[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 9, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H48-H49]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1400
COUNTERTERRORISM INFORMATION SHARING IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2017
Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4569) to require counterterrorism information sharing
coordination, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4569
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 ``Counterterrorism Information
Sharing Improvement Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. COUNTERTERRORISM INFORMATION SHARING COORDINATION.
(a) In General.--The President, acting though the Secretary
of Homeland Security, shall ensure that, for counterterrorism
purposes, the Department of the Homeland Security has access
to biographic and biometric data collected by the United
States Government on individuals associated with a terrorist
organization.
(b) Coordination.--The President shall direct the heads of
relevant Federal departments and agencies to coordinate with
the Secretary of Homeland Security to minimize and overcome
any administrative, technical, capacity, or classification
challenges to carrying out subsection (a).
(c) Protections.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
ensure that all relevant laws, rules, and procedures,
including the section 552(a) of title 5, United States Code
(commonly referred to as the ``Privacy Act'' or the ``Privacy
Act of 1974''), regarding classification levels and civil
rights and civil liberties are followed while seeking to
carry out subsection (a).
(d) Report to Congress.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security
shall, consistent with the protection of classified
information, submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on
the implementation of this section.
(2) Contents.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall include a description of how the data referred to in
subsection (a) is utilized for Department of Homeland
Security screening and vetting purposes and any challenges
associated with incorporating such data into departmental
screening and vetting systems.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Gallagher) and the gentleman from California (Mr.
Correa) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
General Leave
Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
As we destroy the caliphate in the Middle East, foreign fighters and
terrorist sympathizers have fled the battlefield and are looking for
new ways to spread their hatred, recruit new followers, instill fear,
kill innocent people, and disrupt our way of life.
The December 11 bombing at the New York City Port Authority Bus
Terminal was the second terror attack in New York in less than 2 months
and a grave reminder of the reality of this threat.
Given this current environment, at the direction of Chairman McCaul,
I led a task force to identify specific national security challenges
and examine how terrorists might infiltrate our homeland and bring harm
to our people. Subsequently, we produced a report with a series of
solutions to fix any identified weaknesses that may be exploited by our
enemies.
This report resulted in several pieces of legislation that have come
before the House today. To that end, my bill, the Counterterrorism
Information Sharing Improvement Act, seeks to enhance the current
information-sharing environment that exists within the Federal and
military communities. Throughout the task force, we heard time and time
again about the incredible amount of biometric and biographic data
being pulled off battlefields in Syria and Iraq, as U.S. forces and our
allies continue to roll back the territories once held by ISIS.
It is often DOD personnel that encounter ISIS fighters on the
battlefield, which often leads to the collection of valuable data.
However, if these fighters and their associates move back to the West
or try to enter the U.S., the DHS becomes the primary entity that will
engage them. Therefore, it is critical that the data recovered by the
DOD in the battlefield is able to reach the DHS and its systems for
effective frontline screening and vetting of known or suspected
terrorists.
In order to verify we are utilizing this information to support our
counterterrorism efforts, we must ensure that the Department of
Homeland Security gets access to that data in a timely manner,
particularly so that it can be used for screening and vetting purposes.
My bill directs the President, acting through the Secretary of Homeland
Security, to ensure that the DHS has access to biographic and biometric
data collected by the U.S. Government on individuals associated with a
terrorist organization. The bill also directs the Secretary to report
to Congress on these efforts.
The U.S. must prioritize any opportunity to identify bad actors
outside the country and expand our ability to identify and deter
threats before they reach the homeland. Unfortunately, information-
sharing challenges among U.S. agencies can prevent valuable information
from becoming available for frontline screening and vetting. Not only
is this a bureaucratic challenge, given the number of separate
government agencies and components involved, but legal capacity and
technical issues exist as well.
This bill will address these challenges and create improved
collaborations between the Department of Homeland Security and its
other Federal and military partners.
Mr. Speaker, I therefore urge my colleagues to support this bill, and
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4569, the Counterterrorism
Information Sharing Improvement Act of 2017. This bill seeks to ensure
that the DHS gets access to biometric and biographic data collected by
the United States Government to carry out its counterterrorism efforts.
Since 9/11, the Democratic members of this committee have been
committed to bolstering terrorism information sharing within our
government. Today, terrorist threats are decentralized, spreading
beyond al-Qaida, al Shabaab, and ISIL to a patchwork of small cells and
lone wolves who stand ready to carry out violence to our country at
their whim. Increasingly, this threat also includes homegrown violent
extremists and domestic terrorists.
Ensuring that the DHS has access to biographic and biometric data on
individuals associated with a terrorist organization is critical to
comprehensive assessing of all forms of terrorism and threats to our
government.
This legislation also requires that the DHS report on how the data is
being received and utilized for screening and vetting purposes. This
report will help Congress ensure that screening and vetting of
travelers to the United States is conducted in a risk-based manner.
Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation and I am prepared to close.
Again, Mr. Speaker, this legislation ensures that the DHS have access
to biographic and biometric data collected by our government on
individuals associated with terrorist organizations. It is important
that this information be integrated into the DHS' screening and vetting
programs to protect our country, our citizens, from all forms of
terrorism and extremism.
Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this legislation, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I thank my
colleagues for their hard work in generating the task force report and
all of the ideas that led to the variety of bills we are doing here
today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from
[[Page H49]]
Wisconsin (Mr. Gallagher) that the House suspend the rules and pass the
bill, H.R. 4569.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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