IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3503 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 3, 2015 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require an assessment of fusion center personnel needs, 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home3 land Security Support to Fusion Centers Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FUSION CENTER PERSONNEL NEEDS ASSESSMENT. 

5 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

7 States shall conduct an assessment of Department of 

8 Homeland Security personnel assigned to fusion centers 

9 pursuant to subsection (c) of section 210A of the Home10 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124h), including an 

11 assessment of whether deploying additional Department 

12 personnel to such fusion centers would enhance the De13 partment’s mission under section 101(b) of such Act and 

14 the National Network of Fusion Centers. The assessment 

15 required under this subsection shall include the following: 

16 (1) Information on the current deployment of 

17 the Department’s personnel to each fusion center. 

18 (2) Information on the roles and responsibilities 

19 of the Department’s Office of Intelligence and Anal20 ysis’ intelligence officers, intelligence analysts, senior 

21 reports officers, reports officers, and regional direc22 tors deployed to fusion centers. 

23 (3) Information on Federal resources, in addi24 tion to personnel, provided to each fusion center. 

25 (4) An analysis of the optimal number of per26 sonnel the Office of Intelligence and Analysis should 


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1 deploy to fusion centers, including a cost-benefit 

2 analysis comparing deployed personnel with techno3 logical solutions to support information sharing. 

4 (5) An assessment of fusion centers located in 

5 jurisdictions along land and maritime borders of the 

6 United States, and the degree to which deploying 

7 personnel, as appropriate, from the U.S. Customs 

8 and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Cus9 toms Enforcement, and the Coast Guard to such fu10 sion centers would enhance the integrity and secu11 rity at such borders by helping Federal, State, local, 

12 and tribal law enforcement authorities to identify, 

13 investigate, and interdict persons, weapons, and re14 lated contraband that pose a threat to homeland se15 curity. 

16 (6) An assessment of fusion centers located in 

17 jurisdictions with large and medium hub airports, 

18 and the degree to which deploying, as appropriate, 

19 personnel from the Transportation Security Admin20 istration to such fusion centers would enhance the 

21 integrity and security of aviation security. 

22 SEC. 3. PROGRAM FOR STATE AND LOCAL ANALYST CLEAR23 ANCES. 

24 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con25 gress that any program established by the Under SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Nov 03, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3503.RFS H3503

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1 retary for Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of 

2 Homeland Security to provide eligibility for access to in3 formation classified as Top Secret for State and local ana4 lysts located in fusion centers shall be consistent with the 

5 need to know requirements pursuant to Executive Order 

6 No. 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note). 

7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Intel9 ligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Se10 curity, in consultation with the Director of National Intel11 ligence, shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu12 rity and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 

13 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

14 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Se15 lect Committee on Intelligence of the Senate a report on 

16 the following: 

17 (1) The process by which the Under Secretary 

18 of Intelligence and Analysis determines a need to 

19 know pursuant to Executive Order No. 13526 to 

20 sponsor Top Secret clearances for appropriate State 

21 and local analysts located in fusion centers. 

22 (2) The effects of such Top Secret clearances 

23 on enhancing information sharing with State, local, 

24 tribal, and territorial partners. 


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1 (3) The cost for providing such Top Secret 

2 clearances for State and local analysts located in fu3 sion centers, including training and background in4 vestigations. 

5 (4) The operational security protocols, training, 

6 management, and risks associated with providing 

7 such Top Secret clearances for State and local ana8 lysts located in fusion centers. 

9 SEC. 4. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT. 

10 The Under Secretary of Intelligence and Analysis of 

11 the Department of Homeland Security, in collaboration 

12 with the Chief Information Officer of the Department and 

13 representatives from the National Network of Fusion Cen14 ters, shall conduct an assessment of information systems 

15 (as such term is defined in section 3502 of title 44, United 

16 States Code) used to share homeland security information 

17 between the Department and fusion centers in the Na18 tional Network of Fusion Centers and make upgrades to 

19 such systems, as appropriate. Such assessment shall in20 clude the following: 

21 (1) An evaluation of the accessibility and ease 

22 of use of such systems by fusion centers in the Na23 tional Network of Fusion Centers. 

24 (2) A review to determine how to establish im25 proved interoperability of departmental information 


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1 systems with existing information systems used by 

2 fusion centers in the National Network of Fusion 

3 Centers. 

4 (3) An evaluation of participation levels of de5 partmental components and offices of information 

6 systems used to share homeland security information 

7 with fusion centers in the National Network of Fu8 sion Centers. 

9 SEC. 5. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING. 

10 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act, the Under Secretary of Intelligence and Anal12 ysis of the Department of Homeland Security shall enter 

13 into a memorandum of understanding with each fusion 

14 center in the National Network of Fusion Centers regard15 ing the type of information fusion centers will provide to 

16 the Department and whether such information may be 

17 subject to public disclosure. 

18 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) FUSION CENTER.—The term ‘‘fusion cen21 ter’’ has the meaning given such term in subsection 

22 (j) of section 210A of the Homeland Security Act of 

23 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124h). 

24 (2) NATIONAL NETWORK OF FUSION CEN25 TERS.—The term ‘‘National Network of Fusion CenVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Nov 03, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3503.RFS H3503

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1 ters’’ means a decentralized arrangement of fusion 

2 centers intended to enhance individual State and 

3 urban area fusion centers’ ability to leverage the ca4 pabilities and expertise of all such fusion centers for 

5 the purpose of enhancing analysis and homeland se6 curity information sharing nationally. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 2, 

2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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