[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4598 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4598

To provide for the sharing of homeland security information by Federal 
    intelligence and law enforcement agencies with State and local 
                               entities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 25, 2002

   Mr. Chambliss (for himself, Ms. Harman, Mr. Goss, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. 
    Sensenbrenner, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Bishop, Mr. Condit, Mr. 
   Hoekstra, Mr. Roemer, Mr. Burr of North Carolina, Mr. Reyes, Mr. 
   Bereuter, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Cramer, Mr. 
  Hastings of Florida, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, Mr. Frank, Mr. Barr of 
   Georgia, Mr. Frost, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. Sessions, Mr. 
  Deutsch, Mr. Tierney, and Ms. Hart) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), 
 and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 provide for the sharing of homeland security information by Federal 
    intelligence and law enforcement agencies with State and local 
                               entities.

    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 ``Homeland Security Information 
Sharing Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Federal Government is required by the Constitution 
        to protect every State from invasion, which includes terrorist 
        attack.
            (2) The Federal Government relies on State and local 
        personnel to protect against terrorist attack.
            (3) The Federal Government collects, creates, manages, and 
        protects sensitive information to enhance national security.
            (4) Some homeland security information is needed by the 
        State and local personnel to prevent and prepare for terrorist 
        attack.
            (5) The needs of State and local personnel to have access 
        to relevant homeland security information to combat terrorism 
        must be reconciled with the need to preserve the protected 
        status of such information and to protect the sources and 
        methods used to acquire such information.
            (6) Granting security clearances to certain State and local 
        personnel is one way to facilitate the sharing of information 
        regarding specific terrorist threats among Federal, State, and 
        local levels of government.
            (7) Methods exist to declassify, redact, or otherwise adapt 
        classified information so it may be shared with State and local 
        personnel without the need for granting additional security 
        clearances.
            (8) State and local personnel have capabilities and 
        opportunities to gather information on suspicious activities 
        and terrorist threats not possessed by the Federal intelligence 
        agencies.
            (9) The intelligence community and State and local 
        governments and agencies in other jurisdictions may benefit 
        from such information.
            (10) Federal, State, and local governments and 
        intelligence, law enforcement, and other emergency preparation 
        and response agencies must act in partnership to maximize the 
        benefits of information gathering and analysis to prevent and 
        respond to terrorist attacks.
            (11) Information systems, including the National Law 
        Enforcement Telecommunications System and the Terrorist Threat 
        Warning System, have been established for rapid sharing of 
        sensitive and unclassified information among Federal, State, 
        and local entities.
            (12) Increased efforts to share homeland security 
        information should avoid duplicating existing information 
        systems.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that Federal, 
State, and local entities should share homeland security information to 
the maximum extent practicable.

SEC. 3. FACILITATING HOMELAND SECURITY INFORMATION SHARING PROCEDURES.

    (a) Presidential Procedures for Determining Extent of Sharing of 
Homeland Security Information.--
            (1) The President shall prescribe procedures under which 
        relevant Federal agencies determine--
                    (A) whether, how, and to what extent homeland 
                security information may be shared with appropriate 
                State and local personnel, and with which such 
                personnel may it be shared; and
                    (B) to the extent such information is in classified 
                form, whether, how, and to what extent to declassify 
                (or remove classified information from, as appropriate) 
                such information, and with which such personnel may it 
                be shared after such declassification (or removal).
            (2) The President shall ensure that such procedures apply 
        to each element of the intelligence community and that the 
        requisite technology is available.
            (3) Such procedures shall not change the substantive 
        requirements for the classification and treatment of classified 
        information.
            (4) Such procedures shall not change the requirements and 
        authorities to protect sources and methods.
    (b) Procedures for Sharing of Homeland Security Information.--
            (1) Under procedures prescribed jointly by the Director of 
        Central Intelligence and the Attorney General, each element of 
        the intelligence community shall, through information sharing 
        systems, share homeland security information with appropriate 
        State and local personnel to the extent such information may be 
        shared, as determined in accordance with subsection (a), 
        together with assessments of the credibility of such 
        information.
            (2) Each information sharing system through which 
        information is shared under paragraph (1) shall--
                    (A) have the capability to transmit unclassified or 
                classified information, though the procedures and 
                recipients for each capability may differ;
                    (B) have the capability to restrict delivery of 
                information to specified subgroups by geographic 
                location, type of organization, position of a recipient 
                within an organization, and a recipient's need to know 
                such information;
                    (C) be configured to allow the efficient and 
                effective sharing of information; and
                    (D) be accessible to appropriate State and local 
                personnel.
            (3) The procedures prescribed under paragraph (1) shall 
        ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that the 
        information sharing system through which information is shared 
        under such paragraph include existing information sharing 
        systems, including, but not limited to, the National Law 
        Enforcement Telecommunications System, the Regional Information 
        Sharing System, and the Terrorist Threat Warning System of the 
        Federal Bureau of Investigation.
            (4) Each element of the Federal intelligence and law 
        enforcement communities, as well as the Permanent Select 
        Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, the 
        Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, the Committee 
        on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, the Committee 
        on the Judiciary of the Senate, and other congressional 
        committees as appropriate, shall have access to each 
        information sharing system through which information is shared 
        under paragraph (1), and shall therefore have access to all 
        information, as appropriate, shared under such paragraph.
            (5) The procedures prescribed under paragraph (1) shall 
        ensure that appropriate State and local personnel are 
        authorized to use such information sharing systems--
                    (A) to access information shared with such 
                personnel; and
                    (B) to share, with others who have access to such 
                information sharing systems, the homeland security 
                information of their own jurisdictions, which shall be 
                marked appropriately as pertaining to potential 
                terrorist activity.
            (6) Under procedures prescribed jointly by the Director of 
        Central Intelligence and the Attorney General, each element of 
        the intelligence community shall review and assess the 
        information shared under paragraph (5) and integrate such 
        information with existing intelligence.
    (c) Sharing of Classified Information With State and Local 
Personnel.--
            (1) The President shall prescribe procedures under which 
        Federal agencies may, to the extent the President considers 
        necessary, share with appropriate State and local personnel 
        homeland security information that remains classified or 
        otherwise protected after the determinations prescribed under 
        the procedures set forth in subsection (a).
            (2) Such procedures may provide for sharing to be carried 
        out through one or more of the following means:
                    (A) Carrying out security clearance investigations 
                with respect to appropriate State and local personnel.
                    (B) Entering into nondisclosure agreements with 
                appropriate State and local personnel.
                    (C) Increasing the use of information-sharing 
                partnerships that include appropriate State and local 
                personnel, such as the Joint Terrorism Task Forces of 
                the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Anti-Terrorism 
                Task Forces of the Department of Justice, and regional 
                Terrorism Early Warning Groups.
    (d) Responsible Officials.--For each element of the intelligence 
community, the head of such element shall designate an official of such 
element to administer this Act with respect to such element.
    (e) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            (1) The term ``homeland security information'' means any 
        information possessed by a Federal, State, or local 
        intelligence or law enforcement agency that--
                    (A) relates to the threat of terrorist activity;
                    (B) relates to the ability to prevent, interdict, 
                or disrupt terrorist activity;
                    (C) would improve the identification or 
                investigation of a suspected terrorist or terrorist 
                organization; or
                    (D) would improve the response to a terrorist act.
            (2) The term ``intelligence community'' has the meaning 
        given such term in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 
        1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(4)).
            (3) The term ``State and local personnel'' means any of the 
        following persons involved in prevention, preparation, or 
        response for terrorist attack:
                    (A) State Governors, mayors, and other locally 
                elected officials.
                    (B) State and local law enforcement personnel and 
                firefighters.
                    (C) Public health and medical professionals.
                    (D) Regional, State, and local emergency management 
                agency personnel, including State adjutant generals.
                    (E) Other appropriate emergency response agency 
                personnel.
                    (F) Employees of private-sector entities that 
                affect critical infrastructure, cyber, or economic 
                security.
            (4) The term ``State'' includes the District of Columbia 
        and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 
        States.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    (a) Report Required.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the congressional 
committees specified in subsection (b) a report on the implementation 
of this Act. The report shall include any recommendations for 
additional measures or appropriation requests, beyond the requirements 
of this Act, to increase the effectiveness of sharing of information 
among Federal, State, and local entities.
    (b) Specified Congressional Committees.--The congressional 
committees referred to in subsection (a) are the following committees:
            (1) The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the 
        Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
            (2) The Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee 
        on the Judiciary of the Senate.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act.
                                 <all>