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To improve the operation of the Department of Homeland Security’s Unmanned Aircraft System Program.

S. 159 · 114th Congress · Jan 13, 2015 · Lineage

A BILL

Section 1 Definitions

In this Act:
(1)
Illegal border activities— The term illegal border activities means the illegal trafficking or smuggling of an individual or controlled substances or activities to further a Federal crime relating to United States immigration, customs, controlled substances, agriculture, monetary instruments, or other border controls.
(2)
Southern border— The term Southern border means the international border between the United States and Mexico.
(3)
UAS— The term UAS means unmanned aircraft systems.

Sec. 2 Persistent surveillance along the Southern border

(a)
In general— The Department of Homeland Security shall fully utilize surveillance and detection capabilities developed or used by the various Federal departments and agencies for the purpose of enhancing the functioning and operational capability to conduct continuous and integrated manned or unmanned, monitoring, sensing, or surveillance of 100 percent of Southern border mileage or the immediate vicinity of the Southern border.
(b)
Procurement of additional unmanned aircraft systems—
(1)
In general— The Secretary of Homeland Security may not procure any additional UAS until after the Secretary provides Congress with written certification that the Department of Homeland Security successfully operated its current fleet of UAS at least 23,000 hours during the preceding calendar year.
(2)
Exemption— The limitation set forth in paragraph (1) shall not apply to the procurement of unmanned aircraft that do not weigh more than 150 pounds.
(c)
Use of best available radar and surveillance technology— The Department of Homeland Security shall use the best available radar and surveillance technology—
(1)
to increase awareness of illegal border activities along the Southern border; and
(2)
to identify gaps in surveillance capabilities.

Sec. 3 Report to Congress

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and biannually thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives that contains, for the reporting period—
(1)
the total number of UAS hours required to provide persistent surveillance along the Southern border;
(2)
the total number of UAS flight hours planned in support of any Federal or State department or agency;
(3)
the number of planned UAS flight hours in support of the goal referred to in paragraph (1);
(4)
the number of hours in which UAS were flown in support of the goal referred to in paragraph (1);
(5)
the number of planned UAS flight hours in support of the goal referred to in paragraph (1) that were cancelled before takeoff, including the reason for such cancellations;
(6)
performance measures regarding—
(A)
the number of hours flown by the current fleet of UAS operated by the Department of Homeland Security;
(B)
the number of subjects detected though the use of UAS;
(C)
the number of apprehensions assisted by the use of UAS; and
(D)
the number and quantity of illicit drug seizures assisted by the use of UAS; and
(7)
all accumulated cost associated with the Unmanned Aircraft System Program within the Department of Homeland Security, including—
(A)
salaries of pilots; and
(B)
costs associated with radar and surveillance technology.

Sec. 4 Interagency collaboration

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall consult with the Secretary of Defense to identify the best practices used by the Department of Defense that could also be used by the Department of Homeland Security to improve the security of the Southern border by enhancing wide aerial surveillance and fulfilling the requirements set forth in section 2.

Sec. 5 Sunset

This Act shall be repealed on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.