[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2899 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2899

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Office for 
                     Countering Violent Extremism.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2015

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Office for 
                     Countering Violent Extremism.

    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 ``Countering Violent Extremism Act of 
2015'' or the ``CVE Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF THE OFFICE FOR COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM OF 
              THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

    (a) In General.--Title I of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 104. OFFICE FOR COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is in the Department an Office for 
Countering Violent Extremism. The head of the Office shall be the 
Assistant Secretary for Countering Violent Extremism, who shall be 
appointed by the Secretary. The Secretary shall also appoint a career 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Countering Violent Extremism.
    ``(b) Assignment of Personnel.--The Secretary shall assign or hire, 
as appropriate, permanent staff to the Office for Countering Violent 
Extremism. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall, to the 
maximum extent practicable, seek to assign to or hire for the Office an 
individual who has a demonstrated background in technical matters, on 
and offline media, or marketing.
    ``(c) Support.--The Secretary shall appoint within each appropriate 
component and office of the Department, including at a minimum, U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the 
Office of Privacy, the National Protection and Programs Directorate, 
the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the Science and 
Technology Directorate, an individual to serve as liaison to the Office 
for Countering Violent Extremism.
    ``(d) Responsibilities.--The Assistant Secretary for Countering 
Violent Extremism shall be responsible for the following:
            ``(1) Coordinating the Department's efforts to counter 
        violent extremism across all the components and offices of the 
        Department that conduct strategic and supportive efforts to 
        counter violent extremism. Such efforts shall include the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Identifying risk factors that contribute to 
                violent extremism in communities in the United States 
                and potential remedies for Government and non-
                government institutions.
                    ``(B) Identifying populations targeted by violent 
                extremist propaganda, messaging, or recruitment.
                    ``(C) Managing the outreach and engagement efforts 
                of the Department directed toward communities at risk 
                for radicalization and recruitment for violent 
                extremist activities.
                    ``(D) Ensuring relevant information, research, and 
                products inform efforts to counter violent extremism.
                    ``(E) Developing and maintaining a Department-wide 
                strategy guiding policies and programs to counter 
                violent extremism. Such strategy shall, at a minimum, 
                address each of the following:
                            ``(i) The Department's counter-messaging 
                        program pursuant to paragraph (2), including a 
                        plan to leverage new and existing Internet and 
                        other technologies and social media platforms 
                        to counter violent extremism, as well as the 
                        best practices and lessons learned of other 
                        Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, and 
                        foreign partners engaged in similar counter-
                        messaging efforts.
                            ``(ii) The Department's countering violent 
                        extremism-related engagement efforts.
                            ``(iii) The use of cooperative agreements 
                        with State, local, tribal, territorial, and 
                        other Federal departments and agencies 
                        responsible for efforts relating to countering 
                        violent extremism.
                            ``(iv) Ensuring all activities related to 
                        countering violent extremism fully respect the 
                        privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of 
                        all Americans.
                    ``(F) Identifying and recommending new research and 
                analysis requirements in coordination with the Under 
                Secretary for Science and Technology and the Under 
                Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis and ensure the 
                dissemination of information and methods for Federal, 
                State, local, tribal, and territorial countering 
                violent extremism practitioners, officials, law 
                enforcement, and non-governmental partners to utilize 
                such research and analysis.
                    ``(G) Assessing the methods used by violent 
                extremists to disseminate propaganda and messaging to 
                communities at risk for radicalization and recruitment.
            ``(2) Establishing a counter-messaging program to craft 
        strategic counter-messages to the propaganda and messaging 
        referred to in subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) which shall--
                    ``(A) explore ways to utilize relevant Internet and 
                other technologies and social media platforms; and
                    ``(B) maximize other resources available to the 
                Department.
            ``(3) Serving as the primary representative of the 
        Department in coordinating countering violent extremism efforts 
        with other Federal departments and agencies and non-
        governmental organizations.
            ``(4) Serving as the primary Department-level 
        representative in coordinating with the Department of State on 
        international countering violent extremism issues.
            ``(5) In coordination with the Administrator of the Federal 
        Emergency Management Agency, providing guidance regarding the 
        use of grants made to State, local, and tribal governments 
        under sections 2003 and 2004 under the allowable uses 
        guidelines related to countering violent extremism.
    ``(e) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Assistant Secretary for 
Countering Violent Extremism shall enter into a memorandum of 
understanding with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency outlining the roles of the Assistant Secretary and 
the Administrator with respect to the administration of grants under 
sections 2003 and 2004 related to countering violent extremism.
    ``(f) Annual Report.--The Assistant Secretary for Countering 
Violent Extremism shall submit to Congress an annual report for each of 
the next five fiscal years (beginning in the fiscal year that begins 
after the date of the enactment of this section) on the Office for 
Countering Violent Extremism. Each such report shall include the 
following:
            ``(1) A description of the status of the programs and 
        policies of the Department for countering violent extremism in 
        the United States, including the budget of the Department for 
        countering violent extremism and the number of full-time 
        employees dedicated to countering violent extremism programs, 
        as well as the number of part-time employees supporting 
        countering violent extremism programs. Each such budget shall 
        include an accounting of all funding amounts for all 
        departmental programs, initiatives, and personnel related to 
        countering violent extremism.
            ``(2) A description of the efforts of the Office to 
        cooperate with and provide assistance to other departments and 
        agencies.
            ``(3) Qualitative and quantitative metrics for evaluating 
        the success of such programs and policies and the steps taken 
        to evaluate the success of such programs and policies.
            ``(4) A detailed summary of the organizations with which 
        the Department conducted outreach to discuss countering violent 
        extremism, an accounting of grants awarded by the Department to 
        counter violent extremism, and an accounting of all training 
        specifically aimed at countering violent extremism sponsored by 
        the Department.
            ``(5) Details of the optimal level of personnel and funding 
        for the Office.
    ``(g) Violent Extremism Defined.--In this section, the term 
`violent extremism' means ideologically motivated terrorist activities.
    ``(h) Authorization of Funding.--Out of funds made available to the 
Office of the Secretary, $10,000,000 is authorized for the Office for 
Countering Violent Extremism for each of fiscal years 2016 through 
2020.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 103 
the following new item:

``Sec. 104. Office for Countering Violent Extremism.''.
                                 <all>