I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 504 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Department 

of Homeland Security to develop an engagement strategy with fusion 

centers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2019 

Mr. BACON (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MCCAUL, and Mr. PANETTA) 

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 Department of Homeland Security to develop an 

engagement strategy with fusion centers, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DHS Field Engage5 ment Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY WITH FUSION CENTERS. 

7 Section 210A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

8 (6 U.S.C. 124h) is amended by— 


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1 (1) redesigning subsections (j) and (k) as sub2 sections (k) and (l), respectively; and 

3 (2) inserting after subsection (i) the following 

4 new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(j) FUSION CENTER INFORMATION SHARING

6 STRATEGY.—Not later than one year after the date of the 

7 enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall develop 

8 and update at least once every five years a strategy for 

9 Department engagement with fusion centers. Such strat10 egy shall be developed and updated in consultation with 

11 the heads of intelligence components of the Department, 

12 the Chief Privacy Officer of the Department, the Officer 

13 for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department, of14 ficials of fusion centers, officers designated as Homeland 

15 Security Advisors, and the heads of other relevant agen16 cies, as appropriate. Such strategy shall include the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(1) Specific goals and objectives for sharing 

19 information and engaging with fusion centers— 

20 ‘‘(A) through the direct deployment of per21 sonnel from intelligence components of the De22 partment; 

23 ‘‘(B) through the use of Department un24 classified and classified information sharing 

25 systems, including the Homeland Security InVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H504.IH H504

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1 formation Sharing Network and the Homeland 

2 Secure Data Network, or any successor sys3 tems; and 

4 ‘‘(C) through any additional means. 

5 ‘‘(2) The performance metrics to be used to 

6 measure success in achieving the goals and objec7 tives referred to in paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(3) A five-year plan for continued engagement 

9 with fusion centers.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYSIS FIELD 

11 PERSONNEL SUPPORT TO FUSION CENTERS. 

12 (a) PERFORMANCE METRICS.—Not later than 180 

13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 

14 Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis of the Department 

15 of Homeland Security shall— 

16 (1) consider the effectiveness of existing proc17 esses to identify and prepare field personnel for de18 ployment to support fusion centers and internal 

19 mechanisms to ensure oversight and accountability 

20 of such field personnel, including field personnel as21 signed to one center and field personnel assigned to 

22 multiple centers; and 

23 (2) publish and disseminate performance 

24 metrics, taking into account, as appropriate, regional 

25 and threat diversity, for— 


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1 (A) field personnel from the Office of In2 telligence and Analysis assigned to an indi3 vidual fusion center; 

4 (B) field personnel from the Office of In5 telligence and Analysis assigned to multiple fu6 sion centers; and 

7 (C) regional Directors of the Office of In8 telligence and Analysis to ensure accountability 

9 for monitoring all field personnel under the su10 pervision of such Regional Directors. 

11 (b) TRAINING.—In consultation with the Chief Infor12 mation Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, 

13 the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis of the 

14 Department shall develop and implement a formalized 

15 training module for fusion center personnel regarding the 

16 classified Homeland Secure Data Network of the Depart17 ment, or any successor system. 

18 (c) FUSION CENTER DEFINED.—In this section, the 

19 term ‘‘fusion center’’ has the meaning given such term in 

20 section 210A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

21 U.S.C. 124h). 

22 SEC. 4. DHS COMPONENT USAGE OF THE HOMELAND SECU23 RITY INFORMATION NETWORK. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Intelligence 


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1 Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, in con2 sultation with the Chief Information Officer of the Depart3 ment, shall— 

4 (1) develop policies and metrics to ensure effec5 tive use by components of the Department of the 

6 Department’s unclassified Homeland Security Infor7 mation Sharing Network, or any successor system; 

8 and 

9 (2) develop policies for posting unclassified 

10 products on the Homeland Security Information 

11 Sharing Network, or any successor system. 

12 (b) TECHNICAL ENHANCEMENTS.—The Chief Infor13 mation Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, 

14 in consultation with the Chief Intelligence Officer of the 

15 Department, shall assess and implement, as appropriate, 

16 technical enhancements to the Homeland Security Infor17 mation Sharing Network (HSIN) to improve usability, in18 cluding search functionality, data analysis, and collabora19 tion capabilities. 

20 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

21 Not later than 18 months after the date of the enact22 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

23 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and the 

24 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 

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1 rity and Governmental Affairs and the Select Committee 

2 on Intelligence of the Senate a report on the implementa3 tion of the following: 

4 (1) The fusion center information sharing strat5 egy required under subsection (j) of section 210A of 

6 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 

7 124h), as added by section 2 of this Act, based on 

8 performance metrics developed pursuant to such 

9 strategy. 

10 (2) Field personnel deployed to fusion centers 

11 (as such term is defined in section 210A of the 

12 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124h)) in 

13 accordance with section 3, based on performance 

14 metrics developed pursuant to such section. 

15 (3) Policies that seek to ensure the effective use 

16 of the Homeland Security Information Sharing Net17 work in accordance with section 4, based on the 

18 metrics developed pursuant to such section. 

Æ 


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