I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2888 

To help prevent emerging events exacerbated by climate change, which threaten national and international security, by enhancing United States Government capacities to prevent, mitigate, and respond to such events, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2021 

Mr. KEATING (for himself and Ms. KAPTUR) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 

to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To help prevent emerging events exacerbated by climate 

change, which threaten national and international security, by enhancing United States Government capacities 

to prevent, mitigate, and respond to such events, 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 ‘‘Rapid Response to Cli5 mate Impacts Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLIMATE IMPACTS TASK FORCE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State shall 

3 establish a Climate Impacts Task Force (referred to in 

4 this section as the ‘‘Task Force’’) with the mandate to— 

5 (1) monitor climate and related impacted social 

6 conditions to anticipate and prevent climate and en7 vironmental stressors from evolving into national se8 curity risks; 

9 (2) strengthen the efforts of the Department of 

10 State and the United States Government to act 

11 proactively to mitigate the human harms and poten12 tial for national security risks resulting from emerg13 ing events exacerbated by climate change; and 

14 (3) assist other Federal departments and agen15 cies, foreign partners, and multilateral organizations 

16 in their efforts to do the same. 

17 (b) LEADERSHIP.—The Secretary of State shall des18 ignate a senior career official, as appropriate, of the De19 partment of State to serve as the Chair of the Task Force. 

20 Such official shall report to the Secretary of State. 

21 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Under the direction of the 

22 Chair, the Task Force shall— 

23 (1) meet regularly to ensure that events exacer24 bated by climate change and the risk of emerging 

25 events exacerbated by climate change throughout the 

26 world are adequately considered and addressed; 


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1 (2) facilitate the development and execution of 

2 policies and tools to enhance the capacity of the 

3 United States to prevent and respond to emerging 

4 events exacerbated by climate change worldwide; 

5 (3) monitor developments throughout the world 

6 that heighten the risk of emerging events exacer7 bated by climate change; 

8 (4) identify gaps in United States foreign policy 

9 related to the prevention of and response to emerg10 ing events exacerbated by climate change with re11 spect to certain regions or particular countries; 

12 (5) incorporate lessons learned from past 

13 United States efforts to prevent and respond to 

14 emerging events exacerbated by climate change and 

15 other impacts that are comparable in scope or sever16 ity; 

17 (6) provide the Secretary of State with rec18 ommendations and potential improvements to poli19 cies, programs, resources, and tools related to the 

20 prevention of and response to emerging events exac21 erbated by climate change; 

22 (7) coordinate the Department of State’s en23 gagement in interagency processes led by the Na24 tional Security Council that share the Task Force’s 

25 objectives; 


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1 (8) conduct outreach not less frequently than 

2 biannually, with representatives of nongovernmental 

3 organizations dedicated to the prevention of and re4 sponse to emerging events exacerbated by climate 

5 change and other appropriate parties, to— 

6 (A) receive assistance relating to the Task 

7 Force’s efforts to address emerging events exac8 erbated by climate change and develop new or 

9 improved policies, programs, resources, and 

10 tools; and 

11 (B) provide a public understanding of the 

12 work of the Task Force; 

13 (9) in carrying out paragraphs (1) through (8), 

14 focus on particular ways for the United States to de15 velop, strengthen, and enhance its capabilities to— 

16 (A) monitor, receive early warning of, and 

17 coordinate responses to potential emerging 

18 events exacerbated by climate change; 

19 (B) engage allies and partners, including 

20 multilateral and regional institutions, to build 

21 capacities and mobilize action for preventing 

22 and responding to emerging events exacerbated 

23 by climate change; 


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1 (C) encourage the deployment of civilian 

2 advisors to prevent and respond to emerging 

3 events exacerbated by climate change; 

4 (D) increase the capacity of and develop 

5 doctrine for the United States Foreign Service, 

6 civil service, Armed Forces, development profes7 sionals, and other actors to engage in the full 

8 spectrum of activities to prevent and respond to 

9 emerging events exacerbated by climate change; 

10 (E) develop and implement tailored foreign 

11 assistance programs that address and mitigate 

12 the risks of emerging events exacerbated by cli13 mate change; 

14 (F) ensure intelligence collection, analysis, 

15 and sharing of appropriate information; and 

16 (G) address any other issues that the Task 

17 Force determines appropriate; 

18 (10) in carrying out paragraphs (1) through 

19 (8), receive support from bureaus and offices of the 

20 Department of State, as the Secretary of State de21 termines appropriate; and 

22 (11) facilitate annual coordination between the 

23 Department of State, the Department of Energy, 

24 and the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure 


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1 international and domestic climate change objectives 

2 are aligned. 

3 (d) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall— 

4 (1) seek to ensure that its efforts complement 

5 and support interagency processes led by the Na6 tional Security Council that share the Task Force’s 

7 objectives; and 

8 (2) operate with regular consultation and par9 ticipation of designated representatives, at the As10 sistant Secretary level or higher, of— 

11 (A) the Department of State; 

12 (B) the United States Agency for Inter13 national Development; 

14 (C) the Department of Defense; 

15 (D) the Department of Commerce; 

16 (E) the Department of the Treasury; 

17 (F) the Department of Energy; 

18 (G) the Central Intelligence Agency; 

19 (H) the Office of the Director of National 

20 Intelligence; 

21 (I) the United States Mission to the 

22 United Nations; 

23 (J) the National Security Council; 

24 (K) the Environmental Protection Agency; 


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1 (L) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

2 Administration; 

3 (M) the National Aeronautics and Space 

4 Administration; 

5 (N) the United States Geological Survey; 

6 and 

7 (O) such other executive departments, 

8 agencies, or offices as the Chair may designate. 

9 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act and every two years there11 after for the following ten years, the Secretary of State, 

12 in consultation with the Task Force, shall submit to the 

13 Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 

14 Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on For15 eign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

16 House of Representatives an unclassified report, with a 

17 classified annex if necessary, that includes— 

18 (1) a review, in consultation with the des19 ignated representatives specified in subsection (d), 

20 consisting of— 

21 (A) an evaluation of the efficacy of current 

22 efforts based on United States and locally iden23 tified indicators, including capacities and con24 straints for United States Government-wide de25 tection, early warning and response, informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888

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1 tion-sharing, contingency planning, and coordi2 nation of efforts to prevent and respond to 

3 emerging events exacerbated by climate change; 

4 (B) an assessment of the funding expended 

5 by relevant Federal departments and agencies 

6 on emerging events exacerbated by climate 

7 change and the legal, procedural, and resource 

8 constraints faced by the Department of State 

9 and the United States Agency for International 

10 Development throughout respective budgeting, 

11 strategic planning, and management cycles to 

12 support the prevention of and response to 

13 emerging events exacerbated by climate change; 

14 (C) current annual global assessments of 

15 emerging events exacerbated by climate change; 

16 (D) recommendations to further strength17 en United States capabilities described in sub18 paragraph (A); and 

19 (E) consideration of analysis, reporting, 

20 and policy recommendations by civil society, 

21 academic, and other nongovernmental organiza22 tions and institutions to prevent and respond to 

23 emerging events exacerbated by climate change; 

24 (2) recommendations to ensure shared responsi25 bility by— 


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1 (A) enhancing multilateral mechanisms for 

2 preventing, mitigating, and responding to 

3 emerging events exacerbated by climate change; 

4 and 

5 (B) strengthening regional organizations; 

6 and 

7 (3) the implementation status of the rec8 ommendations included in the review under para9 graph (1). 

10 (f) BRIEFINGS AND MATERIALS.—The Chair and 

11 members of the Task Force shall, not less frequently than 

12 annually, provide briefings and materials to the Com13 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Com14 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. 

15 (g) REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTEL16 LIGENCE.—The Director of National Intelligence is en17 couraged to include, in his or her annual (or more often 

18 as appropriate) unclassified testimony, accompanied by a 

19 classified annex, if necessary, to Congress on threats to 

20 United States national security— 

21 (1) a review of countries and regions at risk of 

22 emerging events exacerbated by climate change; and 

23 (2) whenever possible, specific identification of 

24 countries and regions at immediate risk of emerging 

25 events exacerbated by climate change. 


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1 (h) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that rapid and robust climate change response mech3 anisms, including the establishment of the Task Force, are 

4 critical for ensuring other countries remain accountable to 

5 their climate action commitments as well as preserving the 

6 national security and economic interests of the United 

7 States. 

Æ 


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