I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 525
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act to provide for improved Federal efforts to prepare for and respond
to terrorist attacks, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 8, 2001125
Mr. GILCHREST (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. CHAMBLISS,
Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SCHROCK,
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. HORN, Mr. MICA,
Mrs. KELLY, Mr. QUINN, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mrs. MORELLA,
Mr. THUNE, Mr. MEEHAN, and Mr. SESSIONS) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure
A BILL
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act to provide for improved Federal
efforts to prepare for and respond to terrorist attacks,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Preparedness Against Domestic Terrorism Act of 2001’’.
(b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise specifically
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal
is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of,
a section or other provision of law, the reference shall be
considered to be made to a section or other provision of
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As-
sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) the President should strengthen Federal
interagency emergency planning by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency and other appro-
priate Federal, State, and local agencies for develop-
ment of a capability for early detection and warning
of and response to potential domestic terrorist at-
tacks involving weapons of mass destruction; and
(2) Federal efforts to assist State and local
emergency preparedness and response personnel in
preparation for domestic terrorist attacks should be
coordinated so as to eliminate duplicative Federal
programs.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act include—
(1) coordinating and making more effective
Federal efforts to assist State and local emergency
preparedness and response personnel in preparation
for domestic terrorist attacks;
(2) designating a lead entity to coordinate such
Federal efforts; and
(3) updating Federal authorities to reflect the
increased risk of terrorist attacks.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF MAJOR DISASTER.
Section 102(2) (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)) is amended to
read as follows:
‘‘(2) MAJOR DISASTER.—‘Major disaster’ means
any natural catastrophe (including any hurricane,
tornado, storm, high water, winddriven water, tidal
wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, land-
slide, mudslide, snowstorm, snow drought, or
drought), or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, ex-
plosion, act of terrorism, or other catastrophic event
in any part of the United States, which in the deter-
mination of the President causes damage of suffi-
cient severity and magnitude to warrant major dis-
aster assistance under this Act to supplement the ef-
forts and available resources of States, local govern-
ments, and disaster relief organizations in alleviating
the damage, loss, hardship, or suffering caused
thereby.’’.
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
PROGRAMS BY THE PRESIDENT.
Title VI (42 U.S.C. 5195 et seq.) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place it appears
(other than in sections 602(a)(7) and 603) and in-
serting ‘‘President’’;
(2) in section 603 by striking ‘‘Director of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency’’ and in-
serting ‘‘President’’;
(3) in section 611(c)—
(A) by striking ‘‘With the approval of the
President, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘responsibilities and re-
view’’ and inserting ‘‘responsibilities. The Presi-
dent shall review’’;
(4) in section 621(g) by striking the second
sentence;
(5) in section 623—
(A) by striking paragraph (1) and redesig-
nating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs
(1) and (2), respectively; and
(B) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated)
by striking ‘‘unless’’ and all that follows
through ‘‘approval of the President,’’ and in-
serting ‘‘unless the President’’; and
(6) in section 624 by striking ‘‘to the President
and Congress’’ and inserting ‘‘to Congress’’.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
(a) HAZARD.—Section 602(a)(1)(B) (42 U.S.C.
5195a(a)(1)(B)) is amended by striking the period at the
end and inserting ‘‘, including a domestic terrorist attack
involving a weapon of mass destruction.’’.
(b) NATURAL DISASTER.—Section 602(a)(2) (42
U.S.C. 5195a(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(2) NATURAL DISASTER.—The term ‘natural
disaster’ means any hurricane, tornado, storm, flood,
high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami,
earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide,
snowstorm, snow drought, drought, fire, or other ca-
tastrophe in any part of the United States which
causes, or which may cause, substantial damage or
injury to civilian property or persons.’’.
(c) 
EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS.—Section
602(a)(3)(A) (42 U.S.C. 5195a(a)(3)(A)) is amended by
inserting ‘‘the predeployment of these and other essential
resources (including personnel),’’ before ‘‘the provision of
suitable warning systems,’’.
(d) 
DIRECTOR.—Section 
602(a) 
(42 
U.S.C.
5195a(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (7) and re-
designating paragraphs (8), (9), and (10) as paragraphs
(7), (8), and (9), respectively.
(e) WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION.—Section 602
(42 U.S.C. 5195a) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(10) WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION.—The
term ‘weapon of mass destruction’ means any weap-
on or device that is intended, or has the capability,
to cause death or serious bodily injury to a signifi-
cant number of people through the release, dissemi-
nation, or impact of—
‘‘(A) toxic or poisonous chemicals or their
precursors;
‘‘(B) a disease organism; or
‘‘(C) radiation or radioactivity.’’.
SEC. 6. DETAILED FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATION.
(a) FEDERAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS AND
PROGRAMS.—Section 611(b) (42 U.S.C. 5196(b)) is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘may prepare’’ and inserting
‘‘shall prepare’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In ac-
cordance with section 313, the President shall en-
sure that Federal response plans and programs are
adequate to respond to the consequences of ter-