I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1539 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to develop and make available 

guidance relating to domestic preparedness for and collective response 

to terrorism regarding active shooter and mass casualty incident response 

assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Mr. AGUILAR (for himself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Miss RICE

of New York, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. CORREA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mrs. 

FLETCHER, Mr. LIEU, Mr. PANETTA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 

VARGAS, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. KILMER, Mr. 

RYAN, Mr. CARSON, Mr. COOPER, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. KAHELE, 

and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to develop 

and make available guidance relating to domestic preparedness for and collective response to terrorism regarding active shooter and mass casualty incident response 

assistance, 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 ‘‘Providing Rational Op3 tions Toward the Elimination of Catastrophic Terrorism 

4 Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PROTECT Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ACTIVE SHOOTER AND MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT 

6 RESPONSE ASSISTANCE. 

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

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

9 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 890B. ACTIVE SHOOTER AND MASS CASUALTY INCI11 DENT RESPONSE ASSISTANCE. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

13 with the Attorney General and the heads of other Federal 

14 agencies as appropriate, shall develop and make available 

15 to State, local, tribal, territorial, private sector, and non16 governmental partners guidance relating to domestic pre17 paredness for and collective response to terrorism in order 

18 to assist in the development of emergency action and re19 sponse plans for active shooter and mass casualty inci20 dents in public and private locations, including facilities 

21 that have been identified by the Department as potentially 

22 vulnerable targets. 

23 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE DESCRIBED.—Guidance developed 

24 and provided pursuant to subsection (a) may relate to the 

25 development of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) A strategy for properly responding to an 

2 active shooter or mass casualty incident in a public 

3 or private location, including training, evacuating, 

4 and providing care to persons in such location, with 

5 consideration given to the needs of persons with dis6 abilities. 

7 ‘‘(2) A plan for establishing a unified command, 

8 including identification of casualty collection points 

9 and staging areas for law enforcement, fire response, 

10 and medical personnel. 

11 ‘‘(3) A schedule for regular testing of equip12 ment used to receive communications during such an 

13 incident. 

14 ‘‘(4) A practiced method and plan to commu15 nicate with occupants of such location during such 

16 an incident. 

17 ‘‘(5) A practiced method and plan to commu18 nicate with the surrounding community regarding 

19 such an incident and the needs of Federal, State, 

20 and local officials. 

21 ‘‘(6) A plan for coordinating with volunteer or22 ganizations to expedite assistance for victims. 

23 ‘‘(7) A schedule for joint exercises and training. 


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1 ‘‘(8) A plan for outreach to facilities that have 

2 been identified by the Department as potentially vul3 nerable targets. 

4 ‘‘(9) Other planning documents, as determined 

5 by the Secretary, including appropriate regionally fo6 cused products, plans, training, and outreach.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

8 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by in9 serting after the item relating to section 890A the fol10 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 890B. Active shooter and mass casualty incident response assistance.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF ACTIVE SHOOTER THREATS. 

12 Subsection (b) of section 2007 of the Homeland Se13 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 608) is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para15 graph (10); and 

16 (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol17 lowing new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(9) Active shooters.’’. 

Æ 


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