[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 879 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 879

  To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide immunity for 
  reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious behavior and 
                               response.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 23, 2009

 Ms. Collins (for herself and Mr. Lieberman) 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 to provide immunity for 
  reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious behavior and 
                               response.

    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 ``See Something, Say Something Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle H of title VIII of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 890A. IMMUNITY FOR REPORTS OF SUSPECTED TERRORIST ACTIVITY OR 
              SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR AND RESPONSE.

    ``(a) Immunity for Reports of Suspected Terrorist Activity or 
Suspicious Behavior and Response.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any person who, in good faith and based 
        on objectively reasonable suspicion, makes, or causes to be 
        made, a voluntary report of covered activity to an authorized 
        official shall be immune from civil liability under Federal, 
        State, and local law for such report.
            ``(2) False reports.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 
        report that the person knew to be false or was made with 
        reckless disregard for the truth at the time that the person 
        made that report.
    ``(b) Immunity for Response.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any authorized official who observes, or 
        receives a report of, covered activity and takes reasonable 
        action in good faith to respond to such activity shall have 
        qualified immunity from civil liability for such action, 
        consistent with applicable law in the relevant jurisdiction. An 
        authorized official as defined by section (d)(1)(A) not 
        entitled to assert the defense of qualified immunity shall 
        nonetheless be immune from civil liability under Federal, 
        State, and local law if such authorized official takes 
        reasonable action, in good faith, to respond to the reported 
        activity.
            ``(2) Savings clause.--Nothing in this subsection shall--
                    ``(A) affect the ability of any authorized official 
                to assert any defense, privilege, or immunity that 
                would otherwise be available; and
                    ``(B) be construed as affecting any such defense, 
                privilege, or immunity.
    ``(c) Attorney Fees and Costs.--Any authorized official or other 
person found to be immune from civil liability under this section shall 
be entitled to recover from the plaintiff all reasonable costs and 
attorney fees.
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Authorized official.--The term `authorized official' 
        means--
                    ``(A) any officer, employee, or agent of the 
                Federal government with responsibility for preventing, 
                protecting against, disrupting, or responding to a 
                `covered activity;' or
                    ``(B) any Federal, State, or local law enforcement 
                officer.
            ``(2) Covered activity.--The term `covered activity' means 
        any suspicious transaction, activity, or occurrence indicating 
        that an individual may be engaging, or preparing to engage, in 
        a violation of law relating to an act of terrorism (as that 
        term is defined in section 3077 of title 18, United States 
        Code).''.
    (b) Amendment to the Table of Contents.--The table of contents for 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting at the end of 
subtitle H of title VIII the following item:

``Sec. 890A. Immunity for reports of suspected terrorist activity or 
                            suspicious behavior and response.''.
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