PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 406.
Congressional Research Service
Version 01 · Reported to Senate with amendment(s) · Apr 4, 2016
Border Security Technology Accountability Act of 2015
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for each major border security technology acquisition program, to:
ensure that it has a written acquisition program baseline approved by the relevant acquisition decision authority;
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
document that it is meeting cost, schedule, and performance thresholds in compliance with departmental acquisition policies and the Federal Acquisition Regulation; and
have a plan for meeting program implementation objectives by managing contractor performance.
"Major acquisition program" means a DHS acquisition program estimated to require an eventual total expenditure of at least $300 million (based on FY2015 constant dollars) over its life cycle cost.
Through the Under Secretary for Management and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DHS shall ensure that border security technology acquisition program managers adhere to internal control standards identified by the Government Accountability Office. CBP shall provide information to assist the Under Secretary monitor program management.
The Under Secretary shall submit a plan to Congress for border security technology testing and evaluation so that such new technologies are evaluated through a series of assessments, processes, and audits to ensure compliance with departmental acquisition policies and the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as well as the effectiveness of taxpayer dollars.
(Sec. 3) No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act.
People & committees
Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ] · R–AZ
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 406.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-234.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-234.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.1873 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.1873 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.1873 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.1873 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.