The House on Thursday approved the first ever bill to reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security, approving the legislation on a 386 to 41 vote, sending it to the Senate.
President Donald Trump praised passage of the bill, noting that it authorizes the department’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency “for the first time,” adding that “this bill reflects my strong commitment to ending illegal immigration and fully enforcing the laws of the United States.”
Passage in the House of the 575-page Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act of 2017 (H.R. 2825), reflects a commitment earlier this year by House leadership and the eight committees that oversight responsibilities for the department to support reauthorization of the department, including its components, on a regular basis.
DHS stood up in 2003.
The House Homeland Security Committee in June marked up its version of the bill, which requires more scrutiny of DHS acquisition programs, annual updates of the Transportation Security Administration’s five-year investment plan, consolidate and eliminate unnecessary programs and offices, and require DHS to provide cyber analysts to state and local fusion centers, among other provisions.
The bill also folds in a Coast Guard Authorization measure approved by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that would allow up to $2 billion an annual appropriations for Coast Guard acquisitions in 2018 and 2019. The Trump administration requested $1.2 billion for Coast Guard acquisition account in FY ’18 and House appropriators bumped that up to $1.3 billion.
The language on the Coast Guard also requires the service to establish a land-based unmanned aircraft system program, something it is interested in for long-range endurance to monitor the drug transit zones in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. The bill also calls for a multi-year contract for the Coast Guard to purchase National Security Cutters 10, 11, and 12.
The Coast Guard has contracted for nine NSCs, and the House appropriators want to stop the program there. Last year Senate appropriators were able to secure long-lead funding for the 10th NSC.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee also passed legislation reauthorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency that is included in the DHS act.
The bill also includes legislation from the Judiciary Committee authorizing the Secret Service. The Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees also worked jointly on language authorizing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services components.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said bill helps DHS keep pace with evolving threats and “stay in front of them.”
The bill must still be marked up in the Senate and signed by Trump before it becomes law. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement that “I look forward to working with my colleagues and other Senate committees to consider this important legislation.”