IB 
Union Calendar No. 290 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6538 
[Report No. 117–379] 
To create an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 1, 2022 
Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. UPTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. SPARTZ, 
Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. MEIJER, Mr. DEUTCH, and Ms. MACE) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary 
JUNE 21, 2022 
Additional sponsors: Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. BACON, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. 
GARBARINO, Mr. CARSON, Mr. OBERNOLTE, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VAN 
DREW, Mr. PHILLIPS, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 
FITZPATRICK, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. CARTER of Texas, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. 
RICE of South Carolina, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. DEAN, Mr. 
ARMSTRONG, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. LIEU, Ms. LETLOW, Mr. 
RUSH, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. MANNING, Mr. 
SUOZZI, Ms. NORTON, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. 
WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. BOURDEAUX, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. 
DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. CORREA, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. GREEN of 
Texas, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. TRONE, Ms. MCCOL-
LUM, Mr. CRIST, Mr. BERA, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. 
BROWNLEY, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. 
GOTTHEIMER, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia 
JUNE 21, 2022 
Deleted sponsor: Ms. LETLOW (added June 14, 2022; deleted June 21, 2022) 
JUNE 21, 2022 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 1, 2022] 
A BILL 
To create an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network, 
and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Active Shooter Alert Act 
of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ACTIVE SHOOTER.—The term ‘‘active shoot-
er’’ means an individual who is engaged in killing or 
attempting to kill persons with a firearm in a popu-
lated area and who is determined to pose an active, 
imminent threat to people in that populated area. 
(2) ADMINISTRATOR OF FEMA.—The term ‘‘Ad-
ministrator of FEMA’’ means the Administrator of 
the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 
(3) CHAIRMAN OF THE FCC.—The term ‘‘Chair-
man of the FCC’’ means the Chairman of the Federal 
Communications Commission. 
(4) COORDINATOR.—The term ‘‘Coordinator’’ 
means the Active Shooter Alert Coordinator of the De-
partment of Justice designated under section 3(a). 
(5) NETWORK.—The term ‘‘Network’’ means the 
Active Shooter Alert Communications Network, an 
interconnected system of Federal, State, Tribal, and 
local governments that is organized to provide infor-
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mation to the public, within geographically relevant 
areas, on active shooter situations. 
(6) POPULATED
AREA.—The term ‘‘populated 
area’’ means a location where one or more persons 
other than the active shooter are present. 
(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of the 
50 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, 
Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, 
the Virgin Islands of the United States, and any other 
territory of the United States. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL COORDINATION OF ACTIVE SHOOTER 
ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. 
(a) COORDINATION WITHIN DEPARTMENT
OF JUS-
TICE.—The Attorney General shall assign an officer of the 
Department of Justice to act as the national coordinator 
of the Active Shooter Alert Communications Network re-
garding an emergency involving an active shooter. The offi-
cer so designated shall be known as the Active Shooter Alert 
Coordinator of the Department of Justice. 
(b) DUTIES.—The Coordinator shall— 
(1) encourage Federal, State, Tribal, and local 
government agencies to establish procedures to re-
spond to an active shooter, including active shooter 
procedures relating to interstate or interjurisdictional 
travel (including airports and border crossing areas 
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and checkpoints), and focus on governments that have 
not yet established such procedures; and 
(2) work with State, Tribal, and local govern-
ments to encourage appropriate regional and inter-
jurisdictional coordination of various elements of the 
Network. 
(c) GOALS.—The Coordinator shall encourage the 
adoption of best practices established under section 4(a) in 
State, Tribal, and local governments for— 
(1) the development of policies and procedures to 
guide the use of mass alert systems, changeable mes-
sage signs, or other information systems to notify 
local residents, motorists, travelers, and individuals 
in the vicinity of an active shooter; 
(2) the development of guidance or policies on 
the content and format of alert messages to be con-
veyed on mass alert systems, changeable message 
signs, or other information systems relating to an ac-
tive shooter; 
(3) the coordination of State, Tribal, and local 
Active Shooter Alert communications plans within a 
region for the use of mass alert systems relating to an 
active shooter; 
(4) the planning and designing of mass alert 
systems for multilingual communication with local 
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residents, motorists, travelers, and individuals in the 
vicinity of an active shooter, which system may in-
clude the capability for issuing wide area alerts to 
local residents, motorists, travelers, and individuals 
in the vicinity of an active shooter; 
(5) the planning of systems and protocols to fa-
cilitate the efficient issuance of active shooter alerts 
and other key information to local residents, motor-
ists, travelers, and individuals in the vicinity of an 
active shooter during times of day outside of normal 
business hours; 
(6) the provision of training and guidance to 
transportation authorities to facilitate the appro-
priate use of mass alert systems and other informa-
tion systems for the notification of local residents, mo-
torists, travelers, and individuals in the vicinity of 
an active shooter; and 
(7) the development of appropriate mass alert 
systems to ensure that alerts sent to individuals in 
the immediate vicinity of an active shooter do not 
alert the active shooter to the location of individuals 
sheltering in place near the active shooter. 
(d) INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYS-
TEM.—In carrying out duties under subsection (b), the Co-
ordinator shall notify and coordinate with the Adminis-
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trator of FEMA, the Secretary of Transportation, and the 
Chairman of the FCC on using the Integrated Public Alert 
and Warning System to issue alerts for the Network. 
(e) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter until 
such time as each of the State, Tribal, and local govern-
ments have adopted an active shooter alert protocol, the Co-
ordinator, in consultation with the Administrator of 
FEMA, Secretary of Transportation, and the Chairman of 
the FCC, shall submit to Congress a report on the activities 
of the Coordinator and the effectiveness and status of the 
Active Shooter Alert communications plan of each State, 
Tribal, and local government within each region that has 
implemented such a plan. 
SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR ISSUANCE AND DISSEMINATION 
OF 
ALERTS 
THROUGH 
ACTIVE 
SHOOTER 
ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF BEST PRACTICES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), the 
Coordinator, using the recommendations of the Advi-
sory Panel established under subsection (b) and in co-
ordination with the Administrator of FEMA, the Sec-
retary of Transportation, the Chairman of the FCC, 
local broadcasters, and Federal, State, Tribal, and 
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