IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9748 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 20 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

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AN ACT 

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. 


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HR 9748 RFS

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SAFEGUARDING SENSITIVE RESEARCH IN THE DE7 PARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Homeland Se9 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 182) is amended— 

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

11 the semicolon; 

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

13 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(15) developing, in coordination with appro17 priate agency officials, a Department-wide policy 

18 and process to safeguard research and development 

19 from unauthorized access to or disclosure of sen20 sitive information in research and development ac21 quisitions.’’. 

22 (b) GAO REPORT.— 

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

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

25 Comptroller General of the United States shall subVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 26, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9748.RFS H9748

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HR 9748 RFS

1 mit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

2 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

3 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

4 Senate a report on how the Department has com5 plied with National Security Presidential Memo6 randum–33 (NSPM–33) and adopted the National 

7 Science and Technology Council’s 2022 implementa8 tion guidance. 

9 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

10 paragraph (1) shall address the following: 

11 (A) How the Department of Homeland Se12 curity has complied with disclosure require13 ments outlined in NSPM–33, and how viola14 tions are reported to the relevant executive 

15 agencies, including in the intelligence commu16 nity (as such term is defined in section 3(4) of 

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

18 3003(4)). 

19 (B) Coordination and compliance with 

20 guidelines established by the National Science 

21 Foundation, the National Science Technology 

22 Council, the Office of Science and Technology 

23 Policy, and other executive agencies regarding 

24 Federal research security. 


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HR 9748 RFS

1 (C) The role of the Science and Tech2 nology Directorate of the Department regarding 

3 establishing a research security framework for 

4 research and development projects across the 

5 Department. 

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

7 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary of Homeland Security shall provide to the Com9 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Representa10 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov11 ernmental Affairs of the Senate a briefing addressing the 

12 development of policies and processes to safeguard De13 partment of Homeland Security research and development 

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

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

16 by subsection (a). 

Passed the House of Representatives December 20, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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