[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 609 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 609

  To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) to 
   provide for the protection of voluntarily furnished confidential 
                  information, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2003

Mr. Leahy (for himself, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Jeffords, and Mr. 
Byrd) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
                   to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) to 
   provide for the protection of voluntarily furnished confidential 
                  information, 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 ``Restoration of Freedom of 
Information Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARILY FURNISHED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.

    Title II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) 
is amended by striking subtitle B and inserting the following:

    ``Subtitle B--Protection of Voluntarily Furnished Confidential 
                              Information

``SEC. 211. PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARILY FURNISHED CONFIDENTIAL 
              INFORMATION.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Critical infrastructure.--The term `critical 
        infrastructure' has the meaning given that term in section 
        1016(e) of the USA PATRIOT ACT of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)).
            ``(2) Furnished voluntarily.--
                    ``(A) Definition.--The term `furnished voluntarily' 
                means a submission of a record that--
                            ``(i) is made to the Department in the 
                        absence of authority of the Department 
                        requiring that record to be submitted; and
                            ``(ii) is not submitted or used to satisfy 
                        any legal requirement or obligation or to 
                        obtain any grant, permit, benefit (such as 
                        agency forbearance, loans, or reduction or 
                        modifications of agency penalties or rulings), 
                        or other approval from the Government.
                    ``(B) Benefit.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `benefit' does not include any warning, alert, or other 
                risk analysis by the Department.
    ``(b) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 
record pertaining to the vulnerability of and threats to critical 
infrastructure (such as attacks, response, and recovery efforts) that 
is furnished voluntarily to the Department shall not be made available 
under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, if--
            ``(1) the provider would not customarily make the record 
        available to the public; and
            ``(2) the record is designated and certified by the 
        provider, in a manner specified by the Department, as 
        confidential and not customarily made available to the public.
    ``(c) Records Shared With Other Agencies.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Response to request.--An agency in receipt of 
                a record that was furnished voluntarily to the 
                Department and subsequently shared with the agency 
                shall, upon receipt of a request under section 552 of 
                title 5, United States Code, for the record--
                            ``(i) not make the record available; and
                            ``(ii) refer the request to the Department 
                        for processing and response in accordance with 
                        this section.
                    ``(B) Segregable portion of record.--Any reasonably 
                segregable portion of a record shall be provided to the 
                person requesting the record after deletion of any 
                portion which is exempt under this section.
            ``(2) Disclosure of independently furnished records.--
        Notwithstanding paragraph (1), nothing in this section shall 
        prohibit an agency from making available under section 552 of 
        title 5, United States Code, any record that the agency 
        receives independently of the Department, regardless of whether 
        or not the Department has a similar or identical record.
    ``(d) Withdrawal of Confidential Designation.--The provider of a 
record that is furnished voluntarily to the Department under subsection 
(b) may at any time withdraw, in a manner specified by the Department, 
the confidential designation.
    ``(e) Procedures.--The Secretary shall prescribe procedures for--
            ``(1) the acknowledgement of receipt of records furnished 
        voluntarily;
            ``(2) the designation, certification, and marking of 
        records furnished voluntarily as confidential and not 
        customarily made available to the public;
            ``(3) the care and storage of records furnished 
        voluntarily;
            ``(4) the protection and maintenance of the confidentiality 
        of records furnished voluntarily; and
            ``(5) the withdrawal of the confidential designation of 
        records under subsection (d).
    ``(f) Effect on State and Local Law.--Nothing in this section shall 
be construed as preempting or otherwise modifying State or local law 
concerning the disclosure of any information that a State or local 
government receives independently of the Department.
    ``(g) Report.--
            ``(1) Requirement.--Not later than 18 months after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
        United States shall submit to the committees of Congress 
        specified in paragraph (2) a report on the implementation and 
        use of this section, including--
                    ``(A) the number of persons in the private sector, 
                and the number of State and local agencies, that 
                furnished voluntarily records to the Department under 
                this section;
                    ``(B) the number of requests for access to records 
                granted or denied under this section; and
                    ``(C) such recommendations as the Comptroller 
                General considers appropriate regarding improvements in 
                the collection and analysis of sensitive information 
                held by persons in the private sector, or by State and 
                local agencies, relating to vulnerabilities of and 
                threats to critical infrastructure, including the 
                response to such vulnerabilities and threats.
            ``(2) Committees of congress.--The committees of Congress 
        specified in this paragraph are--
                    ``(A) the Committees on the Judiciary and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
                    ``(B) the Committees on the Judiciary and 
                Government Reform and Oversight of the House of 
                Representatives.
            ``(3) Form.--The report shall be submitted in unclassified 
        form, but may include a classified annex.''.

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    The table of contents for the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public 
Law 107-296) is amended by striking the matter relating to subtitle B 
of title II and inserting the following:
                              ``Subtitle B--Protection of Voluntarily 
                                        Furnished Confidential 
                                        Information.
                              ``Sec. 211. Protection of Voluntarily 
                                        Furnished Confidential 
                                        Information.''.
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