I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 963 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide immunity for 
reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious behavior and response. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 8, 2011 
Mr. SMITH of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide 
immunity for reports of suspected terrorist activity or 
suspicious behavior and response. 
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 ‘‘See Something, Say 
Something Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 
2002. 
(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: 
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‘‘SEC. 890A. IMMUNITY FOR REPORTS OF SUSPECTED TER-
RORIST ACTIVITY OR SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR 
AND RESPONSE. 
‘‘(a) IMMUNITY FOR REPORTS OF SUSPECTED TER-
RORIST ACTIVITY OR SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR AND RE-
SPONSE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who, in good 
faith and based on objectively reasonable suspicion, 
makes, or causes to be made, a voluntary report of 
covered activity to an authorized official shall be im-
mune from civil liability under Federal, State, and 
local law for such report. 
‘‘(2) FALSE REPORTS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply to any report that the person knew to be false 
or was made with reckless disregard for the truth at 
the time that the person made that report. 
‘‘(b) IMMUNITY FOR RESPONSE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any authorized official who 
observes, or receives a report of, covered activity and 
takes reasonable action in good faith to respond to 
such activity shall have qualified immunity from civil 
liability for such action, consistent with applicable 
law in the relevant jurisdiction. An authorized offi-
cial as defined by section (d)(1)(A) not entitled to 
assert the defense of qualified immunity shall none-
theless be immune from civil liability under Federal, 
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State, and local law if such authorized official takes 
reasonable action, in good faith, to respond to the 
reported activity. 
‘‘(2) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-
section shall— 
‘‘(A) affect the ability of any authorized of-
ficial to assert any defense, privilege, or immu-
nity that would otherwise be available; and 
‘‘(B) be construed as affecting any such 
defense, privilege, or immunity. 
‘‘(c) ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS.—Any authorized 
official or other person found to be immune from civil li-
ability under this section shall be entitled to recover from 
the plaintiff all reasonable costs and attorney fees. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED
OFFICIAL.—The term ‘au-
thorized official’ means— 
‘‘(A) any officer, employee, or agent of the 
Federal government with responsibility for pre-
venting, protecting against, disrupting, or re-
sponding to a ‘covered activity;’ or 
‘‘(B) any Federal, State, or local law en-
forcement officer. 
‘‘(2) COVERED ACTIVITY.—The term ‘covered 
activity’ means any suspicious transaction, activity, 
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or occurrence indicating that an individual may be 
engaging, or preparing to engage, in a violation of 
law relating to an act of terrorism (as that term is 
defined in section 3077 of title 18, United States 
Code).’’. 
(b) AMENDMENT TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 
The table of contents for the Homeland Security Act of 
2002 is amended by inserting at the end of subtitle H 
of title VIII the following item: 
‘‘Sec. 890A. Immunity for reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious 
behavior and response.’’. 
Æ 
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