II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4888 

To require the President to supplement disaster response plans to account 

for catastrophic incidents disabling 1 or more critical infrastructure sectors or significantly disrupting the critical functions of modern society, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the President to supplement disaster response 

plans to account for catastrophic incidents disabling 1 

or more critical infrastructure sectors or significantly 

disrupting the critical functions of modern society, 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 ‘‘Keeping Everyone Safe 

5 and Securing Lives by Emergency Readiness Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘KESSLER Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the integration of connected technologies 

4 has become essential to the operation of modern crit5 ical infrastructure; 

6 (2) reliance on connected technologies and 

7 interoperability across critical infrastructure sectors 

8 create new vulnerabilities that may be used against 

9 the United States; 

10 (3) adversaries of the United States have tar11 geted critical infrastructure and are likely to in12 crease attacks on essential services in the United 

13 States should global conflicts escalate; 

14 (4) while strong defenses and mitigation meas15 ures are essential to the safety of the United States, 

16 no strategy can stop all catastrophic events; 

17 (5) the Federal Government must prepare Fed18 eral, State, and local governments, along with the 

19 people of the United States, to promote the general 

20 welfare of the civilian population of the United 

21 States even if most or all critical infrastructure sec22 tors are impacted by catastrophic events; and 

23 (6) such preparations must include coordination 

24 with State, local, and Tribal governments, private 

25 sector entities, and individual citizens. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) BASIC NEED.—The term ‘‘basic need’’— 

4 (A) means any good, service, or activity 

5 necessary to protect the health, safety, and gen6 eral welfare of the civilian population of the 

7 United States; and 

8 (B) includes— 

9 (i) food; 

10 (ii) water; 

11 (iii) shelter; 

12 (iv) basic communication services; 

13 (v) basic sanitation and health serv14 ices; and 

15 (vi) public safety. 

16 (2) CATASTROPHIC INCIDENT.—The term ‘‘cat17 astrophic incident’’— 

18 (A) means any natural or man-made dis19 aster that results in extraordinary levels of cas20 ualties or damage, mass evacuations, or disrup21 tion severely affecting the population, infra22 structure, environment, economy, national mo23 rale, or government functions in an area; and 

24 (B) may include an incident— 

25 (i) with a sustained national impact 

26 over a prolonged period of time; 


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1 (ii) that may rapidly exceed resources 

2 available to State and local government 

3 and private sector authorities in the im4 pacted area; or 

5 (iii) that may significantly interrupt 

6 governmental operations and emergency 

7 services to such an extent that national se8 curity could be threatened. 

9 (3) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

10 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given the 

11 term in section 1016(e) of the Critical Infrastruc12 ture Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 

13 (4) NATIONAL EXERCISE PROGRAM.—The term 

14 ‘‘national exercise program’’ means activities carried 

15 out to test and evaluate the national preparedness 

16 goal and related plans and strategies as described in 

17 section 648(b) of the Post-Katrina Emergency Man18 agement Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 748(b)). 

19 (5) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

20 government’’ means the recognized governing body 

21 of any Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, 

22 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com23 ponent reservation, that is individually identified (in24 cluding parenthetically) in the most recent list pub25 lished pursuant to section 104 of the Federally RecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Sep 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4888.IS S4888

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1 ognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 

2 5131). 

3 SEC. 4. ENHANCED CATASTROPHIC INCIDENT ANNEX. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, with support from 

5 the committee, shall supplement each Federal Interagency 

6 Operational Plan to include an annex containing a strat7 egy to ensure the health, safety, and general welfare of 

8 the civilian population affected by catastrophic incidents 

9 by— 

10 (1) providing for the basic needs of the civilian 

11 population of the United States that is impacted by 

12 catastrophic incidents in the United States; 

13 (2) coordinating response efforts with State and 

14 local governments, the private sector, and nonprofit 

15 relief organizations; 

16 (3) promoting personal and local readiness and 

17 non-reliance on government relief during periods of 

18 heightened tension or after catastrophic incidents; 

19 and 

20 (4) developing international partnerships with 

21 allied nations for the provision of relief services and 

22 goods. 

23 (b) ELEMENTS OF THE STRATEGY.—The strategy re24 quired under subsection (a) shall include a description 

25 of— 


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1 (1) actions the President will take to ensure the 

2 basic needs of the civilian population of the United 

3 States in a catastrophic incident are met; 

4 (2) how the President will coordinate with non5 Federal entities to multiply resources and enhance 

6 relief capabilities, including— 

7 (A) State and local governments; 

8 (B) Tribal governments; 

9 (C) State disaster relief agencies; 

10 (D) State and local disaster relief man11 agers; 

12 (E) State National Guards; 

13 (F) law enforcement and first response en14 tities; and 

15 (G) nonprofit relief services; 

16 (3) actions the President will take to enhance 

17 individual resiliency to the effects of a catastrophic 

18 incident, which actions shall include— 

19 (A) readiness alerts to the public during 

20 periods of elevated threat; 

21 (B) efforts to enhance domestic supply and 

22 availability of critical goods and basic neces23 sities; and 


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1 (C) information campaigns to ensure the 

2 public is aware of response plans and services 

3 that will be activated when necessary; 

4 (4) efforts the President will undertake and 

5 agreements the President will seek with inter6 national allies to enhance the readiness of the 

7 United States to provide for the general welfare; 

8 (5) how the strategy will be implemented should 

9 multiple levels of critical infrastructure be destroyed 

10 or taken offline entirely for an extended period of 

11 time; and 

12 (6) the authorities the President would impli13 cate in responding to a catastrophic incident. 

14 (c) ASSUMPTIONS.—In designing the strategy under 

15 subsection (a), the President shall account for certain fac16 tors to make the strategy operationally viable, including 

17 the assumption that— 

18 (1) multiple levels of critical infrastructure have 

19 been taken offline or destroyed by catastrophic inci20 dents or the effects of catastrophic incidents; 

21 (2) impacted sectors may include— 

22 (A) the transportation sector; 

23 (B) the communication sector; 

24 (C) the energy sector; 


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1 (D) the healthcare and public health sec2 tor; 

3 (E) the water and wastewater sector; and 

4 (F) the financial sector; 

5 (3) State, local, Tribal, and territorial govern6 ments have been equally affected or made largely in7 operable by catastrophic incidents or the effects of 

8 catastrophic incidents; 

9 (4) the emergency has exceeded the response 

10 capabilities of State and local governments under 

11 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer12 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) and 

13 other relevant disaster response laws; and 

14 (5) the United States military is sufficiently en15 gaged in armed or cyber conflict with State or non16 State adversaries, or is otherwise unable to augment 

17 domestic response capabilities in a significant man18 ner due to a catastrophic incident. 

19 (d) EXISTING PLANS.—The President may incor20 porate existing contingency plans in the strategy developed 

21 under subsection (a) so long as those contingency plans 

22 are amended to be operational in accordance with the re23 quirements under this section. 

24 (e) AVAILABILITY.—The strategy developed under 

25 subsection (a) shall be available to the public but may inVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Sep 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4888.IS S4888

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1 clude a classified, or other restricted, annex to be made 

2 available to the appropriate committees of Congress and 

3 appropriate government entities. 

4 SEC. 5. VALIDATION OF THE STRATEGY THROUGH AN EX5 ERCISE. 

6 Not later than 1 year after the addition of the annex 

7 required under section 4, the Department of Homeland 

8 Security shall lead an exercise as part of the national exer9 cise program, in coordination with the committee, to test 

10 and enhance the operationalization of the strategy. 

11 SEC. 6. RECOMMENDATIONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall provide rec13 ommendations to Congress for— 

14 (1) actions that should be taken to prepare the 

15 United States to implement the strategy required 

16 under section 4, increase readiness, and address pre17 paredness gaps for responding to the impacts of cat18 astrophic incidents on citizens of the United States; 

19 and 

20 (2) additional authorities that should be consid21 ered for Federal agencies and the President to more 

22 effectively implement the strategy required under 

23 section 4. 


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1 (b) INCLUSION IN REPORTS.—The President may in2 clude the recommendations required under subsection (a) 

3 in a report submitted under section 7. 

4 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

5 Not later than 1 year after the date on which the 

6 Department of Homeland Security leads the exercise 

7 under section 5, the President shall submit to Congress 

8 a report that includes— 

9 (1) a description of the efforts of the President 

10 to develop and update the strategy required under 

11 section 4; and 

12 (2) an after-action report following the conduct 

13 of the exercise described in section 5. 

Æ 


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