[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1678 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1678
To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers
and support staff and to require reports that identify staffing,
infrastructure, and equipment needed to enhance security at ports of
entry.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 8, 2025
Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers
and support staff and to require reports that identify staffing,
infrastructure, and equipment needed to enhance security at ports of
entry.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Securing America's Ports of Entry
Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION PERSONNEL.
(a) Officers.--Subject to appropriations, the Commissioner for U.S.
Customs and Border Protection shall hire, train, and assign 1,000 new
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers above the current attrition
level during every fiscal year until the total number of U.S. Customs
and Border Protection officers equals and sustains the requirements
identified each year in the Workload Staffing Model.
(b) Support Staff.--The Commissioner is authorized to hire, train,
and assign support staff, including technicians and Enterprise Services
mission support, to perform non-law enforcement administrative
functions to support the new U.S. Customs and Border Protection
officers hired pursuant to subsection (a).
(c) Traffic Forecasts.--In calculating the number of U.S. Customs
and Border Protection officers needed at each port of entry through the
Workload Staffing Model, the Commissioner shall--
(1) rely on data collected regarding the inspections and
other activities conducted at each such port of entry;
(2) consider volume from seasonal surges, other projected
changes in commercial and passenger volumes, the most current
commercial forecasts, and other relevant information;
(3) consider historical volume and forecasts prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on international travel; and
(4) incorporate personnel requirements for increasing the
rate of outbound inspection operations at land ports of entry.
(d) GAO Report.--If the Commissioner does not hire the 1,000
additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers authorized under
subsection (a) during fiscal year 2026, or during any subsequent fiscal
year in which the hiring requirements set forth in the Workload
Staffing Model have not been achieved, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall--
(1) conduct a review of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
hiring practices to determine the reasons that such
requirements were not achieved and other issues related to
hiring by U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and
(2) submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on
Finance of the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of
the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Ways and
Means of the House of Representatives that describes the
results of the review conducted pursuant to paragraph (1).
SEC. 3. PORTS OF ENTRY INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCEMENT REPORT.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a
report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
of the Senate, the Committee on Finance of the Senate, the Committee on
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives that identifies--
(1) infrastructure improvements at ports of entry that
would enhance the ability of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
officers to interdict opioids and other drugs that are being
illegally transported into the United States, including a
description of circumstances at specific ports of entry that
prevent the deployment of technology used at other ports of
entry;
(2) detection equipment that would improve the ability of
such officers to identify opioids, including precursors and
derivatives, that are being illegally transported into the
United States; and
(3) safety equipment that would protect such officers from
accidental exposure to such drugs or other dangers associated
with the inspection of potential drug traffickers.
SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Temporary Duty Assignments.--
(1) Defined term.--In this subsection, the term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
(D) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House
of Representatives;
(E) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives; and
(F) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Quarterly report.--The Commissioner for U.S. Customs
and Border Protection shall submit a quarterly report to the
appropriate congressional committees that includes, with
respect to the reporting period--
(A) the number of temporary duty assignments;
(B) the number of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection officers required for each temporary duty
assignment;
(C) the ports of entry from which such officers
were reassigned;
(D) the ports of entry to which such officers were
reassigned;
(E) the ports of entry at which reimbursable
service agreements have been entered into that may be
affected by temporary duty assignments;
(F) the duration of each temporary duty assignment;
(G) the cost of each temporary duty assignment; and
(H) the extent to which the temporary duty
assignments within the reporting period were in support
of the other U.S. Customs and Border Protection
activities or operations along the southern border of
the United States, including the specific costs
associated with such temporary duty assignments.
(3) Notice.--Not later than 10 days before redeploying
employees from 1 port of entry to another, absent emergency
circumstances--
(A) the Commissioner shall notify the director of
the port of entry from which employees will be
reassigned of the intended redeployments; and
(B) the port director shall notify impacted
facilities (including airports, seaports, and land
ports) of the intended redeployments.
(4) Staff briefing.--The Commissioner shall brief all
affected U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees regarding
plans to mitigate vulnerabilities created by any planned
staffing reductions at ports of entry.
(b) Reports on U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agreements.--
Section 907(a) of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of
2015 (19 U.S.C. 4451(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and an assessment'' and
all that follows and inserting a period;
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (12) as
paragraphs (5) through (13), respectively;
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) A description of the factors that were considered
before entering into the agreement, including an assessment of
how the agreement provides economic benefits and security
benefits (if applicable) at the port of entry to which the
agreement relates.''; and
(4) in paragraph (5), as redesignated, by inserting ``,
including the locations of such services and the total hours of
reimbursable services under the agreement, if any'' after ``the
report''.
(c) Annual Workload Staffing Model Report.--As part of the Annual
Report on Staffing required under section 411(g)(5)(A) of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(g)(5)(A)), the Commissioner for U.S.
Customs and Border Protection shall include--
(1) information concerning the progress made toward meeting
the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer and support
staff hiring targets set forth in section 2, while accounting
for attrition;
(2) an update to the information provided in the Resource
Optimization at the Ports of Entry report, which was submitted
to Congress on September 12, 2017, pursuant to the Department
of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2017 (division F of
Public Law 115-31); and
(3) a summary of the information included in the reports
required under subsection (a) and section 907(a) of the Trade
Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, as amended by
subsection (b).
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