IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4263 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2014 

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

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize 

the Department of Homeland Security to establish a 

social media working group, 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 ‘‘Social Media Working 

3 Group Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SOCIAL MEDIA WORKING GROUP. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu6 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 318. SOCIAL MEDIA WORKING GROUP. 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab10 lish within the Department a social media working group 

11 (in this section referred to as the ‘Group’). 

12 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—In order to enhance information 

13 sharing between the Department and appropriate stake14 holders, the Group shall provide guidance and best prac15 tices to the emergency preparedness and response commu16 nity on the use of social media technologies before, during, 

17 and after a terrorist attack or other emergency. 

18 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for 

20 Science and Technology shall serve as the permanent 

21 chairperson of the Group, and shall designate, on a 

22 rotating basis, a representative from a State or local 

23 government who is a member of the Group to serve 

24 as co-chairperson. The Under Secretary shall estab25 lish term limits for individuals appointed to the 

26 Group pursuant to paragraph (2). Membership of 


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1 the Group shall be composed of a cross section of 

2 subject matter experts from Federal, State, local, 

3 tribal, and nongovernmental organization practi4 tioners, including representatives from the following 

5 entities: 

6 ‘‘(A) The Office of Public Affairs of the 

7 Department. 

8 ‘‘(B) The Office of the Chief Information 

9 Officer of the Department. 

10 ‘‘(C) The Privacy Office of the Depart11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(D) The Federal Emergency Management 

13 Agency. 

14 ‘‘(E) The Office of Disability Integration 

15 and Coordination of the Federal Emergency 

16 Management Agency. 

17 ‘‘(F) The American Red Cross. 

18 ‘‘(G) The Forest Service. 

19 ‘‘(H) The Centers for Disease Control and 

20 Prevention. 

21 ‘‘(I) The United States Geological Survey. 

22 ‘‘(J) The National Oceanic and Atmos23 pheric Administration. 

24 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—The Under Sec25 retary for Science and Technology shall appoint, on 


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1 a rotating basis, qualified individuals to the Group. 

2 The total number of such additional members 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) be equal to or greater than the total 

5 number of regular members under paragraph 

6 (1); and 

7 ‘‘(B) include— 

8 ‘‘(i) not fewer than three representa9 tives from the private sector; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) representatives from— 

11 ‘‘(I) State, local, and tribal enti12 ties, including from— 

13 ‘‘(aa) law enforcement; 

14 ‘‘(bb) fire services; 

15 ‘‘(cc) emergency manage16 ment services; and 

17 ‘‘(dd) public health entities; 

18 ‘‘(II) universities and academia; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(III) non-profit disaster relief 

21 organizations. 

22 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATION WITH NON-MEMBERS.—To the 

23 extent practicable, the Group shall work with existing bod24 ies in the public and private sectors to carry out subsection 

25 (b). 


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1 ‘‘(e) MEETINGS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 90 

3 days after the date of the enactment of this section, 

4 the Group shall hold its initial meeting. Such initial 

5 meeting may be held virtually. 

6 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.—After the initial 

7 meeting under paragraph (1), the Group shall meet 

8 at least twice each year, or at the call of the Chair9 person. Such subsequent meetings may be held vir10 tually. 

11 ‘‘(f) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal 

12 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 

13 to the Group. 

14 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—Not later than March 30 of each 

15 year, the Group shall submit to the appropriate congres16 sional committees a report that includes the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) A review of current and emerging social 

18 media technologies being used to support prepared19 ness and response activities related to terrorist at20 tacks and other emergencies. 

21 ‘‘(2) A review of best practices and lessons 

22 learned on the use of social media during the re23 sponse to terrorist attacks and other emergencies 

24 that occurred during the period covered by the re25 port at issue. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Recommendations to improve the Depart2 ment’s use of social media for emergency manage3 ment purposes. 

4 ‘‘(4) Recommendations to improve public 

5 awareness of the type of information disseminated 

6 through social media, and how to access such infor7 mation, during a terrorist attack or other emer8 gency. 

9 ‘‘(5) Recommendations to improve information 

10 sharing among the Department and its components. 

11 ‘‘(6) Recommendations to improve information 

12 sharing among State and local governments. 

13 ‘‘(7) A review of available training for Federal, 

14 State, local, and tribal officials on the use of social 

15 media in response to a terrorist attack or other 

16 emergency. 

17 ‘‘(8) A summary of coordination efforts with 

18 the private sector to discuss and resolve legal, oper19 ational, technical, privacy, and security concerns.’’. 

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

21 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 


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1 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 317 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 318. Social media working group.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 8, 2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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