I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1229 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to reauthorize and expand the 
National Threat Assessment Center of the Department of Homeland Security. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 23, 2021 
Mr. DEUTCH (for himself and Mr. DIAZ-BALART) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 
to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to reauthorize and 
expand the National Threat Assessment Center of the 
Department of Homeland Security. 
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 ‘‘EAGLES Act of 
2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) On February 14, 2018, 17 individuals lost 
their lives in a senseless and violent attack on Mar-
jory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland 
Florida, a school whose mascot is the eagle. 
(2) These individuals lived lives of warmth, joy, 
determination, service, and love, and their loss is 
mourned by the Nation. 
(3) The shooter in that attack exhibited pat-
terns of behavior that were alarming and that should 
have alerted law enforcement and other Federal, 
State, and local officials. 
(4) The attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas 
High School was preventable. 
(5) Lives were saved because of the brave and 
exemplary conduct of many students, teachers, and 
staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in-
cluding several of the victims of the attack. 
(6) The National Threat Assessment Center 
(referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Center’’) was estab-
lished in 1998 to conduct research on various types 
of targeted violence. 
(7) Studies conducted by the Center on tar-
geted school violence, in particular, have shown 
that— 
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(A) most incidents were planned in ad-
vance; 
(B) the attackers’ behavior gave some indi-
cation that the individual was planning, or at 
least contemplating, an attack; 
(C) most attackers had already exhibited a 
pattern of behavior that was of concern to other 
people in their lives; and 
(D) prior to the attack, someone associated 
with the attacker, such as a family member or 
peer, knew the attack was to likely to occur. 
(8) Through their research, the Center devel-
oped the threat assessment model for responding to 
indicators of targeted violence, which includes a 3- 
step process— 
(A) identifying individuals who are exhib-
iting behaviors that indicate they are planning 
an attack on a school; 
(B) assessing whether the individual poses 
a threat to the school, based on articulable 
facts; and 
(C) managing the threat the individual 
may pose to the school. 
(9) The threat assessment model works most 
effectively when all the relevant parties, including 
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school officials, local law enforcement, and members 
of the community, are part of a comprehensive pro-
tocol to identify, assess, and manage a potential 
threat to the school. 
(10) The primary goal of threat assessment 
programs in schools should be to prevent violent con-
duct, with an emphasis on early intervention, treat-
ment, and care of individuals exhibiting behaviors 
associated with targeted violence. 
(11) Early intervention, treatment, and preven-
tion of violent behavior is an effective way to prevent 
violent conduct that would harm others and neces-
sitate disciplinary action, including criminal pen-
alties. 
(12) The parties involved need the appropriate 
training and tools to establish the appropriate mech-
anisms for implementing this type of approach. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that a fact-based threat assessment approach, in-
volving school officials, local law enforcement, and mem-
bers of the community, is one of the most effective ways 
to prevent targeted violence in schools, and is a fitting me-
morial to those who lost their lives in the February 14, 
2018 attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School 
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and those who heroically acted to preserve the lives of their 
friends, students, and colleagues. 
SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION AND EXPANSION OF THE NA-
TIONAL THREAT ASSESSMENT CENTER OF 
THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 203 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3056A 
the following: 
‘‘§ 3056B. Functions of the National Threat Assess-
ment Center of the United States Secret 
Service 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a National 
Threat Assessment Center (in this section referred to as 
the ‘Center’), to be operated by the United States Secret 
Service, at the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity. 
‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Center shall 
include the following: 
‘‘(1) Training in the area of best practices on 
threat assessment. 
‘‘(2) Consultation on complex threat assessment 
cases or programs. 
‘‘(3) Research on threat assessment and the 
prevention of targeted violence, consistent with evi-
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dence-based standards and existing laws and regula-
tions. 
‘‘(4) Facilitation of information sharing on 
threat assessment and the prevention of targeted vi-
olence among agencies with protective or public safe-
ty responsibilities, as well as other public or private 
entities. 
‘‘(5) Development of evidence-based programs 
to promote the standardization of Federal, State, 
and local threat assessments, best practices in inves-
tigations involving threats, and the prevention of 
targeted violence. 
‘‘(c) SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE.—In carrying out the 
functions described in subsection (b), the Center shall es-
tablish a national program on targeted school violence pre-
vention, focusing on the following activities: 
‘‘(1) RESEARCH.—The Center shall— 
‘‘(A) conduct research into targeted school 
violence and evidence-based practices in tar-
geted school violence prevention, including 
school threat assessment; and 
‘‘(B) publish the findings of the Center on 
the public website of the United States Secret 
Service. 
‘‘(2) TRAINING.— 
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