I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6538 

To create an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2022 

Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. UPTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. SPARTZ, 

Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. MEIJER, Mr. DEUTCH, and Ms. MACE) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To create an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network, 

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 ‘‘Active Shooter Alert 

5 Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ACTIVE SHOOTER.—The term ‘‘active shoot9 er’’ means an individual actively engaged in killing 


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1 or attempting to kill people with a firearm in a pop2 ulated area who poses an active, imminent threat to 

3 people in that populated area. 

4 (2) ADMINISTRATOR OF FEMA.—The term ‘‘Ad5 ministrator of FEMA’’ means the Administrator of 

6 the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

7 (3) CHAIRMAN OF THE FCC.—The term ‘‘Chair8 man of the FCC’’ means the Chairman of the Fed9 eral Communications Commission. 

10 (4) COORDINATOR.—The term ‘‘Coordinator’’ 

11 means the Active Shooter Alert Coordinator of the 

12 Department of Justice designated under section 

13 3(a). 

14 (5) NETWORK.—The term ‘‘Network’’ means 

15 the Active Shooter Alert Communications Network 

16 described in section 3(a). 

17 (6) POPULATED AREA.—The term ‘‘populated 

18 area’’ means a location where one or more individ19 uals are present. 

20 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

21 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, American 

22 Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana 

23 Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and 

24 any other territory of the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL COORDINATION OF ACTIVE SHOOTER 

2 ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. 

3 (a) COORDINATION WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF JUS4 TICE.—The Attorney General shall assign an officer of the 

5 Department of Justice to act as the national coordinator 

6 of the Active Shooter Alert Communications Network re7 garding an emergency involving an active shooter. The of8 ficer so designated shall be known as the Active Shooter 

9 Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice. 

10 (b) DUTIES.—In acting as the national coordinator 

11 of the Network, the Coordinator, in coordination with the 

12 Administrator of FEMA, the Secretary of Transportation, 

13 and the Chairman of the FCC, shall— 

14 (1) seek to eliminate instances in which States 

15 and local governments do not have procedures to re16 spond to an active shooter, including active shooter 

17 procedures relating to interstate travel (including 

18 airports, maritime ports, border crossing areas and 

19 checkpoints, and ports of exit from the United 

20 States); 

21 (2) work with States and Tribal governments to 

22 encourage the development of additional elements 

23 (known as local Active Shooter Alert communica24 tions plans) in the Network; and 


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1 (3) work with States and Tribal governments to 

2 encourage appropriate regional coordination of var3 ious elements of the Network. 

4 (c) GOALS.—The Coordinator shall encourage the 

5 adoption of best practices established under section 4(a) 

6 in States, Tribal governments, and units of local govern7 ment for— 

8 (1) the development of general policies and pro9 cedures to guide the use of mass alert systems or 

10 other information systems to notify local residents, 

11 motorists, travelers, and others in the vicinity when 

12 there is an active shooter; 

13 (2) the development of guidance or policies on 

14 the content and format of alert messages to be con15 veyed on mass alert systems, changeable message 

16 signs, or other information systems relating to an 

17 active shooter; 

18 (3) the coordination of State, regional, and 

19 local plans for the use of active shooting alert sys20 tems or other emergency response mechanisms; 

21 (4) the development of a secure and reliable 

22 communications protocols among law enforcement, 

23 public safety, public health, and transportation agen24 cies or the modification of existing communications 

25 systems to support the notification of local residents, 


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1 motorists, travelers, and those in the vicinity of an 

2 active shooter; 

3 (5) the planning and designing of improved sys4 tems for multilingual communication with local resi5 dents, motorists, travelers, and those individuals in 

6 the vicinity of an active shooter, including the capa7 bility for issuing wide area alerts to local residents, 

8 motorists, travelers, and those individuals in the vi9 cinity of an active shooter; 

10 (6) the planning of systems and protocols to fa11 cilitate the efficient issuance of active shooter notifi12 cations and other key information to local residents, 

13 motorists, travelers, and those individuals in the vi14 cinity of an active shooter during off-hours; 

15 (7) the provision of training and guidance to 

16 transportation authorities to facilitate the appro17 priate use of mass alert systems and other informa18 tion systems for the notification of local residents, 

19 motorists, travelers, and those individuals in the vi20 cinity of an active shooter; and 

21 (8) the development of appropriate mass alert 

22 systems to ensure that alerts sent to individuals in 

23 the immediate vicinity of an active shooter do not 

24 alert the active shooter to the location of those indi25 viduals sheltering in place around the active shooter. 


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1 (d) COORDINATION WITH THE FEDERAL EMER2 GENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANS3 PORTATION, AND THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATION COM4 MISSION.—In carrying out duties under subsection (b), the 

5 Coordinator shall notify and coordinate with the Adminis6 trator of FEMA, the Secretary of Transportation, and the 

7 Chairman of the FCC on using the Integrated Public Alert 

8 and Warning System to issue alerts for the Network. 

9 (e) COOPERATION.—The Coordinator shall coordi10 nate with the Administrator of FEMA, the Secretary of 

11 Transportation, and the Chairman of the FCC in carrying 

12 out activities under this section. 

13 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter 

15 until such time as each of the States and Tribal govern16 ments have adopted an active shooter alert protocol, the 

17 Coordinator, in consultation with the Administrator of 

18 FEMA, shall submit to Congress a report on the activities 

19 of the Coordinator and the effectiveness and status of the 

20 local Active Shooter Alert communications plan of each 

21 State and Tribal government that has implemented such 

22 a plan. 


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1 SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR ISSUANCE AND DISSEMINATION 

2 OF ALERTS THROUGH ACTIVE SHOOTER 

3 ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF BEST PRACTICES.—Subject 

5 to subsection (b), the Coordinator, in coordination with 

6 the Administrator of FEMA, the Secretary of Transpor7 tation, and the Chairman of the FCC, shall establish best 

8 practices for— 

9 (1) the issuance of alerts through the Network; 

10 (2) the extent of the dissemination of alerts 

11 issued through the Network; and 

12 (3) the goals described in section 3(c). 

13 (b) LIMITATIONS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The best practices estab15 lished under subsection (a) shall— 

16 (A) be adoptable on a voluntary basis only; 

17 and 

18 (B) to the maximum extent practicable (as 

19 determined by the Coordinator in consultation 

20 with State, Tribal, and local law enforcement 

21 agencies), provide that— 

22 (i) appropriate information relating to 

23 an active shooter response is disseminated 

24 to the appropriate law enforcement, public 

25 health, communications, and other public 

26 officials; and 


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1 (ii) the dissemination of an alert 

2 through the Network be limited to the geo3 graphic areas most likely to be affected by, 

4 or able to respond to, an active shooter sit5 uation. 

6 (2) NO INTERFERENCE.—In establishing best 

7 practices under subsection (a), the Coordinator may 

8 not interfere with the current system of voluntary 

9 coordination between local broadcasters and State, 

10 Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies for im11 proving and implementing the Network. 

12 (c) COORDINATION.—The Coordinator shall coordi13 nate with local broadcasters and Federal, State, Tribal, 

14 and local law enforcement agencies in establishing best 

15 practices under this section. 

16 SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON STATE RE17 SPONSES TO ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATIONS 

18 REQUIRING THE ISSUANCE OF PUBLIC 

19 ALERTS AND WARNINGS. 

20 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

21 States shall conduct a study on State and local responses 

22 to active shooters and situations requiring the issuance of 

23 a public alert or warning. Such study shall address each 

24 of the following: 


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1 (1) Differences between the definitions of ‘‘ac2 tive shooter’’ used by different States. 

3 (2) The amount of time it takes and the proc4 ess in each State to receive approval from the State 

5 alerting officials after local law enforcement agencies 

6 request the issuance of a public alert or warning, 

7 such as an AMBER Alert, Blue Alert, or Ashanti 

8 alert. 

9 (3) A comparison of the timing and effective10 ness of the issuance of public alerts and warnings by 

11 State alerting officials and the issuance of such 

12 alerts and warnings by local jurisdictions. 

13 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 24 

14 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp15 troller General of the United States shall submit to Con16 gress a report containing the findings of the study con17 ducted under subsection (a). 

18 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro20 priated to the Attorney General $2,000,000 for fiscal year 

21 2023 to carry out this Act. 

22 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro23 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations 

24 under subsection (a) shall remain available until expended. 


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1 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. 

2 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create, or 

3 serve as the basis for, additional liability for any partici4 pating agency, or their officers, employees, or agents, be5 yond existing applicable State and Federal laws and regu6 lations. 

Æ 


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