SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing Suspicious 
Activity Reporting Initiative Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ENHANCING DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECU-
RITY SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING OP-
ERATIONS. 
(a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Homeland Security, in consultation with other appro-
priate Federal officials, shall develop a strategy to improve 
the operations and activities of the Department of Home-
land Security related to training, outreach, and informa-
tion sharing for suspicious activity reporting to prevent 
acts of terrorism. 
(b) CONTENTS
OF STRATEGY.—The strategy re-
quired under subsection (a) shall include the following: 
(1) A description and examples of the types of 
information that would meet the definition of critical 
information for the purpose of suspicious activity re-
porting as well as information, including information 
associated with racial, religious or national origin, 
that would not meet the definition of critical infor-
mation. 
(2) Training for appropriate personnel of State 
and major urban area fusion centers, emergency re-
sponse providers, and, as appropriate, the private 
sector on— 
(A) methods for identifying, analyzing, and 
disseminating critical information, including the 
indicators of terrorism; 
(B) methods to protect privacy and civil 
liberties, including preventing racial, religious, 
or national origin discrimination; and 
(C) response protocols for submitting sus-
picious activity reports. 
(3) Methods to improve outreach to appropriate 
State and major urban area fusion centers, emer-
gency response providers, and the private sector re-
lated to suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts 
of terrorism. 
(4) A plan to ensure that critical information is 
shared in a timely manner with State and major 
urban area fusion centers, emergency response pro-
viders, and the private sector, as appropriate, includ-
ing nationwide trend analysis and other information 
related to terrorist threats. 
(5) Methods to measure the effectiveness of the 
activities conducted under the strategy with respect 
to improving the operations and activities of the De-
partment related to training, outreach, and informa-
tion sharing to prevent acts of terrorism that have 
been validated through peer-reviewed empirical stud-
ies to the extent practicable. 
(c) WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS.—In de-
veloping the strategy required under subsection (a) the 
Secretary shall take into consideration the recommenda-
tions of the working group established under section 3. 
(d) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not less than 
30 days before the release of the strategy required pursu-
ant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide to the 
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a notification of 
the release of the strategy and a copy of the strategy. Such 
notification shall include the recommendations provided by 
the working group established under section 3 and how 
such recommendations were incorporated into the strat-
egy. 
SEC. 
3. 
SUSPICIOUS 
ACTIVITY 
REPORTING 
WORKING 
GROUP. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall establish a working group on sus-
picious activity reporting.
(2) DEPARTMENT
LIAISONS.—The Secretary 
shall appoint as liaisons to the working group— 
(A) the Chief Privacy Officer of the De-
partment of Homeland Security; 
(B) the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil 
Liberties of the Department; and 
(C) such other officials of the Department 
as the Secretary determines appropriate. 
(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The working group estab-
lished under subsection (a) shall carry out the following 
responsibilities: 
(1) Provide advice to the Secretary regarding 
improvements to the operations and activities related 
to suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts of 
terrorism. 
(2) At the request of the Secretary, for pur-
poses of section 2(c), develop recommendations to 
improve suspicious activity reporting to prevent acts 
of terrorism with respect to— 
(A) outreach to relevant stakeholders; 
(B) information sharing; 
(C) protecting personally identifiable infor-
mation; 
(D) protecting the privacy, civil rights, and 
civil liberties of individuals who report sus-
picious activity and individuals who are the sub-
jects of such reports; 
(E) preventing racial, religious, or national 
origin discrimination; 
(F) training for emergency response pro-
viders and the private sector; and 
(G) other matters, as determined by the 
Secretary. 
(c) WORKING GROUP MEMBERSHIP.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall seek the voluntary participation of not 
more than 20 individuals representing at least 12 diverse 
regions of the United States to serve as members of the 
working group. Members of the working group shall serve 
without pay. The Secretary shall seek to ensure that the 
working group includes members who are representatives 
from each of the following: 
(1) State and major urban area fusion centers. 
(2) State, local, tribal, and territorial law en-
forcement agencies. 
(3) Firefighters. 
(4) Emergency medical services. 
(5) Private sector security professionals. 
(6) Nongovernmental privacy and civil liberty 
organizations.
(7) Any other group the Secretary determines 
appropriate. 
(d) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING.—Upon request, the 
Secretary shall provide to the Committee on Homeland Se-
curity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate a briefing on the operations and activities of the 
Department of Homeland Security related to training, 
outreach, and information sharing for suspicious activity 
reporting to prevent acts of terrorism, including copies of 
materials developed under this section. 
(e) TERMINATION.—The working group under this 
section shall terminate on the date that is 2 years after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, except that the Sec-
retary may extend such working group if the Secretary 
determines necessary. 
(f) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Ad-
visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 
the working group established under this section. 
Passed the House of Representatives June 25, 2018. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5094 
AN ACT 
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
improve suspicious activity reporting to prevent 
acts of terrorism, and for other purposes.