Homeland Security Department FY2006 Appropriations bill

(This measure has not been amended since the Conference Report was filed in the House on September 29, 2005. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2006 - Title I: Departmental Management and Operations - Makes appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for FY2006 for: (1) the Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) and executive management; (2) the Office of Screening Coordination and Operations; (3) Office of the Under Secretary for Management; (4) the Office of the Chief Financial Officer; (5) the Office of the Chief Information Officer; (6) analysis and operations; and (7) the Office of Inspector General.

Title II: Security, Enforcement, and Investigations - Makes FY2006 appropriations for: (1) the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (U.S.-VISIT) project; (2) Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including customs and border protection automated systems, air and marine interdiction, and construction; (3) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); (4) the Federal Protective Service, including immigration and customs enforcement automated systems, and construction; (4) the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), including surface transportation security, transportation vetting and credentialing, transportation security support, and Federal Air Marshals; (5) the Coast Guard, including environmental compliance and restoration, Coast Guard Reserve training, acquisition, construction, and improvements, alteration of bridges, research, development, test, and evaluation, and retired pay; and (6) the U.S. Secret Service, including acquisition, construction, and improvements.

Title III: Preparedness and Recovery - Makes FY2006 appropriations for: (1) the Office of the Under Secretary for Preparedness, the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, and the Office of National Capital Regional Coordination; (2) the Office for Domestic Preparedness, including grants to state and local governments for terrorism prevention activities, firefighter assistance grants, and emergency management performance grants, the U.S. Fire Administration and training, infrastructure protection and information security, and the Counterterrorism Fund; (3) the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery, public health programs, disaster relief, the disaster assistance direct loan program, the Flood Map Modernization Fund, the National Flood Insurance Fund, the National Flood Mitigation Fund, the National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund, and an emergency food and shelter program.

States that the aggregate charges assessed during FY2006 for the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program shall not be less than 100% of the necessary amounts anticipated by DHS.

Title IV: Research and Development, Training, and Services - Makes FY2006 appropriations for: (1) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; (2) the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, including acquisition, construction, and improvements; and (3) the Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, including science and technology research, development, acquisition, and operations.

Title V: General Provisions - (Sec. 504) Prohibits the use of appropriated funds to make payments to the Working Capital Fund, except for certain activities and amounts.

(Sec. 506) Deems funds made available by this Act for intelligence activities to be specifically authorized by Congress during FY2006 until the enactment of an Act authorizing such activities for FY2006.

(Sec. 507) Directs the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to lead the federal law enforcement training accreditation process, to include representatives from the federal law enforcement community and nonfederal accreditation experts involved in law enforcement training, to continue the implementation of measuring and assessing the quality and effectiveness of federal law enforcement training programs, facilities, and instructors.

(Sec. 510) Requires the Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to schedule basic and/or advanced law enforcement training at all four training facilities under Center control to ensure that they are operated at the highest capacity throughout the fiscal year.

(Sec. 512) Prohibits the use of funds in this Act in contravention of the Buy American Act.

(Sec. 513) Directs the Secretary to ensure that DHS is in compliance with the requirement in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2005 that the Secretary amend Security Directives and programs to at least triple the percentage of cargo inspected on passenger aircraft. Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees biweekly beginning on October 1, 2005, on any reason for noncompliance.

Directs the Secretary to take all possible actions, including the procurement of certified systems to inspect and screen air cargo on passenger aircraft, to increase the level of air cargo inspected beyond that mandated.

(Sec. 515) Applies TSA acquisition management system to the acquisition of services, as well as equipment, supplies, and materials.

(Sec. 516) Transfers authority to conduct background investigations from the Office of Personnel Management to DHS.

(Sec. 517) Exempts funds appropriated under the State and Local Programs heading under Title III of this Act from the Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990.

(Sec. 518) Prohibits the obligation of funds for deployment or implementation of the Secure Flight program or other follow on or successor passenger prescreening program, on other than a test basis, until the Secretary has certified and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that specified requirements have been met.

(Sec. 519) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act to amend the oath of allegiance required for naturalization under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

(Sec. 520) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act to process or approve a competition under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 for services provided as of June 1, 2004, by employees of the DHS Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services who are known as Immigration Information Officers, Contact Representatives, or Investigative Assistants.

(Sec. 521) Prohibits the availability of funds appropriated by this Act to maintain the U.S. Secret Service as anything but a distinct entity within DHS. Prohibits the use of such funds to merge the Secret Service with any other DHS function, cause any personnel and operational elements to report to an individual other than the Director of the U.S. Secret Service, or cause the Director to report directly to any individual other than the Secretary.

(Sec. 522) Prohibits the availability of funds appropriated to the U.S. Secret Service for the protection of the head of a federal agency other than the Secretary, unless the Director is fully reimbursed.

(Sec. 523) Names the DHS processing and data storage facilities at the John C. Stennis Space Center the National Center for Critical Information Processing and Storage.

(Sec. 524) Directs the Secretary to develop standards and protocols for increasing the use of explosive detection equipment to screen air cargo when appropriate.

(Sec. 525) Directs the TSA to utilize existing checked baggage explosive detection equipment and screeners to screen cargo carried on passenger aircraft to the greatest extent practicable at each airport. Directs TSA to report monthly to specified congressional committees on the amount of cargo carried on passenger aircraft that was screened.

(Sec. 526) Prohibits the use of any funds available for the transportation worker identification credential program to develop a personalized system that is decentralized or a card production capability that does not utilize an existing government card production facility.

(Sec. 527) Rescinds $78,630,689 for integrated Deepwater System 110-123-foot patrol boats conversion. Reappropriates such funds for the service life extension of the current Island Class patrol boat fleet and accelerated design and and production of the Fast Response Cutter.

(Sec. 528) Requires the Secretary to utilize the Transportation Security Clearinghouse as the central identity management system for the deployment and operation of the registered traveler program and the transportation worker identification credential program for the purposes of collecting and aggregating biometric data necessary for background vetting.

(Sec. 529) Prohibits the use of funds in this Act by any person but the privacy officer appointed under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to alter, direct that changes be made to, delay, or prohibit the transmission of a privacy officer report to Congress.

(Sec. 530) Prohibits the availability of any funds to pay the salary of any employee serving as a contracting officer's technical representative (COTR), or anyone acting in a similar or like capacity, who has not received COTR training.

(Sec. 531) Makes any funds appropriated or transferred to TSA "Aviation Security" and "Administration" in FY2004 and 2005, which are recovered or deobligated, available only for procurement and installation of explosive detection systems for air cargo, baggage, and checkpoint screening systems.

(Sec. 532) Requires the Secretary to survey all ports of entry in the United States and designate an airport as a port of entry in each state that does not have one.

(Sec. 533) Directs the Secretary to consider eligible under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance Program the costs sufficient to enable the City of Paso Robles, California, to repair and upgrade all elements of the Carnegie Library damaged (or undamaged) by the 2003 San Simeon earthquake so that the library is brought into conformance with all local code requirements for new construction.

(Sec. 534) Directs the Secretary to consider eligible under the FEMA Public Assistance Program costs for the damage to canals and wooden flumes, incurred during a 1996 storm and subsequent mudslide in El Dorado County, California, to the El Dorado Irrigation District, based on 50% of the costs of the Improved Project for the Mill Creek to Bull Creek tunnel proposed in a November 2001 Carleton Engineering Report.

(Sec. 535) Directs the Secretary to consider eligible under the FEMA Public Assistance Program the costs sufficient to enable replacement of research and education materials and library collections, and for other non-covered losses, at the University of Hawaii Manoa campus, Hawaii, resulting from an October 30, 2004, flood event.

(Sec. 536) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize H2A visas to nonimmigrant aliens coming temporarily to the United States to perform the pressing of apples for cider on a farm.

(Sec. 537) Directs the Secretary to provide that each office within DHS that handles documents marked as Sensitive Security Information (SSI) has at least one employee with authority to coordinate and make determinations on the agency's behalf that such documents meet the criteria for marking as SSI. Requires reports to Congress of DHS SSI policies, auditing, and accountability.

(Sec. 538) Appropriates $40 million for discretionary grants to states to implement the REAL ID Act of 2005, subject to congressional approval of the implementation plan. Earmarks a portion of such funds for availability to states for pilot projects on integrating hardware, software, and information management systems.

(Sec. 539) Extends the authorization of the Working Capital Fund through FY2006.

(Sec. 540) Directs the Secretary to impose a fee for the registered traveler program.

(Sec. 541) Extends liability protection to certain persons who report a situation, activity or incident, if they have completed a security awareness training course approved by or operating under a cooperative agreement with DHS, and are enrolled in a program recognized or acknowledged by an Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

(Sec. 542) Rescinds $15 million from the unobligated balances available in the DHS Working Capital Fund.

(Sec. 543) Rescinds $5.5 million from unobligated balances previously appropriated for TSA "Aviation Security."

(Sec. 544) Rescinds $6,369,118 in appropriations for the Coast Guard.

(Sec. 545) Rescinds $8 million from unobligated balances previously appropriated to the Counterterrorism Fund.

(Sec. 546) Rescinds $20 million from unobligated balances previously appropriated to Science and Technology for research, development, acquisition, and operations.

(Sec. 547) Declares that an airport operator shall not be liable for any claims for damages filed in state or federal court relating to: (1) its decision to apply or not to apply for the security screening pilot program; and (2) any act of negligence, gross negligence, or intentional wrongdoing by a qualified private screening company (or its employees) while acting under a DHS contract, or by federal employees providing passenger and property security screening services at the airport.

States that an airport operator shall not be relieved from liability for its own acts or omissions related to its security responsibilities. Prohibits an airport operator from relieving any qualified private screening company or its employees from any liability related to its own acts of negligence, gross negligence, or intentional wrongdoing.

(Sec. 548) Requires the weekly disaster relief report required by the Second Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act to Meet Immediate Needs Arising From the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina, 2005 to include specified details on certain allocations, obligations, expenditures, and credit card purchases.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov