[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 623 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.623
One Hundred Fourteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the sixth day of January, two thousand and fifteen
An Act
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Department
of Homeland Security to establish a social media working group, 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 ``DHS Social Media Improvement Act of
2015''.
SEC. 2. SOCIAL MEDIA WORKING GROUP.
(a) In General.--Title III of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6
U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 318. SOCIAL MEDIA WORKING GROUP.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish within the
Department a social media working group (in this section referred to as
the `Group').
``(b) Purpose.--In order to enhance the dissemination of
information through social media technologies between the Department
and appropriate stakeholders and to improve use of social media
technologies in support of preparedness, response, and recovery, the
Group shall identify, and provide guidance and best practices to the
emergency preparedness and response community on, the use of social
media technologies before, during, and after a natural disaster or an
act of terrorism or other man-made disaster.
``(c) Membership.--
``(1) In general.--Membership of the Group shall be composed of
a cross section of subject matter experts from Federal, State,
local, tribal, territorial, and nongovernmental organization
practitioners, including representatives from the following
entities:
``(A) The Office of Public Affairs of the Department.
``(B) The Office of the Chief Information Officer of the
Department.
``(C) The Privacy Office of the Department.
``(D) The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
``(E) The Office of Disability Integration and Coordination
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
``(F) The American Red Cross.
``(G) The Forest Service.
``(H) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
``(I) The United States Geological Survey.
``(J) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
``(2) Chairperson; co-chairperson.--
``(A) Chairperson.--The Secretary, or a designee of the
Secretary, shall serve as the chairperson of the Group.
``(B) Co-chairperson.--The chairperson shall designate, on
a rotating basis, a representative from a State or local
government who is a member of the Group to serve as the co-
chairperson of the Group.
``(3) Additional members.--The chairperson shall appoint, on a
rotating basis, qualified individuals to the Group. The total
number of such additional members shall--
``(A) be equal to or greater than the total number of
regular members under paragraph (1); and
``(B) include--
``(i) not fewer than 3 representatives from the private
sector; and
``(ii) representatives from--
``(I) State, local, tribal, and territorial
entities, including from--
``(aa) law enforcement;
``(bb) fire services;
``(cc) emergency management; and
``(dd) public health entities;
``(II) universities and academia; and
``(III) nonprofit disaster relief organizations.
``(4) Term limits.--The chairperson shall establish term limits
for individuals appointed to the Group under paragraph (3).
``(d) Consultation With Non-members.--To the extent practicable,
the Group shall work with entities in the public and private sectors to
carry out subsection (b).
``(e) Meetings.--
``(1) Initial meeting.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of enactment of this section, the Group shall hold its initial
meeting.
``(2) Subsequent meetings.--After the initial meeting under
paragraph (1), the Group shall meet--
``(A) at the call of the chairperson; and
``(B) not less frequently than twice each year.
``(3) Virtual meetings.--Each meeting of the Group may be held
virtually.
``(f) Reports.--During each year in which the Group meets, the
Group shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
that includes the following:
``(1) A review and analysis of current and emerging social
media technologies being used to support preparedness and response
activities related to natural disasters and acts of terrorism and
other man-made disasters.
``(2) A review of best practices and lessons learned on the use
of social media technologies during the response to natural
disasters and acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters that
occurred during the period covered by the report at issue.
``(3) Recommendations to improve the Department's use of social
media technologies for emergency management purposes.
``(4) Recommendations to improve public awareness of the type
of information disseminated through social media technologies, and
how to access such information, during a natural disaster or an act
of terrorism or other man-made disaster.
``(5) A review of available training for Federal, State, local,
tribal, and territorial officials on the use of social media
technologies in response to a natural disaster or an act of
terrorism or other man-made disaster.
``(6) A review of coordination efforts with the private sector
to discuss and resolve legal, operational, technical, privacy, and
security concerns.
``(g) Duration of Group.--
``(1) In general.--The Group shall terminate on the date that
is 5 years after the date of enactment of this section unless the
chairperson renews the Group for a successive 5-year period, prior
to the date on which the Group would otherwise terminate, by
submitting to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives a certification that the continued
existence of the Group is necessary to fulfill the purpose
described in subsection (b).
``(2) Continued renewal.--The chairperson may continue to renew
the Group for successive 5-year periods by submitting a
certification in accordance with paragraph (1) prior to the date on
which the Group would otherwise terminate.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 317 the following:
``Sec. 318. Social media working group.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.