6 U.S.C. § 349 — Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans

Page 204 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 349 ment of Homeland Security in existence on the day be- fore the date of the enactment of this section [Dec. 23, 2016] may serve as the Director of such Joint Task Force on and after such date of enactment until a Di- rector of such Joint Task Force is appointed pursuant to subparagraph (A) of section 708(b)(3) [6 U.S.C. 348(b)(3)], as added by subsection (a) of this section.’’ § 349. Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans (a) In general There is established in the Department an Of- fice of Strategy, Policy, and Plans. (b) Head of Office The Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans shall be headed by an Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans, who shall serve as the prin- cipal policy advisor to the Secretary. The Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (c) Functions The Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans shall— (1) lead, conduct, and coordinate Depart- ment-wide policy development and implemen- tation and strategic planning; (2) develop and coordinate policies to pro- mote and ensure quality, consistency, and in- tegration for the programs, components, of- fices, and activities across the Department; (3) develop and coordinate strategic plans and long-term goals of the Department with risk-based analysis and planning to improve operational mission effectiveness, including consultation with the Secretary regarding the quadrennial homeland security review under section 347 of this title; (4) manage Department leadership councils and provide analytics and support to such councils; (5) manage international coordination and engagement for the Department; (6) review and incorporate, as appropriate, external stakeholder feedback into Depart- ment policy; and (7) carry out such other responsibilities as the Secretary determines appropriate. (d) Deputy Under Secretary (1) In general The Secretary may— (A) establish within the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans a position of Deputy Under Secretary to support the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans in carrying out the Under Secretary’s responsibilities; and (B) appoint a career employee to such posi- tion. (2) Limitation on establishment of Deputy Under Secretary positions A Deputy Under Secretary position (or any substantially similar position) within the Of- fice of Strategy, Policy, and Plans may not be established except for the position provided for by paragraph (1), unless the Secretary re- ceives prior authorization from Congress. (3) Definitions For purposes of paragraph (1)— (A) the term ‘‘career employee’’ means any employee (as such term is defined in section 2105 of title 5), but does not include a polit- ical appointee; and (B) the term ‘‘political appointee’’ means any employee who occupies a position which has been excepted from the competitive service by reason of its confidential, policy- determining, policy-making, or policy-advo- cating character. (e) Coordination by Department components To ensure consistency with the policy prior- ities of the Department, the head of each compo- nent of the Department shall coordinate with the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans in es- tablishing or modifying policies or strategic planning guidance with respect to each such component. (f) Homeland Security statistics and joint anal- ysis (1) Homeland Security statistics The Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans shall— (A) establish standards of reliability and validity for statistical data collected and analyzed by the Department; (B) be provided by the heads of all compo- nents of the Department with statistical data maintained by the Department regard- ing the operations of the Department; (C) conduct or oversee analysis and report- ing of such data by the Department as re- quired by law or as directed by the Sec- retary; and (D) ensure the accuracy of metrics and sta- tistical data provided to Congress. (2) Transfer of responsibilities There shall be transferred to the Under Sec- retary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans the maintenance of all immigration statistical in- formation of U.S. Customs and Border Protec- tion, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce- ment, and United States Citizenship and Im- migration Services, which shall include infor- mation and statistics of the type contained in the publication entitled ‘‘Yearbook of Immi- gration Statistics’’ prepared by the Office of Immigration Statistics, including region-by- region statistics on the aggregate number of applications and petitions filed by an alien (or filed on behalf of an alien) and denied, and the reasons for such denials, disaggregated by cat- egory of denial and application or petition type. (g) Assistant Secretary (1) In general There is established within the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans an Assistant Sec- retary, who shall assist the Secretary in car- rying out the duties under paragraph (2) and the responsibilities under paragraph (3). Not- withstanding section 113(a)(1) of this title, the Assistant Secretary established under this paragraph shall be appointed by the President without the advice and consent of the Senate. (2) Duties At the direction of the Secretary, the Assist- ant Secretary established under paragraph (1) Page 205 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 351 shall be responsible for policy formulation re- garding matters relating to economic security and trade, as such matters relate to the mis- sion and the operations of the Department. (3) Additional responsibilities In addition to the duties specified in para- graph (2), the Assistant Secretary established under paragraph (1), at the direction of the Secretary, may— (A) oversee— (i) coordination of supply chain policy; and (ii) assessments and reports to Congress related to critical economic security do- mains; (B) coordinate with stakeholders in other Federal departments and agencies and non- governmental entities with trade and eco- nomic security interests, authorities, and responsibilities; and (C) perform such additional duties as the Secretary or the Under Secretary of Strat- egy, Policy, and Plans may prescribe. (4) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Critical economic security domain The term ‘‘critical economic security do- main’’ means any infrastructure, industry, technology, or intellectual property (or com- bination thereof) that is essential for the economic security of the United States. (B) Economic security The term ‘‘economic security’’ has the meaning given such term in section 474(c)(2) of this title. (h) Limitation Nothing in this section overrides or otherwise affects the requirements specified in section 468 of this title. (Pub. L. 107–296, title VII, § 709, as added Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title XIX, § 1902(a), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2670; amended Pub. L. 117–263, div. G, title LXXI, § 7116(b), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3637.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2022—Subsecs. (g), (h). Pub. L. 117–263 added subsec. (g) and redesignated former subsec. (g) as (h). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries RULE OF CONSTRUCTION Pub. L. 117–263, div. G, title LXXI, § 7116(c), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3638, provided that: ‘‘Nothing in this sec- tion [amending this section and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 451 of this title] or the amendments made by this section may be construed to affect or diminish the authority otherwise granted to any other officer of the Department of Homeland Secu- rity.’’ § 350. Workforce health and medical support (a) In general The Under Secretary for Management shall be responsible for workforce-focused health and medical activities of the Department. The Under Secretary for Management may further delegate responsibility for those activities, as appro- priate. (b) Responsibilities The Under Secretary for Management, in co- ordination with the Chief Medical Officer, shall— (1) provide oversight and coordinate the medical and health activities of the Depart- ment for the human and animal personnel of the Department; (2) establish medical, health, veterinary, and occupational health exposure policy, guidance, strategies, and initiatives for the human and animal personnel of the Department; (3) as deemed appropriate by the Under Sec- retary, provide medical liaisons to the compo- nents of the Department, on a reimbursable basis, to provide subject matter expertise on occupational medical and public health issues; (4) serve as the primary representative for the Department on agreements regarding the detail of Commissioned Corps officers of the Public Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services to the Depart- ment, except that components of the Depart- ment shall retain authority for funding, deter- mination of specific duties, and supervision of such detailed Commissioned Corps officers; and (5) perform such other duties relating to the responsibilities described in this subsection as the Secretary may require. (Pub. L. 107–296, title VII, § 710, as added Pub. L. 115–387, § 2(d), Dec. 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5167.) § 351. Employee engagement (a) Steering committee Not later than 120 days after December 27, 2021, the Secretary shall establish an employee engagement steering committee, including rep- resentatives from operational components, headquarters, and field personnel, including su- pervisory and nonsupervisory personnel, and employee labor organizations that represent De- partment employees, and chaired by the Under Secretary for Management, to carry out the fol- lowing activities: (1) Identify factors that have a negative im- pact on employee engagement, morale, and communications within the Department, such as perceptions about limitations on career progression, mobility, or development oppor- tunities, collected through employee feedback platforms, including through annual employee surveys, questionnaires, and other commu- nications, as appropriate. (2) Identify, develop, and distribute initia- tives and best practices to improve employee engagement, morale, and communications within the Department, including through an- nual employee surveys, questionnaires, and other communications, as appropriate. (3) Monitor efforts of each component to ad- dress employee engagement, morale, and com- munications based on employee feedback pro- vided through annual employee surveys, ques- tionnaires, and other communications, as ap- propriate.