II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2590 

To designate an Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency Coordinator to 

coordinate the interagency investigation of, and response to, anomalous 

health incidents, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2021 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. WARNER, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 

RUBIO, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence 

A BILL 

To designate an Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency 

Coordinator to coordinate the interagency investigation 

of, and response to, anomalous health incidents, 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 TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Directed Energy 

5 Threat Emergency Response Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

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


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1 (1) Since at least 2016, United States Govern2 ment personnel and their family members have re3 ported anomalous health incidents at diplomatic mis4 sions across the world and in the United States, 

5 which are sometimes referred to as ‘‘Havana Syn6 drome’’. 

7 (2) Some of the anomalous health incidents 

8 have resulted in unexplained brain injuries, which 

9 have had permanent, life-altering effects that have 

10 disrupted lives and ended careers. 

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that— 

13 (1) the threat to United States Government 

14 personnel presenting as anomalous health incidents 

15 is a matter of urgent concern and deserving of the 

16 full attention of government; 

17 (2) personnel, dependents, and other appro18 priate individuals afflicted by possible anomalous 

19 health incidents deserve equitable, accessible, and 

20 high-quality medical assessment and care, regardless 

21 of their employing Government agency; 

22 (3) diagnoses and determinations to treat per23 sonnel, dependents, and other appropriate individ24 uals experiencing symptoms consistent with such in25 juries should be made by experienced medical profesVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Aug 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2590.IS S2590

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1 sionals and made available by the Federal Govern2 ment; 

3 (4) any recriminations, retaliation, or punish4 ment associated with personnel self-reporting symp5 toms is unacceptable and should be investigated by 

6 internal agency oversight mechanisms; 

7 (5) information sharing and interagency coordi8 nation is essential for the comprehensive investiga9 tion, attribution, and mitigation of these injuries; 

10 (6) the Administration should provide Congress 

11 and the public with timely and regular unclassified 

12 updates on the threat posed to United States Gov13 ernment personnel by the suspected causes of these 

14 injuries; 

15 (7) recent efforts by the Administration and 

16 among relevant agencies represent positive steps to17 ward responding to the threat of anomalous health 

18 incidents, but more comprehensive measures must be 

19 taken to further assist victims, investigate the cause 

20 of such incidents, and mitigate future incidents; 

21 (8) establishing the source and cause of these 

22 anomalous health incidents must be a top priority 

23 for the United States Government and requires the 

24 full coordination of relevant agencies; 


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1 (9) if investigations into anomalous health inci2 dents are found to be the result of deliberate acts by 

3 individuals, entities, or foreign countries, the United 

4 States Government should recognize these incidents 

5 as hostile attacks; and 

6 (10) any actors found to have been targeting 

7 United States Government personnel should be pub8 licly identified, as appropriate, and held accountable. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) AGENCY COORDINATION LEAD.—The term 

12 ‘‘Agency Coordination Lead’’ means a senior official 

13 designated by the head of a relevant agency to serve 

14 as the Anomalous Health Incident Agency Coordina15 tion Lead for such agency. 

16 (2) APPROPRIATE NATIONAL SECURITY COM17 MITTEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate national security 

18 committees’’ means— 

19 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 

20 the Senate; 

21 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

22 the Senate; 

23 (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

24 the Senate; 


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1 (D) the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

3 (E) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

4 Senate; 

5 (F) the Committee on Armed Services of 

6 the House of Representatives; 

7 (G) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

8 the House of Representatives; 

9 (H) the Permanent Select Committee on 

10 Intelligence of the House of Representatives; 

11 (I) the Committee on Homeland Security 

12 of the House of Representatives; and 

13 (J) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

14 House of Representatives. 

15 (3) INTERAGENCY COORDINATOR.—The term 

16 ‘‘Interagency Coordinator’’ means the Anomalous 

17 Health Incidents Interagency Coordinator des18 ignated pursuant to section 4(a). 

19 (4) RELEVANT AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘relevant 

20 agencies’’ means— 

21 (A) the Department of Defense; 

22 (B) the Department of State; 

23 (C) the Office of the Director of National 

24 Intelligence; 

25 (D) the Central Intelligence Agency; 


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1 (E) the Department of Justice; 

2 (F) the Department of Homeland Security; 

3 and 

4 (G) other agencies and bodies designated 

5 by the Interagency Coordinator. 

6 SEC. 4. ANOMALOUS HEALTH INCIDENTS INTERAGENCY 

7 COORDINATOR. 

8 (a) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 30 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall des10 ignate an appropriate senior official as the ‘‘Anomalous 

11 Health Incidents Interagency Coordinator’’, who shall 

12 work through the President’s designated National Secu13 rity process— 

14 (1) to coordinate the United States Govern15 ment’s response to anomalous health incidents; 

16 (2) to coordinate among relevant agencies to 

17 ensure equitable and timely access to assessment 

18 and care for affected personnel, dependents, and 

19 other appropriate individuals; 

20 (3) to ensure adequate training and education 

21 for United States Government personnel; and 

22 (4) to ensure that information regarding anom23 alous health incidents is efficiently shared across rel24 evant agencies in a manner that provides approVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Aug 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2590.IS S2590

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1 priate protections for classified, sensitive, and per2 sonal information. 

3 (b) DESIGNATION OF AGENCY COORDINATION

4 LEADS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each relevant 

6 agency shall designate a Senate-confirmed or other 

7 appropriate senior official, who shall— 

8 (A) serve as the Anomalous Health Inci9 dent Agency Coordination Lead for the relevant 

10 agency; 

11 (B) report directly to the head of the rel12 evant agency regarding activities carried out 

13 under this Act; 

14 (C) perform functions specific to the rel15 evant agency, consistent with the directives of 

16 the Interagency Coordinator and the established 

17 interagency process; 

18 (D) participate in interagency briefings to 

19 Congress regarding the United States Govern20 ment response to anomalous health incidents; 

21 and 

22 (E) represent the relevant agency in meet23 ings convened by the Interagency Coordinator. 

24 (2) DELEGATION PROHIBITED.—An Agency Co25 ordination Lead may not delegate the responsibilities 


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1 described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of such 

2 paragraph. 

3 (c) SECURE REPORTING MECHANISMS.—Not later 

4 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

5 the Interagency Coordinator shall— 

6 (1) ensure that agencies develop a process to 

7 provide a secure mechanism for personnel, their de8 pendents, and other appropriate individuals to self9 report any suspected exposure that could be an 

10 anomalous health incident; 

11 (2) ensure that agencies share all relevant data 

12 with the Office of the Director of National Intel13 ligence through existing processes coordinated by the 

14 Interagency Coordinator; and 

15 (3) in establishing the mechanism described in 

16 paragraph (1), prioritize secure information collec17 tion and handling processes to protect classified, 

18 sensitive, and personal information. 

19 (d) BRIEFINGS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly 

22 thereafter for the following 2 years, the Agency Co23 ordination Leads shall jointly provide a briefing to 

24 the appropriate national security committees regardVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Aug 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2590.IS S2590

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1 ing progress made in achieving the objectives de2 scribed in subsection (a). 

3 (2) ELEMENTS.—The briefings required under 

4 paragraph (1) shall include— 

5 (A) an update on the investigation into 

6 anomalous health incidents impacting United 

7 States Government personnel and their family 

8 members, including technical causation and sus9 pected perpetrators; 

10 (B) an update on new or persistent inci11 dents; 

12 (C) threat prevention and mitigation ef13 forts to include personnel training; 

14 (D) changes to operating posture due to 

15 anomalous health threats; 

16 (E) an update on diagnosis and treatment 

17 efforts for affected individuals, including pa18 tient numbers and wait times to access care; 

19 (F) efforts to improve and encourage re20 porting of incidents; 

21 (G) detailed roles and responsibilities of 

22 Agency Coordination Leads; 

23 (H) information regarding additional au24 thorities or resources needed to support the 

25 interagency response; and 


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1 (I) other matters that the Interagency Co2 ordinator or the Agency Coordination Leads 

3 consider appropriate. 

4 (3) UNCLASSIFIED BRIEFING SUMMARY.—The 

5 Agency Coordination Leads shall provide a coordi6 nated, unclassified summary of the briefings to Con7 gress, which shall include as much information as 

8 practicable without revealing classified information 

9 or information that is likely to identify an individual. 

10 (e) RETENTION OF AUTHORITY.—The appointment 

11 of the Interagency Coordinator shall not deprive any Fed12 eral agency of any authority to independently perform its 

13 authorized functions. 

14 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec15 tion may be construed to limit— 

16 (1) the President’s authority under article II of 

17 the United States Constitution; or 

18 (2) the provision of health care and benefits to 

19 afflicted individuals, consistent with existing laws. 

20 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec22 retary of Defense $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, of 

23 which— 

24 (1) $30,000,000 shall be used— 


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1 (A) to develop the necessary medical ca2 pacity to provide health assessments and appro3 priate care to United States Government per4 sonnel, dependents, and other appropriate indi5 viduals who have symptoms associated with 

6 anomalous health incidents; 

7 (B) to develop additional capability and ca8 pacity in the military healthcare system to pro9 vide assessment and timely care to affected 

10 United States Government personnel, depend11 ents, and other appropriate individuals; and 

12 (C) to fund the assessment and care of ci13 vilian employees of the Department of Defense 

14 and other Department of Defense-affiliated 

15 non-beneficiaries, if such funding is not other16 wise available; and 

17 (2) the remaining $15,000,000 shall be used to 

18 support the Department of Defense’s— 

19 (A) efforts to investigate and characterize 

20 the cause of anomalous health incidents, includ21 ing investigations of technical causation, med22 ical research, and other activities in support of 

23 attribution; 


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1 (B) intelligence and data analysis of infor2 mation related to anomalous health incidents; 

3 and 

4 (C) development and implementation of 

5 force protection and mitigation efforts. 

6 SEC. 6. DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF WORK7 FORCE GUIDANCE. 

8 The President shall direct relevant agencies to de9 velop and disseminate to their employees, not later than 

10 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, up11 dated workforce guidance that describes— 

12 (1) the threat posed by anomalous health inci13 dents; 

14 (2) known defensive techniques; and 

15 (3) processes to self-report suspected exposure 

16 that could be an anomalous health incident. 

Æ 


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