Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, along with her House colleagues Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08), Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (NM-02), and Rep. Van Taylor (TX-03), representing both northern and southern border districts, introduced the Integrating New Technologies to Empower Law-Enforcement (INTEL) at Our Borders Act. This bipartisan legislation directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create a comprehensive strategy to integrate emerging technologies as part of our nation’s border security strategy. This bill also expresses the sense of Congress that a lack of personnel exists along the northern border of the United States, despite it being twice the length of the southern border.
Specifically, the INTEL At our Borders Act requires DHS to:
- Assess how it is currently using emerging technologies for border security
- Assess existing gaps in situational awareness along the northern and southern borders to identify how emerging technology programs can help fill those gaps;
- Explain how DHS plans to replace legacy programs with new technologies;
- Describe how DHS will evaluate the effectiveness of new technology programs;
- Analyze DHS’s authorities for procuring new technologies to determine if new authorities are necessary;
- Explain how DHS is working to research and develop new technologies to improve border security;
- Explain how DHS is incentivizing the private sector to develop technologies to improve border security
“As Co-Chair of the Northern Border Caucus, I work closely with local leaders to introduce legislation that supports our unique northern border needs,” said Congresswoman Stefanik. “I am proud to co-introduce this bipartisan legislation, which will shed light on the unique difficulties that our Customs and Border Protection personnel and other law enforcement experience, including a shortage of agents available, and provide DHS with a framework to make improvements. Because of the unique geography of the northern border, the implementation of new emerging technologies is also an important component of this bill. I will continue to work with our U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and DHS to advocate for our northern border at the federal level, and I look forward to advancing this legislation in a bipartisan fashion.”
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