,,ii #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #egh ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,february #ac1 #bjbe,mr4 ,lankford 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,kelly1 and ,mr4 ,cornyn7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to pilot the use of image technician positions in the ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection ,office of ,field ,operations4 #a4 ,short titles ,this ,act may be cited as the ,border ,enforcement1 ,security1 and ,trade ,facilitation ,act of #bjbe or the ,,best ,facilitation ,act4 #b4 ,office of ,field ,operations image technician pilot program 7a7 ,in general ,section #daa7;g7 of the ,homeland ,security ,act of #bjjb 7#f ,u4,s4,c4 #baa7;g77 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7#f7 ,image technician pilot program 7,a7 ,image technician #a 7i7 ,in general ,there shall be in the ,office of ,field ,operations1 ,image ,technician #a positions1 which shall be filled in accordance with the provisions under chapter #cc 7relating to appointments in the competitive service7 and chapters #ea and #ec 7relating to classification and rates of pay7 of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code4 7ii7 ,conditions ,image ,technician #a positions-- 7,i7 may be filled by existing ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection employees2 7,,ii7 are not law enforcement officer positions2 7,,iii7 may not be filled by independent contractors2 and 7,,iv7 shall be assigned to a regional command center established under subparagraph 7,f74 7iii7 ,duties ,the duties of an ,image ,technician #a shall include-- 7,i7 reviewing non-intrusive inspection images of conveyances and containers entering or exiting the ,united ,states through a land1 sea1 or air port of entry or international rail crossing2 7,,ii7 assessing whether images of conveyances and containers appear to contain anomalies indicating the potential presence of contraband1 persons unlawfully seeking to enter or exit the ,united ,states1 or illicitly concealed merchandise1 including illicit drugs and terrorist weapons2 7,,iii7 recommending entry release or exit release for any conveyances and containers whenever the images of such items do not include noticeable anomalies indicating the potential presence of contraband1 persons seeking to unlawfully enter or exit the ,united ,states1 or illicitly concealed merchandise1 including illicit drugs or terrorist weapons1 to the ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection ,officer responsible for inspecting such conveyance or container2 and 7,,iv7 recommending further inspection of any conveyances and containers whenever the ,image ,technician reasonably believes that an image of any such item contains anomalies indicating the potential presence of contraband1 persons seeking to unlawfully enter or exit the ,united ,states1 or illicitly concealed merchandise1 such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons1 to the ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection officer who is responsible for inspecting such conveyance or container4 7,b7 ,image technician #b 7i7 ,in general ,there shall be in the ,office of ,field ,operations1 ,image ,technician #b positions1 which shall be filled in accordance with the provisions under chapter #cc 7relating to appointments in the competitive service7 and chapters #ea and #ec 7relating to classification and rates of pay7 of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code4 7ii7 ,conditions ,image ,technician #b positions-- 7,i7 may be filled by existing ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection employees2 7,,ii7 are not law enforcement officer positions2 7,,iii7 may not be filled by independent contractors2 and 7,,iv7 shall be assigned to a regional command center established under subparagraph 7,f74 7iii7 ,duties ,the duties of an ,image ,technician #b shall include-- 7,i7 carrying out all of the duties described in subclauses 7,i7 through 7,,iv7 of subparagraph 7,a77ii72 7,,ii7 receiving intelligence from the ,national ,targeting ,center regarding tactics1 techniques1 and procedures being used at ports of entry and in the border environment by malign actors to facilitate the unlawful entry or exit of contraband1 persons1 or illicitly concealed merchandise1 such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons2 and 7,,iii7 reporting new information to the ,national ,targeting ,center regarding tactics1 techniques1 and procedures being used at ports of entry and in the border environment by malign actors to facilitate the unlawful entry or exit of contraband1 persons1 or concealed merchandise1 such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons4 7,c7 ,supervisory ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection ,officers 7i7 ,supervision ,all image technicians shall be supervised by a ,supervisory ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection ,officer4 7ii7 ,discretion and decision-making authority ,the appropriate ,supervisory ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection ,officer1 while working with image technicians1 shall retain the discretion and final decision-making authority-- 7,i7 to release conveyances or cargo for entry2 or 7,,ii7 to refer such conveyance or cargo for further inspection4 7iii7 ,training ,a ,supervisory ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection ,officer who supervises image technicians shall receive additional training in accordance with subparagraph 7,d74 7,d7 ,training requirements ,all image technicians shall receive annual training and additional ad hoc training1 to the extent necessary based on current trends1 regarding-- 7i7 respecting privacy1 civil rights1 and civil liberties1 including the protections against unreasonable searches and seizures afforded by the ,first and ,fourth ,amendments to the ,constitution of the ,united ,states1 as applicable and as interpreted by the ,federal courts2 7ii7 analyzing images generated by non-intrusive inspection technologies or any successor technologies deployed by ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection2 7iii7 identifying commodities and merchandise in images generated by non-intrusive inspection technologies or any successor technologies deployed by ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection2 7iv7 identifying contraband1 persons who are seeking to unlawfully enter or exit the ,united ,states1 or illicitly concealed merchandise1 such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons1 in images generated by non-intrusive technologies or any successor technologies deployed by ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection2 7v7 tactics1 techniques1 and procedures being used at ports of entry and in the border environment by malign actors to facilitate the unlawful entry or exit of contraband1 persons1 or illicitly concealed merchandise1 such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons2 and 7vi7 any other training that the ,commissioner of ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection determines to be relevant to the duties described in subparagraphs 7,a77iii7 or 7,b77iii74 7,e7 ,annual assessment ,all image technicians shall receive annual testing with respect to their-- 7i7 accuracy in image analysis2 7ii7 timeliness in image analysis2 and 7iii7 ability to ascertain tactics1 techniques1 and procedures being used at ports of entry and in the border environment by malign actors to facilitate the unlawful entry or exit of contraband1 persons1 or illicitly concealed merchandise1 such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons4 7,f7 ,command centers ,as part of the pilot program established under this paragraph1 the ,executive ,assistant ,commissioner of the ,office of ,field ,operations shall establish #e regional command centers at land1 rail1 air1 and sea ports in which image technicians shall review non-intrusive inspection images4 7,g7 ,rule of construction ,nothing in this paragraph may be construed to affect the discretion and final decision-making authority given to ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection ,officers to release conveyances or cargo for entry or exit or to refer such conveyances or cargo for further inspection4 4 7b7 ,effective date 7#a7 ,sunset ,the amendment made by subsection 7a7 shall cease to have effect on the date that is #e years after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 7#b7 ,transfers authorized ,upon the termination of the pilot program established by section #daa7;g77#f7 of the ,homeland ,security ,act of #bjjb1 as added by subsection 7a71 individuals occupying ,image ,technician #a or ,image ,technician #b positions in the ,office of ,field ,operations may transfer to comparable positions within ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection or the ,department of ,homeland ,security4 #c4 ,reporting requirements 7a7 ,semiannual reports ,not later than #ahj days after the hiring of the first positions described in section #daa7;g77#f7 of the ,homeland ,security ,act of #bjjb1 as added by section #b1 and every #ahj days thereafter1 the ,commissioner of ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection1 in consultation with the ,executive ,assistant ,commissioner of the ,office of ,field ,operations1 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 identifies-- 7#a7 the number of ,image ,technician #a and ,image ,technician #b positions filled during the reporting period2 7#b7 the number of ,image ,technician #a and ,image ,technician #b positions currently employed by the ,office of ,field ,operations1 disaggregated by-- 7,a7 port of entry or field office2 7,b7 image technician position2 and 7,c7 command center1 as applicable2 7#c7 the daily average number of images scanned by each ,image ,technician #a and each ,image ,technician #b2 7#d7 training methodologies utilized to train image technicians2 7#e7 assessment passage rates of image technicians2 7#f7 the impact of image technicians on interdiction rates at ports of entry and international rail crossings at which image technicians are stationed or from which image technicians review images1 including-- 7,a7 throughput increases or decreases at such ports of entry and international rail crossings2 7,b7 increases or decreases in waiting times at such ports of entry and international rail crossings2 7,c7 average wait times at such ports of entry and international rail crossings2 and 7,d7 increases or decreases of seizures of contraband1 persons seeking to unlawfully enter or exit the ,united ,states1 or illicitly concealed merchandise1 such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons1 broken down by type of seizure and port of entry or international rail crossing2 7#g7 the impact of image technicians on ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection's capability to review non-intrusive inspection images of conveyances and containers entering or exiting the ,united ,states through a land1 sea1 or air port of entry or international rail crossing2 7#h7 an assessment of the effectiveness with which image technicians carry out the duties described in subparagraphs 7,a77iii7 and 7,b77iii7 of section #daa7;g77#f7 of the ,homeland ,security ,act of #bjjb1 as added by section #b7;a71 compared to any ,u4,s4 ,customs and ,border ,protection officers who are assigned such duties2 7#i7 the progress made in establishing command centers under the pilot program established by such section2 7#aj7 any infrastructure or resource needs required to establish such command centers2 and 7#aa7 the ports of entry and international rail crossing1 as applicable1 that are supported by such a command center4 7b7 ,biannual briefings ,the ,executive ,assistant ,commissioner of the ,office of ,field ,operations shall provide biannual briefings to the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs of the ,senate and the ,committee on ,homeland ,security of the ,house of ,representatives regarding the information described in the latest report submitted pursuant to subsection 7a74