Senate Committee 2012 Funding Bill for TSA Screening, TWIC, ICE

(The House passed its own version of H.R. 2017 on June 1, 2011. See ITT’s Online Archives or 06/02/11 and 06/03/11 news, 11060219 and 11060316, for BP summary of House version of H.R. 2017.)

The following are highlights of the provisions for the Transportation Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Domestic Nuclear Detention Office, etc. in the text of the bill (as reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee) and the Committee’s report¹.

Enhancing IPR, AD/CV, Smuggling Investigations by ICE

The Committee-reported bill would provide ICE with funding for enhancing antidumping/countervailing duty (AD/CVD), intellectual property rights [IPR], and human trafficking and smuggling investigations, and enhancing and expanding intelligence activities to support these investigations.

Encourages ICE to Consider Add’l Commercial Fraud Investigators in Field

The Committee encourages ICE to consider whether additional commercial fraud investigators in the field offices would be a helpful resource to address the AD/CV problem. The Committee directs ICE to submit to the Committee an expenditure plan and a 3-year strategy to improve AD/CVD enforcement.

Funding for More TSA Inspectors, Security Specialists for All Cargo Airports, Etc.

The Committee-reported bill would provide $120.6 million to secure the air cargo supply chain, conveyances, and people, an increase of $6 million above what was appropriated in FY 2011.

According to the Committee, this funding will help TSA hire an additional 29 international air cargo inspectors and 24 transportation security specialists to conduct assessments of all-cargo airports from which flights depart to the U.S. or from which U.S. all-cargo carriers fly to any location, and to increase the frequency of visits to verify protective measures at higher-risk airports.

Semi-Annual Report on Screening of 100% of Air Cargo on Passenger Aircraft

The Committee-reported bill would require TSA to submit to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees a report that either (i) certifies that the requirement for screening all air cargo on passenger aircraft by the deadline under 49 USC section 44901(g) has been met; or (ii) includes a strategy to comply with such requirements.

The TSA would be required to continue to submit such reports semiannually until the TSA certifies that it has achieved screening of 100% of such air cargo.

Expanding TWIC Enrollment Sites, Mailing of TWICs

The Committee directs TSA to expand TWIC Universal Enrollment Centers, which will result in no less than a 50% expansion in the number of available TWIC enrollment sites. (The Committee is concerned that TWIC applicants are required to make multiple trips to TWIC enrollment centers, which are occasionally at some distance from the applicants' homes or places of work.)

TSA is also directed to brief the Committee on (i) the projected resource requirements, security impacts, and a potential timeline to effect changes in the TWIC enrollment system to permit cards to be shipped directly to the recipient.

Funding for 44 ASPs Denied, Smaller Funding Level for Legacy RPMs

The Committee denied the budget request to procure and deploy 44 Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) monitors given the fact that the DHS Secretary has suspended all further development on ASP. However, the bill includes $8 million for the Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM) program, almost $30 million less than the budget request, to purchase legacy RPMs to address gaps in its coverage at seaports, land ports, airports, and rail entrances

Full Scale Procurement of ASPs Would be Prohibited until DHS Submits Report

According to the report, the bill would prohibit DHS from full-scale ASP procurement until the DHS Secretary submits a report certifying that a significant increase in operational effectiveness will be achieved.

Add’l Funds for Enforcement of Non-Aviation Transportation Security

The Committee-reported bill would provide $134.7 million for surface transportation security, $29 million above what was appropriated in FY 2011. This would fund TSA’s assessment of the risk of terrorist attacks for all nonaviation transportation modes, issue regulations to improve the security of those modes, and enforce regulations to ensure the protection of the transportation system.

Funding for Port Security Grants, Human Portal Radiation Detection Systems

The Committee-reported bill would also provide the:

• Coast Guard with $200 million for the Port Security Grant Program.
• TSA with $10 million for the Human Portable Radiation Detection Systems program, the same level funded in fiscal year 2011.

Funds for Consolidation of DHS Headquarters

The bill would provide $56 million to plan, acquire, construct, renovate, remediate, equip, furnish, and occupy buildings and facilities for the consolidation of DHS headquarters at St. Elizabeth.

(DHS has been working on a new, consolidated headquarters site at St. Elizabeths in Washington, DC. Construction on the facilities for CBP, TSA, and ICE is divided into three phases, the first of which is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of FY 2015 and last of which is scheduled to end in the third quarter of FY 2020, depending on funding.)

Buy American, Lighters, DHS Reorganization Funding Prohibitions

H.R. 2017, as reported by the Committee, contains funding restrictions for certain activities involving the Buy American Act, butane lighters, DHS reorganization activity, etc.

¹Although the Appropriations Committee’s report does not have statutory force; departments and agencies are not legally bound by their declarations. It does, however, explain congressional intent and frequently has effect because departments and agencies must justify their budget requests annually to the Appropriations Committees.

(See ITT’s Online Archives or 09/12/11 news, 11091208, for BP summary on the CBP provisions in the Committee version of H.R. 2017 and its report.)

S. Rept. 112-74 available here

H.R. 2017 as reported by Committee available here