[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2940 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2940

To establish a system of Interagency Homeland Security Fusion Centers, 
 to require that budget requests for the Coast Guard for non-homeland 
       security missions are not reduced, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 17, 2002

   Ms. Snowe introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a system of Interagency Homeland Security Fusion Centers, 
 to require that budget requests for the Coast Guard for non-homeland 
       security missions are not reduced, 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 ``Coast Guard Readiness Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY HOMELAND SECURITY FUSION CENTERS.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
establish a system of Interagency Homeland Security Fusion Centers.
    (b) Duties.--The Centers shall collectively, have the following 
duties:
            (1) Coordinate the interagency fusion of maritime homeland 
        security information focusing on the air and sea approaches to 
        the United States.
            (2) Facilitate information sharing between all of the 
        Federal agencies named in subsection (c) and any foreign 
        governments represented in the membership of a Center.
            (3) Timely provide the appropriate Federal agencies with 
        intelligence information concerning maritime threats to the 
        homeland security of the United States.
    (c) Membership.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall designate 
the members of each Interagency Homeland Security Fusion Center from 
among personnel of any or all of the following Federal agencies and 
foreign governments.
            (1) The United States Coast Guard.
            (2) The United States Customs Service.
            (3) The Drug Enforcement Administration.
            (4) The Department of Defense.
            (5) The Immigration and Naturalization Service.
            (6) The Transportation Security Administration.
            (7) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
            (8) The Central Intelligence Agency.
            (9) The National Security Agency.
            (10) Any other Federal agency as the Secretary determines 
        necessary.
            (11) Representatives of such foreign governments as the 
        President may direct.
    (d) Function.--Interagency Fusion Centers shall--
            (1) have access to all databases and information systems of 
        Federal agencies represented in the membership of a Center 
        subject to adequate protections to ensure the security of such 
        databases and systems;
            (2) collect, compile, analyze, and disseminate information 
        from such agencies, including any information concerning 
        tracking vessels, cargo, and persons of interest, to identify 
        and locate potential threats to the security of the homeland of 
        the United States; and
            (3) alert all pertinent government agencies regarding each 
        potential homeland security threat immediately upon 
        ascertaining the threat.
    (e) Implementation Plan.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate, the Committee on Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives, and the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and 
the House of Representatives a detailed plan to implement the 
requirements of Interagency Homeland Security Fusion Centers. The plan 
shall include the following matters:
            (1) The number and location of the Interagency Homeland 
        Security Fusion Centers.
            (2) Policies and procedures for establishing the Centers 
        and commencing operations by the Centers, including the Federal 
        agencies to be represented in the membership of the Centers.
            (3) A discussion of how the Centers are to operate in 
        conjunction with or in place of other intelligence or fusion 
        centers.
            (4) Proposed legislation for any changes in authorities of 
        the Federal agencies represented in the membership of the 
        Interagency Homeland Security Fusion Centers that the Secretary 
        considers necessary.

SEC. 3. COAST GUARD FUNDING FLOORS.

    (a) In General.--No budget request submitted to the Congress 
pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal 
year 2004 or fiscal year 2005 may contain a request for the Coast Guard 
a reduction in annual total spending and annual internal budget 
allocations for each non-homeland security mission area below the 
levels appropriated and allocated for the Coast Guard for fiscal year 
2002 or for fiscal year 2003, whichever is greater for each area.
    (b) Non-Homeland Security Missions.--The term ``non-homeland 
security missions'' means the following missions of the Coast Guard:
            (1) Marine safety.
            (2) Search and rescue.
            (3) Aids to navigation.
            (4) Living marine resources, including enforcement of laws 
        relating to fisheries.
            (5) Marine environmental protection.
            (6) Ice operations.
    (c) Waiver.--
            (1) In general.--The President may waive the requirements 
        of subsection (a) if the Commandant of the Coast Guard 
        simultaneously submits to the President and to Congress in 
        order to mitigate substantially the consequences of a specific 
        major accident occurring after the date of the enactment of 
        this Act, respond successfully to a specific and unanticipated 
        national or international crisis arising after such date, 
        counter a specific, unanticipated threat to United States 
        homeland security identified after such date, or otherwise 
        react satisfactorily to a specific, unanticipated event 
        occurring within a mission area of the Coast Guard after such 
        date.
            (2) Justification.--Each recommendation of a waiver under 
        paragraph (1) shall include a detailed justification for the 
        recommendation, including the specific information upon which 
        the recommendation is based and the specific reasons why the 
        Coast Guard could not effectively respond to the accident, 
        crisis, threat, or event without the waiver.
            (3) Intelligence certification.--Any recommendation for a 
        waiver based on a need to counter a specific, unanticipated 
        threat to United States homeland security shall be accompanied 
        by a certification by the Director of Central Intelligence 
        that--
                    (A) there exists a preponderance of credible, 
                accurate, and compelling evidence within the 
                Intelligence Community that demonstrates that the 
                threat upon which the Commandant's recommendation is 
                based is real, unanticipated, and acute, and that 
                immediate action must be taken to counter it; and
                    (B) the Intelligence Community is taking specific 
                and decisive steps to reduce significantly the 
                probability that such threats will be unanticipated in 
                the future.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON ACCELERATING THE INTEGRATED DEEPWATER SYSTEM.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the National 
Homeland Security and Combating Terrorism Act of 2002, the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, in consultation with the Commandant of the Coast 
Guard shall submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate, and the Committees on Appropriations of 
the Senate and the House of Representatives a report that--
            (1) contains an analysis of the feasibility of accelerating 
        the rate of procurement in the Coast Guard's Integrated 
        Deepwater System from 20 years to 10 years;
            (2) includes an estimate of the additional resources 
        necessary for accelerating such rate of procurement;
            (3) describes the increased capabilities that would result 
        from the accelerated procurement, including any increase in the 
        Coast Guard's homeland security readiness and any increases in 
        operational efficiencies; and
            (4) provides a revised asset phase-in schedule consistent 
        with such an accelerated rate of procurement.
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