[House Report 116-299]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


116th Congress    }                                     {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session      }                                     {     116-299

======================================================================



 
                   INLAND WATERS SECURITY REVIEW ACT

                                _______
                                

 November 19, 2019.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, from the Committee on Homeland Security, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4402]

    The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 4402) to require the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to conduct an inland waters threat analysis, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     1
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     2
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     2
C.B.O. Estimate, New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and 
  Tax Expenditures...............................................     2
Federal Mandates Statement.......................................     3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     3
Duplicative Federal Programs.....................................     3
Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff 
  Benefits.......................................................
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation...................     3

                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    H.R. 4402, the ``Inland Waters Security Review Act,'' will 
require DHS to submit to Congress an analysis of the following: 
(1) current and potential terrorism and criminal threats with 
respect to inland waters; (2) security challenges at inland 
water ports; (3) security mitigation efforts with respect to 
inland waters; (4) any vulnerabilities related to law 
enforcement cooperation or international agreements with 
respect to inland waters that may affect security, 
counterterrorism, anti-trafficking efforts, or trade; and (5) 
any metrics used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
to assess inland waters security. In doing so, DHS must take 
into account technology, personnel, law enforcement 
cooperation, public-private partnerships, and challenges posed 
by geography.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Maritime security is critical to homeland security. 
However, most terrorism assessments related to maritime 
security have focused on the risks present on the high seas and 
in coastal areas. Inland waters, such as lakes, rivers, and 
streams--including more than 25,000 miles of navigable waters 
across the United States--present unique security challenges. 
These risks must be analyzed by DHS to ensure that the threats 
facing inland waters, inland water ports, nearby communities, 
and trade, are effectively addressed.

                                HEARINGS

    For the purposes of section 103(i) of H. Res. 6 of the 
116th Congress, the following hearing was used to develop H.R. 
4402:
           On April 9, 2019, the Committee held a 
        hearing entitled ``Securing America's Transportation 
        and Maritime Systems: A Review of the Fiscal Year 2020 
        Budget Requests for the Transportation Security 
        Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.'' The 
        Committee received testimony from David P. Pekoske, 
        Administrator, Transportation Security Administration, 
        U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and Admiral Karl 
        L. Schultz, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. 
        Department of Homeland Security.

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    The Committee met on October 23, 2019, with a quorum being 
present, to consider H.R. 4402 and ordered the measure to be 
reported to the House with a favorable recommendation, without 
amendment, by unanimous consent.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded 
votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments 
thereto.
    No recorded votes were requested during consideration of 
H.R. 4402.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE, NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT 
                    AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect 
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested 
but not received a cost estimate for this bill from the 
Director of Congressional Budget Office.

                       FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

    An estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the 
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chairman 
of the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the 
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee.

                      DUPLICATIVE FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    Pursuant to clause 3(c) of rule XIII, the Committee finds 
that H.R. 4402 does not contain any provision that establishes 
or reauthorizes a program known to be duplicative of another 
Federal program.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the objective of H.R. 4402 is to 
require the Department of Homeland Security to submit a threat 
analysis of inland waters security. The submission must be 
unclassified but may include a classified portion if deemed 
appropriate by the Department.

                          ADVISORY ON EARMARKS

    In compliance with rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, this bill, as reported, contains no 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of the rule 
XXI.

             SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION

Section 1. Short title

    This section provides that the bill may be cited as the 
``Inland Waters Security Review Act.''

Sec. 2. Definitions

    This section defines ``appropriate congressional 
committees'' to refer to the House Committee on Homeland 
Security, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation.
    This section also defines ``inland waters'' by reference to 
the Code of Federal Regulations, which defines the term as 
``the navigable waters of the United States shoreward of the 
navigational demarcation lines dividing the high seas from 
harbors, rivers, and other inland waters of the United States 
and the waters of the Great Lakes on the United States side of 
the International Boundary.''

Sec. 3. Inland waters threat analysis

    This section requires DHS to submit a threat analysis on 
inland waters security to the appropriate congressional 
committees within 180 days of the enactment of this Act.
    The analysis must include the following: (1) current and 
potential terrorism and criminal threats with respect to inland 
waters; (2) security challenges at inland water ports; (3) 
security mitigation efforts with respect to inland waters; (4) 
any vulnerabilities related to law enforcement cooperation or 
international agreements with respect to inland waters that may 
affect security, counterterrorism, anti-trafficking efforts, or 
trade; and (5) any metrics used by DHS to assess inland waters 
security. In developing this analysis, DHS must take into 
account technology, personnel, law enforcement cooperation, 
public-private partnerships, and challenges posed by geography.
    The analysis must be unclassified but may include a 
classified portion if deemed appropriate by DHS.

                                  [all]