1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 2022”.
DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 2022
A BILL
To reauthorize and amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to create stronger accountability mechanisms for Joint Task Forces.
2. Sense of the Senate
It is the sense of the Senate that the Department of Homeland Security should consider using the authority under subsection (b) of section 708 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 348(b)) to create a Joint Task Force described in such subsection to improve coordination and response to the number of encounters and amount of seizures of illicit narcotics along the southwest border.
3. Amending section 708 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002
Section 708(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 348(b)) is amended—
by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the following:
“(8) Joint Task Force staff
“(A) In general—Each Joint Task Force shall have a staff, composed of officials from relevant components and offices of the Department, to assist the Director of that Joint Task Force in carrying out the mission and responsibilities of that Joint Task Force.
“(B) Report—The Secretary shall include in the report submitted under paragraph (6)(F)—
“(i) the number of personnel permanently assigned to each Joint Task Force by each component and office; and
“(ii) the number of personnel assigned on a temporary basis to each Joint Task Force by each component and office.”
in paragraph (9)—
in the heading, by inserting “strategy and of” after “Establishment of”;
by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the following:
“(A) using leading practices in performance management and lessons learned by other law enforcement task forces and joint operations, establish a strategy for each Joint Task Force that contains—
“(i) the mission of each Joint Task Force and strategic goals and objectives to assist the Joint Task Force in accomplishing that mission; and
“(ii) outcome-based and other appropriate performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of each Joint Task Force and measure progress towards the goals and objectives described in clause (i), which include—
“(I) targets for current and future fiscal years; and
“(II) a description of the methodology used to establish those metrics and any limitations with respect to data or information used to assess performance;”
in subparagraph (B)—
by striking “enactment of this section” and insert “enactment of the DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 2022”;
by inserting “strategy and” after “Senate the”; and
by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the following:
“(C) beginning not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 2022, submit annually to each committee specified in subparagraph (B) a report that—
“(i) contains the evaluation described in subparagraphs (A) and (B); and
“(ii) outlines the progress in implementing outcome-based and other performance metrics referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii).”
in paragraph (11)(A), by striking the period at the end and inserting the following:
“(i) the justification, focus, and mission of the Joint Task Force; and
“(ii) a strategy for the conduct of the Joint Task Force, including goals and performance metrics for the Joint Task Force.”
in paragraph (12)—
in subparagraph (A), by striking “January 31, 2018, and January 31, 2021, the Inspector General of the Department” and inserting “1 year after the date of enactment of the DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 2022, the Comptroller General of the United States”; and
in subparagraph (B), by striking clauses (i) and (ii) and inserting the following:
“(i) an assessment of the structure of each Joint Task Force;
“(ii) an assessment of the effectiveness of oversight over each Joint Task Force;
“(iii) an assessment of the strategy of each Joint Task Force; and
“(iv) an assessment of staffing levels and resources of each Joint Task Force.”
in paragraph (13), by striking “2022” and inserting “2024”.