II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 411 

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, 2023 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. SCOTT of 

Florida, Mr. MANCHIN, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. KING) 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 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

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

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

9 murdered in a senseless and violent attack on MarVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S411.IS S411

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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, Alaina Petty, Alex 

4 Schachter, Alyssa Alhadeff, Cara Loughran, Carmen 

5 Schentrup, Gina Montalto, Helena Ramsay, Jaime 

6 Guttenberg, Joaquin Oliver, Luke Hoyer, Martin 

7 Duque, Meadow Pollack, Nicholas Dworet, Peter 

8 Wang, Aaron Feis, Chris Hixon, and Scott Beigel, 

9 lived lives of warmth, joy, determination, service, 

10 and love, and their loss is mourned by the Nation. 

11 (3) Like many attackers, the shooter in that at12 tack exhibited patterns of threatening and con13 cerning behavior prior to the massacre that were 

14 alarming and that should have alerted law enforce15 ment and other Federal, State, and local officials 

16 about the potential for violence. 

17 (4) Acts of targeted violence, including the at18 tack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are 

19 preventable. 

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

21 exemplary conduct of many students, teachers, and 

22 staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in23 cluding several of the victims of the attack. 

24 (6) The National Threat Assessment Center of 

25 the United States Secret Service (referred to in this 


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1 Act as the ‘‘Center’’) was established in 1998 to 

2 conduct research on all forms of targeted violence, 

3 including attacks targeting government officials, gov4 ernment facilities, workplaces, houses of worship, el5 ementary and secondary schools, and colleges and 

6 universities and mass attacks in public spaces. 

7 (7) Research published by the Center on tar8 geted violence has shown that— 

9 (A) most incidents were planned in ad10 vance; 

11 (B) the attackers’ behavior gave some indi12 cation that the individual was planning, or at 

13 least contemplating, an attack; 

14 (C) most attackers had already exhibited a 

15 pattern of behavior that elicited concern by 

16 other people in their lives; and 

17 (D) prior to the attack, someone associated 

18 with the attacker, such as a family member or 

19 peer, often knew the attack was to likely to 

20 occur. 

21 (8) Through their research, the Center devel22 oped the behavioral threat assessment model of the 

23 United States Secret Service for preventing targeted 

24 violence, which includes a 3-step process— 


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1 (A) identifying individuals who are exhib2 iting threatening or concerning behaviors that 

3 indicate they may pose a risk of violence; 

4 (B) assessing whether the individual poses 

5 a risk, based on articulable facts; and 

6 (C) managing the risk posed through indi7 vidualized proactive and preventive measures. 

8 (9) The behavioral threat assessment model of 

9 the United States Secret Service works most effec10 tively when all the relevant parties, including local 

11 law enforcement, mental health professionals, work12 place managers, school personnel, and members of 

13 the community, are part of a comprehensive protocol 

14 to identify, assess, and manage a potential threat. 

15 (10) The primary goal of behavioral threat as16 sessment programs is to prevent targeted violence, 

17 with an emphasis on providing early intervention, 

18 and connecting individuals exhibiting threatening or 

19 concerning behavior to existing community resources 

20 for support. 

21 (11) Early intervention is a proven and effective 

22 way to prevent violent conduct that would otherwise 

23 harm others and necessitate more punitive action, 

24 including criminal penalties. 


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1 (12) The parties involved need the appropriate 

2 research, guidance, training, and tools to establish 

3 the appropriate mechanisms for implementing this 

4 type of preventive of approach. 

5 (13) In elementary and secondary schools, a be6 havioral threat assessment is a proactive approach 

7 to identify, assess, and provide age-appropriate 

8 interventions, resources, and supports for students 

9 who display behavior that elicits concerns for the 

10 safety of themselves or others. 

11 (14) There has been a 79-percent decline in 

12 bullying infractions in elementary and secondary 

13 school communities that have received training by 

14 the Center. 

15 (15) The demand from local communities 

16 throughout the United States for behavioral threat 

17 assessment trainings has significantly increased. 

18 Since its inception, the Center has provided over 

19 2,575 training sessions to over 273,000 attendees. 

20 (16) From fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2022, 

21 the Center has experienced a 117-percent increase in 

22 demand for training sessions, with 5 times as many 

23 participants. 

24 (17) The Center additionally provides consulta25 tion and follow-up engagements with government 


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1 agencies, law enforcement, schools, and other organi2 zations with public safety responsibilities. From fis3 cal year 2018 to fiscal year 2022 the Center experi4 enced a 553-percent increase in consultation activi5 ties. 

6 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that a fact-based behavioral threat assessment ap8 proach, involving local law enforcement, mental health 

9 professionals, workplace managers, school personnel, other 

10 public safety officials, and members of the community, is 

11 one of the most effective ways to prevent targeted violence 

12 impacting communities across the country, and is a fitting 

13 memorial to those whose lives were taken in the February 

14 14, 2018, attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High 

15 School and those who heroically acted to preserve the lives 

16 of their friends, students, and colleagues. 

17 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION AND EXPANSION OF THE NA18 TIONAL THREAT ASSESSMENT CENTER OF 

19 THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. 

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

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

22 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3056B. Functions of the National Threat Assess2 ment Center of the United States Secret 

3 Service 

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

5 Threat Assessment Center (in this section referred to as 

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

7 Service, at the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Se8 curity. 

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

10 include the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) Training and education in the areas of 

12 best practices on threat assessment and the preven13 tion of targeted violence. 

14 ‘‘(2) Consultation on complex threat assessment 

15 cases and programs. 

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

17 prevention of targeted violence, consistent with evi18 dence-based standards and existing laws and regula19 tions. 

20 ‘‘(4) Facilitation of information sharing on 

21 threat assessment and the prevention of targeted vi22 olence among agencies and organizations with pro23 tective or public safety responsibilities, as well as 

24 other public or private entities. 

25 ‘‘(5) Development of evidence-based programs 

26 to promote the standardization of Federal, State, 


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1 and local threat assessments and best practices for 

2 the prevention of targeted violence. 

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

4 functions described in subsection (b), the Center shall es5 tablish a national program on targeted school violence pre6 vention, focusing on the following activities: 

7 ‘‘(1) RESEARCH.—The Center shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) conduct research into targeted school 

9 violence and evidence-based practices in tar10 geted school violence prevention, including 

11 school threat assessment; and 

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

13 the public website of the United States Secret 

14 Service and on the School Safety Clearinghouse 

15 website, known as www.SchoolSafety.gov, or 

16 any successor thereto. 

17 ‘‘(2) TRAINING.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall de19 velop and offer training courses on targeted 

20 school violence prevention to agencies with pro21 tective or public safety responsibilities and 

22 other public or private entities, including local 

23 educational agencies. 

24 ‘‘(B) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after 

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1 ter shall establish a plan to offer its training 

2 and other educational resources to public or pri3 vate entities within each State. 

4 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL

5 AGENCIES.—The Center shall develop research and 

6 training programs under this section in coordination 

7 with the Department of Justice, the Department of 

8 Education, and the Department of Health and 

9 Human Services. 

10 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION WITH ENTITIES OUTSIDE

11 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The Center is au12 thorized to consult with State and local educational, 

13 law enforcement, and mental health officials and pri14 vate entities in the development of research and 

15 training programs under this section. 

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

17 create an interactive website to disseminate informa18 tion and data on evidence-based practices in tar19 geted school violence prevention. 

20 ‘‘(d) HIRING OF ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Di21 rector of the United States Secret Service may hire addi22 tional personnel to comply with the requirements of this 

23 section, which, if the Director exercises that authority, 

24 shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) at least 1 employee with expertise in child 

2 psychological development; and 

3 ‘‘(2) at least 1 employee with expertise in school 

4 threat assessment. 

5 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

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

7 of the United States Secret Service shall submit to the 

8 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Health, 

9 Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Committee on 

10 Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on the 

11 Judiciary, Committee on Education and the Workforce, 

12 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

13 Representatives a report on actions taken by the United 

14 States Secret Service to implement provisions of this sec15 tion, which shall include information relating to the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(1) The number of employees hired (on a full18 time equivalent basis). 

19 ‘‘(2) The number of individuals in each State 

20 trained in threat assessment. 

21 ‘‘(3) The number of school districts in each 

22 State trained in school threat assessment or targeted 

23 school violence prevention. 

24 ‘‘(4) Information on Federal, State, and local 

25 agencies trained or otherwise assisted by the Center. 


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1 ‘‘(5) A formal evaluation indicating whether the 

2 training and other assistance provided by the Center 

3 is effective. 

4 ‘‘(6) A formal evaluation indicating whether the 

5 training and other assistance provided by the Center 

6 was implemented by the school. 

7 ‘‘(7) A summary of the Center’s research activi8 ties and findings. 

9 ‘‘(8) A strategic plan for disseminating the 

10 Center’s educational and training resources to each 

11 State. 

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

13 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

15 2024 through 2028. Amounts appropriated pursuant to 

16 such authorization shall be derived wholly from the unobli17 gated balances of amounts made available to the Depart18 ment of Homeland Security, on or before the date of the 

19 enactment of this section, to prevent, prepare for, or re20 spond to the coronavirus. 

21 ‘‘(g) NO FUNDS TO PROVIDE FIREARMS TRAIN22 ING.—Amounts made available to carry out this section 

23 may not be used to train any person in the use of a fire24 arm. 


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1 ‘‘(h) NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this 

2 section may be construed to preclude or contradict any 

3 other provision of law authorizing training in the use of 

4 firearms. 

5 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) EVIDENCE-BASED.—The term ‘evidence7 based’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) strong evidence from at least 1 well9 designed and well-implemented experimental 

10 study; 

11 ‘‘(B) moderate evidence from at least 1 

12 well-designed and well-implemented quasi-exper13 imental study; or 

14 ‘‘(C) promising evidence from at least 1 

15 well-designed and well-implemented correla16 tional study with statistical controls for selec17 tion bias. 

18 ‘‘(2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

19 ‘local educational agency’ has the meaning given 

20 such term under section 8101 of the Elementary 

21 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

22 7801). 

23 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any 

24 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

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1 lands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common2 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL, CONFORMING, AND CLERICAL

4 AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND6 MENT.—Section 4 of the Presidential Threat Protec7 tion Act of 2000 (18 U.S.C. 3056 note) is repealed. 

8 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec9 tions for chapter 203 of title 18, United States 

10 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating 

11 to section 3056A the following: 

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

States Secret Service.’’. 

Æ 


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