S.Amdt. 1593

SA 1593. Ms. HEITKAMP (for herself, Mr. Levin, Mr. Tester, and Mr.
Baucus) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA
1183 submitted by Mr. Leahy (for himself and Mr. Hatch) to the bill S.
744, to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of title I, add the following:

SEC. 1124. LIMITATION ON RESOURCE SHIFTING FROM NORTHERN
BORDER TO SOUTHERN BORDER.

(a) Study and Report on Northern Border.--
(1) Limitation on resource shifting.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraphs (B)
and (C), and notwithstanding section 1102(d)or any other
provision of this Act, the Secretary may not reduce the
levels of Department personnel, resources, technological
assets or funding for operations on the Northern border below
such levels as of the date of the enactment of this Act,
including by reassigning or stationing U.S. Customs and
Border Protection Officers and U.S. Border Patrol Agents from
the Northern border to the Southern border.
(B) Limited personnel transfer authority.--Notwithstanding
subparagraph (A), the Secretary may reassign or station
personnel from a location along the Northern border to the
Southern border if--
(i) the most recent report submitted under paragraph (3)
indicates excess personnel exist at such Northern border
location beyond what is needed to meet and maintain
appropriate staffing levels; and
(ii) the Secretary notifies the appropriate congressional
committees and the Governor of each State from which such
personnel will be transferred.
(C) Temporary emergency authority.--
(i) In general.--The Secretary may transfer personnel from
along the Northern border if the Secretary notifies and
provides justification to the appropriate congressional
committees that an emergency need due to a critical personnel
shortage exists in the location or locations where the
Secretary proposes to transfer the personnel to, and that the
location or locations from which the personnel are to be
transferred, has at the time of the proposed transfer a level
of personnel that is greater than the level needed to meet
and maintain the mission of Department along the Northern
Border.
(ii) Duration of authority.--Any authority exercised under
clause (i) shall extend until the next report required under
paragraph (3) is submitted, but may be extended for the
duration of one or more reporting periods provided that the
most recent report so submitted states that the transfer was
appropriate and that the border region from which the
personnel were transferred currently has a sufficient level
of personnel.
(2) Study required.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct a study on the
Northern border focusing on the following priorities:
(i) Ensuring the efficient flow of cross-border economic
and personal traffic between States along the Northern border
and Canada.
(ii) Preventing individuals from illegally crossing over
the Northern border.
(iii) Preventing the flow of illegal goods and illicit
drugs across the Northern Border.
(iv) Ensuring an appropriate level of national security
measures is in place to thwart acts of terrorism.
(B) Scope.--The study required under this paragraph shall
include the following:
(i) An examination of the strategies that the Department is
using to secure the border, including an assessment of their
current effectiveness and recommendations on how their
effectiveness could be enhanced.
(ii) A determination of the appropriate personnel,
resource, technological asset, and funding requirements for
all Department elements deployed on the Northern border,
including interior enforcement. This should include a
description of measures the Department needs to take to
either meet those needs or shift excess personnel, resources,
technological assets, or funding to a different region as
well as a description of the challenges the Department faces
in meeting the identified needs or shifting excess personnel,
resources, technological assets, or funding.
(iii) A State-by-State assessment of the Northern border
States and a description of the personnel, resource,
technological asset, and funding needs for each location as
determined by the Department.
(iv) With respect to the four priorities described in
subparagraph (A), a description of the following issues:

(I) The use of technology, including low-altitude radar,
ground-based fiber optic sensors, and unmanned aircraft, for
each of the Department elements involved in Northern border
operations, including whether the elements need additional
technological assets.
(II) The impact of operation and maintenance funds on
Northern border protection, including whether elements have
sufficient operation and maintenance funds to accomplish
their missions, and if additional local flexibility regarding
funds is needed to accomplish core Department missions.
(III) Strategies for dealing with smuggling operations of
illegal goods and illicit drugs, both at ports and in non-
port areas.
(IV) Options for the Department to develop and enhance
local, State, and tribal partnerships along the Northern
border.
(V) The geographic challenges of the Northern border.

(3) Report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the
Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on the study conducted under paragraph
(2).
(B) Content.--The report required under subparagraph (A)
shall include the following elements:
(i) The findings of the study conducted under paragraph
(2).
(ii) Input from other Federal agencies operating in the
Northern border States, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Drug Enforcement
Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, that could be
impacted by any reallocation, increase, or decrease of
Department personnel, resources, technological assets, or
funding along the Northern border.
(iii) A description of any changes along the Southern
border that are impacting the Northern border.
(iv) Recommendations for enhancing security along the
Northern border.
(v) An explanation of why the Department is not
implementing any recommendations contained in the study.
(vi) Recommendations for additional legislation necessary
to implement recommendations contained in the study.
(b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(1) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on
Appropriations, and the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
and
(2) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on
Homeland Security, the Committee on Appropriations, and the
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives.
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