SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home-
land Security Vehicular Terrorism Prevention and Mitiga-
tion Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On January 1, 2025, a devastating vehic-
ular terrorist attack occurred on Bourbon Street in 
New Orleans, Louisiana, when an assailant inspired 
by the Islamic State drove a vehicle into a crowd 
and engaged in a shootout with law enforcement. 
This tragic incident resulted in the loss of 14 lives 
and injuries to at least thirty-five others, including 
two police officers. 
(2) Vehicle-ramming attacks and other vehic-
ular terrorist incidents represent an enduring and 
evolving threat to public safety in the United States 
and around the world, targeting innocent civilians 
and first responders. 
(3) These attacks, carried out by both orga-
nized terrorist groups and individual actors, often 
aim to exploit high-density public gatherings, critical 
infrastructure, and key transportation hubs, causing 
mass casualties and widespread disruption. 
(4) Emerging automotive technologies, such as 
autonomous vehicles, Advanced Driver Assistance
System (ADAS) capabilities, and ride-sharing plat-
forms, create new vulnerabilities that could be lever-
aged by malicious actors to conduct sophisticated ve-
hicle-based attacks. 
(5) The Department of Homeland Security, 
through agencies like the Transportation Security 
Administration and the Cybersecurity and Infra-
structure Security Agency, plays a vital role in de-
tecting, assessing, and mitigating the risks associ-
ated with vehicle-based threats. 
(6) Strengthened coordination between Federal, 
State, local, Tribal, territorial, and private sector 
stakeholders is essential to enhance prevention, pre-
paredness, and response efforts, ensuring the safety 
of communities across the nation. 
SEC. 3. REPORT ON EMERGING THREATS AND COUNTER-
MEASURES RELATED TO VEHICULAR TER-
RORISM. 
(a) REPORT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Homeland Security, in coordination with 
the Administrator of the Transportation Security 
Administration and the Director of the Cybersecu-
rity and Infrastructure Security Agency, shall sub-
mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report on the Department of Homeland Security’s 
efforts to prevent, deter, and respond to vehicular 
terrorism. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—The report under paragraph 
(1) shall include the following: 
(A) An assessment of the current and 
emerging threats posed by vehicular terrorism, 
as well as the following: 
(i) An analysis of the methods, tac-
tics, and motivations used by perpetrators 
of vehicular terrorism. 
(ii) An evaluation of domestic and 
international trends in vehicular terrorism. 
(iii) An identification of potential fu-
ture threats related to the misuse of con-
nected or autonomous vehicles, Advanced 
Driver 
Assistance 
System 
(ADAS) 
-equipped vehicles, ride-sharing services, 
and advancements in automotive tech-
nologies, including cybersecurity threats to 
underlying software technologies (including 
artificial intelligence-enabled technologies) 
powering autonomous vehicles.
(B) A review of higher-risk locations and 
events that may be vulnerable to vehicular ter-
rorism, including the following: 
(i) Critical infrastructure sites such as 
the following: 
(I) Airports. 
(II) Seaports. 
(III) Federal, State, local, Tribal, 
and territorial government facilities. 
(IV) Power plants. 
(V) Substations. 
(VI) Oil refineries. 
(VII) Public transportation hubs. 
(VIII) Healthcare facilities. 
(ii) Soft-targets and crowded spaces, 
including mass gatherings and widely at-
tended events such as parades, concerts, 
sporting events, political rallies, holiday 
markets, places of worship, public dem-
onstrations, and ceremonial events. 
(iii) High-density urban areas with 
limited physical security measures such as 
pedestrianized city centers, commercial dis-
tricts, residential neighborhoods, public
parks, recreational areas, educational insti-
tutions, and tourist destinations. 
(C) A comprehensive summary of actions 
taken by the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity, the Transportation Security Administra-
tion, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 
Security Agency to research measures that pre-
vent, deter, and respond to vehicular terrorism, 
including the following: 
(i) The identification and coordination 
with State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
governments and industry partners for the 
strategic placement of physical barriers, 
bollards, and other protective infrastruc-
ture at higher-risk locations. 
(ii) The research, testing, and deploy-
ment of geofencing, surveillance systems, 
cybersecurity measures, and other tech-
nologies designed to monitor, restrict, and 
manage vehicle access to such higher-risk 
locations. 
(iii) The creation of real-time response 
strategies and operational plans to neu-
tralize vehicular terrorism, including ongo-
ing research into best practices for threat
detection, 
incident 
management, 
and 
threat containment. 
(D) An evaluation of the Department’s en-
gagement with private and public sector stake-
holders to address risks of vehicular terrorism, 
including the following: 
(i) Collaboration with vehicle rental 
companies, ride-sharing platforms, vendors 
of connected, autonomous, and ADAS 
technologies, freight operators, and auto-
motive manufacturers. 
(ii) Development of industry-specific 
best practices to prevent the misuse of ve-
hicles. 
(iii) Protocols for sharing threat intel-
ligence and security guidance with private 
sector partners. 
(E) A description of the Department’s co-
ordination efforts with Federal, State, local, 
Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies 
to prevent vehicular terrorism, including the fol-
lowing: 
(i) Mechanisms for sharing threat in-
telligence and situational awareness.
(ii) Guidance provided to such law en-
forcement agencies regarding implementing 
countermeasures, such as traffic control 
measures and rapid vehicle containment 
protocols. 
(iii) Joint exercises and training pro-
grams to enhance interagency prepared-
ness and response. 
(iv) Efforts to equip law enforcement, 
first responders, and private sector part-
ners with the knowledge and skills to rec-
ognize and respond to vehicular terrorism, 
including the development of specialized 
curricula addressing emerging threats, 
such as connected or autonomous vehicles 
and other advanced technologies. 
(v) Outreach efforts to ensure that 
smaller jurisdictions have access to nec-
essary training resources and public safety 
awareness tools. 
(F) Recommendations for the research, de-
velopment, and deployment of technologies to 
detect, deter, and mitigate vehicular terrorism, 
including the following:
(i) Educating the public on recog-
nizing suspicious vehicle-related behavior 
and reporting potential threats. 
(ii) Building trust and fostering col-
laboration between communities and law 
enforcement agencies. 
(iii) Enhancing resilience by encour-
aging community-based security measures. 
(I) Such other elements as the Secretary of 
Homeland Security considers appropriate. 
(3) FORM.—The report under paragraph (1) 
shall be submitted in classified form, but may in-
clude an unclassified executive summary. 
(4) PUBLICATION.—The unclassified executive 
summary of the report required under paragraph (1) 
shall be published on a publicly accessible website of 
the Department of Homeland Security. 
(b) BRIEFING.—Not later than 30 days after the sub-
mission of the report under subsection (a), the Secretary 
of Homeland Security shall provide to the appropriate con-
gressional committees a briefing on the findings, conclu-
sions, and recommendations of such report. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 
of the House of Representatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
of the Senate. 
(2) VEHICULAR TERRORISM.—The term ‘‘vehic-
ular terrorism’’ means an action that utilizes auto-
motive transportation to commit terrorism (as such 
term is defined in section 2(18) of the Homeland Se-
curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(18))). 
Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 
2025. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 1608 
AN ACT 
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
produce a report on emerging threats and coun-
termeasures related to vehicular terrorism, and 
for other purposes.