[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2631 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2631

To strengthen efforts in the Department of Homeland Security to develop 
 nuclear forensics capabilities to permit attribution of the source of 
                           nuclear material.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2007

 Mr. Schiff (for himself, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Israel, Mr. Shays, and Mr. 
 Thornberry) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on 
  Foreign Affairs, 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 strengthen efforts in the Department of Homeland Security to develop 
 nuclear forensics capabilities to permit attribution of the source of 
                           nuclear material.

    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 ``Nuclear Forensics and Attribution 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The threat of a nuclear terrorist attack on American 
        soil is possibly the most serious threat to the national 
        security of the United States. In the wake of an attack, 
        attribution of responsibility would be of utmost importance. 
        Because of the destructive power of the weapon, there could be 
        little forensic evidence except the radioactive material in the 
        bomb itself.
            (2) Through advanced nuclear forensics, using both existing 
        techniques and those under development, it may be possible to 
        identify the origin of a weapon or material after it is 
        detonated. Though identifying intercepted smuggled material is 
        now possible in some cases, post-detonation forensics is a 
        relatively undeveloped field. In addition, the pressures and 
        time constraints of performing forensics after a nuclear 
        detonation would make attribution difficult.
            (3) A robust and well-known capability to identify the 
        source of nuclear material used in an act of nuclear terror 
        could also deter prospective proliferators.
            (4) In order to identify materials confidently, it is 
        necessary to match them against samples of material from 
        reactors, weapons, and enrichment facilities around the world. 
        Some of these samples are available to the International Atomic 
        Energy Agency through safeguards agreements, and some countries 
        maintain internal sample databases. Access to samples in many 
        countries is limited by national security concerns.
            (5) In order to create a sufficient deterrent, it is 
        necessary to have the capability to positively identify the 
        source of nuclear material, and potential traffickers in 
        nuclear material must be aware of that capability. 
        International cooperation is desirable and may be essential to 
        catalogue all existing sources of nuclear material.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL ATTRIBUTION AGREEMENTS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that the President should--
            (1) pursue international agreements, both bilateral and 
        multilateral, to establish an international framework for 
        determining the source of any confiscated nuclear material or 
        weapon, as well as the source of any detonated weapon and the 
        nuclear material used in such a weapon;
            (2) develop protocols for the dissemination of sensitive 
        information relating to nuclear materials and samples of 
        controlled nuclear materials, to the extent required by the 
        agreements entered into under paragraph (1); and
            (3) develop expedited protocols for the dissemination of 
        sensitive information needed to publicly identify the source of 
        a nuclear detonation.

SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

    (a) Section 1802(a) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (as added 
by Public Law 107-296; 6 U.S.C. 592) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
            ``(10) develop with the approval of the Secretary and in 
        coordination with the heads of appropriate departments and 
        agencies, methods to attribute nuclear or radiological material 
        to its source when such material is intercepted by the United 
        States, foreign governments, or international bodies or 
        dispersed in the course of a nuclear terrorist attack or other 
        nuclear or radiological explosion; and''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated the sum of $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008, 
2009, and 2010 to carry out section 1802(a)(10) of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a) of this section.
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