[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 106 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5623-H5625]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         ENHANCING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING INITIATIVE ACT

  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 5094) to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security 
to improve suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism, 
and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5094

       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 ``Enhancing Suspicious 
     Activity Reporting Initiative Act''.

     SEC. 2. ENHANCING DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SUSPICIOUS 
                   ACTIVITY REPORTING OPERATIONS.

       (a) Strategy Required.--Not later than one year after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security, in consultation with other appropriate Federal 
     officials, shall develop a strategy to improve the operations 
     and activities of the Department of Homeland Security related 
     to training, outreach, and information sharing for suspicious 
     activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism.
       (b) Contents of Strategy.--The strategy required under 
     subsection (a) shall include the following:
       (1) A description and examples of the types of information 
     that would meet the definition of critical information for 
     the purpose of suspicious activity reporting as well as 
     information, including information associated with racial, 
     religious or national origin, that would not meet the 
     definition of critical information.
       (2) Training for appropriate personnel of State and major 
     urban area fusion centers, emergency response providers, and, 
     as appropriate, the private sector on--
       (A) methods for identifying, analyzing, and disseminating 
     critical information, including the indicators of terrorism;
       (B) methods to protect privacy and civil liberties, 
     including preventing racial, religious, or national origin 
     discrimination; and
       (C) response protocols for submitting suspicious activity 
     reports.
       (3) Methods to improve outreach to appropriate State and 
     major urban area fusion centers, emergency response 
     providers, and the private sector related to suspicious 
     activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism.
       (4) A plan to ensure that critical information is shared in 
     a timely manner with State and major urban area fusion 
     centers, emergency response providers, and the private 
     sector, as appropriate, including nationwide trend analysis 
     and other information related to terrorist threats.
       (5) Methods to measure the effectiveness of the activities 
     conducted under the strategy with respect to improving the 
     operations and activities of the Department related to 
     training, outreach, and information sharing to prevent acts 
     of terrorism that have been validated through peer-reviewed 
     empirical studies to the extent practicable.
       (c) Working Group Recommendations.--In developing the 
     strategy required under subsection (a) the Secretary shall 
     take into consideration the recommendations of the working 
     group established under section 3.
       (d) Congressional Notification.--Not less than 30 days 
     before the release of the strategy required pursuant to 
     subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide to the Committee 
     on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of 
     the Senate a notification of the release of the strategy and 
     a copy of the strategy. Such notification shall include the 
     recommendations provided by the working group established 
     under section 3 and how such recommendations were 
     incorporated into the strategy.

     SEC. 3. SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING WORKING GROUP.

       (a) Establishment.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
     establish a working group on suspicious activity reporting.
       (2) Department liaisons.--The Secretary shall appoint as 
     liaisons to the working group--
       (A) the Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland 
     Security;
       (B) the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the 
     Department; and
       (C) such other officials of the Department as the Secretary 
     determines appropriate.
       (b) Responsibilities.--The working group established under 
     subsection (a) shall carry out the following 
     responsibilities:
       (1) Provide advice to the Secretary regarding improvements 
     to the operations and activities related to suspicious 
     activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism.

[[Page H5624]]

       (2) At the request of the Secretary, for purposes of 
     section 2(c), develop recommendations to improve suspicious 
     activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism with respect 
     to--
       (A) outreach to relevant stakeholders;
       (B) information sharing;
       (C) protecting personally identifiable information;
       (D) protecting the privacy, civil rights, and civil 
     liberties of individuals who report suspicious activity and 
     individuals who are the subjects of such reports;
       (E) preventing racial, religious, or national origin 
     discrimination;
       (F) training for emergency response providers and the 
     private sector; and
       (G) other matters, as determined by the Secretary.
       (c) Working Group Membership.--Not later than 180 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
     shall seek the voluntary participation of not more than 20 
     individuals representing at least 12 diverse regions of the 
     United States to serve as members of the working group. 
     Members of the working group shall serve without pay. The 
     Secretary shall seek to ensure that the working group 
     includes members who are representatives from each of the 
     following:
       (1) State and major urban area fusion centers.
       (2) State, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement 
     agencies.
       (3) Firefighters.
       (4) Emergency medical services.
       (5) Private sector security professionals.
       (6) Nongovernmental privacy and civil liberty 
     organizations.
       (7) Any other group the Secretary determines appropriate.
       (d) Congressional Briefing.--Upon request, the Secretary 
     shall provide to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 
     Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a briefing on 
     the operations and activities of the Department of Homeland 
     Security related to training, outreach, and information 
     sharing for suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts of 
     terrorism, including copies of materials developed under this 
     section.
       (e) Termination.--The working group under this section 
     shall terminate on the date that is two years after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, except that the Secretary may 
     extend such working group if the Secretary determines 
     necessary.
       (f) Nonapplicability of FACA.--The Federal Advisory 
     Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the working 
     group established under this section.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. King) and the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5094, the Enhancing 
Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative Act.
  I have been a long-term proponent of the If You See Something, Say 
Something campaign, which was begun in New York City in 2002 by the 
Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

                              {time}  1915

  This program, along with the Suspicious Activity Reporting 
initiative, SAR, helps Federal, State, and local law enforcement piece 
together sometimes seemingly disparate pieces of information to 
prevent, detect, and interdict terrorist threats to the homeland.
  During a recent subcommittee hearing on SARs, a witness from the New 
Jersey State Police explained that a SAR triggered a law enforcement 
investigation where a copy of ``Inspire'' magazine was found in a 
residence, in particular, an article on how to construct a pressure 
cooker bomb. The suspect admitted to planning a major attack in New 
York City.
  This SAR was instrumental in thwarting a potential terrorist attack 
against our Nation.
  While the FBI reviews, nationwide, SARs for investigative leads, DHS 
largely manages the efforts to provide information and training to 
State and local law enforcement, fusion centers, and other emergency 
response providers.
  H.R. 5094 strengthens this effort by requiring the Secretary of 
Homeland Security to develop a strategy designed to improve the 
operations and activities of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity 
Reporting Initiative, NSI.
  This includes training; outreach; information sharing with key 
partners, including law enforcement officers, fusion centers, emergency 
response providers, and the private sector.
  H.R. 5094 also empowers the Secretary to establish an NSI working 
group that includes representation from State and local stakeholders, 
the private sector, and privacy experts.
  The working group will provide advice and recommendations to the 
Secretary on improvements to the SARs initiative. Additionally, the 
reporting requirement to Congress promotes transparency in these 
efforts and rigorous oversight by my subcommittee and others.
  Last week, the Secretary of Homeland Security noted that DHS was in 
the midst of ``refreshing'' the SARs initiative. While I am pleased to 
hear that DHS is moving to enhance ``See Something, Say Something'' and 
SARs, the legislation before us today will ensure that the refresh is 
done strategically and includes input from the very stakeholders 
responsible for investigating and reporting SARs.
  Shortly after an attack or tragedy in our Nation, leaders of both 
parties urge our citizens to be vigilant during their commutes and in 
their neighborhoods, and to report suspicious activity to law 
enforcement. It is important to turn public statements of support into 
legislative action.
  This bill received strong bipartisan support in committee. The 
passage of this legislation will demonstrate Congress' commitment to 
provide commonsense legislation to help DHS continue to provide 
important SARs training and outreach.
  I would also like to emphasize that a Secret Service detailee to my 
subcommittee, Pete Murphy, was very instrumental in working with other 
staff members in putting this legislation together.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5094, the Enhancing Suspicious 
Activity Reporting Initiative Act.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5094 would require the Department of Homeland 
Security to develop a strategy to improve the training, outreach, and 
information it provides on Suspicious Activity Reporting to prevent 
acts of terrorism.
  Since the September 11 attacks, we have seen that sharing information 
regarding suspicious activity can help local, State, and Federal law 
enforcement connect the dots about threats in the communities that they 
serve.
  While it is important that ordinary citizens say something when they 
see something that could be a threat to their community, we must 
recognize that there have been instances where there have been abuses. 
On occasion, we have seen allegations of suspicious activity made 
against individuals solely based on biases regarding race, ethnicity, 
or religion.
  H.R. 5094 seeks to prevent such discriminatory reporting by directing 
DHS to disseminate examples of reporting that meet the guidelines for 
action. Further, it instructs DHS to outline the types of suspicious 
activity reporting, including reporting based on race, religion, and 
nationality, that is prohibited. More broadly, H.R. 5094 seeks to build 
numerous safeguards for privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights into 
the suspicious activity reporting regime.
  It requires the establishment of an outside working group to provide 
advice to the DHS Secretary on matters such as outreach, information 
sharing, protecting personally identifiable information, protecting 
privacy and civil rights, and training for emergency response providers 
and the private sector.
  Additionally, H.R. 5094 enhances congressional oversight of privacy, 
civil rights, and civil liberties by requiring the department to 
furnish Congress with copies of the materials it disseminates to 
stakeholders.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this security measure.
  Mr. Speaker, as the terrorist threats evolve, so too must our 
counterterrorism efforts.

[[Page H5625]]

  Since the September 11 attacks, we have seen that raising public 
awareness about reporting suspicious activity can be effective at 
detecting, deterring, and combating terrorism in the homeland.
  I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 5094 to ensure that DHS 
strategically engages stakeholders to improve suspicious activity 
reporting.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank my 
colleague, Mr. Langevin, for his bipartisan support on this 
legislation, as in so many other pieces of bipartisan legislation, and 
for the outstanding work he does on the subcommittee and the committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I once again urge my colleagues to support this bill, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. King) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 5094, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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