US Senate Appropriations Committee approves USD48bn FY2019 DHS spending bill

US Senate Appropriations Committee approved (21-Jun-2018) a draft FY2019 funding bill covering US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), US TSA and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Overall, the bill proposes USD48.3 billion in net discretionary funding for DHS, which is USD611 million more than the level provided in the FY2018 omnibus. Highlights include:

• US TSA: Senate recommends USD7.3 billion for FY2019, USD226.5 million above the president's budget request and USD94.6 million above the FY2018 omnibus. The committee rejected a proposal to raise the passenger security fee by USD1 per one way trip, noting that TSA should "heed Committee guidance to avoid submitting budget requests that assume revenues that have not been authorized by law". Key funding and legislative provisions include:
  • Law Enforcement Officer Reimbursement: USD46.3 million for TSA's LEO reimbursement programme - USD1 million more than was provided by the FY2018 omnibus that Congress approved earlier in 2018;
  • Exit lanes: USD77 million for TSA staffing of exit lanes, rejecting the administration's proposal to eliminate federal funding for exit lane staffing and shift this burden to airports. The report includes language encouraging the TSA to "continue efforts to develop and install appropriate exit lane monitoring technology where feasible and appropriate";
  • Canine teams: USD162.4 million for the National Explosives Canine Detection Team Programme to support 1097 canine teams. Funding is USD10.2 million above the president's FY2019 budget request to establish 50 new canine teams for passenger screening;
  • Computed Tomography (CT): USD71.5 million for the purchase and installation of 145 CT equipment for passenger checkpoints at the highest risk airports. This is part of a larger effort to recapitalise TSA's aging screening equipment, add detection capabilities, and improve performance to mitigate emerging aviation security threats. The FY2018 omnibus included USD64 million for CT deployment;
  • EDS reimbursements: Additional USD50 million to continue reimbursement of airports that incurred costs for partial or completed inline baggage screening systems constructed after 9/11;
  • Visible Intermodal Prevention Response (VIPR) teams: USD56 million to maintain 31 VIPR teams, rejecting a request to eliminate funding for the programme;
  • Screening personnel: USD26 million above the FY2019 request to fund an additional 360 front line screener personnel to support an increase in passenger volume;
  • Screening Partnership Program (SPP): USD188.4 million for the SPP programme, USD7 million above the budget request, to accommodate increased airport screening costs;
  • Advanced integrated screening technologies: Requires TSA to submit a detailed report on passenger and baggage screening technologies that includes a "useful description of existing and emerging technologies capable of detecting threats concealed on passengers and in baggage, as well as projected funding levels for each technology identified in the report for the next five fiscal years";
• US CBP: Senate recommends USD14.3 billion for CBP in FY2019, USD31 million above the budget request and USD239 million above the FY2018 omnibus. Key funding and legislative provisions include:
  • CBP officers: USD48.9 million to hire an additional 375 new CBP officers to be deployed at air and land ports of entry. Funding for these new officers "will help address unmet workload staffing requirements and is recommended in recognition of wait times at certain ports of entry (POE) as well as the volume of illicit drugs passing through POEs";
  • Large airport staffing requirements: Senate report expresses concern that "CBP airport staffing decisions are opaque and artificially constrain growth at airports". CBP is required to brief the committee "regarding ways it is improving the staffing model or otherwise ensuring that agency staffing decisions are impartial, predictable, and allow for growth at airports with opportunities to expand into new international air passenger markets";
  • Small airport inspection services: Senate expressed concern that "rigid CBP policies are precluding many small airports that lack a business case for constructing a Federal Inspection Station from adding international flights, despite the existence of secure General Aviation Facilities already used by CBP for intermittent international clearance of corporate and private aircraft. Accordingly, the Committee encourages CBP to consider modifying relevant policies and work creatively with airports...to facilitate international service in a manner consistent with CBP security and resource requirements and informed by airports' fiscal constraints and existing facilities";
  • Polygraphs: Concerns remain about a "higher-than-average polygraph failure rate for potential new hires". Senate bill requires CBP to report on the effectiveness of the polygraph tests, including data comparing CBP's failure rates to those of other Federal law enforcement agencies; recommendations on whether modifications to CBP's current polygraph waver authority are warranted; and an analysis of how any modifications could be implemented without lowering standards expected for all new hires;
  • Recruitment, hiring and retention: Senate provides USD28.6 million above the president's budget request for CBP's recruitment, hiring and retention challenges. It permits CBP to reallocate unused salary funding to a new human resource contract, and to work with the Office of Personnel Management to utilise available incentives to recruit, relocate, and retain employees in rural and remote locations;
  • Overtime: Cap on overtime pay at USD45,000 per person;
  • Biometric exit: The DHS funding does not include any appropriated funding to implement biometric exit programmes at airports nationwide. This programme will continue to be funded through fees, which were authorised as part of the 9/11 Victim's Compensation Fund contained in the FY2016 omnibus. The report directs DHS to provide a spend plan for fee revenues and any other resources being applied to biometric exit implementation not later than 30 days after enactment of this act. [more - original PR]