[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4676 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4676

  To enhance the effectiveness of the Shadow Wolves Program, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 11 (legislative day, July 10), 2024

   Ms. Sinema (for herself, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Lankford) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To enhance the effectiveness of the Shadow Wolves Program, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Shadow Wolves Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SHADOW WOLVES PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle D of title IV of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 447. SHADOW WOLVES PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Mission and Goals.--The Director of U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement (referred to in this section as the `Director'), in 
coordination with appropriate representatives of partnering Tribal 
governments, including the Tohono O'odham Nation, shall specify the 
mission and goals of the Shadow Wolves Program.
    ``(b) Staffing.--The Director shall determine--
            ``(1) the number of special agents needed to staff the 
        Shadow Wolves Program nationally; and
            ``(2) the knowledge, skills, and abilities that such 
        special agents shall be required to possess.
    ``(c) Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of the Shadow Wolves Improvement Act, the Director, in 
consultation with appropriate representatives of partnering Tribal 
governments, including the Tohono O'odham Nation, shall update the 
strategy required under section 3 of the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act 
(Public Law 117-113) by adding--
            ``(1) measurable objectives to achieve the retention and 
        recruitment of law enforcement officers, and the expansion 
        goals set forth in the strategy;
            ``(2) a timeline for achieving such goals; and
            ``(3) milestones for recruiting qualified special agents 
        for the Shadow Wolves Program to meet the target identified in 
        the staffing needs assessment required under subsection (b)(1).
    ``(d) Provision of Information.--The Director shall provide, to 
each GS-1801 Tactical Officer who is employed as a Shadow Wolf by 
Homeland Security Investigations as of the date of the enactment of the 
Shadow Wolves Improvement Act, written information that will help them 
make an informed decision about reclassifying as a special agent, 
including--
            ``(1) individualized information regarding how 
        reclassification would affect pay, including changes to 
        overtime pay, and retirement compensation;
            ``(2) steps such members are required to complete to be 
        reclassified as special agents, including--
                    ``(A) whether they must meet training requirements;
                    ``(B) a description of those requirements;
                    ``(C) whether they are exempt from physical 
                fitness, medical, or polygraph examinations; and
                    ``(D) whether they are eligible for overtime pay 
                during such training; and
            ``(3) any other relevant information that the Director 
        believes would help such members make an informed decision 
        regarding such classification.
    ``(e) Succession Plan.--The Director shall develop a plan for the 
timely recruitment of qualified individuals to fill vacant special 
agent positions in the Shadow Wolves Program that will result from 
anticipated retirements.
    ``(f) Program Expansion.--The Director shall--
            ``(1) develop criteria for evaluating and selecting 
        additional tribal lands on which additional Shadow Wolves units 
        could be located, including the amount of additional funding 
        necessary and potential sources for such funding; and
            ``(2) in developing such criteria, give consideration to 
        tribal lands located in proximity to existing facilities that 
        provide Federal law enforcement training.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 446 the following:

``Sec. 447. Shadow Wolves Program.''.

SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF SHADOW WOLVES PROGRAM 
              ENHANCEMENTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
            (2) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant 
        congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Director shall submit a report to the relevant 
congressional committees that describes the progress that has been made 
towards the full implementation of--
            (1) section 447 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 
        added by section 2, including required coordination with 
        appropriate representatives of the Tohono O'odham Nation and 
        other partnering Tribal governments to specify the mission and 
        goals of the Shadow Wolves Program, which shall include 
        tracking, interdiction, and investigation; and
            (2) section 2(4) of the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act, as 
        added by section 4.

SEC. 4. CONVERSION OF EXPERIENCED SHADOW WOLVES TO CAREER APPOINTMENT 
              IN THE COMPETITIVE SERVICE.

    Section 2 of the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act (Public Law 117-113) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) to noncompetitively convert Shadow Wolves, after 
        their successful completion of three years as Shadow Wolves, 
        regardless of location assigned, from the excepted service to 
        career or career conditional appointments in the competitive 
        service.''.
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