[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 8, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1407-S1408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. Lieberman):
S. 505. A bill to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide
immunity for reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious
behavior and response; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague,
Senator Lieberman, in introducing the See Something, Say Something Act
of 2011.
The number of thwarted and failed attacks in the past few years and
the Fort Hood attack, which left 13 people dead and wounded dozens, are
sobering reminders that terrorists continue to threaten our nation. We
have seen, however, that an alert citizenry can be our first line of
defense against terrorist attacks as evidenced by events only a few
weeks ago in Texas.
Tips from alert citizens led to an investigation and the eventual
arrest of Khalid Aldawsari on a federal charge of attempted use of a
weapon of mass destruction. Specifically, an alert chemical supplier
reported Aldawsari's suspicious attempt to purchase a toxic chemical
called phenol to the FBI. Shipping company personnel also notified
local police officers about related suspicious behavior. Without these
calls to law enforcement, it is possible that a person who wrote in his
diary ``it is time for Jihad'' would have carried out an attack or
attacks on his numerous intended targets, including dams, nuclear power
plants, and former President George W. Bush.
Individuals must be protected from frivolous lawsuits when they
report, in good faith, suspicious behavior that may indicate terrorist
activity. That is why I am again introducing legislation, along with
Senator Lieberman, that will provide these important protections.
In the 2007 homeland security law, Senator Lieberman and I authored a
provision to encourage people to report potential terrorist threats
directed against transportation systems. This legislation would expand
those protections to reports of suspicious behavior in sectors other
than transportation. For example, reports of suspicious activity could
be equally important in detecting terrorist plans to attack ``soft
targets'' like hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, and religious
institutions.
In December 2008, a Federal jury convicted five men from New Jersey
of conspiring to murder American soldiers at Fort Dix. According to law
enforcement officials, the report of an alert store clerk, who stated
that a customer had brought in a video showing men firing weapons and
shouting in Arabic, triggered their investigation. If not for the
report of this vigilant store clerk, law enforcement may not have
disrupted this plot against military personnel at Fort Dix. Real life
examples like these highlight the need for this bill.
That store clerk's action likely saved hundreds of lives. It reveals
a core truth of the dangerous times in which we live. Our safety
depends on more than just police officers, intelligence analysts, and
soldiers. It also depends on the alertness and civic responsibility of
all Americans. So we must encourage citizens to be watchful and to
report suspicious activity whenever it occurs.
As a result of the devastating 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, Senator
Lieberman and I convened hearings held by the Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee to examine lessons learned from those
attacks. These hearings helped bring to light the reality that
terrorists might shift their attention from high-value, high-security
targets to less secure commercial facilities, where there remains the
potential for mass casualties and widespread panic.
Many of the Committee's witnesses during these hearings endorsed the
idea of expanding the 2007 law beyond the transportation sector.
Indeed, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said that the 2007 law ``made
eminently good sense'' and recommended ``that it be expanded [to other
sectors] if at all possible.''
The threat is real, and we must encourage citizens to be watchful and
to report suspicious activity whenever it occurs. Our legal system,
however, can be misused to chill the willingness of citizens to come
forward and report possible dangers. As widely reported by the media in
2006, US Airways removed 6 Islamic clerics from a flight after other
passengers expressed concerns that some of the clerics had moved out of
the their assigned seats and had requested, but were not using, seat
belt extenders that could possibly double as weapons. In response to
these concerns, US Airways officials removed these individuals from the
plane so that they could further investigate.
[[Page S1408]]
For voicing their reasonable fears that these passengers could be
rehearsing or preparing to execute a hijacking, these concerned
citizens found themselves as defendants in a civil rights lawsuit and
accused of bigotry.
The existence of this lawsuit illustrates how unfair it is to allow
private citizens to be intimidated into silence by the threat of
litigation. Would the passengers have spoken up if they had anticipated
that there would be a lawsuit filed against them? Even if such suits
fail, they can expose citizens to heavy costs in time and legal fees.
The bill we introduce today would provide civil immunity in American
courts for any person acting in good faith who reports any suspicious
transaction, activity, or occurrence related to an act of terrorism.
Specifically, the bill would encourage people to pass on information to
federal officials with responsibility for preventing, protecting
against, disrupting, or responding to a terrorist act, or to Federal,
State, and local law enforcement officials, without fear of being sued
for doing their civic duty. Only disclosures made to those responsible
officials would be protected by the legislation.
Once a report is received, those officials would be responsible for
assessing its reasonableness and determining whether further action is
required. If they take reasonable action to mitigate the reported
threat, they, too, would be protected from lawsuits. Just as we should
not discourage reporting suspicious incidents, we also should not
discourage reasonable responses to them.
Let me be very clear that this bill does not offer any protection
whatsoever if an individual makes a statement that he or she knows to
be false. No one will be able to use this protection as cover for
mischievous, vengeful, or biased falsehoods.
Our laws and legal system must not intimidate people into silence or
prevent our officials from responding to terrorist threats. Protecting
citizens who make good faith reports--and that's an important condition
in this bill--of potentially lethal activities is essential to
maintaining homeland security. Our bill offers protection in a measured
way that discourages abuses.
Each of us has an important responsibility in the fight against
terrorism. It is not a fight that can be left to law enforcement alone.
The police simply can't be everywhere all the time. Whether at a hotel,
a mall, or an arena, homeland security and law enforcement officials
need all citizens to alert them to unattended packages and behavior
that appears out of the ordinary.
Along these lines, I applaud DHS Secretary Napolitano for
establishing the Department's ``If you see something, say something''
campaign and the recent partnerships with various organizations
including the NFL. The Department is taking steps to expand this effort
with public education and materials for businesses, communities, and
citizens. As the Department's campaign continues to grow, there will be
a greater need for this legislation as our citizens become better
educated.
The National Sheriffs' Association, the National Association of Town
Watch, and other national organizations have endorsed this legislation.
If someone ``sees something'' suspicious, Congress should encourage
him or her to ``say something'' about it. This bill promotes and
protects that civic duty. I urge my colleagues to support it.
______