I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4737 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Under Secretary 

for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security 

to research and evaluate existing Federal research regarding approaches 

to mitigate climate change on homeland security to identify areas for 

further research within the Department, research and develop approaches 

to mitigate the consequences of climate change on homeland security, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 18, 2019 

Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require 

the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the 

Department of Homeland Security to research and evaluate existing Federal research regarding approaches to 

mitigate climate change on homeland security to identify 

areas for further research within the Department, research and develop approaches to mitigate the consequences of climate change on homeland security, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home3 land Security Climate Change Research Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE PLANNING, RESEARCH AND DE5 VELOPMENT, AND PROTECTION AND PRE6 PAREDNESS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu8 rity Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 321. CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH AND DEVELOP11 MENT. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Science 

13 and Technology shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) research and evaluate existing Federal re15 search regarding approaches to mitigate the con16 sequence of climate change on homeland security to 

17 identify areas for additional research and develop18 ment pursuant to paragraph (2) with respect to— 

19 ‘‘(A) any connection between climate 

20 change and homeland security, including how 

21 the resulting competition for resources, eco22 nomic distress, and social discontent has con23 tributed to, among other outcomes, acts of ter24 rorism; 

25 ‘‘(B) the degree to which climate change is 

26 reflected in terrorism preparedness and emerVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Oct 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4737.IH H4737

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1 gency planning and policies, including with re2 spect to preparedness, response to, and recovery 

3 from natural disasters; and 

4 ‘‘(C) the degree to which the Federal fund5 ing structure to respond to major disaster dec6 larations and emergency declarations is ade7 quately structured to meet the demands of re8 sponding to and recovering from acts of ter9 rorism and natural disasters that are aggra10 vated by climate change; and 

11 ‘‘(2) shall conduct research and development on 

12 approaches to mitigate the consequences of climate 

13 change on homeland security in response to finding 

14 pursuant to paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(b) SCOPE.—The scope of the research and develop16 ment under subsection (a)(2) shall include the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) Any connection between climate change 

18 and homeland security, including how the resulting 

19 competition for resources, economic distress, and so20 cial discontent can contribute to, among other out21 comes, acts of terrorism. 

22 ‘‘(2) The degree to which climate change is re23 flected in terrorism preparedness and emergency 

24 planning and policies, including with respect to preVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Oct 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4737.IH H4737

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1 paredness, response to, and recovery from natural 

2 disasters. 

3 ‘‘(3) The degree to which the Federal funding 

4 structure to respond to major disaster declarations 

5 and emergency declarations is adequately structured 

6 to meet the demands of responding to and recov7 ering from acts of terrorism and natural disasters 

8 that are aggravated by climate change. 

9 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, 

10 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall con11 sult with the heads of other relevant agencies and depart12 ments of the Federal Government, first responders, and 

13 relevant owners and operators of critical infrastructure. 

14 ‘‘(d) CLIMATE CHANGE DEFINED.—The term ‘cli15 mate change’ refers to detectable changes in one or more 

16 climate system components that is directly or indirectly 

17 attributed to— 

18 ‘‘(1) human activity; and 

19 ‘‘(2) altering the composition of the global at20 mosphere. 

21 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—On an annual basis, 

22 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall sub23 mit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

24 of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu25 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on 


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1 research and development activities under subsection (a), 

2 including completed and ongoing research projects.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

5 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

6 320 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 321. Climate change research and development.’’. 

Æ 


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