US Congress House Bill 300 (Prior Session Legislation)

---

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 11-0)
Status: Introduced on January 13 2015 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2015-01-28 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security.
Pending: House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

SMART Border Act of 2015 Support More Assets, Resources, and Technology on the Border Act of 2015 Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) take actions to achieve and maintain operational control of the U.S.-Mexico border (defined as a condition in which all illegal border crossers are apprehended and narcotics and other contraband are seized); and (2) report to the Comptroller General on such actions, achievement, and maintenance. Directs the Comptroller General, within 90 days after such report is submitted, to: (1) consult with state and local officials along such border regarding such operational control; and (2) report on such operational control to specified congressional committees. Requires the House of Representatives and the Senate to vote on a joint resolution on the question of whether such report should be disapproved within 90 days of receiving it or such joint resolution shall be deemed passed. Requires the Comptroller General to submit an annual report on such operational control. Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to: (1) deploy up to an additional 10,000 members of the National Guard along the U.S.-Mexico border as requested by border states; and (2) provide funds to the governor of a state who submits a state border control activities plan that is approved by the Secretary and that specifies how personnel of the National Guard of such state are to be used in border control activities. Authorizes National Guard personnel to be ordered to carry out border control activities. Authorizes: (1) the DHS Secretary to deploy smart border technologies if necessary to achieve and maintain such operational control; and (2) the Defense Secretary to transfer specified eligible equipment returned from DOD operations to federal, state, and local agencies, with preference to agencies that will use such equipment primarily to strengthen border security. Requires the DHS Secretary: (1) if such a joint resolution of disapproval on operational control passes, to appoint an additional 1,500 Border Patrol agents; (2) make grants to sheriffs' departments along the border in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California to hire additional deputies; and (3) establish the biometric entry and exit data system required under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Authorizes the DHS Secretary to make competitive grants for public-private partnerships that finance equipment and infrastructure to improve the public safety of residents of U.S. rural areas near the border by enhancing access to mobile communications for such persons. Directs the the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ensure that an individual who is apprehended unlawfully crossing, or attempting to unlawfully cross, the border into the United States is counted only once for purposes of counting border apprehensions.

SMART Border Act of 2015 Support More Assets, Resources, and Technology on the Border Act of 2015

Rep. Ted Poe [R-TX]	Rep. Lamar Smith [R-TX]	Rep. Diane Black [R-TN]	Rep. Tom McClintock [R-CA]
Rep. Glenn Grothman [R-WI]	Rep. Lynn Jenkins [R-KS]	Rep. Jeff Fortenberry [R-NE]	Rep. Pete Olson [R-TX]
Rep. Doug Lamborn [R-CO]	Rep. Paul Gosar [R-AZ]	Rep. Mo Brooks [R-AL]

Date	Chamber	Action
2015-01-28	House	Referred to the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security.
2015-01-26	House	Referred to the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research.
2015-01-16	House	Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
2015-01-13	House	Referred to House Agriculture
2015-01-13	House	Referred to House Energy and Commerce
2015-01-13	House	Referred to House Rules
2015-01-13	House	Referred to House Armed Services
2015-01-13	House	Referred to House Homeland Security
2015-01-13	House	Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Rules, Energy and Commerce, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
2015-01-13	House	Introduced in House

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/300/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/hr300/BILLS-114hr300ih.pdf