[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 49 (Thursday, April 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4131-S4132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SALAZAR:
  S. 888. A bill to direct the Department of Homeland Security to 
provide guidance and training to State and local governments relating 
to sensitive homeland security information, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on

[[Page S4132]]

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce an important 
piece of legislation to help our local first responders and emergency 
officials better prepare and respond to terrorist attacks.
  State and local emergency officials represent more than 95 percent of 
America's counterterrorism capability. They are on the front lines of 
the war on terror. Despite this, there is still a fundamental 
disconnect between what we do in Washington to help and what state and 
local officials actually need. Too often this happens because people in 
Washington are not listening to our folks back home.
  One familiar example is homeland security grant funding. In the years 
following 9/11, the Federal Government put more money into homeland 
security than ever before. Office of Domestic Preparedness Grants 
increased 2,900 percent from 2001 to 2003. The Federal Government acted 
quickly to get money out the door, but in too many cases, the Feds did 
not give States the guidance they needed to best use that money. As a 
result, State officials were left scratching their heads. Money was 
wasted and local officials did not get all the help they needed.
  The same is true with antiterrorism intelligence. Police and fire 
departments across the country are being bombarded with terrorism 
intelligence from more than a dozen Federal sources. State officials 
are getting expensive Federal security clearances so that they can 
review spy reports. But State and local officials are not getting the 
guidance they need to help them talk to each other.
  Police, firemen, and EMTs are the first people on site during an 
emergency, whether it is a terrorist attack or car accident. Our first 
responders must be given the information they need to safely handle any 
situation, the training they need to protect the public and the access 
to grants to purchase the proper tools to do their jobs--this 
legislation, if passed, will help do just that.
  Right now, there are surprisingly few uniform standards for non-
Federal agencies to handle sensitive homeland security information. 
While there are detailed procedures for handling classified documents 
created by the FBI, CIA and other Federal agencies, there is little 
real world guidance for how to make decisions about how to manage 
information from non-Federal sources, including locally generated 
homeland security plans, State-level grants and intelligence gathered 
by local law enforcement agencies.
  This lack of guidance has real implications for public safety. Over 
the last few months, Colorado's State government has been fighting over 
the Secretary of State homeland security information. Currently, 
Colorado State law makes secret a wide swath of homeland security 
information, including any document sent to, from, or on behalf of the 
State Office of Preparedness, Security and Fire Safety. Local officials 
have trouble acquiring State information to help them develop 
antiterrorism plans, and even State legislators can't find out where 
homeland security money is going.
  State officials across the country have wasted precious resources 
battling over what to make public and what to keep secret. They have 
established a wide array of procedures for sharing sensitive 
information among emergency management personnel. The current system of 
distributing homeland security intelligence and grants funding is 
inefficient and has failed to ensure an adequate balance between 
protecting sensitive information and ensuring that first responders and 
the public have the information they need to keep Coloradans and 
Americans safe.
  The legislation I am introducing would take three steps to clearing 
up this confusion and giving States the tools they need to better 
prepare and respond to terrorist attacks.
  First, it establishes detailed best practices for State and local 
governments to help them determine what homeland security information 
should be made public, what should remain classified, and how different 
government entities and emergency personnel can share and use sensitive 
information.
  Second, it establishes a training program to spread these best 
practices among state and local officials.
  Third, it directs the Department of Homeland Security to provide more 
detailed instructions to State and local officials about how to manage 
information about homeland security grants that are applied for and 
awarded by DHS.
  This bill will give emergency officials across the country the tools 
they need so that they do not have to waste precious resources remaking 
the wheel on homeland security information sharing.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 888

       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 ``Homeland Security 
     Information Guidance and Training Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) there are few uniform standards for State and local 
     government agencies to handle sensitive homeland security 
     information;
       (2) there are detailed procedures for handling classified 
     documents created by the Federal Government, but there is 
     little guidance for how to make decisions relating to the 
     management of information from non-Federal sources, including 
     locally generated homeland security plans, State-level 
     grants, and intelligence gathered by local law enforcement 
     agencies;
       (3) State and local government officials have--
       (A) a wide variety of approaches for handling such 
     information;
       (B) wasted precious resources battling over what 
     information to make public and what information to keep 
     secret; and
       (C) established a wide array of procedures for sharing 
     sensitive information among emergency management personnel; 
     and
       (4) the current system is inefficient and has not ensured 
     the adequate balance between protecting sensitive information 
     and ensuring that public officials and the public have the 
     information needed to keep the Nation safe.

     SEC. 3. GUIDANCE FOR BEST PRACTICES RELATING TO SENSITIVE 
                   INFORMATION.

       (a) In General.--Consistent with section 201(d) of the 
     Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121(d)), the Under 
     Secretary of Homeland Security for Information Analysis and 
     Infrastructure Protection shall establish best practices for 
     State and local governments to assist State and local 
     governments in making determinations on--
       (1) the types of sensitive non-Federal homeland security 
     information (including locally generated homeland security 
     plans, State-level grants, and intelligence gathered by local 
     law enforcement information agencies) that--
       (A) should be made available to the public; or
       (B) should be treated as information which should not be 
     made available to the public; and
       (2) how to use and share sensitive homeland security 
     information among State and local emergency management 
     personnel.
       (b) Effect on State and Local Governments.--Nothing under 
     subsection (a) shall be construed to--
       (1) require any State or local government to comply with 
     any best practice established under that subsection; or
       (2) preempt any State or local law.

     SEC. 4. TRAINING.

       The Director of the Office for Domestic Preparedness 
     shall--
       (1) establish a training curriculum based on the best 
     practices established under section 3; and
       (2) provide training to State and local governments using 
     that curriculum.

     SEC. 5. GUIDANCE ON GRANT INFORMATION.

       Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall publish in the 
     Federal Register detailed instructions for State and local 
     governments on the management of information relating to 
     homeland security grants administered by the Department of 
     Homeland Security.
                                 ______