I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9748 

To require the Under Secretary of the Science and Technology Directorate 

of the Department of Homeland Security to develop a Departmentwide policy and process to safeguard research and development from 

unauthorized access to or disclosure of sensitive information in research 

and development acquisitions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024 

Mr. D’ESPOSITO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To require the Under Secretary of the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security to develop a Department-wide policy and process 

to safeguard research and development from unauthorized access to or disclosure of sensitive information in 

research and development acquisitions, 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 ‘‘Research Security and 

5 Accountability in DHS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SAFEGUARDING SENSITIVE RESEARCH IN THE DE2 PARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Homeland Se4 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 182) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

6 the semicolon; 

7 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period 

8 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(15) developing, in coordination with appro12 priate agency officials, a Department-wide policy 

13 and process to safeguard research and development 

14 from unauthorized access to or disclosure of sen15 sitive information in research and development ac16 quisitions.’’. 

17 (b) GAO REPORT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

20 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub21 mit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

22 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

23 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

24 Senate a report on how the Department has com25 plied with National Security Presidential Memo26 randum–33 (NSPM–33) and adopted the National 


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1 Science and Technology Council’s 2022 implementa2 tion guidance. 

3 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

4 paragraph (1) shall address the following: 

5 (A) How the Department of Homeland Se6 curity has complied with disclosure require7 ments outlined in NSPM–33, and how viola8 tions are reported to the relevant executive 

9 agencies, including in the intelligence commu10 nity (as such term is defined in section 3(4) of 

11 the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

12 3003(4)). 

13 (B) Coordination and compliance with 

14 guidelines established by the National Science 

15 Foundation, the National Science Technology 

16 Council, the Office of Science and Technology 

17 Policy, and other executive agencies regarding 

18 Federal research security. 

19 (C) The role of the Science and Tech20 nology Directorate of the Department regarding 

21 establishing a research security framework for 

22 research and development projects across the 

23 Department. 

24 (c) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING.—Not later than 90 

25 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Sep 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9748.IH H9748

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•HR 9748 IH

1 retary of Homeland Security shall provide to the Com2 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Representa3 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov4 ernmental Affairs of the Senate a briefing addressing the 

5 development of policies and processes to safeguard De6 partment of Homeland Security research and development 

7 in accordance with paragraph (15) of section 302 of the 

8 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 182), as added 

9 by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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