I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 549 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Office for 

Bombing Prevention, to address terrorist explosive threats, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2009 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

the Office for Bombing Prevention, to address terrorist 

explosive threats, 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 TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Bombing Pre5 vention Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BOMBING PREVENTION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title II of the Home8 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.) is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 210F. OFFICE FOR BOMBING PREVENTION. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

3 within the Protective Security Coordination Division of the 

4 Office of Infrastructure Protection of the Department an 

5 Office for Bombing Prevention (in this section referred to 

6 as ‘the Office’). 

7 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Office shall have the 

8 primary responsibility for enhancing the ability, and co9 ordinating the efforts, of the United States to deter, de10 tect, prevent, protect against, and respond to terrorist ex11 plosive attacks in the United States, including by— 

12 ‘‘(1) serving as the lead agency of the Depart13 ment for ensuring that programs designed to 

14 counter terrorist explosive attacks in the United 

15 States function together efficiently to meet the evolv16 ing threat from explosives and improvised explosive 

17 devices; 

18 ‘‘(2) coordinating national and intergovern19 mental bombing prevention activities to ensure those 

20 activities work toward achieving common national 

21 goals; 

22 ‘‘(3) conducting analysis of the capabilities and 

23 requirements necessary for Federal, State, local, and 

24 tribal governments to deter, prevent, detect, protect 

25 against, and assist in any response to terrorist ex26 plosive attacks in the United States by— 


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1 ‘‘(A) maintaining a national analysis data2 base on the capabilities of bomb squads, explo3 sive detection canine teams, tactics teams, and 

4 public safety dive teams; and 

5 ‘‘(B) applying the analysis derived from 

6 the database described in subparagraph (A) 

7 in— 

8 ‘‘(i) evaluating progress toward clos9 ing identified gaps relating to national 

10 strategic goals and standards; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) informing decisions relating to 

12 homeland security policy, assistance, train13 ing, research, development efforts, testing 

14 and evaluation, and related requirements; 

15 ‘‘(4) promoting secure information sharing of 

16 sensitive material and promoting security awareness, 

17 including by— 

18 ‘‘(A) operating and maintaining a secure 

19 information sharing system that allows the 

20 sharing of critical information relating to ter21 rorist explosive attack tactics, techniques, and 

22 procedures; 

23 ‘‘(B) educating the public and private sec24 tors about explosive precursor chemicals; 


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1 ‘‘(C) working with international partners, 

2 in coordination with the Office for International 

3 Affairs of the Department, to develop and share 

4 effective practices to deter, prevent, detect, pro5 tect, and respond to terrorist explosive attacks 

6 in the United States; and 

7 ‘‘(D) executing national public awareness 

8 and vigilance campaigns relating to terrorist ex9 plosive threats, preventing explosive attacks, 

10 and activities and measures underway to safe11 guard the United States; 

12 ‘‘(5) assisting State, local, and tribal govern13 ments in developing multi-jurisdictional improvised 

14 explosive devices security plans for high-risk jurisdic15 tions; 

16 ‘‘(6) helping to ensure, in coordination with the 

17 Under Secretary for Science and Technology and the 

18 Administrator of the Federal Emergency Manage19 ment Agency, the identification and availability of 

20 effective technology applications through field pilot 

21 testing and acquisition of such technology applica22 tions by Federal, State, local, and tribal govern23 ments to deter, prevent, detect, protect, and respond 

24 to terrorist explosive attacks in the United States; 


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1 ‘‘(7) coordinating the efforts of the Department 

2 relating to, and assisting departments and agencies 

3 of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments, and 

4 private sector business in, developing and imple5 menting national explosives detection training, cer6 tification, and performance standards; 

7 ‘‘(8) ensuring the implementation of any rec8 ommendations in the national strategy required 

9 under section 210G, including developing, maintain10 ing, and tracking progress toward achieving objec11 tives to reduce the vulnerability of the United States 

12 to terrorist explosive attacks; 

13 ‘‘(9) developing, in coordination with the Ad14 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

15 Agency, programmatic guidance and permitted uses 

16 for bombing prevention activities funded by home17 land security assistance administered by the Depart18 ment; and 

19 ‘‘(10) establishing and executing a public 

20 awareness campaign to inform the general public 

21 and private sector businesses on ways they can 

22 deter, detect, prevent, protect against, and respond 

23 to terrorist explosive attacks in the United States, 

24 that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) utilizes a broad spectrum of both 

2 mainstream and specialty print, radio, television 

3 outlets, and the Internet; 

4 ‘‘(B) utilizes small and disadvantaged busi5 nesses, as defined under the Small Business Act 

6 (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.); and 

7 ‘‘(C) ensures that the public awareness 

8 messages under the campaign reach and are 

9 understandable to underserved populations, in10 cluding— 

11 ‘‘(i) persons with physical and mental 

12 disabilities, health problems, visual impair13 ments, hearing impairments, limited 

14 English proficiency, and literacy barriers; 

15 ‘‘(ii) socially and economically dis16 advantaged households and communities; 

17 ‘‘(iii) the elderly; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) children. 

19 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

20 Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the 

21 authority of the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 

22 Management Agency, or the Attorney General of the 

23 United States. 

24 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated to carry out this section— 

3 ‘‘(A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

4 ‘‘(B) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

5 2011 through 2013; and 

6 ‘‘(C) such sums as may be necessary for 

7 each subsequent fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made available 

9 pursuant to paragraph (1) are authorized to remain 

10 available until expended. 

11 ‘‘(e) ENHANCEMENT OF EXPLOSIVES DETECTION

12 CANINE RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES.—To enhance the 

13 Nation’s explosives detection canine resources and capa14 bilities the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, by 

15 partnering with other Federal, State, local, and tribal 

16 agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities including 

17 historically black colleges and universities and minority 

18 serving institutions, and the private sector— 

19 ‘‘(1) within 270 days after the date of the en20 actment of this subsection— 

21 ‘‘(A) develop a pilot program that includes 

22 a domestic breeding program for purpose-bred 

23 explosives detection canines; and 

24 ‘‘(B) increase the current number of capa25 bility assessments of explosives detection canine 


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1 units to identify common challenges and gaps in 

2 canine explosives detection, to provide for effec3 tive domestic preparedness and collective re4 sponse to terrorism, and to inform grant guid5 ance and priorities, consistent with national ca6 pabilities database efforts; 

7 ‘‘(2) continue development of a scientifically 

8 based training curriculum to enhance consensus9 based national training and certification standards 

10 to provide for effective domestic preparedness and 

11 collective response to terrorism through the effective 

12 use of explosives detection canines for explosives de13 tection canines; and 

14 ‘‘(3) continue engagement in explosives detec15 tion canine research and development activities 

16 through partnerships with the Science and Tech17 nology Directorate and the Technical Support Work18 ing Group. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 210G. NATIONAL STRATEGY. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop and 

21 periodically update a national strategy to prevent and pre22 pare for terrorist explosive attacks in the United States. 

23 ‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 


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1 shall develop the national strategy required under sub2 section (a). 

3 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.—Not later than six months after 

4 the date of the submission of the report regarding each 

5 quadrennial homeland security review conducted under 

6 section 707, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

7 on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 

8 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern9 mental Affairs of the Senate a report regarding the na10 tional strategy required under subsection (a), which shall 

11 include recommendations, if any, for deterring, pre12 venting, detecting, protecting against, and responding to 

13 terrorist attacks in the United States using explosives or 

14 improvised explosive devices, including any such rec15 ommendations relating to coordinating the efforts of Fed16 eral, State, local, and tribal governments, emergency re17 sponse providers, and the private sector.’’. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

19 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Se20 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by 

21 inserting after the item relating to section 210E the fol22 lowing new items: 

‘‘Sec. 210F. Office for Bombing Prevention. 

‘‘Sec. 210G. National strategy.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. EXPLOSIVES TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND 

2 TRANSFER. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu4 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following new sections: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 318. EXPLOSIVES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

8 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, and in 

9 coordination with the Under Secretary for National Pro10 tection and Programs, the Attorney General, the Secretary 

11 of Defense, and the head of any other relevant Federal 

12 department or agency, shall ensure coordination and infor13 mation sharing regarding nonmilitary research, develop14 ment, testing, and evaluation activities of the Federal Gov15 ernment relating to the detection and prevention of, pro16 tection against, and response to terrorist attacks in the 

17 United States using explosives or improvised explosive de18 vices, and the development of tools and technologies nec19 essary to neutralize and disable explosive devices. 

20 ‘‘(b) LEVERAGING MILITARY RESEARCH.—The Sec21 retary, acting through the Under Secretary for Science 

22 and Technology, and in coordination with the Under Sec23 retary for National Protection and Programs, shall coordi24 nate with the Secretary of Defense and the head of any 

25 other relevant Federal department or agency to ensure 

26 that, to the maximum extent possible, military policies and 


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1 procedures, and research, development, testing, and eval2 uation activities relating to the detection and prevention 

3 of, protection against, and response to terrorist attacks 

4 using explosives or improvised explosive devices, and the 

5 development of tools and technologies necessary to neu6 tralize and disable explosive devices, are adapted to non7 military uses. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 319. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

10 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, and in 

11 coordination with the Under Secretary for National Pro12 tection and Programs, shall establish a technology trans13 fer program to facilitate the identification, modification, 

14 and commercialization of technology and equipment for 

15 use by Federal, State, and local governmental agencies, 

16 emergency response providers, and the private sector to 

17 deter, prevent, detect, protect, and respond to terrorist at18 tacks in the United States using explosives or improvised 

19 explosive devices. 

20 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—The activities under the program 

21 established under subsection (a) shall include— 

22 ‘‘(1) applying the analysis conducted under sec23 tion 210F(b)(3) of the capabilities and requirements 

24 of bomb squad, explosive detection canine teams, 

25 tactical teams, and public safety dive teams of FedVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:36 Jan 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H549.IH H549

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1 eral, State, and local governments, to determine the 

2 training and technology requirements for Federal, 

3 State, and local governments, emergency response 

4 providers, and the private sector; 

5 ‘‘(2) identifying available technologies designed 

6 to deter, prevent, detect, protect, or respond to ter7 rorist attacks using explosives or improvised explo8 sive devices that have been, or are in the process of 

9 being, developed, tested, evaluated, or demonstrated 

10 by the Department, other Federal agencies, the pri11 vate sector, foreign governments, or international or12 ganizations; 

13 ‘‘(3) reviewing whether a technology described 

14 in paragraph (2) may be useful in assisting Federal, 

15 State, or local governments, emergency response 

16 providers, or the private sector in detecting, deter17 ring, preventing, or responding to terrorist attacks 

18 using explosives or improvised explosive devices; and 

19 ‘‘(4) communicating to Federal, State, and local 

20 governments, emergency response providers, and the 

21 private sector the availability of any technology de22 scribed in paragraph (2), including providing the 

23 specifications of any such technology, indicating 

24 whether any such technology satisfies appropriate 

25 standards, and identifying grants, if any, available 


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1 from the Department to purchase any such tech2 nology. 

3 ‘‘(c) WORKING GROUP.—To facilitate the transfer of 

4 military technologies, the Secretary, acting through the 

5 Under Secretary for Science and Technology, in coordina6 tion with the Secretary of Defense, and in a manner con7 sistent with protection of sensitive sources and methods, 

8 shall establish a working group to advise and assist in the 

9 identification of military technologies designed to deter, 

10 prevent, detect, protect, or respond to terrorist explosive 

11 attacks that are in the process of being developed, or are 

12 developed, by the Department of Defense or the private 

13 sector.’’. 

14 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

15 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Se16 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by 

17 inserting after the item relating to section 317 the fol18 lowing new items: 

‘‘Sec. 318. Explosives research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 319. Technology transfer.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. GAO STUDY OF EXPLOSIVES DETECTION CANINE 

20 TEAMS. 

21 Section 1307(f) of the Implementing Recommenda22 tions of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (Public Law 

23 110–53; 121 Stat. 395) is amended by striking ‘‘utiliza24 tion’’ and all that follows through the end of the sentence 


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1 and inserting ‘‘utilization of explosives detection canine 

2 teams, by the Transportation Security Administration and 

3 all other agencies of the Department of Homeland Secu4 rity that utilize explosives detection canines, to strengthen 

5 security and the capacity of explosive detection canine de6 tection teams of the Department.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. REPORT ON CANINE PROCUREMENT ACTIVITIES. 

8 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a 

9 report to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

10 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home11 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate by 

12 not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act examining the administration of canine pro14 curement activities by the Department of Homeland Secu15 rity to deter, prevent, detect, and protect against terrorist 

16 explosive attacks in the United States, that includes con17 sideration of the feasibility of reducing the price paid for 

18 the procurement of untrained canines, including by uti19 lizing an expanded pool of breeds, procuring canines from 

20 domestic breeders, and acquiring canines from animal 

21 shelters, rescue societies, and other not-for-profit entities. 

Æ 


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