H. R. 7213 
One Hundred Fifteenth Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE SECOND SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 
the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen 
An Act 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Countering Weapons 
of Mass Destruction Office, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering Weapons of Mass 
Destruction Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. COUNTERING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION OFFICE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title XIX of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002 (6 U.S.C. 591 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in the title heading, by striking ‘‘DOMESTIC 
NUCLEAR DETECTION OFFICE’’ and inserting ‘‘COUN-
TERING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION OFFICE’’; 
(2) by striking section 1901 and inserting the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1900. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this title: 
‘‘(1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘Assistant Secretary’ 
means the Assistant Secretary for the Countering Weapons 
of Mass Destruction Office. 
‘‘(2) INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY.—The term ‘intelligence 
community’ has the meaning given such term in section 3(4) 
of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)). 
‘‘(3) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Countering 
Weapons of Mass Destruction Office established under section 
1901(a). 
‘‘(4) WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION.—The term ‘weapon 
of mass destruction’ has the meaning given the term in section 
101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 
U.S.C. 1801). 
‘‘Subtitle A—Countering Weapons of Mass 
Destruction Office 
‘‘SEC. 1901. COUNTERING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION OFFICE. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the Department 
a Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. 
‘‘(b) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The Office shall be headed by an 
Assistant Secretary for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruc-
tion Office, who shall be appointed by the President.
H. R. 7213—2 
‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Assistant Secretary shall serve as 
the Secretary’s principal advisor on— 
‘‘(1) weapons of mass destruction matters and strategies; 
and 
‘‘(2) coordinating the efforts of the Department to counter 
weapons of mass destruction. 
‘‘(d) DETAILS.—The Secretary may request that the Secretary 
of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of State, the 
Attorney General, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the 
heads of other Federal agencies, including elements of the intel-
ligence community, provide for the reimbursable detail of personnel 
with relevant expertise to the Office. 
‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—The Office shall terminate on the date that 
is 5 years after the date of the enactment of the Countering 
Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 2018.’’; 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Subtitle B—Mission of the Office 
‘‘SEC. 1921. MISSION OF THE OFFICE. 
‘‘The Office shall be responsible for coordinating with other 
Federal efforts and developing a strategy and policy for the Depart-
ment to plan for, detect, and protect against the importation, posses-
sion, storage, transportation, development, or use of unauthorized 
chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear materials, devices, or 
agents in the United States and to protect against an attack using 
such materials, devices, or agents against the people, territory, 
or interests of the United States. 
‘‘SEC. 1922. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER DEPARTMENT COMPONENTS 
AND FEDERAL AGENCIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the Assistant Secretary 
under this title shall not affect or diminish the authority or the 
responsibility of any officer of the Department or any officer of 
any other Federal agency with respect to the command, control, 
or direction of the functions, personnel, funds, assets, or liabilities 
of any component of the Department or any other Federal agency. 
‘‘(b) OFFICE FOR STRATEGY, POLICY, AND PLANS.—Not later than 
one year after the date of the enactment of the Countering Weapons 
of Mass Destruction Act of 2018, the Assistant Secretary shall, 
in coordination with the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and 
Plans, submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
strategy and implementation plan to direct programs within the 
Office and to integrate those programs with other programs and 
activities of the Department. 
‘‘(c) FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY.—Nothing in 
this title or any other provision of law may be construed to affect 
or reduce the responsibilities of the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency or the Administrator of the Agency, including the 
diversion of any asset, function, or mission of the Agency or the 
Administrator of the Agency.’’; 
(4) by striking section 1905; 
(5) by redesignating sections 1902, 1903, 1904, 1906, and 
1907 as sections 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927, respectively, 
and transferring such sections to appear after section 1922, 
as added by paragraph (3);
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(6) in section 1923, as redesignated— 
(A) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘MISSION OF 
OFFICE’’ and inserting ‘‘RESPONSIBILITIES’’; and 
(B) in subsection (a)(11), by striking ‘‘Domestic Nuclear 
Detection Office’’ and inserting ‘‘Office’’; 
(7) in section 1925, as redesignated, in subsection (a), in 
the first sentence, by striking ‘‘section 1902’’ and inserting 
‘‘section 1923’’; 
(8) in section 1926, as redesignated— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘Director for Domestic Nuclear 
Detection’’ and inserting ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘paragraphs (6) and (7) of section 
1902(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1923’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘paragraphs (6) and 
(7) of section 1902(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1923’’; 
(9) in section 1927, as redesignated— 
(A) in subsection (a)(1)(C), in the matter preceding 
clause (i), by striking ‘‘Director of the Domestic Nuclear 
Detection Office’’ and inserting ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’; and 
(B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘section 1902’’ and 
inserting ‘‘section 1923’’; and 
(10) by inserting after section 1927, as redesignated, the 
following: 
‘‘SEC. 1928. SECURING THE CITIES PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, through the Assistant 
Secretary, shall establish a program, to be known as the ‘Securing 
the Cities’ or ‘STC’ program, to enhance the ability of the United 
States to detect and prevent terrorist attacks and other high-con-
sequence events utilizing nuclear or other radiological materials 
that pose a high risk to homeland security in high-risk urban 
areas. 
‘‘(b) ELEMENTS.—Through the STC program the Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(1) assist State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments 
in designing and implementing, or enhancing existing, architec-
tures for coordinated and integrated detection and interdiction 
of nuclear or other radiological materials that are out of regu-
latory control; 
‘‘(2) support the development of an operating capability 
to detect and report on nuclear and other radiological materials 
out of regulatory control; 
‘‘(3) provide resources to enhance detection, analysis, 
communication, and coordination to better integrate State, 
local, Tribal, and territorial assets into Federal operations; 
‘‘(4) facilitate alarm adjudication and provide subject matter 
expertise and technical assistance on concepts of operations, 
training, exercises, and alarm response protocols; 
‘‘(5) communicate with, and promote sharing of information 
about the presence or detection of nuclear or other radiological 
materials among appropriate Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 
territorial government agencies, in a manner that ensures 
transparency with the jurisdictions designated under subsection 
(c);