Enhancing Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative Act

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5094 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5094

  To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to improve suspicious
    activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism, and for other
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 26, 2018

   Mr. King of New York (for himself, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Gallagher, Mr.
 Fitzpatrick, Mr. Katko, and Mr. Higgins of Louisiana) introduced the
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland
                                Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to improve suspicious
    activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism, 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 ``Enhancing Suspicious Activity
Reporting Initiative Act''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCING DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY
              REPORTING OPERATIONS.

    (a) Strategy Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in
consultation with other appropriate Federal officials, shall develop a
strategy to improve the operations and activities of the Department of
Homeland Security related to training, outreach, and information
sharing for suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism.
    (b) Contents of Strategy.--The strategy required under subsection
(a) shall include the following:
            (1) A description and examples of the types of information
        that would meet the definition of critical information for the
        purpose of suspicious activity reporting as well as
        information, including information associated with racial,
        religious or national origin, that would not meet the
        definition of critical information.
            (2) Training for appropriate personnel of State and major
        urban area fusion centers, emergency response providers, and,
        as appropriate, the private sector on--
                    (A) methods for identifying, analyzing, and
                disseminating critical information, including the
                indicators of terrorism;
                    (B) methods to protect privacy and civil liberties,
                including preventing racial, religious, or national
                origin discrimination; and
                    (C) response protocols for submitting suspicious
                activity reports.
            (3) Methods to improve outreach to appropriate State and
        major urban area fusion centers, emergency response providers,
        and the private sector related to suspicious activity reporting
        to prevent acts of terrorism.
            (4) A plan to ensure that critical information is shared in
        a timely manner with State and major urban area fusion centers,
        emergency response providers, and the private sector, as
        appropriate, including nationwide trend analysis and other
        information related to terrorist threats.
            (5) Methods to measure the effectiveness of the activities
        conducted under the strategy with respect to improving the
        operations and activities of the Department related to
        training, outreach, and information sharing to prevent acts of
        terrorism that have been validated through peer-reviewed
        empirical studies to the extent practicable.
    (c) Working Group Recommendations.--In developing the strategy
required under subsection (a) the Secretary shall take into
consideration the recommendations of the working group established
under section 3.
    (d) Congressional Notification.--Not less than 30 days before the
release of the strategy required pursuant to subsection (a), the
Secretary shall provide to the Committee on Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate a notification of the release of the
strategy and a copy of the strategy. Such notification shall include
the recommendations provided by the working group established under
section 3 and how such recommendations were incorporated into the
strategy.

SEC. 3. SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING WORKING GROUP.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
        establish a working group on suspicious activity reporting.
            (2) Department liaisons.--The Secretary shall appoint as
        liaisons to the working group--
                    (A) the Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of
                Homeland Security;
                    (B) the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil
                Liberties of the Department; and
                    (C) such other officials of the Department as the
                Secretary determines appropriate.
    (b) Responsibilities.--The working group established under
subsection (a) shall carry out the following responsibilities:
            (1) Provide advice to the Secretary regarding improvements
        to the operations and activities related to suspicious activity
        reporting to prevent acts of terrorism.
            (2) At the request of the Secretary, for purposes of
        section 2(c), develop recommendations to improve suspicious
        activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism with respect
        to--
                    (A) outreach to relevant stakeholders;
                    (B) information sharing;
                    (C) protecting personally identifiable information;
                    (D) protecting the privacy, civil rights, and civil
                liberties of individuals who report suspicious activity
                and individuals who are the subjects of such reports;
                    (E) preventing racial, religious, or national
                origin discrimination;
                    (F) training for emergency response providers and
                the private sector; and
                    (G) other matters, as determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Working Group Membership.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall seek the
voluntary participation of not more than 20 individuals representing at
least 12 diverse regions of the United States to serve as members of
the working group. Members of the working group shall serve without
pay. The Secretary shall seek to ensure that the working group includes
members who are representatives from each of the following:
            (1) State and major urban area fusion centers.
            (2) State, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement
        agencies.
            (3) Firefighters.
            (4) Emergency medical services.
            (5) Private sector security professionals.
            (6) Nongovernmental privacy and civil liberty
        organizations.
            (7) Any other group the Secretary determines appropriate.
    (d) Congressional Briefing.--Upon request, the Secretary shall
provide to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate a briefing on the operations and activities of
the Department of Homeland Security related to training, outreach, and
information sharing for suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts
of terrorism, including copies of materials developed under this
section.
    (e) Termination.--The working group under this section shall
terminate on the date that is two years after the date of the enactment
of this Act, except that the Secretary may extend such working group if
the Secretary determines necessary.
    (f) Nonapplicability of FACA.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act
(5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the working group established under
this section.
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