McKenna, Chief Counsel for Homeland Security
Brooke N. Ericson, Deputy Chief Counsel for Homeland Security
Gabrielle A. Batkin, Minority Staff Director
John P. Kilvington, Minority Deputy Staff Director
Mary Beth Schultz, Minority Chief Counsel
Robert H. Bradley, Legislative Assistant
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................1
III. Legislative History..............................................2
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Act, as Reported.............5
Calendar No. 95
114th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 114-53
======================================================================
DHS INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS ACT
_______
May 21, 2015.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 615]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 615) to amend the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Under Secretary
for Management of the Department of Homeland Security to take
administrative action to achieve and maintain interoperable
communications capabilities among the components of the
Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an
amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends that the
bill as amended do pass.
I. Purpose and Summary
H.R. 615, the Department of Homeland Security Interoperable
Communications Act, requires the Under Secretary for Management
(USM) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or ``the
Department'') to develop a strategy for achieving and
maintaining interoperable communications capabilities among the
components of the Department of Homeland Security, as well as
to report on the status of the strategy's implementation.
II. Background and the Need for Legislation
In 2012, the Department of Homeland Security Office of
Inspector General issued a report entitled, DHS's Oversight of
Interoperable Communications.\1\ In the report, the Inspector
General noted that since 2003, DHS components have spent $430
million on equipment, infrastructure, and resources to meet the
Department's communications requirements.\2\ Yet, the Inspector
General also concluded that DHS ``personnel do not have
reliable interoperable communications for daily operations,
planned events, and emergencies.''\3\
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\1\Office of Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security,
OIG-13-06, DHS' Oversight of Interoperable Communications (2012).
\2\Id. at 2.
\3\Id. at 3.
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The Inspector General found the primary reason for the lack
of reliable interoperable communications was that DHS did not
provide effective oversight of its components.\4\ The report
concluded that DHS had not established a sufficient
authoritative governance structure to ensure Department-wide
interoperability, instead relying on a voluntary structure and
individual memoranda of agreements between components.\5\ As a
result, DHS personnel were unaware of how to access the common
radio channel, radios were improperly programmed, and only one
of the 479 field radios users reviewed in the audit could
access and use the common channel.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\Id. at 3-4.
\5\Id. at 6-7.
\6\Id. at 3-4.
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This legislation is designed to address the
interoperability issues identified in the Inspector General's
report. H.R. 615 requires the Department to develop a strategy
to achieve interoperability and strengthens the governance
structure related to interoperability policies. The Department
must also report every other year to the Committee on its
efforts to implement the strategy and develop and maintain
interoperable communications among its components. In
developing and implementing the strategy, the Committee expects
that the USM will collaborate with DHS offices for which
interoperable communications is a primary mission, including
leveraging existing interoperability planning documents
provided by such offices.
III. Legislative History
Representative Payne, along with Representatives McCaul,
Brooks, and Thompson, introduced H.R. 615 on January 28, 2015,
which was referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
The act was discharged and passed the House under suspension
with a vote of 379-0 on February 2, 2015. The act was received
in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs on February 3, 2015. The
Committee considered H.R. 615 at a business meeting on March 4,
2015.
Chairman Johnson and Ranking Minority Member Carper offered
one amendment in the nature of a substitute, changing the
definition of interoperability to conform with the definition
laid out in 6 U.S.C. Section 194(g)(1); requiring the strategy
outlined in the act to be submitted to Congress no later than
180 days after enactment instead of 120 days; making the report
required in Section 5 of the act to be required 100 days after
the strategy is submitted, instead of 220 days after the act's
enactment; requiring the report to be submitted every other
year following the submission of the first report, and ending
the report after six years; and clarifying that the strategy
and required reports pertain only to DHS and its components.
The Committee adopted the amendment and ordered the act, as
amended, reported favorably, both by voice vote. Senators
present for both the vote on the amendment and the vote on the
act were Senators Johnson, Portman, Lankford, Ayotte, Ernst,
Carper, McCaskill, Baldwin, Heitkamp, and Peters.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Act, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section provides that the Act may be cited as the
``Department of Homeland Security Interoperable Communications
Act'' or ``DHS Interoperable Communications Act.''
Section 2. Definitions
This section defines several terms, including
``interoperable communications.''
Section 3. Inclusion of interoperable communications capabilities in
responsibilities of Under Secretary for Management
This section amends section 701 of the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) to task the USM with
overseeing policies and directives to achieve and maintain
interoperable communications among the components of DHS.
This section also defines ``interoperable communications''
for the purposes of section 701 as the ability of emergency
response providers and relevant Federal, State, and local
government agencies to communicate with each other as
necessary, through a dedicated public safety network utilizing
information technology systems and radio communications
systems, and to exchange voice, data, and video with one
another on demand, in real time, as necessary.
Section 4. Strategy
Subsection (a) requires that within 180 days of the act's
enactment, the USM submit a strategy for achieving and
maintaining interoperable communications among the components
of DHS to the House Homeland Security Committee and the Senate
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The
strategy must include: an assessment of interoperability gaps
in radio communications among the components of the Department;
information on efforts, including current and planned policies,
directives, and training to achieve and maintain interoperable
communications since November 1, 2012; an assessment of
obstacles and challenges to achieve and maintain interoperable
communications among the components of the Department;
information on, and an assessment of, the adequacy of
mechanisms available to the USM to enforce and compel
compliance with interoperable communications policies and
directives; guidance provided to implement interoperable
communications polices and directives; total funds expended
since November 1, 2012, and projected future expenditures to
achieve interoperable communications in the form of equipment,
infrastructure, and maintenance; and dates upon which
interoperability is projected to be achieved, along with
interim milestones.
Subsection (b) requires that the USM submit to the House
Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs Committee information on any intra-
agency effort or task force that has been delegated certain
responsibilities by the USM relating to achieving and
maintaining interoperable communications among the components
of the Department, and designate who within each component is
responsible for implementing interoperable communications.
Section 5. Report
This section requires, within 100 days of submitting its
interoperability strategy, and once every other year for the
following six years, for a total of four reports, the USM to
report to Congress on the status of its efforts. The report
must include: progress on each interim milestone toward
achieving and maintaining interoperable communications;
information on policies, directives, guidance, and training
established by the USM; assessment of compliance, adoption, and
participation among components of DHS with the USM's policies,
directives, guidance, and training; and information on any
additional resources or authorities needed by the USM.
Section 6. Applicability
This section clarifies that the strategy and reports for
interoperable communications capabilities required by this act
apply only to DHS and components thereof for inter- or intra-
organizational communications.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this act and determined
that the act will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the act contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
March 17, 2015.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 615, the DHS
Interoperable Communications Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
Enclosure.
H.R. 615--DHS Interoperable Communications Act
H.R. 615 would require the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), within 180 days of the legislation's enactment, to
submit to the Congress a strategy to improve communications
among DHS agencies. Within 100 days of that submission, and
biannually thereafter for a period of six years, DHS would have
to prepare a report on the implementation of the strategy.
There are ongoing activities within the department to improve
communications, so CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 615
would not significantly affect spending by DHS.
Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending
or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 615 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Act, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
H.R. 615 as reported are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002
* * * * * * *
TITLE VII--MANAGEMENT
SEC. 701. UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT.
(a) In General.--The Under Secretary for Management shall
serve as the Chief Management Officer and principal advisor to
the Secretary on matters related to the management of the
Department, including management integration and transformation
in support of homeland security operations and programs. The
Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Management,
shall be responsible for the management and administration of
the Department, including the following:
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(4) Information technology and communications
systems, including policies and directives to achieve
and maintain interoperable communications among the
components of the Department.
* * * * * * *
(d) Interoperable Communications Defined.--In this section,
the term `interoperable communications' has the meaning given
that term in section 7303(g) of the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 194(g)).
* * * * * * *
[all]