A bipartisan bill to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence in border enforcement passed the House on Monday, kicking new innovative border technology laws and even the Senate for consideration.
Laws from Rep. Lou Correa of D-Calif and Morgan Luttrell of R-Texas also passed the house last year, but stagnated on the Senate calendar in December.
Correa and Luttrell, ranking members of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Protection and Enforcement, issued a statement Monday calling for the Senate to move the bill. This Act – requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit a comprehensive plan to Congress to detail how institutions can use AI, machine learning and nanotechnology to patrol borders more effectively.
“Border security means moving away from the community to drugs and other negative elements, using cutting edge technology available to maintain trade and commerce, and to provide hard-working executives with the tools they need to keep us safe,” Correa said in a press release. “This bipartisan effort will allow Congress to better understand how our officers will use new technologies to stop the fentanyl trade.”
The bill also considers elements of the AI Roadmap DHS released last year, particularly plans to test technologies that will benefit from moving forward homeland security without compromising American privacy or civil liberties.
“To secure our borders we need more than just talent. It requires cutting-edge technology that provides the tools our agents need to stay ahead of the threats we face,” Luttrell said in a statement. “The bill shows that passing the House with strong, bipartisan support is a national security priority, not a partisan issue.”
In an interview with FedScoop last month, Correa said the law would cut “acquisition bureaucracy” and allow DHS access to the most cost-effective technologies to protect the best and cost-effective technologies as quickly as possible.
Luttrell previously told Fedscoop that the bill to advance technology adoption within DHS would come when “the cartel and all the bad actors are really moving on Tech Space, or Cyber Metaverse.” These groups “use these features to beat us.”
“It’s an unconventional war,” he added. “It’s really a guerrilla tactic at the border. (Requires DHS) all the assets they can have.”
