II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 495 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to reauthorize and expand the 

National Threat Assessment Center of the Department of Homeland Security. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. JONES, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, 

Mr. MANCHIN, and Mr. GARDNER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to reauthorize and 

expand the National Threat Assessment Center of the 

Department of Homeland Security. 

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 ‘‘EAGLES Act of 

5 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) On February 14, 2018, 17 individuals lost 

9 their lives in a senseless and violent attack on MarVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Feb 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S495.IS S495

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1 jory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland 

2 Florida, a school whose mascot is the eagle. 

3 (2) These individuals lived lives of warmth, joy, 

4 determination, service, and love, and their loss is 

5 mourned by the Nation. 

6 (3) The shooter in that attack exhibited pat7 terns of behavior that were alarming and that should 

8 have alerted law enforcement and other Federal, 

9 State, and local officials. 

10 (4) The attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas 

11 High School was preventable. 

12 (5) Lives were saved because of the brave and 

13 exemplary conduct of many students, teachers, and 

14 staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in15 cluding several of the victims of the attack. 

16 (6) The National Threat Assessment Center 

17 (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Center’’) was estab18 lished in 1998 to conduct research on various types 

19 of targeted violence. 

20 (7) Studies conducted by the Center on tar21 geted school violence, in particular, have shown 

22 that— 

23 (A) most incidents were planned in ad24 vance; 


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1 (B) the attackers’ behavior gave some indi2 cation that the individual was planning, or at 

3 least contemplating, an attack; 

4 (C) most attackers had already exhibited a 

5 pattern of behavior that was of concern to other 

6 people in their lives; and 

7 (D) prior to the attack, someone associated 

8 with the attacker, such as a family member or 

9 peer, knew the attack was to likely to occur. 

10 (8) Through their research, the Center devel11 oped the threat assessment model for responding to 

12 indicators of targeted violence, which includes a 3- 

13 step process— 

14 (A) identifying individuals who are exhib15 iting behaviors that indicate they are planning 

16 an attack on a school; 

17 (B) assessing whether the individual poses 

18 a threat to the school, based on articulable 

19 facts; and 

20 (C) managing the threat the individual 

21 may pose to the school. 

22 (9) The threat assessment model works most 

23 effectively when all the relevant parties, including 

24 school officials, local law enforcement, and members 

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1 tocol to identify, assess, and manage a potential 

2 threat to the school. 

3 (10) The primary goal of threat assessment 

4 programs in schools should be to prevent violent con5 duct, with an emphasis on early intervention, treat6 ment, and care of individuals exhibiting behaviors 

7 associated with targeted violence. 

8 (11) Early intervention, treatment, and preven9 tion of violent behavior is an effective way to prevent 

10 violent conduct that would harm others and neces11 sitate disciplinary action, including criminal pen12 alties. 

13 (12) The parties involved need the appropriate 

14 training and tools to establish the appropriate mech15 anisms for implementing this type of approach. 

16 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that a fact-based threat assessment approach, in18 volving school officials, local law enforcement, and mem19 bers of the community, is one of the most effective ways 

20 to prevent targeted violence in schools, and is a fitting me21 morial to those who lost their lives in the February 14, 

22 2018 attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School 

23 and those who heroically acted to preserve the lives of their 

24 friends, students, and colleagues. 


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1 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION AND EXPANSION OF THE NA2 TIONAL THREAT ASSESSMENT CENTER OF 

3 THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 203 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3056A 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 3056B. Functions of the National Threat Assess8 ment Center of the United States Secret 

9 Service 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a National 

11 Threat Assessment Center (in this section referred to as 

12 the ‘Center’), to be operated by the United States Secret 

13 Service, at the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Se14 curity. 

15 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Center shall 

16 include the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) Training in the area of best practices on 

18 threat assessment. 

19 ‘‘(2) Consultation on complex threat assessment 

20 cases or programs. 

21 ‘‘(3) Research on threat assessment and the 

22 prevention of targeted violence, consistent with evi23 dence-based standards and existing laws and regula24 tions. 

25 ‘‘(4) Facilitation of information sharing on 

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1 olence among agencies with protective or public safe2 ty responsibilities, as well as other public or private 

3 entities. 

4 ‘‘(5) Development and implementation of evi5 dence-based programs to promote the standardiza6 tion of Federal, State, and local threat assessments, 

7 best practices in investigations involving threats, and 

8 the prevention of targeted violence. 

9 ‘‘(c) SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE.—In carrying out the 

10 functions described in subsection (b), the Center shall es11 tablish a national program on targeted school violence pre12 vention, focusing on the following activities: 

13 ‘‘(1) RESEARCH.—The Center shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) conduct evidence-based research into 

15 targeted school violence and school threat as16 sessment; and 

17 ‘‘(B) publish the findings of the Center on 

18 the public website of the United States Secret 

19 Service. 

20 ‘‘(2) TRAINING.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall offer 

22 training courses on targeted school violence pre23 vention to agencies with protective or public 

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1 vate entities, including public school districts 

2 and schools. 

3 ‘‘(B) DEVELOPMENT.—Training programs 

4 developed by the Center shall use best practices 

5 in school threat assessment, such as data pro6 duced through experimental, quasi-experimen7 tal, and non-experimental research. 

8 ‘‘(C) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after 

9 the date of enactment of this section, the Cen10 ter shall establish a plan to offer its training 

11 and other educational resources to public or pri12 vate entities within each State. 

13 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL

14 AGENCIES.—To the extent practicable, the Center 

15 shall develop research and training programs under 

16 this section in coordination with the Department of 

17 Justice and Department of Education. 

18 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION WITH ENTITIES OUTSIDE

19 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The Center is au20 thorized to consult with State and local educational, 

21 law enforcement, and mental health officials and pri22 vate entities in the development of research and 

23 training programs under this section. 

24 ‘‘(5) CONTRACTING SERVICES.—In carrying out 

25 the functions under subsection (b), and subject to 


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1 the requirements of other applicable Federal law, the 

2 Director of the United States Secret Service may 

3 enter into contracts with public and private entities 

4 to assist in conducting research and training. 

5 ‘‘(6) INTERACTIVE WEBSITE.—The Center may 

6 create an interactive website to disseminate informa7 tion and data on evidence-based practices in tar8 geted school violence prevention. 

9 ‘‘(d) HIRING OF ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Di10 rector of the Secret Service may hire additional personnel 

11 to comply with the requirements of this section. 

12 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the func14 tions of the Center— 

15 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 

16 ‘‘(2) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

17 through 2023. 

18 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

19 after the date of enactment of this section, the Director 

20 of the Secret Service shall submit to the Committee on 

21 the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Ju22 diciary of the House of Representatives a report on actions 

23 taken by the United States Secret Service to implement 

24 provisions of this section, which shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the number of employees hired (on a full2 time equivalent basis); 

3 ‘‘(2) the number of individuals in each State 

4 trained in school threat assessment; 

5 ‘‘(3) the number of school districts in each 

6 State trained in school threat assessment or targeted 

7 school violence prevention; 

8 ‘‘(4) information on Federal, State, and local 

9 agencies trained or otherwise assisted by the Center; 

10 ‘‘(5) a formal evaluation indicating whether the 

11 training and other assistance provided by the Center 

12 is effective; 

13 ‘‘(6) a formal evaluation indicating whether the 

14 training and other assistance provided by the Center 

15 was implemented by the school; 

16 ‘‘(7) a summary of the Center’s research activi17 ties and findings; and 

18 ‘‘(8) a strategic plan for disseminating the Cen19 ter’s educational and training resources to each 

20 State. 

21 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

22 ‘‘(1) the term ‘evidence-based’— 

23 ‘‘(A) means a program that demonstrates 

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1 ings or positive evaluation that such program is 

2 likely to improve relevant outcomes; and 

3 ‘‘(B) includes ongoing efforts to examine 

4 the effects of the program; and 

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘State’ means any State of the 

6 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com7 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

8 Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 

9 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

10 ‘‘(h) NO FUNDS TO PROVIDE FIREARMS TRAIN11 ING.—None of the funds authorized to be appropriated 

12 under this section may be used to train any person in the 

13 use of a firearm. 

14 ‘‘(i) NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this 

15 section may be construed to preclude or contradict any 

16 other provision of law authorizing training in the use of 

17 firearms.’’. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) Section 4 of the Presidential Threat Protec20 tion Act of 2000 (18 U.S.C. 3056 note), is repealed. 

21 (2) The table of sections for chapter 203 of title 

22 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

23 after the item relating to section 3056A the fol24 lowing: 


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‘‘3056B. Functions of the National Threat Assessment Center of the United 

States Secret Service.’’. 

Æ 


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