I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 495 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide immunity for 

reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious behavior and response. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2011 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, 

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mrs. MILLER of 

Michigan, Mr. WALSH of Illinois, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. QUAYLE, Mr. LONG, 

Mr. MARINO, Mr. FARENTHOLD, and Mr. ROYCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide 

immunity for reports of suspected terrorist activity or 

suspicious behavior and response. 

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 ‘‘See Something, Say 

5 Something Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 

2 2002. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 

4 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 890. IMMUNITY FOR REPORTS OF SUSPECTED TER7 RORIST ACTIVITY OR SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR 

8 AND RESPONSE. 

9 ‘‘(a) IMMUNITY FOR REPORTS OF SUSPECTED TER10 RORIST ACTIVITY OR SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR AND RE11 SPONSE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who, in good 

13 faith and based on objectively reasonable suspicion, 

14 makes, or causes to be made, a voluntary report of 

15 covered activity to an authorized official shall be im16 mune from civil liability under Federal, State, and 

17 local law for such report. 

18 ‘‘(2) FALSE REPORTS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

19 apply to any report that the person knew to be false 

20 or was made with reckless disregard for the truth at 

21 the time that the person made that report. 

22 ‘‘(b) IMMUNITY FOR RESPONSE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any authorized official who 

24 observes, or receives a report of, covered activity and 

25 takes reasonable action in good faith to respond to 

26 such activity shall have qualified immunity from civil 


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1 liability for such action, consistent with applicable 

2 law in the relevant jurisdiction. An authorized offi3 cial as defined by subsection (d)(1)(A) not entitled 

4 to assert the defense of qualified immunity shall 

5 nonetheless be immune from civil liability under 

6 Federal, State, and local law if such authorized offi7 cial takes reasonable action, in good faith, to re8 spond to the reported activity. 

9 ‘‘(2) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub10 section shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) affect the ability of any authorized of12 ficial to assert any defense, privilege, or immu13 nity that would otherwise be available; and 

14 ‘‘(B) be construed as affecting any such 

15 defense, privilege, or immunity. 

16 ‘‘(c) ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS.—Any authorized 

17 official or other person found to be immune from civil li18 ability under this section shall be entitled to recover from 

19 the plaintiff all reasonable costs and attorney fees. 

20 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED OFFICIAL.—The term ‘au22 thorized official’ means— 

23 ‘‘(A) any officer, employee, or agent of the 

24 Federal Government with responsibility for preVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:26 Feb 03, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H495.IH H495

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1 venting, protecting against, disrupting, or re2 sponding to a covered activity; or 

3 ‘‘(B) any Federal, State, or local law en4 forcement officer. 

5 ‘‘(2) COVERED ACTIVITY.—The term ‘covered 

6 activity’ means any suspicious transaction, activity, 

7 or occurrence indicating that an individual may be 

8 engaging, or preparing to engage, in a violation of 

9 law relating to an act of terrorism (as that term is 

10 defined in section 3077 of title 18, United States 

11 Code).’’. 

12 (b) AMENDMENT TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 

13 The table of contents for the Homeland Security Act of 

14 2002 is amended by inserting at the end of the items relat15 ing to subtitle H of title VIII the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 890. Immunity for reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious behavior and response.’’. 

Æ 


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