[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5144 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5144

To provide for supply chain security cooperation between Department of 
   Homeland Security and the private sector, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 6, 2006

  Mr. Jindal introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Homeland Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for supply chain security cooperation between Department of 
   Homeland Security and the private sector, 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. INFORMATION SHARING.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are--
            (1) to establish continuing liaison and to provide for 
        supply chain security cooperation between Department of 
        Homeland Security and the private sector; and
            (2) to provide for regular and timely interchange of 
        information between the private sector and the Department 
        concerning developments and security risks in the supply chain 
        environment.
    (b) Secure System.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall develop 
a secure electronic data interchange system to collect from and share 
appropriate risk information related to securing the supply chain with 
the private sector entities determined appropriate by the Secretary.
    (c) Consultation.--In developing the system under subsection (b), 
the Secretary shall consult with the Commercial Operations Advisory 
Committee and a broad range of public and private sector entities 
likely to utilize the system, including importers, exporters, carriers, 
customs brokers, and freight forwarders, among other parties.
    (d) Procedures.--The Secretary shall establish uniform procedures 
for the receipt, care, and storage of supply chain security information 
that is voluntarily submitted to the Department through the system 
developed under subsection (b).
    (e) Limitations.--The voluntary information collected through the 
system developed under subsection (b) shall be used exclusively for 
ensuring security and shall not be used for determining entry or for 
any other commercial enforcement purpose. The voluntary information 
submitted to the Department through the system developed under 
subsection (b) shall not be construed to constitute compliance with any 
requirement to submit such information to a Federal agency under any 
other provision of law.
    (f) Participants.--The Secretary shall develop protocols for 
determining appropriate private sector personnel who shall have access 
to the system developed under subsection (b). Such personnel shall 
include designated security officers within companies that are 
determined to be low risk through participation in the Customs-Trade 
Partnership Against Terrorism program administered by U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection.
    (g) Confidentiality.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
information that is voluntarily submitted by the private sector to the 
Department through the system developed under subsection (b)--
            (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552 of 
        title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 
        Freedom of Information Act);
            (2) shall not, without the written consent of the person or 
        entity submitting such information, be used directly by the 
        Department or a third party, in any civil action arising under 
        Federal or State law if such information is submitted in good 
        faith; and
            (3) shall not, without the written consent of the person or 
        entity submitting such information, be used or disclosed by any 
        officer or employee of the United States for purposes other 
        than the purposes of this section, except--
                    (A) in furtherance of an investigation or other 
                prosecution of a criminal act; or
                    (B) when disclosure of the information would be--
                            (i) to either House of Congress, or to the 
                        extent of matter within its jurisdiction, any 
                        committee or subcommittee thereof, any joint 
                        committee thereof or subcommittee of any such 
                        joint committee; or
                            (ii) to the Comptroller General, or any 
                        authorized representative of the Comptroller 
                        General, in the course of the performance of 
                        the duties of the Comptroller General.
    (h)  Independently Obtained Information.--Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect the ability of a 
Federal, State, or local, government entity, under applicable law, to 
obtain supply chain security information, including any information 
lawfully and properly disclosed generally or broadly to the public and 
to use such information in any manner permitted by law.
    (i) Penalties.--Whoever, being an officer or employee of the United 
States or of any department or agency thereof, knowingly publishes, 
divulges, discloses, or makes known in any manner or to any extent not 
authorized by law, any supply chain security information protected in 
this section from disclosure, shall be fined under title 18, United 
States Code, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both, and shall be 
removed from office or employment.
    (j) Authority to Issue Warnings.--The Secretary may provide 
advisories, alerts, and warnings to relevant companies, targeted 
sectors, other governmental entities, or the general public regarding 
potential risks to the supply chain as appropriate. In issuing a 
warning, the Secretary shall take appropriate actions to protect from 
disclosure--
            (1) the source of any voluntarily submitted supply chain 
        security information that forms the basis for the warning; and
            (2) information that is proprietary, business sensitive, 
        relates specifically to the submitting person or entity, or is 
        otherwise not appropriately in the public domain.
    (k) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Homeland Security.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security.
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