I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2908 
To direct Federal departments and agencies to perform certain functions 
to ensure that climate change-related impacts are fully considered in 
the development of national security doctrine, policies, and plans, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 15, 2017 
Mr. LYNCH (for himself, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA´N of New Mexico, 
Mr. SARBANES, Ms. NORTON, Mr. WELCH, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. SLAUGH-
TER, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Ms. CLARK
of Massachusetts, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. 
DESAULNIER, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. TED LIEU of Cali-
fornia, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. KEATING, Mr. EVANS, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and Mr. 
PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on 
Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Science, Space, and Technology, and In-
telligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct Federal departments and agencies to perform cer-
tain functions to ensure that climate change-related im-
pacts are fully considered in the development of national 
security doctrine, policies, and plans, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate Change Na-
tional Security Strategy Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. POLICY. 
It is the policy of the Federal Government to ensure 
that the current impacts of climate change, and those an-
ticipated in the coming decades, be identified and consid-
ered in the development and implementation of relevant 
national security doctrine, policies, and plans. 
SEC. 3. COORDINATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND NA-
TIONAL SECURITY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The National Security Advi-
sor and the Director of the Office of Science and Tech-
nology Policy, acting jointly, shall establish an interagency 
working group, to be known as the Climate and National 
Security Working Group, to coordinate the development 
of a strategic approach to identify, assess, and share infor-
mation on current and projected climate-related impacts 
on national security interests and to inform the develop-
ment of national security doctrine, policies, and plans. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—The Working Group, in close col-
laboration with the United States Global Change Research 
Program, shall— 
(1) identify the U.S. national security priorities 
that are within the scope of the mission of the 
Working Group; 
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(2) develop recommendations for requirements 
for climate and social science data and intelligence 
analyses, as appropriate, that support national secu-
rity interests; 
(3) catalog climate science data, intelligence 
analyses, and other products and programs that sup-
port or should be considered in the development of 
national security doctrine, policy, and plans, includ-
ing— 
(A) climate and social science data reposi-
tories and analytical platforms; 
(B) climate modeling, simulation, and pro-
jection capabilities; and 
(C) information-sharing tools and re-
sources supporting climate risk analyses and as-
sessments, such as the Climate Data Initiative, 
the Climate Resilience Toolkit, the Global 
Change Information System, and the National 
Climate Assessment; 
(4) identify information and program gaps that 
limit consideration of climate change-related impacts 
in developing national security doctrine, policies, and 
plans and provide descriptions of these gaps to Fed-
eral science agencies and the United States intel-
ligence community to inform future research require-
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ments and priorities, including collection priorities 
on climate data, models, simulations, and projec-
tions; 
(5) facilitate the production and exchange of 
climate data and information with relevant stake-
holders, including the United States intelligence 
community, and private sector partners, as appro-
priate; 
(6) produce, as appropriate, and make available 
science-informed intelligence assessments to agencies 
having responsibilities in the development of national 
security doctrine, policies, and plans in order to 
identify climate change-related impacts and priori-
tize actions related thereto; 
(7) establish, by consensus, guidance for Work-
ing Group members on coordinating, sharing, and 
exchanging climate science data among the mem-
bers, and with the National Science and Technology 
Council; 
(8) provide a venue for enhancing the under-
standing of the links between climate change-related 
impacts and national security interests and dis-
cussing the opportunities for climate mitigation and 
adaptation activities to address national security 
issues; 
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iability in the near-, mid-, and long-term (as defined 
in section 5), in order to support assessments of na-
tional security implications of climate change, and 
identify areas most vulnerable to these impacts dur-
ing these timeframes; 
(15) develop recommendations for the Secretary 
of State to help ensure that the work of United 
States embassies, including their planning processes, 
are informed by relevant climate change-related 
analyses; and 
(16) coordinate on the development of quan-
titative models, predictive mapping products, and 
forecasts to anticipate the various pathways through 
which climate change may affect public health as an 
issue of national security. 
(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Work-
ing Group shall include the following officials and 
representatives (or their designees)— 
(A) the National Security Advisor; 
(B) the Director of the Office of Science 
and Technology Policy; and 
(C) the representatives, appointed by the 
National Security Advisor and the Director of 
the Office of Science and Technology Policy 
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(acting jointly), at the Assistant Secretary or 
equivalent level, of— 
(i) the Department of State; 
(ii) the Department of the Treasury; 
(iii) the Department of Defense; 
(iv) the Department of Justice; 
(v) the Department of the Interior; 
(vi) the Department of Agriculture; 
(vii) the Department of Commerce; 
(viii) the Department of Health and 
Human Services; 
(ix) the Department of Transpor-
tation; 
(x) the Department of Energy; 
(xi) the Department of Homeland Se-
curity; 
(xii) the United States Agency for 
International Development; 
(xiii) the Environmental Protection 
Agency; 
(xiv) the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration; 
(xv) the Office of the Director of Na-
tional Intelligence; 
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(xvi) the U.S. Mission to the United 
Nations; 
(xvii) the Office of Management and 
Budget; 
(xviii) the Council on Environmental 
Quality; 
(xix) the Millennium Challenge Cor-
poration; and 
(xx) any other agency or office as des-
ignated by the Co-Chairs. 
(2) CO-CHAIRS.—The National Security Advisor 
and the Director of the Office of Science and Tech-
nology Policy, or their designees, shall co-chair the 
Working Group. 
(d) ACTION PLAN.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall, 
by consensus, develop an action plan, that— 
(1) identifies specific steps that are required to 
perform its functions; 
(2) includes specific objectives, milestones, 
timelines, and identification of agencies responsible 
for completion of all actions described therein; 
(3) includes recommendations to inform the de-
velopment of agency implementation plans, as de-
scribed in section 4; and 
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(4) be submitted to the co-chairs and the ap-
propriate congressional committees, including— 
(A) the House Committee on Oversight 
and Government Reform; 
(B) the Senate Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs Committee; 
(C) the Senate Committee on Armed Serv-
ices; 
(D) the House Armed Services Committee; 
(E) the House Committee on Natural Re-
sources; and 
(F) the Senate Committee on Environment 
and Public Works. 
SEC. 4. FEDERAL AGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 150 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the departments and agen-
cies listed in subsection 3(c) shall each develop an appro-
priate implementation plan supporting the policy described 
in section 2. Such implementation plans may be classified, 
as required, to meet specific agency requirements. 
(b) CONTENTS OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS.—Im-
plementation plans shall consider for inclusion a descrip-
tion of how the respective departments and agencies will 
accomplish the following: 
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(1) Identifying, sustaining, and strengthening 
climate-related data repositories, tools, and modeling 
products that inform climate change-related impacts 
on national security. 
(2) Identifying climate change-related risks to 
departments and agency missions, and risks that 
may be caused by departments and agency policies, 
programs, and actions concerning international de-
velopment objectives, fragility, and regional stability. 
(3) Pursuing departments and agency adapta-
tion strategies and methods that address climate 
change-related impacts on national security and 
homeland defense. 
(4) 
Identifying 
and 
implementing 
climate 
change-related 
information-sharing 
opportunities 
and arrangements through international develop-
ment activities, military-to-military engagements, 
and government-to-government climate-related data 
exchanges. 
(5) Identifying economic considerations arising 
from the impacts of climate change globally and the 
resulting specific impacts on national security, in-
cluding macroeconomic analyses and data-sharing 
mechanisms. 
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(6) Identifying the potential impact of climate 
change on human mobility, including migration and 
displacement, and the resulting impacts on national 
security. 
(7) Identifying climate change-related impacts 
on global water, food security, and nutrition and the 
resulting impacts on national security, and recom-
mending actions to mitigate these impacts. 
(8) Identifying climate change-related global 
health security concerns affecting humans, animals, 
and plants, and developing options to address them. 
(9) Developing a department or agency-specific 
approach to address climate-related hazards and 
threats to national security. 
(10) Determining and acting on climate change- 
related threats to infrastructure at the asset, sys-
tem, and regional level and acting to strengthen the 
safety, security, and resilience of infrastructure crit-
ical to national security. 
(11) Incorporating climate change-related im-
pact information and considerations into department 
and agency technical and executive education and 
training programs. 
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