[Senate Report 112-206]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
112th Congress
2d Session SENATE Report
112-206
_______________________________________________________________________
Calendar No. 497
JAIME ZAPATA BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK FORCE ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
H.R. 915
TO ESTABLISH A BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK FORCE PROGRAM TO
ENHANCE BORDER SECURITY BY FOSTERING COORDINATED EFFORTS AMONG FEDERAL,
STATE, AND LOCAL BORDER AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO PROTECT UNITED
STATES BORDER CITIES AND COMMUNITIES FROM TRANS-NATIONAL CRIME,
INCLUDING VIOLENCE ASSOCIATED WITH DRUG TRAFFICKING, ARMS SMUGGLING,
ILLEGAL ALIEN TRAFFICKING AND SMUGGLING, VIOLENCE, AND KIDNAPPING ALONG
AND ACROSS THE INTERNATIONAL BORDERS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
August 28, 2012.--Ordered to be printed
Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of August 2, 2012
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
JON TESTER, Montana RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MARK BEGICH, Alaska JERRY MORAN, Kansas
Michael L. Alexander, Staff Director
Beth M. Grossman, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Blas Nunez-Neto, Professional Staff Member
Nicholas A. Rossi, Minority Staff Director
Christopher J. Burford, Minority CBP Detailee
Trina Driessnack Tyrer, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 497
112th Congress
SENATE
Report
2d Session 112-206
======================================================================
JAIME ZAPATA BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK FORCE ACT
_______
August 28, 2012.--Ordered to be printed
Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of August 2, 2012
_______
Mr. Lieberman, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 915]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 915) to establish
a Border Enforcement Security Task Force program to enhance
border security by fostering coordinated efforts among Federal,
State, and local border and law enforcement officials to
protect United States border cities and communities from trans-
national crime, including violence associated with drug
trafficking, arms smuggling, illegal alien trafficking and
smuggling, violence, and kidnapping along and across the
international borders of the United States, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends
that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................4
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................4
V. Estimated Cost of Legislation....................................5
VI. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................6
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported...........6
I. Purpose and Summary
In order to more effectively target cross-border criminal
networks, H.R. 915 codifies an existing effort by the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish Border
Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) units. These units are
comprised of DHS and other federal, state, and local law
enforcement personnel, and they coordinate efforts to stop
illicit networks in areas that are impacted by cross-border
threats. The bill authorizes the Secretary to establish BEST
units in jurisdictions that are adversely impacted by cross-
border crime, to direct the assignment of federal personnel to
the BEST as appropriate, and to provide financial assistance to
state, local, and tribal law enforcement in order to encourage
increased participation. It also requires that the Secretary
submit an annual report to Congress about the effectiveness of
the BEST program.
II. Background and Need for Legislation
The BEST program grew from U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement's (ICE) recognition that the increasing violence in
Mexico and the growing sophistication of the criminal networks
operating along the southwest border required an interagency
response. In 2005, ICE started Operation Black Jack in Laredo,
Texas, bringing together federal, state, and local law
enforcement officials in order to pool their legal authorities
and create more comprehensive investigations into criminal
activity along the border. According to Marcy Forman, the
former Director of Investigations at ICE, ``[i]n its first six
months, its target-driven focus led to the dismantling of a
murder/kidnapping cell operating on both sides of the border,
including the seizure of high-powered fully automatic weapons
and live grenades; the components to make over 100 improvised
explosive devices (IEDs), such as pipe bombs and grenades; and
over $1 million in U.S. currency.''\1\ Operation Black Jack's
success led ICE to expand the program to other Special Agent in
Charge (SAC) offices and to rename it the Border Enforcement
and Security Taskforce (BEST).\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Testimony of Marcy Forman, Director, Office of Investigations,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, before the House
Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, March 10,
2009.
\2\Testimony of Marcy Forman, Director, Office of Investigations,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, before the House
Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, March 10,
2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to ICE, ``[e]ach BEST concentrates on the
prevalent threat in its geographic area, including: cross-
border violence; weapons smuggling and trafficking; contraband
smuggling; money laundering and bulk cash smuggling; human
smuggling and trafficking; transnational criminal gangs; and
tunnel detection''\3\ The BEST program incorporates personnel
from ICE, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S.
Marshals Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Coast
Guard (USCG), and key state and local law enforcement
agencies.\4\ In practice, the makeup of each particular BEST
depends on the prevalent threat in a given jurisdiction. As a
result, not all of the agencies listed participate in each
BEST.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\Testimony of Marcy Forman, Director, Office of Investigations,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, before the House
Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, March 10,
2009.
\4\http://www.ice.gov/best/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today, ICE deploys 489 of its personnel to 31 BESTs,
including twelve on the Southwest border with Mexico, four on
the Northern border with Canada, fourteen at major seaports,
and one in Mexico City. During Fiscal Year 2011, BEST offices
initiated 1,575 cases, made 1,784 criminal arrests, produced
1,204 indictments, and obtained 918 convictions. During that
same year, BESTs seized over $25 million in illicit currency,
37,000 pounds of cocaine, 262,000 pounds of marijuana, 1,400
pounds of heroin and methamphetamines, and almost 2,000 illegal
guns.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\Information provided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
Office of Congressional Affairs, July 24, 2012.
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The BEST program is a crucial tool in our government's
arsenal against the growing threat posed by the Mexican drug
cartels and other transnational criminal networks. In January
2010, the White House completed a comprehensive review of
transnational organized crime (TOC) that concluded that
``organized crime has expanded dramatically in size, scope, and
influence and that it poses a significant threat to national
and international security.''\6\ As part of this review, the
White House released a Strategy to Combat Transnational
Organized Crime that voiced concern over the growing links
between transnational criminal groups and terrorist entities,
and the proliferation of facilitators, or ``semi-legitimate
players such as accountants, attorneys, notaries, bankers, and
real estate brokers, who cross both the licit and illicit
worlds and provide services to legitimate customers, criminals,
and terrorists alike.''\7\ In order to meet this rapidly
evolving and dangerous threat, the Strategy highlighted the
importance of marshalling a collaborative, interagency effort
against transnational organized crime: ``Criminal
investigations will use an integrated approach that
incorporates financial, weapons, and TOC-related corruption
investigations into a comprehensive attack on the entire
criminal organization . . . The use of multi-agency task forces
such as the ICE-led Border Enforcement Security Task Forces
will remain essential to our efforts to investigate and
interdict TOC threats at our borders.''\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, p. 3, July 19,
2011. Available at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/
Strategy_to_Combat_Transnational_Organized_Crime _July_2011.pdf]
\7\Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, p. 8 July 19,
2011.
\8\Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, p. 22, July
19, 2011.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Committee recognizes the important role that the BEST
program plays in investigating and dismantling criminal
networks operating along our nation's borders, and believes
that legislatively authorizing the program will enhance its
capabilities. The Committee also honors the ultimate sacrifice
made by ICE Agent Jaime Zapata, who was brutally murdered in
the line of duty by Mexican drug cartel members in Mexico on
February 15, 2011 and after whom H.R. 915 is named.
As passed by the House, H.R. 915 establishes Border
Enforcement Security Taskforce (BEST) units within ICE These
units are to be comprised of agents from ICE, CBP, the Coast
Guard, and other federal, state, local, and foreign law
enforcement personnel, in order to coordinate efforts to stop
illicit networks in areas that are impacted by cross-border
threats. The House-passed bill authorizes the Secretary to
establish BEST units in jurisdictions that are adversely
impacted by cross-border crime, to direct the assignment of
federal personnel to the BEST as appropriate, and to provide
financial assistance to state, local, tribal, and foreign law
enforcement in order to encourage increased participation. It
also requires that the Secretary submit an annual report to
Congress about the effectiveness of the BEST program. Lastly,
it authorizes appropriations of $10 million each year from
fiscal year 2012 through 2016.
During consideration of the bill by this Committee, Member
concerns led the Committee to adopt a substitute that made
three key changes to House-passed H.R. 915. The Committee
substitute:
1. Removed the authorization for appropriations in
the bill. The Committee expects that, because this bill
authorizes an existing program that is currently being
funded, no new funds will be needed to implement the
bill;
2. Inserted a provision requiring the Secretary to
ensure that BEST units established under the bill do
not duplicate the efforts of other interagency
taskforces and centers in a given jurisdiction; and
3. Removed the authority to provide funding to
foreign law enforcement entities.
The substitute amendment also made a series of minor or
technical changes to the underlying bill, including placing the
authorization of the program within the Homeland Security Act,
charging the Secretary with administering the program, limiting
the annual reporting requirementto five years, and allowing
BEST units to include DHS personnel outside of ICE, CBP, and the Coast
Guard.
III. Legislative History
H.R. 915 was introduced on March 3, 2011, in the House of
Representatives by Representative Cuellar, with Representative
McCaul as an original cosponsor. The bill was reported by the
House Committee on Homeland Security on November 4, 2011, and
passed the House on a motion to suspend the rules by a vote of
391-2 on May 30, 2012.
On June 4, 2012, H.R. 915 was received in the Senate and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs. During a business meeting that began on June 27, 2012
and concluded on June 29, 2012, H.R. 915 was amended by a
Lieberman-Collins Substitute Amendment, which was adopted by
voice vote with Senators Lieberman, Akaka, Carper, Collins,
Johnson, and Portman present. H.R. 915, as so amended, was then
ordered reported favorably by voice vote, en bloc with other
measures, with the following Senators present: Lieberman,
Levin, Akaka, Carper, Pryor, Landrieu, Tester, Begich Collins,
Brown, McCain, Johnson, Portman, and Moran.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis, as Amended
Section 1: Short title
This section provides that bill may be cited as the ``Jaime
Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act.''
Section 2: Findings and declaration of purposes
(a) Findings.--This section lays out a series of findings,
including that Mexico's northern border with the United States
has experienced a dramatic surge in border crime and violence
in recent years and that the BEST initiative has been formed by
DHS to address cross-border threats.
Section 3: Border Enforcement Security Task Force
This section amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002,
establishing the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST)
within the Department of Homeland Security.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the BEST program is to
establish interagency units to address and reduce border
security threats and violence by facilitating collaboration
among federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement
agencies and enhancing information sharing.
(c) Composition.--BEST units may be comprised of personnel
from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
United States Customs and Border Protection; the United States
Coast Guard, other DHS agencies, other Federal agencies, State,
local and tribal law enforcement agencies; and, where
appropriate, foreign law enforcement partners.
The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized to
establish BEST units in jurisdictions where such units can
contribute to the program's missions, considering a number of
factors including whether the jurisdiction is impacted by cross
border threats and the availability of law enforcement
resources to participate in the BEST. The Secretary is directed
to ensure that the creation of a new BEST or the expansion of
an existing BEST does not duplicate the efforts of other
existing interagency centers or taskforces.
(d) Operation.--After determining the jurisdictions in
which to establish BEST units, the Secretary is authorized to
direct the assignment of federal personnel, and to take other
actions to assist federal, state, local, and tribal entities to
participate in BEST including providing financial assistance
for operational, administrative, and technological costs.
(e) Report.--Within 180 days after enactment, and annually
for five years thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security
is required to submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness
of the BEST program in enhancing border security and reducing
all forms of smuggling in the border region.
V. Estimated Cost of Legislation
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 26, 2012.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 915, the Jaime
Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
Enclosure.
H.R. 915--Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 915 would cost about
$1 million annually, assuming the availability of appropriated
funds. Enacting the legislation would not affect direct
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do
not apply.
H.R. 915 would authorize a program known as the Border
Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) within the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS). Under the BEST program (which is
currently administered by DHS), personnel from federal, state,
local, tribal, and foreign law-enforcement agencies share
information and carry out law-enforcement operations to combat
criminal activity near the United States borders. DHS expects
to spend about $1 million in fiscal year 2012 from appropriated
funds to oversee the program, and CBO estimates that DHS's
continued oversight of the program would require appropriations
of about that much each year.
H.R. 915 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
On September 29, 2011, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for
H.R. 915 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Homeland
Security on September 21, 2011. The act would authorize the
appropriation of $10 million annually over the 2012-2016 period
for the BEST program, and CBO estimated that implementing H.R.
915 would cost $48 million over the 2012-2016 period, assuming
appropriation of the authorized amounts. The Senate committee
version of the legislation contains no specified authorization
level.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
VI. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the Rule. The Congressional Budget Office states that the
bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates
as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not
affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
V. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
H.R. 915 as reported are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002
* * * * * * *
TITLE IV--DIRECTORATE OF BORDER AND TRANSPORTATION SECURITY
* * * * * * *
Subtitle C--Miscellaneous Provisions
* * * * * * *
SEC. 431. OFFICE OF CARGO SECURITY POLICY
* * * * * * *
SEC. 432. BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK FORCE
(a) Establishment.--There is established within the
Department a program to be known as the Border Enforcement
Security Task Force (referred to in this section as `BEST').
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of BEST is to establish units to
enhance border security by addressing and reducing border
security threats and violence by--
(1) facilitating collaboration among Federal, State,
local, tribal, and foreign law enforcement agencies to
execute coordinated activities in furtherance of border
security, and homeland security; and
(2) enhancing information-sharing, including the
dissemination of homeland security information among
such agencies.
(c) Composition and Establishment of Units.--
(1) Composition.--BEST units may be comprised of
personnel from--
(A) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
(B) U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
(C) the United States Coast Guard;
(D) other Department personnel, as
appropriate;
(E) other Federal agencies, as appropriate;
(F) appropriate State law enforcement
agencies;
(G) foreign law enforcement agencies, as
appropriate;
(H) local law enforcement agencies from
affected border cities and communities; and
(I) appropriate tribal law enforcement
agencies.
(2) Establishment of units.--The Secretary is
authorized to establish BEST units in jurisdictions in
which such units can contribute to BEST missions, as
appropriate. Before establishing a BEST unit, the
Secretary shall consider--
(A) whether the area in which the BEST unit
would be established is significantly impacted
by cross-border threats;
(B) the availability of Federal, State,
local, tribal, and foreign law enforcement
resources to participate in the BEST unit;
(C) the extent to which border security
threats are having a significant harmful impact
in the jurisdiction in which the BEST unit is
to be established, and other jurisdictions in
the country; and
(D) whether or not an Integrated Border
Enforcement Team already exists in the area in
which the BEST unit would be established.
(3) Duplication of efforts.--In determining whether
to establish a new BEST unit or to expand an existing
BEST unit in a given jurisdiction, the Secretary shall
ensure that the BEST unit under consideration does not
duplicate the efforts of other existing interagency
task forces or centers within that jurisdiction.
(d) Operation.--After determining the jurisdictions in
which to establish BEST units under subsection (c)(2), and in
order to provide Federal assistance to such jurisdictions, the
Secretary may--
(1) direct the assignment of Federal personnel to
BEST, subject to the approval of the head of the
department or agency that employs such personnel; and
(2) take other actions to assist Federal, State,
local, and tribal entities to participate in BEST,
including providing financial assistance, as
appropriate, for operational, administrative, and
technological costs associated with the participation
of Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement
agencies in BEST.
(e) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date on
which BEST is established under this section, and annually
thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary shall
submit a report to Congress that describes the effectiveness of
BEST in enhancing border security and reducing the drug
trafficking, arms smuggling, illegal alien trafficking and
smuggling, violence, and kidnapping along and across the
international borders of the United States, as measured by
crime statistics, including violent deaths, incidents of
violence, and drug-related arrests.''.