[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5001 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5001

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to enhance homeland security 
              information sharing, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2006

Mr. Simmons (for himself and Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                                Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to enhance homeland security 
              information sharing, 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 ``Homeland Security Information 
Sharing Enhancement Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS ON DISSEMINATION OF HOMELAND SECURITY-RELATED 
              INFORMATION.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Section 201(d)(1) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
        gives the Department of Homeland Security authority to access, 
        receive, and analyze law enforcement information, intelligence 
        information, and other information from Federal, State, and 
        local government agencies--including law enforcement agencies--
        and to integrate such information in order to detect, identify, 
        and assess terrorist threats to the homeland.
            (2) Section 201(d)(4) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
        likewise gives the Department the power to ensure ``timely and 
        efficient access'' to these categories of information in order 
        to effectively discharge its information sharing 
        responsibilities.
            (3) Section 102A(f)(1)(B)(iii) of the National Security Act 
        of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403-1(f)(1)(B)(iii)), as amended by section 
        1011 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 
        2004, prohibits the Director of National Intelligence from 
        disseminating information directly to State and local 
        government officials.
            (4) Under section 119(f)(1)(E) of the National Security Act 
        of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 404o(f)(1)(E)), as amended, the Director of 
        the National Counterterrorism Center supports the 
        responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security to 
        disseminate terrorism information.
            (5) Section 201(d)(9) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
        gives the Department of Homeland Security the responsibility to 
        disseminate information analyzed by the Department to other 
        Federal, State, and local agencies with responsibilities 
        relating to homeland security ``in order to assist in the 
        deterrence, prevention, preemption of, or response to, 
        terrorist attacks. . .''.
            (6) Section 201(d)(11) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
        (6 U.S.C. 121(d)(11)) explicitly gives the Department the 
        responsibility to ensure ``appropriate exchanges of 
        information, including law enforcement-related information, 
        relating to threats of terrorism against the United States''.
            (7) Section 201(d)(14) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
        gives the Department the responsibility ``to establish and 
        utilize . . . a secure communications and information 
        technology infrastructure . . . in order to access, receive, 
        and analyze data'' and to disseminate that data to State, 
        local, and tribal law enforcement agencies as appropriate.

SEC. 3. HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISORY SYSTEM.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle A of title II of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 203. HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISORY SYSTEM.

    ``(a) Requirement.--The Under Secretary for Information and 
Analysis shall implement a Homeland Security Advisory System in 
accordance with this section to provide public advisories and alerts 
regarding threats to homeland security, including national, regional, 
local, and economic sector advisories and alerts, as appropriate.
    ``(b) Required Elements.--The Under Secretary, under the System--
            ``(1) shall include, in each advisory and alert regarding a 
        threat, information on appropriate protective measures and 
        countermeasures that may be taken in response to the threat;
            ``(2) shall, whenever possible, limit the scope of each 
        advisory and alert to a specific region, locality, or economic 
        sector believed to be at risk; and
            ``(3) shall not, in issuing any advisory or alert, use 
        color designations as the exclusive means of specifying the 
        homeland security threat conditions that are the subject of the 
        advisory or alert.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to 
subtitle A of title II the following:

``Sec. 203. Homeland Security Advisory System.''.

SEC. 4. HOMELAND SECURITY INFORMATION SHARING.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle A of title II of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 204. HOMELAND SECURITY INFORMATION SHARING.

    ``(a) Information Sharing Environment.--Consistent with section 
1016 of the National Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act 
of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 485), the Secretary shall integrate and standardize 
the information of the intelligence components of the Department into a 
Department information sharing environment, to be administered by the 
Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis.
    ``(b) Information Sharing and Knowledge Management Officers.--For 
each intelligence component of the Department, the Secretary shall 
designate an information sharing and knowledge management officer who 
shall report to the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis with 
respect to coordinating the different systems used in the Department to 
gather and disseminate homeland security information.
    ``(c) State, Local, and Private-Sector Sources of Information.--
            ``(1) Establishment of business processes.--The Under 
        Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis shall establish 
        Department-wide procedures for the review and analysis of 
        information gathered from State, local, tribal, and private-
        sector sources and, as appropriate, integrate such information 
        into the information gathered by the Department and other 
        department and agencies of the Federal Government.
            ``(2) Feedback.--The Secretary shall develop mechanisms to 
        provide analytical and operational feedback to any State, 
        local, tribal, and private-sector entities that gather 
        information and provide such information to the Secretary.
    ``(d) Training and Evaluation of Employees.--
            ``(1) Training.--The Under Secretary shall provide to 
        employees of the Department opportunities for training and 
        education to develop an understanding of the definition of 
        homeland security information, how information available to 
        them as part of their duties might qualify as homeland security 
        information, and how information available to them is relevant 
        to the Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
            ``(2) Evaluations.--The Under Secretary shall, on an 
        ongoing basis, evaluate how employees of the Office of 
        Intelligence and Analysis and the intelligence components of 
        the Department are utilizing homeland security information and 
        participating in the Department information sharing 
        environment.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act is further amended by adding at the end of the items relating 
to such subtitle the following:

``Sec. 204. Homeland security information sharing.''.
    (c) Establishment of Comprehensive Information Technology Network 
Architecture.--
            (1) In general.--Subtitle A of title II of the Homeland 
        Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.) is amended by 
        adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 205. COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY NETWORK ARCHITECTURE.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary, acting through the Chief 
Intelligence Officer, shall establish a comprehensive information 
technology network architecture for the Office of Intelligence and 
Analysis.
    ``(b) Network Model.--The comprehensive information technology 
network architecture established under subsection (a) shall, to the 
extent possible, incorporate the approaches, features, and functions of 
the network proposed by the Markle Foundation in reports issued in 
October 2002 and December 2003, known as the System-wide Homeland 
Security Analysis and Resource Exchange (SHARE) Network.
    ``(c) Comprehensive Information Technology Network Architecture 
Defined.--the term `comprehensive information technology network 
architecture' means an integrated framework for evolving or maintaining 
existing information technology and acquiring new information 
technology to achieve the strategic goals and information resources 
management goals of the Office of Information and Analysis.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents in section 
        1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 
        relating to such subtitle the following:

``Sec. 205. Comprehensive information technology network 
                            architecture.''.
            (3) Reports.--
                    (A) Report on implementation of plan.--Not later 
                than 360 days after the date of the enactment of this 
                Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to 
                the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland 
                Security of the House of Representatives a report 
                containing a plan to implement the comprehensive 
                information technology network architecture for the 
                Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the Department 
                of Homeland Security required under section 209 of the 
                Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by paragraph 
                (1). Such report shall include the following:
                            (i) Priorities for the development of the 
                        comprehensive information technology network 
                        architecture and a rationale for such 
                        priorities.
                            (ii) An explanation of how the various 
                        components of the comprehensive information 
                        technology network architecture will work 
                        together and interconnect.
                            (iii) A description of the technology 
                        challenges that the Office of Intelligence and 
                        Analysis will face in implementing the 
                        comprehensive information technology network 
                        architecture.
                            (iv) A description of technology options 
                        that are available or are in development that 
                        may be incorporated into the comprehensive 
                        technology network architecture, the 
                        feasibility of incorporating such options, and 
                        the advantages and disadvantages of doing so.
                            (v) An explanation of any security 
                        protections to be developed as part of the 
                        comprehensive information technology network 
                        architecture.
                            (vi) A description of any safeguards for 
                        civil liberties and privacy to be built into 
                        the comprehensive information technology 
                        network architecture.
                            (vii) An operational best practices plan.
                    (B) Progress report.--Not later than 180 days after 
                the date on which the report is submitted under 
                subparagraph (A), the Secretary of Homeland Security 
                shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
                Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a 
                report on the progress of the Secretary in developing 
                the comprehensive information technology network 
                architecture required under section 209 of the Homeland 
                Security Act of 2002, as added by paragraph (1).
    (d) Intelligence Component Defined.--Section 2 of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(17) The term `intelligence component of the Department' 
        means any directorate, agency, or element of the Department 
        that gathers, receives, analyzes, produces, or disseminates 
        homeland security information except--
                    ``(A) a directorate, agency, or element of the 
                Department that is required to be maintained as a 
                distinct entity under this Act; or
                    ``(B) any personnel security, physical security, 
                document security, or communications security program 
                within any directorate, agency, or element of the 
                Department.''.

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY FOR DISSEMINATING HOMELAND SECURITY-RELATED 
              INFORMATION.

    (a) In General.--Title I of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 111 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 104. AUTHORITY FOR DISSEMINATING HOMELAND SECURITY-RELATED 
              INFORMATION.

    ``(a) Primary Authority.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
Secretary or the Secretary's designee shall be the executive branch 
official responsible for disseminating homeland security-related 
terrorist threat information to State and local government and tribal 
officials and the private sector.
    ``(b) Prior Approval Required.--No Federal official may issue any 
homeland security-related analysis, advisory, or alert without the 
Secretary's prior approval, except--
            ``(1) in exigent circumstances under which it is essential 
        that the information be communicated immediately; or
            ``(2) when such analysis advisory or alert is issued to 
        Federal, State, local, or tribal law enforcement officials for 
        the purpose of assisting them in any aspect of the 
        administration of criminal justice.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to such 
title the following:

``Sec. 104. Authority for disseminating homeland security-related 
                            information.''.
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