I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2924 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Under Secretary 
for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security 
to research and develop approaches to mitigate identified or potential 
negative effects of climate change on homeland security, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 27, 2023 
Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Mr. 
CARTER of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Homeland Security 
A BILL 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require 
the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the 
Department of Homeland Security to research and de-
velop approaches to mitigate identified or potential nega-
tive effects of climate change on homeland security, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home-
land Security Climate Change Research Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu-
rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 324. CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH AND DEVELOP-
MENT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Science 
and Technology— 
‘‘(1) shall evaluate existing Federal research re-
garding approaches to mitigate identified or poten-
tial negative effects of climate change on homeland 
security that includes consideration of— 
‘‘(A) the degree to which such identified or 
potential negative effects affect preparedness 
and emergency planning and policies, including 
with respect to preparedness, response to, and 
recovery from natural disasters; 
‘‘(B) the degree to which the Federal fund-
ing structure to respond to major disaster dec-
larations and emergency declarations is appro-
priately structured to address such identified or 
potential negative effects; and 
‘‘(C) such other matters as the Under Sec-
retary determines appropriate; and 
‘‘(2) may, subject to the availability of appro-
priations, conduct research and development on ap-
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proaches to mitigate such identified or potential neg-
ative effects of climate change on homeland security 
in response to the evaluation under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(b) SCOPE.—The scope of the research and develop-
ment under subsection (a)(2)— 
‘‘(1) shall prioritize mitigating identified or po-
tential negative effects that impact the ability of the 
Department to carry out operations; and 
‘‘(2) may address the matters described in sub-
section (a)(1). 
‘‘(c) CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.—In car-
rying out this section, the Under Secretary for Science and 
Technology shall consult, and may, as appropriate, coordi-
nate, with— 
‘‘(1) the heads of— 
‘‘(A) other relevant Federal agencies and 
departments; and 
‘‘(B) State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
governments; and 
‘‘(2) relevant owners and operators of critical 
infrastructure. 
‘‘(d) CLIMATE CHANGE DEFINED.—The term ‘cli-
mate change’ refers to detectable changes in one or more 
climate system components that is directly or indirectly 
attributed to— 
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‘‘(1) human activity; and 
‘‘(2) altering the composition of the global at-
mosphere.’’. 
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this section and annu-
ally thereafter for three years, the Under Secretary for 
Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland 
Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Se-
curity and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-
nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate a report on any research and development activi-
ties carried out pursuant to section 324 of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a). 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
323 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 324. Climate change research and development.’’. 
Æ 
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