I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 441 

To grant immunity from civil liability to any person who voluntarily notifies 

appropriate security personnel of suspicious activity believed to threaten 

transportation safety or security or takes reasonable action to mitigate 

such activity. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2009 

Mr. REHBERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To grant immunity from civil liability to any person who 

voluntarily notifies appropriate security personnel of suspicious activity believed to threaten transportation safety 

or security or takes reasonable action to mitigate such 

activity. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. IMMUNITY FOR REPORTING SUSPICIOUS BE4 HAVIOR. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who, in good faith, 

6 makes, or causes to be made, a voluntary disclosure of 

7 any suspicious transaction, activity, or occurrence indiVerDate Nov 24 2008 07:00 Jan 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H441.IH H441

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•HR 441 IH

1 cating that an individual may be engaging, or preparing 

2 to engage, in an action described in section 3 to any em3 ployee or agent of the Department of Homeland Security, 

4 the Department of Transportation, or the Department of 

5 Justice, any Federal, State, or local law enforcement offi6 cer, any transportation security officer, or any employee 

7 or agent of a transportation system shall be immune from 

8 civil liability to any person for such disclosure under any 

9 Federal, State, or local law. 

10 (b) FALSE DISCLOSURES.—Subsection (a) shall not 

11 apply to any statement or disclosure that the person mak12 ing the statement or disclosure knows to be false at the 

13 time it is made. 

14 SEC. 2. IMMUNITY FOR MITIGATION OF THREATS. 

15 Any person in receipt of a report described in section 

16 1 who takes reasonable action to mitigate a suspicious ac17 tion described in section 3 shall be immune from civil li18 ability to any person for such action under any Federal, 

19 State, or local law. 

20 SEC. 3. COVERED DISCLOSURES. 

21 The actions described in this section are possible or 

22 attempted violations of law relating to— 

23 (1) a threat to a transportation system or the 

24 safety or security of its passengers; or 


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•HR 441 IH

1 (2) an act of terrorism (as defined in section 

2 3077 of title 18, United States Code) that involves, 

3 or is directed against, a transportation system or its 

4 passengers. 

5 SEC. 4. ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS. 

6 Any person who is named as a defendant in a civil 

7 lawsuit for making a voluntary disclosure described in sec8 tion 1 or for taking an action described in section 2, and 

9 is found to be immune from civil liability under this Act, 

10 shall be entitled to recover from the plaintiff all reasonable 

11 costs and attorney fees allowed by the court in which the 

12 lawsuit was decided. 

13 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

14 This Act shall take effect on November 20, 2006, and 

15 shall apply to all activities and claims occurring on or after 

16 such date. 

Æ 


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