[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 17 (Monday, February 2, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H680-H683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SOCIAL MEDIA WORKING GROUP ACT OF 2015
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 623) 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.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 623
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 ``Social Media Working Group
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 new section:
``SEC. 318. SOCIAL MEDIA WORKING GROUP.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish within
the Department a social
[[Page H681]]
media working group (in this section referred to as the
`Group').
``(b) Purpose.--In order to enhance information sharing
between the Department and appropriate stakeholders, the
Group shall provide guidance and best practices to the
emergency preparedness and response community on the use of
social media technologies before, during, and after a
terrorist attack or other emergency.
``(c) Membership.--
``(1) In general.--The Under Secretary for Science and
Technology shall serve as the permanent chairperson of the
Group, and shall designate, on a rotating basis, a
representative from a State or local government who is a
member of the Group to serve as co-chairperson. The Under
Secretary shall establish term limits for individuals
appointed to the Group pursuant to paragraph (2). Membership
of the Group shall be composed of a cross section of subject
matter experts from Federal, State, local, tribal, 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) Additional members.--The Under Secretary for Science
and Technology 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 three representatives from the private
sector; and
``(ii) representatives from--
``(I) State, local, and tribal entities, including from--
``(aa) law enforcement;
``(bb) fire services;
``(cc) emergency management; and
``(dd) public health entities;
``(II) universities and academia; and
``(III) non-profit disaster relief organizations.
``(d) Consultation With Non-Members.--To the extent
practicable, the Group shall work with existing bodies 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 the enactment of this section, the Group shall hold
its initial meeting. Such initial meeting may be held
virtually.
``(2) Subsequent meetings.--After the initial meeting under
paragraph (1), the Group shall meet at least twice each year,
or at the call of the Chairperson. Such subsequent meetings
may be held virtually.
``(f) Nonapplicability of FACA.--The Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Group.
``(g) Reports.--Not later than March 30 of each year, the
Group shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report that includes the following:
``(1) A review of current and emerging social media
technologies being used to support preparedness and response
activities related to terrorist attacks and other
emergencies.
``(2) A review of best practices and lessons learned on the
use of social media during the response to terrorist attacks
and other emergencies that occurred during the period covered
by the report at issue.
``(3) Recommendations to improve the Department's use of
social media for emergency management purposes.
``(4) Recommendations to improve public awareness of the
type of information disseminated through social media, and
how to access such information, during a terrorist attack or
other emergency.
``(5) Recommendations to improve information sharing among
the Department and its components.
``(6) Recommendations to improve information sharing among
State and local governments.
``(7) A review of available training for Federal, State,
local, and tribal officials on the use of social media in
response to a terrorist attack or other emergency.
``(8) A summary of coordination efforts with the private
sector to discuss and resolve legal, operational, technical,
privacy, and security concerns.''.
(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 new item:
``Sec. 318. Social media working group.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Indiana (Mrs. Brooks) and the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia
(Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Indiana.
General Leave
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 623.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Indiana?
There was no objection.
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 623, the Social Media
Working Group Act of 2015.
Social media is transforming the way the Nation is communicating
before, during, and after terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and
other emergencies. There are countless examples from recent events of
how citizens are turning to Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram for
public safety information, to comfort survivors, and to request
assistance.
For example, during the height of the most recent winter storm Juno
in the Northeast, there were over 20,000 posts using the hashtag
#blizzardof2015.
A quarter of Americans--let me repeat that--a quarter of Americans
got information about the devastating terrorist attack at the 2013
Boston Marathon from Facebook and Twitter.
Immediately following that attack and during the manhunt, the Boston
Police Department utilized social media as a way to communicate with
and solicit information from citizens and visitors.
In fact, the first official announcement that Boston Marathon bomber
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been captured was not through a traditional press
conference, but it was through the Boston Police Department's Twitter
account. That post was retweeted more than 135,000 times.
These examples prove that social media has become one of the primary
ways we share information.
In the 113th Congress, I served as the chair of the Committee on
Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response,
and Communications with the gentleman from New Jersey as my ranking
member. Our subcommittee held two hearings that focused on this new
phenomenon, and we learned that while the Nation is making great
strides in this area, gaps and challenges remain.
One of the key takeaways from these hearings was that during and
after a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other emergency, there
is still a need for better communication between the public sector and
the private sector, specifically with how we utilize social media as a
communication tool.
Last year, I introduced this bill, along with Ranking Member Payne,
Chairman McCaul, Representative Palazzo, and Representative Swalwell,
to address this issue; and I am pleased now to reintroduce the bill
this Congress.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 623 addresses the issues we heard in our hearings
by authorizing and enhancing the Department of Homeland Security's
Virtual Social Media Working Group to ensure information sharing
between the Department and appropriate stakeholders and the leveraging
of best practices.
Currently, the Virtual Social Media Working Group, which is made up
mostly of State and local officials, is doing great work in developing
guidance documents on how to utilize social media during disasters. In
fact, it produced a lessons learned paper on social media usage during
Hurricane Sandy.
This bill will increase the working group's stakeholder
participation, particularly among the private sector and Federal
response agencies, thereby creating a Whole Community dialogue on this
issue.
The bill will require this group to submit an annual report to
Congress highlighting best practices, lessons learned, and any
recommendations. Finally, this bill will require the group to meet in
person or virtually at least twice a year, and it will not be a
financial burden on the Department.
In today's day and age, when new social media platforms and
technologies can change the game almost instantly, we must ensure our
critical first responders are nimble enough to adapt to an ever-
changing landscape. This group is one way to help facilitate this.
[[Page H682]]
The House passed this bill last Congress with strong bipartisan
support. I now want to thank Chairman Shuster and Chairman Barletta of
the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for working with the
Committee on Homeland Security and me to get this bill to the floor
today.
Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to join me in supporting this bill, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate and commend Mrs. Brooks of Indiana and
Mr. Payne of New Jersey for sponsoring the Social Media Working Group
Act of 2013 which addresses an emerging and important topic in
emergency management.
More and more, we are seeing social media, especially Twitter,
Facebook, and YouTube, playing a critical role in the preparedness,
response, and recovery operations in emergency situations.
In the past few years, social media has become a valuable tool that
has been used by emergency managers at all levels to warn those in
harm's way of impending natural disasters. I might add that the same
could occur in terrorist disasters.
Moreover, it has been used to inform survivors of how to access
disaster assistance and tips for speedier recovery. Equally important,
social media has been used to coordinate and manage assistance from
nonprofits and volunteers who want to help in recovery efforts.
It is not just emergency managers who use social media regarding
emergencies. Individuals have used social media to help identify
locations where assistance may still be needed and to raise awareness
of impending hazards. They have used it to communicate with loved ones
who may be impacted by an event, as well as to reconnect pets with
their owners.
It was no different here in the District of Columbia, Mr. Speaker,
after
9/11, and I refer to the earthquake centered in Mineral, Virginia, but
certainly felt in every part of the Nation's Capital.
Because cellphone service was jammed, residents turned to social
media to communicate. Within minutes of that earthquake, Twitter noted
that over 40,000 earthquake-related tweets were sent about the
occurrence.
{time} 1745
Facebook noted 3 million mentions related to the earthquake.
In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security established the Virtual
Social Media Working Group to provide recommendations on how to use
social media before, during, and after emergencies. The existing
working group consists of emergency responders, nonprofit
organizations, and Federal agencies.
H.R. 623 would codify the working group to make certain that their
good work continues. To allow for broader representation, the bill
expands the working group membership to include the private sectors and
requires consultation with nonmembers. To ensure accountability, the
bill requires an annual report to Congress on important issues such as
best practices and lessons learned. It would also provide
recommendations on various issues, including how to improve the use of
social media for emergency management purposes.
This is a very timely bill, Mr. Speaker. It will assist in informing
the public of critical emergency information which may well save lives
and reduce injuries. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this
bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, as I was coming to the floor, I tweeted and Facebooked
that I would be on the floor managing this bill. We are used to
Tweeting and Facebooking our every movement, usually for fun--and yes,
even to come on the floor.
I will be very interested to know whether, after we had the tragic
accident last month in our Metro system when we lost one life--and we
know for sure communication between the District of Columbia fire,
emergency, and Metro was informed--I will be very interested to know
whether Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media were
helpful. I cannot believe they were not.
We all think of social media for social fun. What is important about
the bill that my two colleagues, Representative Brooks and
Representative Payne, have brought to us is, of course, that it shows a
very essential use.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), a cosponsor of the bill.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from the
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) for yielding me this time.
Last Congress, the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response,
and Communications held a series of hearings examining how the Internet
can positively impact disaster response at all levels.
Over the course of these hearings, industry stakeholders, who
included Google.org, Palantir, and the Internet Association, provided
testimony about how the Internet helped galvanize citizens affected by
disasters--from the Boston Marathon bombings to Hurricane Sandy.
We also heard from an energy services company headquartered in my
district, PSE&G, that was recognized by J.D. Power and Associates for
its innovative use of social media in the days leading up to and
following Hurricane Sandy. PSE&G used social media to communicate with
its customers about how to prepare for the storm and to mitigate damage
and about power restoration efforts afterward.
Additionally, PSE&G testified about lessons learned about using
social media during disaster response--ranging from using the right
tone in messages to preparing social media companies to handle the
increased volume of messages.
In those hearings, we also took testimony from Federal, State, and
local governments about how to use social media more effectively to
provide disaster-related information to be better integrated into
disaster response applications.
We also heard from FEMA and local officials on efforts to improve the
use of social media following a terrorist attack or natural disaster.
I was pleased to work with then-Subcommittee Chairwoman Susan Brooks
on this oversight effort and ultimately on the bill to ensure that the
important conversation about how to best use social media following a
disaster can continue.
Last July, I was pleased to manage an identical version of this bill
on the House floor on behalf of the Committee on Homeland Security.
That measure, H.R. 4263, passed the House on suspension, as I hope will
occur with H.R. 623.
This Congress, I am pleased that my committee was able to work with
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to ensure that H.R.
623 gets considered early this Congress. That said, I am disappointed
that this time around, under the rules of the House, the committee that
developed the legislation, in response to extensive oversight findings,
was not given the opportunity to present it in the full House on its
own.
That said, I congratulate Subcommittee Chairwoman Brooks on the
success of her efforts to ensure that Federal, State, and local
governments continue to work with the private sector and nonprofit
disaster response providers to develop innovative uses of social media.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 623.
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the
gentlelady from the District of Columbia and the gentleman from New
Jersey for continuing this important work that we began last year.
It was a visit to the American Red Cross shortly after Hurricane
Sandy where we learned about the important role that social media had
played and the growing role that it played and the fact that they have
digital volunteers now who continue to work on behalf of saving lives.
I just want to thank all of those who have been supportive of this
bill, and I urge my colleagues to join me in once again supporting this
important legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the sponsor and cosponsor
[[Page H683]]
once again on this vital and valuable bill.
As we see the kinds of, really, unheard of events we are
experiencing, it seems to us often that phones and cell phones are so
20th century. Twitter and Facebook are the functional equivalent for
many Americans of 911. So today on this floor, I think we are resolved
that social media are, to be sure, often about fun and games, but they
may also be about life and death.
I am pleased to support this bill and ask Members for its support
here in the House.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I again thank the
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia and the gentleman from New
Jersey in supporting this important legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Homeland
Security Committee, I rise in support of H.R. 423, ``The Social Media
Working Group Act of 2014,'' which would establish within the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a social media working group.
The Social Media Working Group would provide guidance and best
practices to the emergency preparedness and response community on the
use of social media technologies before, during, and after a terrorist
attack.
Today, people are relying more on Internet enabled communications to
engage and be engaged in personal, professional and commercial
communications.
Since September 11, 2001, our nation has committed resources toward
the preparation of our first responders and citizens in preventing,
mitigating and responding to terrorist events.
As these efforts continue, we must keep pace with the rapid changing
nature of the Internet. Part of this requires that Congress ensure that
the Department of Homeland Security and especially the Federal
Emergency Management Agency can reach citizens in new ways so that
critical information is received in a timely manner.
In 2012, smartphones, most particularly phones running Apple
Computer's iOS and the open source Android operating system, accounted
for at least 40 percent of the mobile devices used in the United
States.
In the first quarter of 2012, mobile phone consumers spent over $109
billion, while consumers of landline-telephone service spent $64.4
billion.
The Federal Communication Commission reports that this trend is
expected accelerate as United States consumers participate in a
worldwide trend towards mobile communication devices and away from
traditional means of receiving and sending information.
Electronic tablet computers and e-readers, the other fully enabled
portable Internet devices, smartphones are increasingly a resource for
people to access information, share content, and communicate their
views.
Social media is quickly emerging as a major source of information
that citizens rely upon to receive news and engage government.
The number of people using social networking sites has nearly doubled
since 2008.
In a 2011, a Pew Internet Center Research Project reported that 79
percent of American adults said they used the Internet and 59 percent
of all Internet users say they use at least one of social networking
service, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
The reasons for supporting this bill are obvious and I ask my
colleagues in the House to vote for its passage.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 623, the
Social Media Working Group Act of 2015, which was introduced by
Congresswoman Brooks, Congressman Payne, and myself.
Social media is becoming an important tool before, during and after
disasters. This becomes more and more obvious after every incident and
was especially prevalent both after Hurricane Sandy and the Boston
bombings. Almost two years ago, when two pressure cooker bombs exploded
at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, local emergency managers and
law enforcement turned to social media to alert the public, solicit
assistance, and offer comfort to the city. Incidents like these point
to the fact that authorities must embrace the use of social media as a
way to both collect and disseminate information in the management of a
disaster.
Last year, I visited the headquarters of the American Red Cross with
the author of this legislation, Congresswoman Brooks. One of the
highlights of our visit was the Red Cross Digital Disaster Operations
Center, where, in partnership with Dell, the Red Cross built the first-
ever social media operations center for humanitarian relief. I was
impressed to see how the Red Cross is communicating with disaster
survivors through social media and how social media is changing the way
we are able to prepare for and respond to disasters.
In the last Congress, the Committee on Homeland Security's
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications
held two hearings on the impact of social media before, during and
after disasters. These hearings informed the writing of this
legislation which authorizes and enhances the Department's Virtual
Social Media Working Group to ensure best practices and lessons learned
are shared with appropriate stakeholders, including the private sector,
and ensure our first responders understand the ever changing dynamic of
using social media.
This measure passed the House floor with almost 400 votes in the
113th Congress, demonstrating its importance and bipartisan support. I
urge Members to join me in supporting this bill today.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Brooks) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 623.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________