I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5094 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to improve suspicious activity 

reporting to prevent acts of terrorism, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2018 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Mr. KATKO, and Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to improve 

suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts of terrorism, 

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 ‘‘Enhancing Suspicious 

5 Activity Reporting Initiative Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCING DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECU2 RITY SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING OP3 ERATIONS. 

4 (a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

6 of Homeland Security, in consultation with other appro7 priate Federal officials, shall develop a strategy to improve 

8 the operations and activities of the Department of Home9 land Security related to training, outreach, and informa10 tion sharing for suspicious activity reporting to prevent 

11 acts of terrorism. 

12 (b) CONTENTS OF STRATEGY.—The strategy re13 quired under subsection (a) shall include the following: 

14 (1) A description and examples of the types of 

15 information that would meet the definition of critical 

16 information for the purpose of suspicious activity re17 porting as well as information, including information 

18 associated with racial, religious or national origin, 

19 that would not meet the definition of critical infor20 mation. 

21 (2) Training for appropriate personnel of State 

22 and major urban area fusion centers, emergency re23 sponse providers, and, as appropriate, the private 

24 sector on— 


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1 (A) methods for identifying, analyzing, and 

2 disseminating critical information, including the 

3 indicators of terrorism; 

4 (B) methods to protect privacy and civil 

5 liberties, including preventing racial, religious, 

6 or national origin discrimination; and 

7 (C) response protocols for submitting sus8 picious activity reports. 

9 (3) Methods to improve outreach to appropriate 

10 State and major urban area fusion centers, emer11 gency response providers, and the private sector re12 lated to suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts 

13 of terrorism. 

14 (4) A plan to ensure that critical information is 

15 shared in a timely manner with State and major 

16 urban area fusion centers, emergency response pro17 viders, and the private sector, as appropriate, includ18 ing nationwide trend analysis and other information 

19 related to terrorist threats. 

20 (5) Methods to measure the effectiveness of the 

21 activities conducted under the strategy with respect 

22 to improving the operations and activities of the De23 partment related to training, outreach, and informa24 tion sharing to prevent acts of terrorism that have 


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1 been validated through peer-reviewed empirical stud2 ies to the extent practicable. 

3 (c) WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS.—In de4 veloping the strategy required under subsection (a) the 

5 Secretary shall take into consideration the recommenda6 tions of the working group established under section 3. 

7 (d) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not less than 

8 30 days before the release of the strategy required pursu9 ant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide to the 

10 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep11 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

12 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a notification of 

13 the release of the strategy and a copy of the strategy. Such 

14 notification shall include the recommendations provided by 

15 the working group established under section 3 and how 

16 such recommendations were incorporated into the strat17 egy. 

18 SEC. 3. SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING WORKING 

19 GROUP. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

22 Security shall establish a working group on sus23 picious activity reporting. 

24 (2) DEPARTMENT LIAISONS.—The Secretary 

25 shall appoint as liaisons to the working group— 


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1 (A) the Chief Privacy Officer of the De2 partment of Homeland Security; 

3 (B) the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil 

4 Liberties of the Department; and 

5 (C) such other officials of the Department 

6 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

7 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The working group estab8 lished under subsection (a) shall carry out the following 

9 responsibilities: 

10 (1) Provide advice to the Secretary regarding 

11 improvements to the operations and activities related 

12 to suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts of 

13 terrorism. 

14 (2) At the request of the Secretary, for pur15 poses of section 2(c), develop recommendations to 

16 improve suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts 

17 of terrorism with respect to— 

18 (A) outreach to relevant stakeholders; 

19 (B) information sharing; 

20 (C) protecting personally identifiable infor21 mation; 

22 (D) protecting the privacy, civil rights, and 

23 civil liberties of individuals who report sus24 picious activity and individuals who are the sub25 jects of such reports; 


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1 (E) preventing racial, religious, or national 

2 origin discrimination; 

3 (F) training for emergency response pro4 viders and the private sector; and 

5 (G) other matters, as determined by the 

6 Secretary. 

7 (c) WORKING GROUP MEMBERSHIP.—Not later than 

8 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

9 Secretary shall seek the voluntary participation of not 

10 more than 20 individuals representing at least 12 diverse 

11 regions of the United States to serve as members of the 

12 working group. Members of the working group shall serve 

13 without pay. The Secretary shall seek to ensure that the 

14 working group includes members who are representatives 

15 from each of the following: 

16 (1) State and major urban area fusion centers. 

17 (2) State, local, tribal and territorial law en18 forcement agencies. 

19 (3) Firefighters. 

20 (4) Emergency medical services. 

21 (5) Private sector security professionals. 

22 (6) Nongovernmental privacy and civil liberty 

23 organizations. 

24 (7) Any other group the Secretary determines 

25 appropriate. 


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1 (d) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING.—Upon request, the 

2 Secretary shall provide to the Committee on Homeland Se3 curity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

4 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

5 Senate a briefing on the operations and activities of the 

6 Department of Homeland Security related to training, 

7 outreach, and information sharing for suspicious activity 

8 reporting to prevent acts of terrorism, including copies of 

9 materials developed under this section. 

10 (e) TERMINATION.—The working group under this 

11 section shall terminate on the date that is two years after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, except that the Sec13 retary may extend such working group if the Secretary 

14 determines necessary. 

15 (f) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Ad16 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 

17 the working group established under this section. 

Æ 


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