I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1539 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to develop and make available 
guidance relating to domestic preparedness for and collective response 
to terrorism regarding active shooter and mass casualty incident response 
assistance, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 3, 2021 
Mr. AGUILAR (for himself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Miss RICE 
of New York, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. CORREA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mrs. 
FLETCHER, Mr. LIEU, Mr. PANETTA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 
VARGAS, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. KILMER, Mr. 
RYAN, Mr. CARSON, Mr. COOPER, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. KAHELE, 
and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Homeland Security 
A BILL 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to develop 
and make available guidance relating to domestic pre-
paredness for and collective response to terrorism regard-
ing active shooter and mass casualty incident response 
assistance, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Rational Op-
tions Toward the Elimination of Catastrophic Terrorism 
Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PROTECT Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ACTIVE SHOOTER AND MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT 
RESPONSE ASSISTANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 890B. ACTIVE SHOOTER AND MASS CASUALTY INCI-
DENT RESPONSE ASSISTANCE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 
with the Attorney General and the heads of other Federal 
agencies as appropriate, shall develop and make available 
to State, local, tribal, territorial, private sector, and non-
governmental partners guidance relating to domestic pre-
paredness for and collective response to terrorism in order 
to assist in the development of emergency action and re-
sponse plans for active shooter and mass casualty inci-
dents in public and private locations, including facilities 
that have been identified by the Department as potentially 
vulnerable targets. 
‘‘(b) GUIDANCE DESCRIBED.—Guidance developed 
and provided pursuant to subsection (a) may relate to the 
development of the following: 
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‘‘(1) A strategy for properly responding to an 
active shooter or mass casualty incident in a public 
or private location, including training, evacuating, 
and providing care to persons in such location, with 
consideration given to the needs of persons with dis-
abilities. 
‘‘(2) A plan for establishing a unified command, 
including identification of casualty collection points 
and staging areas for law enforcement, fire response, 
and medical personnel. 
‘‘(3) A schedule for regular testing of equip-
ment used to receive communications during such an 
incident. 
‘‘(4) A practiced method and plan to commu-
nicate with occupants of such location during such 
an incident. 
‘‘(5) A practiced method and plan to commu-
nicate with the surrounding community regarding 
such an incident and the needs of Federal, State, 
and local officials. 
‘‘(6) A plan for coordinating with volunteer or-
ganizations to expedite assistance for victims. 
‘‘(7) A schedule for joint exercises and training. 
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‘‘(8) A plan for outreach to facilities that have 
been identified by the Department as potentially vul-
nerable targets. 
‘‘(9) Other planning documents, as determined 
by the Secretary, including appropriate regionally fo-
cused products, plans, training, and outreach.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 890A the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘Sec. 890B. Active shooter and mass casualty incident response assistance.’’. 
SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF ACTIVE SHOOTER THREATS. 
Subsection (b) of section 2007 of the Homeland Se-
curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 608) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-
graph (10); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(9) Active shooters.’’. 
Æ 
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