I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5144 

To provide for supply chain security cooperation between Department of 

Homeland Security and the private sector, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2006 

Mr. JINDAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To provide for supply chain security cooperation between 

Department of Homeland Security and the private sector, 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. INFORMATION SHARING. 

4 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

5 (1) to establish continuing liaison and to pro6 vide for supply chain security cooperation between 

7 Department of Homeland Security and the private 

8 sector; and 

9 (2) to provide for regular and timely inter10 change of information between the private sector 


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1 and the Department concerning developments and 

2 security risks in the supply chain environment. 

3 (b) SECURE SYSTEM.—Not later than one year after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security shall develop a secure electronic data 

6 interchange system to collect from and share appropriate 

7 risk information related to securing the supply chain with 

8 the private sector entities determined appropriate by the 

9 Secretary. 

10 (c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the system under 

11 subsection (b), the Secretary shall consult with the Com12 mercial Operations Advisory Committee and a broad range 

13 of public and private sector entities likely to utilize the 

14 system, including importers, exporters, carriers, customs 

15 brokers, and freight forwarders, among other parties. 

16 (d) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall establish 

17 uniform procedures for the receipt, care, and storage of 

18 supply chain security information that is voluntarily sub19 mitted to the Department through the system developed 

20 under subsection (b). 

21 (e) LIMITATIONS.—The voluntary information col22 lected through the system developed under subsection (b) 

23 shall be used exclusively for ensuring security and shall 

24 not be used for determining entry or for any other com25 mercial enforcement purpose. The voluntary information 


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1 submitted to the Department through the system devel2 oped under subsection (b) shall not be construed to con3 stitute compliance with any requirement to submit such 

4 information to a Federal agency under any other provision 

5 of law. 

6 (f) PARTICIPANTS.—The Secretary shall develop pro7 tocols for determining appropriate private sector personnel 

8 who shall have access to the system developed under sub9 section (b). Such personnel shall include designated secu10 rity officers within companies that are determined to be 

11 low risk through participation in the Customs-Trade Part12 nership Against Terrorism program administered by U.S. 

13 Customs and Border Protection. 

14 (g) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Notwithstanding any other 

15 provision of law, information that is voluntarily submitted 

16 by the private sector to the Department through the sys17 tem developed under subsection (b)— 

18 (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under sec19 tion 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 

20 referred to as the Freedom of Information Act); 

21 (2) shall not, without the written consent of the 

22 person or entity submitting such information, be 

23 used directly by the Department or a third party, in 

24 any civil action arising under Federal or State law 

25 if such information is submitted in good faith; and 


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1 (3) shall not, without the written consent of the 

2 person or entity submitting such information, be 

3 used or disclosed by any officer or employee of the 

4 United States for purposes other than the purposes 

5 of this section, except— 

6 (A) in furtherance of an investigation or 

7 other prosecution of a criminal act; or 

8 (B) when disclosure of the information 

9 would be— 

10 (i) to either House of Congress, or to 

11 the extent of matter within its jurisdiction, 

12 any committee or subcommittee thereof, 

13 any joint committee thereof or sub14 committee of any such joint committee; or 

15 (ii) to the Comptroller General, or any 

16 authorized representative of the Comp17 troller General, in the course of the per18 formance of the duties of the Comptroller 

19 General. 

20 (h) INDEPENDENTLY OBTAINED INFORMATION.— 

21 Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or other22 wise affect the ability of a Federal, State, or local, govern23 ment entity, under applicable law, to obtain supply chain 

24 security information, including any information lawfully 

25 and properly disclosed generally or broadly to the public 


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1 and to use such information in any manner permitted by 

2 law. 

3 (i) PENALTIES.—Whoever, being an officer or em4 ployee of the United States or of any department or agen5 cy thereof, knowingly publishes, divulges, discloses, or 

6 makes known in any manner or to any extent not author7 ized by law, any supply chain security information pro8 tected in this section from disclosure, shall be fined under 

9 title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 

10 1 year, or both, and shall be removed from office or em11 ployment. 

12 (j) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE WARNINGS.—The Sec13 retary may provide advisories, alerts, and warnings to rel14 evant companies, targeted sectors, other governmental en15 tities, or the general public regarding potential risks to 

16 the supply chain as appropriate. In issuing a warning, the 

17 Secretary shall take appropriate actions to protect from 

18 disclosure— 

19 (1) the source of any voluntarily submitted sup20 ply chain security information that forms the basis 

21 for the warning; and 

22 (2) information that is proprietary, business 

23 sensitive, relates specifically to the submitting per24 son or entity, or is otherwise not appropriately in 

25 the public domain. 


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1 (k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

3 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

4 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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