119-hr1222

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1222 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1222

 To reimburse the State of Texas for expenses incurred for activities 
conducted relating to securing the southern international border of the 
 United States, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 11, 2025

 Mr. Williams of Texas (for himself, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Self, Mr. Weber 
 of Texas, Mr. Babin, Mr. Ellzey, Mr. Gill of Texas, and Mr. Luttrell) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
 the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To reimburse the State of Texas for expenses incurred for activities 
conducted relating to securing the southern international border of the 
 United States, 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 ``Operation Lone Star Reimbursement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) The Federal Government is primarily responsible for 
 securing the borders of the United States at and between ports 
 of entry.

    (2) Due to the lack of border action by the Federal 
 Government from January 20, 2021, to January 19, 2025, the 
 State of Texas has been forced to continually appropriate funds 
 to secure the southern border of the United States.

    (3) Texas has taken these actions to help maintain safety 
 and security for all citizens across the United States by 
 protecting against the criminal acts of--
        (A) human trafficking;
        (B) sex trafficking;
            (C) drug proliferation;
            (D) illicit movement of weapons and contraband;
        (E) criminal organizations; and
        (F) unlawful entry.

    (4) In March 2021, the Governor of Texas launched Operation 
 Lone Star to combat these threats, resulting in--
        (A) apprehension of over half a million illegal 
 immigrants;
        (B) 140,000 attempted illegal entries denied;
            (C) over 50,000 criminal arrests;
            (D) the seizure of half a billion lethal doses of 
 fentanyl; and
        (E) construction of over 240 miles of border 
 barriers.

    (5) The amount the State of Texas spent on border security 
 to combat the crisis at Texas' southern border was $11.1 
 billion of Texas taxpayer funding.

SEC. 3. REIMBURSEMENTS FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS.

    (a) Application for Reimbursement.--The Governor of Texas shall 
submit to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of the 
Treasury an application for reimbursement, which shall include--

    (1) a list of expenses incurred by the State of Texas for 
 activities conducted relating to securing the southern 
 international border of the United States during the years 
 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025; and

    (2) the total amount of expenses incurred for such 
 activities.

    (b) Application Review.--The Secretary of Homeland Security must 
review the State of Texas' application within 120 days after receival 
and determine what expenses that incurred are eligible for 
reimbursement and submit a report to Congress on the final decision.
            (c) Reimbursement.--Not later than 60 days after the Secretary of 
Homeland Security has submitted the reimbursement decision to Congress, 
the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the State of Texas, out of 
any amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, an amount equal 
to the total amount of expenses determined reimbursable.
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