# H.R. 495 (119th): Subterranean Border Defense Act

Subterranean Border Defense Act This bill requires recurring annual reporting by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on the implementation of a strategic plan to counter illicit cross-border tunnel operations. Currently, CBP is only required to report once no later than one year after the plan's development.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: border_security. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: human_trafficking_context. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: immigration. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: reporting_requirement. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 63: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill is a prudential oversight measure. It increases recurring reporting on an ordinary border-security strategy and neither directly restrains a named evil nor directly advances moral harm. Its goods (government accountability, attention to illicit tunneling) sit alongside ordinary policy disputes about border enforcement priorities, so 'mixed' fits better than 'unclear' given the title and summary.
Theological note: Issue relevance: this measure concerns the civil authority's duty to protect the borders and to keep public order through faithful oversight, which Scripture commends as part of general equity. Its reporting mandate is a means of accountability for government action. Cross-border tunnel smuggling can involve trafficking and exploitation, so the subject touches the protection of the vulnerable, but the bill's text addresses only reporting cadence.

## Recorded votes

Roll 63: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Yea 402 · Nay 1 · Other 29.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-495-119/