II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1539 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide funding to secure 

nonprofit facilities from terrorist attacks, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2019 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide 

funding to secure nonprofit facilities from terrorist attacks, 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 ‘‘Protecting Faith5 Based and Nonprofit Organizations From Terrorism Act 

6 of 2019’’. 


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•S 1539 IS

1 SEC. 2. NONPROFIT SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XX of the 

3 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 603 et seq.) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 2009. NONPROFIT SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘eligible 

7 nonprofit organization’ means an organization that is— 

8 ‘‘(1) described in section 501(c)(3) of the Inter9 nal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax 

10 under section 501(a) of such Code; and 

11 ‘‘(2) determined to be at risk of a terrorist at12 tack by the Administrator. 

13 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

14 Department a program to be known as the ‘Nonprofit Se15 curity Grant Program’, under which the Secretary, acting 

16 through the Administrator, shall make grants to eligible 

17 nonprofit organizations, through the State in which such 

18 organizations are located, for target hardening and other 

19 security enhancements to protect against terrorist attacks. 

20 ‘‘(c) PERMITTED USES.—The recipient of a grant 

21 under this section may use such grant for any of the fol22 lowing uses: 

23 ‘‘(1) Target hardening activities, including 

24 physical security enhancement equipment and in25 spection and screening systems. 


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•S 1539 IS

1 ‘‘(2) Fees for security training relating to phys2 ical security and cybersecurity, target hardening, 

3 terrorism awareness, and employee awareness. 

4 ‘‘(3) Any other appropriate activity, including 

5 cybersecurity resilience activities, as determined by 

6 the Administrator. 

7 ‘‘(d) PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE.—The Adminis8 trator shall make funds provided under this section avail9 able for use by a recipient of a grant for a period of not 

10 less than 36 months. 

11 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—The Administrator shall annually for 

12 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024 submit to the 

13 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af14 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Secu15 rity of the House of Representatives a report containing 

16 information on the expenditure by each recipient of grant 

17 funds provided under this section. 

18 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

20 appropriated $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

21 2020 through 2024 to carry out this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) SPECIFICATION.—Of the amounts author23 ized to be appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1)— 


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•S 1539 IS

1 ‘‘(A) $50,000,000 is authorized for eligible 

2 nonprofit organizations located in jurisdictions 

3 that receive funding under section 2003; and 

4 ‘‘(B) $25,000,000 is authorized for eligible 

5 nonprofit organizations located in jurisdictions 

6 not receiving funding under section 2003.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2002(a) of 

8 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 603(a)) is 

9 amended by striking ‘‘sections 2003 and 2004’’ and in10 serting ‘‘sections 2003, 2004, and 2009’’. 

11 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

13 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

14 2008 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2009. Nonprofit security grant program.’’. 

Æ 


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