[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6366 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6366

   To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out a pilot 
 program for the prevention and mitigation of acts of terrorism using 
                motor vehicles, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 2018

    Mr. Gottheimer (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                                Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out a pilot 
 program for the prevention and mitigation of acts of terrorism using 
                motor vehicles, 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 ``Darren Drake Combatting 21st Century 
Weapons of Terror Act'' or the ``Darren Drake Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) From 2014 through 2017, terrorists carried out at least 
        17 known vehicle ramming attacks worldwide, resulting in 173 
        fatalities and 667 injuries.
            (2) The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, was 
        designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist 
        organization on December 17, 2004 and was designated as a 
        Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) on October 15, 
        2004.
            (3) Al-Qa'ida and the Islamic State have promoted vehicle 
        attacks for years, including in Inspire, the online magazine of 
        al-Qa'ida and in Rumiya, the magazine of the Islamic State.
            (4) The Islamic State calls upon its followers to conduct 
        vehicle ramming attacks by buying, renting, stealing, or 
        borrowing trucks and targeting large outdoor events, crowded 
        pedestrian streets, outdoor markets and rallies.
            (5) On November 21, 2017, a grand jury in the Southern 
        District of New York returned a 22-count indictment against the 
        perpetrator of an alleged vehicular terrorist attack carried 
        out in the name of the designated foreign terrorist 
        organization the Islamic State in lower Manhattan on October 
        31, 2017, which killed eight people, including Darren Drake of 
        New Milford, New Jersey, and injured 12 more.
            (6) The automotive sale and rental industry has been a 
        leader in strengthening security measures, working with 
        government agencies and officials including the Department of 
        Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, and 
        the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and continuing to innovate 
        and improve to better protect its customers, employees, assets, 
        and the general public.

SEC. 3. STUDY ON INFORMATION COLLECTED BY RENTAL AGENCIES AND DEALERS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the 
Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, shall--
            (1) conduct a study on the various types of information 
        collected by rental companies and dealers that rent covered 
        rental vehicles in the United States and Europe; and
            (2) develop and disseminate best practices for rental 
        companies and dealers to report suspicious behavior to law 
        enforcement agencies at the point of sale for such a covered 
        rental vehicle.

SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
establish a pilot program, for a period not to exceed one year, to--
            (1) in consultation with representatives of the automotive 
        sale and rental industry, develop a uniform standard for the 
        type of information collected by rental agencies described in 
        section 3, and the type of information used in submitting 
        suspicious activity reports;
            (2) provide operators with a threat assessment prepared by 
        the Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and 
        Analysis regarding the terrorism threat of large vehicles;
            (3) distribute guidance for improving the suspicious 
        activity reporting process, including training for designated 
        employees to better identify suspicious activity;
            (4) provide technical assistance to operators to better 
        access suspicious activity reports; and
            (5) if determined necessary by the Secretary, establish a 
        procedure for checking information against a designated watch 
        list that does not contain any classified information, and for 
        dealers and rental companies to provide notice of a sale or 
        rental to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
    (b) Report to Congress.--Once every 120 days, until the conclusion 
of the program under this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
and the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration 
shall jointly submit to Congress a report on the program under this 
section, including--
            (1) an assessment of the impact of the pilot program on 
        privacy and civil liberties; and
            (2) the effect that permanent implementation of the program 
        would have on efforts to protect the United States against 
        terrorist attacks.
    (c) Exemption From Liability.--A dealer or rental company shall not 
be liable for any action taken in accordance with this pilot program 
under this section.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``covered rental vehicle'' means a truck, 
        tractor, trailer, bus, semitrailer, or van with more than 15 
        passengers.
            (2) The terms ``dealer'' and ``rental company'' have the 
        meanings given those terms in section 30102 of title 49, United 
        States Code.
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