II
Calendar No. 670
118THCONGRESS
2
DSESSION S. 1444
[Report No. 118–267]
To increase the pay and enhance the training of United States Border
Patrol agents, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MAY4, 2023
Mr. L
ANKFORD(for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. TILLIS, and Mr.
K
ELLY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
D
ECEMBER9, 2024
Reported by Mr. P
ETERS, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL
To increase the pay and enhance the training of United
States Border Patrol agents, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION1.SHORTTITLE. 3
ThisActmaybecitedasthe‘‘BorderPatrolEn-4
hancementAct’’. 5
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SEC.2.AUTHORIZED STAFFING LEVELFORTHEUNITED 1
STATESBORDER PATROL. 2
(a)DEFINITIONS.—Inthissection: 3
(1)QUALIFIEDRESEARCH ENTITY.—Theterm 4
‘‘qualifiedresearchentity’’meansanindependent, 5
not-for-profit,federallyfundedresearchentitywith 6
appropriateexpertiseandanalyticalcapabilityto 7
analyzeandvalidatethepersonnelrequirementsde-8
terminationmodel. 9
(2)VALIDATED PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS 10
DETERMINATION MODEL.—Theterm‘‘validatedper-11
sonnelrequirementsdeterminationmodel’’meansa 12
determinationofthenumberofUnitedStatesBor-13
derPatrolagentsneededtomeetthecriticalmission 14
requirementsoftheUnitedStatesBorderPatrolto 15
maintainanorderlyprocessformigrantsentering 16
theUnitedStates,thathasbeenvalidatedbya 17
qualifiedresearchentitypursuanttosubsection(d). 18
(b)INGENERAL.—Theauthorizedpersonnellevelfor 19
UnitedStatesBorderPatrolagentsonthedateoftheen-20
actmentofthisActis20,500. 21
(c)UNITEDSTATESBORDERPATROLPERSONNEL 22
REQUIREMENTSDETERMINATIONMODEL.— 23
(1)COMPLETION;NOTICE.—Notlaterthan180 24
daysafterthedateoftheenactmentofthisAct,the 25
Commissionershallcompleteapersonnelrequire-26
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mentsdeterminationmodelforUnitedStatesBorder 1
Patrolthatbuildsonthe5-yearUnitedStatesBor-2
derPatrolstaffinganddeploymentplanreferredto 3
onpage33ofHouseofRepresentativesReport 4
112–91(May26,2011)andsubmitanoticeofcom-5
pletionto— 6
(A)theappropriatecongressionalcommit-7
tees; 8
(B)theDirectoroftheOfficeofPersonnel 9
Management;and 10
(C)theComptrollerGeneraloftheUnited 11
States. 12
(2)CERTIFICATION.—Notlaterthan30days 13
afterthecompletionofthepersonnelrequirements 14
determinationmodeldescribedinparagraph(1),the 15
Commissionershallsubmitacopyofsuchmodeland 16
astrategyforobtainingthird-partyvalidationof 17
suchmodel,to— 18
(A)theappropriatecongressionalcommit-19
tees; 20
(B)theOfficeofPersonnelManagement; 21
and 22
(C)theComptrollerGeneraloftheUnited 23
States. 24
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(d)INDEPENDENT STUDYOFPERSONNELREQUIRE-1
MENTSDETERMINATIONMODEL.— 2
(1)REQUIREMENT FORSTUDY.—Notlaterthan 3
90daysafterthecompletionofthepersonnelre-4
quirementsdeterminationmodelpursuanttosub-5
section(c)(1),theSecretaryofHomelandSecurity 6
shallenterintoacontractwithaqualifiedresearch 7
entitytoconductastudythatanalyzesthevalidity 8
ofthemodel. 9
(2)REPORTS.— 10
(A)TOSECRETARY.—Notlaterthan1 11
yearafterthecompletionofthepersonnelre-12
quirementsdeterminationmodelundersub-13
section(c)(1),thequalifiedresearchentityshall 14
submitareporttotheSecretaryofHomeland 15
Securitythatincludes— 16
(i)theresultsofthestudyrequired 17
underparagraph(1);and 18
(ii)anyrecommendationsregarding 19
themodelthatthequalifiedresearchentity 20
considerstobeappropriate. 21
(B)TOCONGRESS.—Notlaterthan30 22
daysafterreceivingthereportdescribedinsub-23
paragraph(A),theSecretaryofHomelandSe-24
curityshallsubmitsuchreport,alongwithany 25
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additionalviewsorrecommendationsregarding 1
thepersonnelrequirementsdetermination 2
model,totheCommitteeonHomelandSecurity 3
andGovernmentalAffairsoftheSenateandthe 4
CommitteeonHomelandSecurityoftheHouse 5
ofRepresentatives. 6
(e)AUTHORITYTOADJUSTAUTHORIZED PER-7
SONNELLEVEL.—Beginningonthedatethatis180days 8
afterreceivingareportpursuanttosubsection(d)(2)that 9
validatesthepersonnelrequirementsdeterminationmodel, 10
theSecretaryofHomelandSecuritymayadjusttheau-11
thorizedpersonnellevelfortheUnitedStatesBorderPa-12
troltoalevelthatdoesnotexceedthelevelrecommended 13
bythevalidatedpersonnelrequirementsdetermination 14
model. 15
SEC.3.ESTABLISHMENT OFHIGHER MINIMUM RATESOF 16
PAYFORUNITED STATESBORDER PATROL 17
AGENTS. 18
(a)HIGHERMINIMUMRATEOFPAY.—Notlater 19
thanJanuary1,2023,theDirectoroftheOfficeofPer-20
sonnelManagement— 21
(1)shall,inaccordancewithsection5305of 22
title5,UnitedStatesCode— 23
(A)increasetheminimumrateofpayfor 24
UnitedStatesBorderPatrolagentsatthe 25
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gradeGS–12oftheGeneralSchedulebynot 1
lessthan14percent;and 2
(B)increaseothergradesorlevels,occupa-3
tionalgroups,series,classes,orsubdivisions 4
thereof,asdeterminedbytheSecretaryof 5
HomelandSecurity;and 6
(2)maymakeincreasesinallratesinthepay 7
rangeforeachsuchgradeorlevel,inaccordance 8
withsuchsection5305. 9
(b)INAPPLICABILITY.—Thediscretiongrantedto 10
agencyheadsundersection5305(a)(2)oftitle5,United 11
StatesCode,shallnotapplytoincreaseinratesofpay 12
authorizedundersubsection(a). 13
SEC.4.CONTINUING TRAINING. 14
(a)INGENERAL.—TheCommissionershallrequire 15
allUnitedStatesBorderPatrolagentsandotheremploy-16
eesorcontractedemployeesdesignatedbytheCommis-17
sioner,toparticipateinannualcontinuingtrainingto 18
maintainandupdatetheirunderstandingof— 19
(1)DepartmentofHomelandSecuritypolicies, 20
procedures,andguidelines; 21
(2)thefundamentalsoflaw,ethics,andprofes-22
sionalconduct; 23
(3)applicableFederallawandregulations; 24
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(4)precedentiallegalrulings,includingFederal 1
CircuitCourtandUnitedStatesSupremeCourt 2
opinionsrelatingtothedutyofcareandtreatment 3
ofpersonsinthecustodyoftheUnitedStatesBor-4
derPatrolthattheCommissionerdeterminesare 5
relevanttoactivedutyagents; 6
(5)applicablemigrationtrendsthattheCom-7
missionerdeterminesarerelevant; 8
(6)bestpracticesforcoordinatingwithcommu-9
nitystakeholders;and 10
(7)anyotherinformationthattheCommis-11
sionerdeterminestoberelevanttoactiveduty 12
agents. 13
(b)TRAININGSUBJECTS.—Continuingtraining 14
underthissubsectionshallincludetrainingregarding— 15
(1)non-lethaluseofforcepoliciesavailableto 16
UnitedStatesBorderPatrolagentsandde-esca-17
lationstrategiesandmethods; 18
(2)identifying,screening,andrespondingto 19
vulnerablepopulations,suchaschildren,persons 20
withdiminishedmentalcapacity,victimsofhuman 21
trafficking,pregnantmothers,victimsofgender- 22
basedviolence,victimsoftortureorabuse,andthe 23
acutelyill; 24
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(3)trendsintransnationalcriminalorganiza-1
tionactivitiesthatimpactbordersecurityandmi-2
gration; 3
(4)policies,strategies,andprograms— 4
(A)toprotectdueprocess,thecivil, 5
human,andprivacyrightsofindividuals,and 6
theprivatepropertyrightsoflandowners; 7
(B)toreducethenumberofmigrantand 8
agentdeaths;and 9
(C)toimprovethesafetyofagentsonpa-10
trol; 11
(5)personalresilience; 12
(6)anti-corruptionandofficerethicstraining; 13
(7)currentmigrationtrends,includingupdated 14
culturalandsocietalissuesofnationsthatareasig-15
nificantsourceofmigrantswhoare— 16
(A)arrivingataUnitedStatesportof 17
entrytoseekhumanitarianprotection;or 18
(B)encounteredataUnitedStatesinter-19
nationalboundarywhileattemptingtoenter 20
withoutinspection; 21
(8)theimpactofbordersecurityoperationson 22
naturalresourcesandtheenvironment,including 23
strategiestolimittheimpactofbordersecurityop-24
erationsonnaturalresourcesandtheenvironment; 25
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(9)relevantcultural,societal,racial,andreli-1
gioustraining,includingcross-culturalcommunica-2
tionskills; 3
(10)trainingauthorizedunderthePrisonRape 4
EliminationActof2003(42U.S.C.15601etseq.); 5
(11)riskmanagementandsafetytrainingthat 6
includesagencyprotocolsforensuringpublicsafety, 7
personalsafety,andthesafetyofpersonsinthecus-8
todyoftheDepartmentofHomelandSecurity; 9
(12)non-lethal,self-defensetraining;and 10
(13)anyothertrainingthatmeetstherequire-11
mentstomaintainandupdatethesubjectsidentified 12
insubsection(a). 13
(c)COURSEREQUIREMENTS.—Coursesofferedunder 14
thissection— 15
(1)shallbeadministeredbytheUnitedStates 16
BorderPatrol,inconsultationwiththeFederalLaw 17
EnforcementTrainingCenter;and 18
(2)shallbeapprovedinadvancebytheCom-19
missionerofU.S.CustomsandBorderProtectionto 20
ensurethatsuchcoursessatisfytherequirementsfor 21
trainingunderthissection. 22
(d)ASSESSMENT.—Notlaterthan2yearsafterthe 23
dateoftheenactmentofthisAct,theComptrollerGeneral 24
oftheUnitedStatesshallsubmitareporttotheCom-25
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mitteeonHomelandSecurityandGovernmentalAffairs 1
oftheSenateandtheCommitteeonHomelandSecurity 2
oftheHouseofRepresentativesthatassessesthetraining 3
andeducationprovidedpursuanttothissection,including 4
continuingeducation. 5
(e)FREQUENCYREQUIREMENTS.—Trainingoffered 6
aspartofcontinuingeducationunderthissectionshall 7
include— 8
(1)annualcoursesfocusingonthecurriculum 9
describedinparagraphs(1)through(6)ofsub-10
section(b);and 11
(2)biannualcoursesfocusingoncurriculumde-12
scribedinparagraphs(7)through(12)ofsubsection 13
(b). 14
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 15
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Patrol Enhance-16
ment Act’’. 17
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZED STAFFING LEVEL FOR THE UNITED 18
STATES BORDER PATROL. 19
(a) D
EFINEDTERM.—In this Act, the term ‘‘validated 20
personnel requirements determination model’’ means a de-21
termination of the number of United States Border Patrol 22
agents needed to meet the critical mission requirements of 23
the United States Border Patrol to maintain an orderly 24
process for migrants entering the United States, that has 25
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been validated by a qualified research entity pursuant to 1
subsection (c). 2
(b) U
NITEDSTATESBORDERPATROLPERSONNEL 3
R
EQUIREMENTSDETERMINATIONMODEL.— 4
(1) C
OMPLETION; NOTICE.—Not later than 180 5
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 6
Commissioner shall complete a personnel require-7
ments determination model for United States Border 8
Patrol that builds on the 5-year United States Border 9
Patrol staffing and deployment plan referred to on 10
page 33 of House of Representatives Report 112–91 11
(May 26, 2011) and submit a notice of completion 12
to— 13
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 14
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 15
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security of 16
the House of Representatives; 17
(C) the Director of the Office of Personnel 18
Management; and 19
(D) the Comptroller General of the United 20
States. 21
(2) C
ERTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 22
after the completion of the personnel requirements de-23
termination model described in paragraph (1), the 24
Commissioner shall submit a copy of such model, an 25
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explanation of its development, and a strategy for ob-1
taining independent verification of such model, to— 2
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 3
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 4
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security of 5
the House of Representatives; 6
(C) the Office of Personnel Management; 7
and 8
(D) the Comptroller General of the United 9
States. 10
(c) I
NDEPENDENTSTUDY OFPERSONNELREQUIRE-11
MENTSDETERMINATIONMODEL.— 12
(1) R
EQUIREMENT FOR STUDY .—Not later than 13
90 days after the completion of the personnel require-14
ments determination model pursuant to subsection 15
(b)(1), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall se-16
lect an entity that is technically, managerially, and 17
financially independent from the Department of 18
Homeland Security to conduct an independent 19
verification and validation of the model. 20
(2) R
EPORTS.— 21
(A) T
O SECRETARY.—Not later than 1 year 22
after the completion of the personnel require-23
ments determination model under subsection 24
(b)(1), the entity performing the independent 25
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verification and validation of the model shall 1
submit a report to the Secretary of Homeland 2
Security that includes— 3
(i) the results of the study conducted 4
pursuant to paragraph (1); and 5
(ii) any recommendations regarding 6
the model that such entity considers to be 7
appropriate. 8
(B) T
O CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 days 9
after receiving the report described in subpara-10
graph (A), the Secretary of Homeland Security 11
shall submit such report, along with any addi-12
tional views or recommendations regarding the 13
personnel requirements determination model, to 14
the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-15
ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com-16
mittee on Homeland Security of the House of 17
Representatives. 18
(d) A
UTHORITYTOHIREADDITIONALPERSONNEL.— 19
Beginning on the date that is 180 days after receiving a 20
report from a qualified research entity pursuant to sub-21
section (c)(2) that validates the personnel requirements de-22
termination model and after implementing any rec-23
ommendations to improve or update such model, the Sec-24
retary of Homeland Security may hire, train, and assign 25
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600 or more United States Border Patrol agents above the 1
attrition level during every fiscal year until the number of 2
active agents meets the level recommended by the validated 3
personnel requirements determination model. 4
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF HIGHER RATES OF REGULARLY 5
SCHEDULED OVERTIME PAY FOR UNITED 6
STATES BORDER PATROL AGENTS CLASSI-7
FIED AT GS–12. 8
Section 5550 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 9
by adding at the end the following: 10
‘‘(h) S
PECIALOVERTIMEPAY FORGS–12 BORDERPA-11
TROLAGENTS.— 12
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding paragraphs 13
(1)(F), (2)(C), and (3)(C) of subsection (b), a border 14
patrol agent encumbering a position at grade GS–12 15
shall receive a special overtime payment under this 16
subsection for hours of regularly scheduled work de-17
scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(ii) or (3)(A)(ii) of sub-18
section (b), as applicable, that are credited to the 19
agent through actual performance of work, crediting 20
under rules for canine agents under subsection 21
(b)(1)(F), or substitution of overtime hours in the 22
same work period under subsection (f)(2)(A), except 23
that no such payment may be made for periods of ab-24
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sence resulting in an hours obligation under para-1
graph (3) or (4) of subsection (f). 2
‘‘(2) C
OMPUTATION.—The special overtime pay-3
ment authorized under paragraph (1) shall be com-4
puted by multiplying the credited hours by 50 percent 5
of the border patrol agent’s hourly rate of basic pay, 6
rounded to the nearest cent. 7
‘‘(3) L
IMITATIONS.—The special overtime pay-8
ment authorized under paragraph (1)— 9
‘‘(A) is not considered basic pay for retire-10
ment under section 8331(3) or 8401(4) or for 11
any other purpose; 12
‘‘(B) is not payable during periods of paid 13
leave or other paid time off; and 14
‘‘(C) is not considered in computing an 15
agent’s lump-sum annual leave payment under 16
sections 5551 and 5552.’’. 17
SEC. 4. GAO ASSESSMENT OF RECRUITING EFFORTS, HIR-18
ING REQUIREMENTS, AND RETENTION OF 19
LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL. 20
The Comptroller General of the United States shall— 21
(1) conduct an assessment of U.S. Customs and 22
Border Protection’s— 23
(A) efforts to recruit law enforcement per-24
sonnel; 25
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(B) hiring process and job requirements re-1
lating to such recruitment; and 2
(C) retention of law enforcement personnel, 3
including the impact of employee compensation 4
on such retention efforts; and 5
(2) not later than 2 years after the date of the 6
enactment of this Act, submit a report containing the 7
results of such assessment to— 8
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 9
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 10
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security of 11
the House of Representatives. 12
SEC. 5. CONTINUING TRAINING. 13
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Commissioner shall require all 14
United States Border Patrol agents and other employees or 15
contracted employees designated by the Commissioner, to 16
participate in annual continuing training to maintain and 17
update their understanding of— 18
(1) Department of Homeland Security policies, 19
procedures, and guidelines; 20
(2) the fundamentals of law, ethics, and profes-21
sional conduct; 22
(3) applicable Federal law and regulations; 23
(4) precedential legal rulings, including Federal 24
Circuit Court and United States Supreme Court 25
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opinions relating to the duty of care and treatment 1
of persons in the custody of the United States Border 2
Patrol that the Commissioner determines are relevant 3
to active duty agents; 4
(5) applicable migration trends that the Com-5
missioner determines are relevant; 6
(6) best practices for coordinating with commu-7
nity stakeholders; and 8
(7) any other information that the Commissioner 9
determines to be relevant to active duty agents. 10
(b) T
RAININGSUBJECTS.—Continuing training under 11
this subsection shall include training regarding— 12
(1) non-lethal use of force policies available to 13
United States Border Patrol agents and de-escalation 14
strategies and methods; 15
(2) identifying, screening, and responding to vul-16
nerable populations, such as children, persons with 17
diminished mental capacity, victims of human traf-18
ficking, pregnant mothers, victims of gender-based vi-19
olence, victims of torture or abuse, and the acutely ill; 20
(3) trends in transnational criminal organiza-21
tion activities that impact border security and migra-22
tion; 23
(4) policies, strategies, and programs— 24
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(A) to protect due process, the civil, human, 1
and privacy rights of individuals, and the pri-2
vate property rights of land owners; 3
(B) to reduce the number of migrant and 4
agent deaths; and 5
(C) to improve the safety of agents on pa-6
trol; 7
(5) personal resilience; 8
(6) anti-corruption and officer ethics training; 9
(7) current migration trends, including updated 10
cultural and societal issues of nations that are a sig-11
nificant source of migrants who are— 12
(A) arriving at a United States port of 13
entry to seek humanitarian protection; or 14
(B) encountered at a United States inter-15
national boundary while attempting to enter 16
without inspection; 17
(8) the impact of border security operations on 18
natural resources and the environment, including 19
strategies to limit the impact of border security oper-20
ations on natural resources and the environment; 21
(9) relevant cultural, societal, racial, and reli-22
gious training, including cross-cultural communica-23
tion skills; 24
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(10) training authorized under the Prison Rape 1
Elimination Act of 2003 (42 U.S.C. 15601 et seq.); 2
(11) risk management and safety training that 3
includes agency protocols for ensuring public safety, 4
personal safety, and the safety of persons in the cus-5
tody of the Department of Homeland Security; 6
(12) non-lethal, self-defense training; and 7
(13) any other training that meets the require-8
ments to maintain and update the subjects identified 9
in subsection (a). 10
(c) C
OURSEREQUIREMENTS.—Courses offered under 11
this section— 12
(1) shall be administered by the United States 13
Border Patrol, in consultation with the Federal Law 14
Enforcement Training Center; and 15
(2) shall be approved in advance by the Commis-16
sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to en-17
sure that such courses satisfy the requirements for 18
training under this section. 19
(d) A
SSESSMENT.—Not later than 2 years after the 20
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 21
of the United States shall submit a report to the Committee 22
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 23
Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 24
House of Representatives that assesses the training and edu-25
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cation provided pursuant to this section, including con-1
tinuing education. 2
(e) F
REQUENCYREQUIREMENTS.—Training offered as 3
part of continuing education under this section shall in-4
clude— 5
(1) annual courses focusing on the curriculum 6
described in paragraphs (1) through (6) of subsection 7
(b); and 8
(2) biannual courses focusing on curriculum de-9
scribed in paragraphs (7) through (12) of subsection 10
(b). 11
SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 12
(a) R
ECRUITMENT AND RETENTIONREPORT.—The 13
Comptroller General of the United States shall— 14
(1) conduct a study of the recruitment and reten-15
tion of female agents in the United States Border Pa-16
trol that examines— 17
(A) the recruitment, application processes, 18
training, promotion, and other aspects of em-19
ployment for women in the United States Border 20
Patrol; 21
(B) the training, complaints system, and 22
redress for sexual harassment and assault; and 23
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(C) additional issues related to recruitment 1
and retention of female Border Patrol agents; 2
and 3
(2) not later than 1 year after the date of the en-4
actment of this Act, submit a report containing the 5
results of such study and recommendations for ad-6
dressing any identified deficiencies or opportunities 7
for improvement to— 8
(A) the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 9
Border Protection; 10
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security 11
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 12
(C) the Committee on Homeland Security of 13
the House of Representatives. 14
(b) I
MPLEMENTATION REPORT.—Not later than 90 15
days after receiving the recruitment and retention report 16
required under subsection (a), the Commissioner shall sub-17
mit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and 18
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 19
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives that de-20
scribes the status of the Commissioner’s efforts to implement 21
any recommendations included in recruitment and reten-22
tion report. 23
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670
118
TH
CONGRESS
2
D
S
ESSION
S. 1444
[Report No. 118–267]
A BILL
To increase the pay and enhance the training of
United States Border Patrol agents, and for
other purposes.
D
ECEMBER
9, 2024
Reported with an amendment
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