Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 3, 2025
Congressional Border Security Assessment Act
This bill grants Members of Congress and their accompanying staff lawful access to Indian reservations for the purpose of assessing national security, public safety, and the security of the border. Specifically, the bill applies to an Indian reservation that includes 50 or more contiguous miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 3, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Objective
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PlainBill explanation
Read the proposal in plain language
AI-generated · Source-checked by AI · Oct 23, 2026
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-01-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
What it would do
The proposed Congressional Border Security Assessment Act would give members of Congress and staff accompanying them lawful access to certain Indian reservations to gather information for security assessments. It would apply to reservations that include at least 50 continuous miles of the United States–Mexico border. Access would also extend to roads and easements on Indian country.
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This Act may be cited as the Congressional Border Security Assessment Act.
A member of Congress and any Congressional staff accompanying that member shall have lawful access to any Indian reservation that includes 50 or more contiguous miles of the international boundary between the United States and Mexico for the purpose of obtaining information for assessing national security, public safety, and the security of the international boundary. Such lawful access shall extend to any roadways or easements on Indian country.
The proposed access right would cover members of Congress and congressional staff accompanying a member. Its stated purpose is gathering information to assess national security, public safety, and border security.
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A member of Congress and any Congressional staff accompanying that member shall have lawful access to any Indian reservation that includes 50 or more contiguous miles of the international boundary between the United States and Mexico for the purpose of obtaining information for assessing national security, public safety, and the security of the international boundary.
The bill would use the definition of “Indian country” in section 1151 of title 18 of the United States Code. That definition is incorporated by reference rather than reproduced in the bill.
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For the purposes of this section, the term Indian country shall have the meaning given that term in section 1151 of title 18, United States Code.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated September 3, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Natural Resources on January 3, 2025.
Check the source
Source snapshot updated 2025-09-03T20:09:43Z.
2025-01-03: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
2025-01-03: Introduced in House
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-01-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not cover other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No earmark was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish the contents of accompanying materials.
Other targeted benefits
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No separate narrow benefit warranting a finding was identified beyond the bill’s core access policy and its intended users. This conclusion is limited to the complete supplied introduced text.
What this analysis cannot establish
The supplied text is the introduced version. The dated actions snapshot does not establish whether the bill later advanced, changed, or became law.
The referenced statutory definition of Indian country is not supplied, limiting assessment of the lands covered. The bundle also does not identify which reservations meet the border-length threshold.
The text provides no express effective date, expiration date, enforcement procedure, or process for coordinating access with tribal authorities.
No member earmark disclosures, committee reports, or conference materials are supplied.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 3, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI