H.R. 9481 — Introduced in House

I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9481 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 6, 2024Mr. Pappas (for himself, Ms. Tenney, and Mr. Molinaro) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To establish the Northern Border Coordination Center, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Improving Coordination for the Northern Border Act. 2. Northern Border Coordination Center (a) Establishment Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish the Northern Border Coordination Center. (b) Purpose The purpose of the Center shall be to serve as the Department’s forward deployed centralized coordination center for operations, domain awareness, information sharing, intelligence, training, and stakeholder engagement with Federal, State, Tribal, local, and international government partners along the northern border of the United States. The Center shall be placed along the northern border at a location that is collocated with an existing U.S. Border Patrol sector headquarters, Air and Marine Operations branch, and United States Coast Guard air station, and other facility at which Department activities are carried out. (c) Functions The Center shall perform the functions described in this subsection in addition to any other functions assigned by the Secretary. (1) Northern Border Strategy The Center, in collaboration with relevant offices and components of the Department, shall— (A) serve as a coordination mechanism for operational components for the implementation, evaluation, and updating of the Northern Border Strategy and any successor strategy; and (B) support the development of best practices and policies for personnel along the northern border to support such implementation. (2) Training The Center shall serve as a training location to support the delivery of training or exercises for Department personnel and Federal, State, Tribal, local, and international government partners. (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Center The term Center means the Northern Border Coordination Center established pursuant to subsection (a). (2) Department The term Department means the Department of Homeland Security. (3) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of Homeland Security. (e) Limitation The Center established pursuant to subsection (a) shall be established separate and distinct from the Secretary’s authorities under section 708 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 348).