I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 534
To authorize certain States to take certain actions on certain Federal land
to secure an international border of the United States, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY16, 2025
Mr. R
OUZER(for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. PFLUGER, Mr. NEHLS, Mr.
M
EUSER, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, and Ms. TENNEY) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in
addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To authorize certain States to take certain actions on certain
Federal land to secure an international border of the
United States, 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
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Obstructions 4
Necessary To Address Illegal and Nefarious Entry Rap-5
idly Act’’ or the ‘‘CONTAINER Act’’. 6
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Feb 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H534.IH H534
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 534 IH
SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF MOVABLE, TEMPORARY STRUC-1
TURES ON CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND TO SE-2
CURE AN INTERNATIONAL BORDER OF THE 3
UNITED STATES. 4
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 5
(1) B
ORDER STATE.—The term ‘‘Border State’’ 6
means a State that is adjacent to the northern bor-7
der or southern border. 8
(2) F
EDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 9
means land under the jurisdiction and management 10
of a Federal land management agency that is adja-11
cent to the northern border or southern border. 12
(3) F
EDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY .— 13
The term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ 14
means— 15
(A) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 16
(B) the Bureau of Land Management; 17
(C) the Bureau of Reclamation; 18
(D) the Forest Service; 19
(E) the United States Fish and Wildlife 20
Service; and 21
(F) the National Park Service. 22
(4) N
ORTHERN BORDER .—The term ‘‘northern 23
border’’ means the international border between the 24
United States and Canada. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Feb 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H534.IH H534
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 534 IH
(5) OPERATIONAL CONTROL .—The term ‘‘oper-1
ational control’’ has the meaning given such term in 2
section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 3
U.S.C. 1701 note; Public Law 109–367). 4
(6) S
ECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-5
retary concerned’’ means— 6
(A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re-7
spect to Federal land under the jurisdiction and 8
management of the Secretary of the Interior, 9
acting through, as applicable— 10
(i) the Director of the Bureau of In-11
dian Affairs; 12
(ii) the Director of the Bureau of 13
Land Management; 14
(iii) the Commissioner of Reclamation; 15
(iv) the Director of the United States 16
Fish and Wildlife Service; and 17
(v) the Director of the National Park 18
Service; and 19
(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re-20
spect to National Forest System land, acting 21
through the Chief of the Forest Service. 22
(7) S
OUTHERN BORDER .—The term ‘‘southern 23
border’’ means the international border between the 24
United States and Mexico. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Feb 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H534.IH H534
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 534 IH
(b) SPECIALUSEAUTHORIZATION.—Subject to sub-1
section (c), the Secretary concerned shall not require a 2
Border State to obtain a special use authorization for the 3
temporary placement on Federal land within the Border 4
State of a movable, temporary structure for the purpose 5
of securing the northern border or southern border, if the 6
Border State submits to the Secretary concerned notice 7
of the proposed placement not later than 45 days before 8
the date of the proposed placement. 9
(c) T
EMPORARYPLACEMENT.— 10
(1) I
N GENERAL.—A movable, temporary struc-11
ture described in subsection (b) may be placed by a 12
Border State on Federal land in accordance with 13
that subsection for a period of not more than 1 year, 14
subject to paragraph (2). 15
(2) E
XTENSION.— 16
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The period described in 17
paragraph (1) may be extended in 90-day incre-18
ments, on approval by the Secretary concerned. 19
(B) C
ONSULTATION REQUIRED .—The Sec-20
retary concerned shall consult with the Commis-21
sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 22
for purposes of determining whether to approve 23
an extension under subparagraph (A). 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Feb 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H534.IH H534
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 534 IH
(C) APPROVAL.—The Secretary concerned 1
shall approve a request for an extension under 2
this paragraph if the Commissioner of U.S. 3
Customs and Border Protection determines that 4
operational control has not been achieved as of 5
the date of the consultation required under sub-6
paragraph (B). 7
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Feb 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H534.IH H534
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB