To establish an Office of Homeland Security within the Executive Office of the President to lead, oversee, and coordinate a comprehensive national homeland security strategy to safeguard the Nation.

Summary: Office of Homeland Security Act of 2001 - Establishes the Office of Homeland Security within the Executive Office of the President. Requires the Director of the Office to: (1) create a national strategy for homeland security, to include all aspects of prevention and response to terrorist activities; (2) develop a national budget for homeland security; (3) review Federal activities to insure effective implementation of such strategy; (4) coordinate Federal homeland security activities to remove duplication and gaps; (5) certify Federal agency counterterrorism budgets; (6) direct development of a comprehensive national assessment of the threat to homeland security; (7) oversee interagency information sharing; and (8) establish a center within the Office to disseminate information learned from homeland security exercises.Establishes a Homeland Security Advisory Council to advise the President and Director on the creation and implementation of the national strategy, and the Director on the operation of the Office.Requires the Director to review additional legal authorities needed to prevent and respond effectively to terrorist threats, including the role of the Department of Defense and the imposition of regulations on civilian populations and private entities during a state of emergency.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Office of Homeland Security Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

    There is established within the Executive Office of the President 
an office to be known as the ``Office of Homeland Security'' (in this 
Act referred to as the ``Office'').

SEC. 3. DIRECTOR OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

    (a) Director.--The head of the Office shall be the Director of the 
Office of Homeland Security, who shall be appointed by the President, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The President shall 
ensure that the Director functions as a cabinet-level official.
    (b) Executive Schedule I Pay Rate for Director.--Section 5312 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to the Director of National Drug Control Policy the following 
new item:
            ``Director of the Office of Homeland Security.''.

SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES.

    Subject to the direction and control of the President, the 
responsibilities of the Director shall include the following:
            (1) Directing, in consultation with appropriate Federal and 
        State agencies and Congress, the creation of a national 
        strategy for homeland security, as provided in section 5, to 
        include all aspects of prevention and response to terrorist 
        activities.
            (2) Developing, reviewing, and approving, in collaboration 
        with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, a 
        national budget for homeland security.
            (3) Reviewing programs, plans and activities of the 
        relevant Federal agencies to insure effective implementation of 
        the national homeland security strategy.
            (4) Coordinating the planning and implementation of all 
        Federal homeland security activities with relevant Federal 
        agencies for the purposes of removing unnecessary duplication 
        and gaps in counterterrorism activities.
            (5) Certifying as part of the budget submission of the 
        President to Congress the relevance and accuracy of 
        counterterrorism budgets from Federal agencies and rejecting 
        budget requests not consistent with the national homeland 
        security strategy.
            (6) Directing and reviewing the development of a 
        comprehensive national assessment on the threat to homeland 
        security, which shall be conducted by the heads of relevant 
        Federal agencies.
            (7) Overseeing the appropriate sharing of information among 
        Federal, State, and local agencies involved in intelligence 
        collection and law enforcement for the purpose of protecting 
        homeland security.
            (9) Establishing a center within the Office to analyze and 
        publicize as appropriate lessons learned from homeland security 
        exercises conducted by Federal, State, and local government 
        agencies and other organizations involved in terrorism 
        response.
            (10) Consulting regularly with Congress on all issues 
        relating to homeland security.
            (11) Attending meetings of the President's cabinet and the 
        National Security Council relating to counterterrorism and 
        homeland security.
            (12) Serving as the President's principal spokesperson on 
        issues relevant to homeland security.

SEC. 5. NATIONAL HOMELAND SECURITY STRATEGY.

    The national homeland security strategy created under section 4 
shall include the following:
            (1) A comprehensive research, development, and procurement 
        plan for supporting homeland security.
            (2) Mechanisms to insure the flexibility and mobility in 
        Federal personnel policies and practices to achieve maximum 
        effective use of personnel among all concerned agencies.
            (3) Policies and procedures to maximize the collection, 
        analysis, translation, exploitation, and dissemination of, 
        throughout the Federal Government and with State and local 
authorities, information relevant to homeland security concerns.
            (4) Plans for improving the resources of, coordination 
        among, and effectiveness of health and medical sectors for 
        detecting and responding to terrorist attacks on the homeland.
            (5) Specific measures to enhance cooperative efforts 
        between the public and private sectors in protecting homeland 
        security.

SEC. 6. OFFICERS AND STAFF OF OFFICE.

    (a) Officers.--The President shall assign to the Office such 
officers in addition to the Director, if any, as the President, in 
consultation with the Director, considers appropriate to discharge the 
responsibilities of the Office.
    (b) Staff.--The Director may appoint such employees, and may detail 
employees from other agencies, as necessary to carry out the functions 
of the Office. Such employees shall include individuals with relevant 
State and local expertise.

SEC. 7. HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISORY COUNCIL.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a Homeland Security 
Advisory Council. The Council shall--
            (1) advise the President and the Director of the Office of 
        Homeland Security on the creation and implementation of the 
        national strategy for homeland security; and
            (2) advise the Director on the operation of the Office of 
        Homeland Security.
    (b) Chair.--The Director of the Office of Homeland Security shall 
be the Chair of the Council.
    (c) Members.--The members of the Council shall be the following:
            (1) The Secretary of State.
            (2) The Secretary of the Treasury.
            (3) The Secretary of Defense.
            (4) The Attorney General.
            (5) The Secretary of Agriculture.
            (6) The Secretary of Health and Human Services.
            (7) The Secretary of Transportation.
            (8) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
            (9) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
            (10) The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
            (11) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
            (12) The Director of the Federal Emergency Management 
        Agency.
            (13) The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention.
            (14) The Assistant to the President for National Security 
        Affairs.
            (15) Such other Federal and other officials as may be 
        designated by the President or the Director of the Office.

SEC. 8. REVIEW OF LEGAL AUTHORITIES.

      (a) Review.--The Director of the Office of Homeland Security 
shall conduct a review of the legal authorities needed but not 
currently provided to prevent and respond effectively to terrorist 
threats, including legal authorities regarding the role of the 
Department of Defense in homeland security and the imposition of 
regulations on civilian populations and private entities during a state 
of emergency.
    (b) Report to Congress.--The Director shall submit to Congress a 
report of the results of the review under subsection (a). The report 
shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and shall include recommendations for addressing 
shortcomings in current legal authority.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such amounts as are 
necessary to carry out this Act.