Directed Energy Threat Emergency Response Act
Bill: H.R.5263 | Sponsor: Rep. Spanberger, Abigail Davis (D-VA)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Directed Energy Threat Emergency Response Act
This bill requires actions to address anomalous health incidents.
The President must designate an appropriate senior official as the Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency Coordinator. The interagency coordinator must (1) coordinate the U.S. government's response to anomalous health incidents, (2) ensure that affected personnel and dependents get access to care, and (3) ensure adequate training and education for relevant U.S. government personnel.
The President must also appoint an appropriate senior official as the Deputy Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency Coordinator.
The bill also requires certain agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to designate an appropriate senior official to serve as the Anomalous Health Incident Agency Coordination Lead. These officials must work with the interagency coordinator to (1) achieve objectives related to anomalous health incidents, and (2) jointly provide quarterly briefings to Congress on its activities.
Such agencies must also develop updated workplace guidance to address anomalous health incidents.
The bill authorizes the Department of State to take certain actions, such as increasing staffing for the Health Incident Response Task Force and collecting data related to anomalous health incidents.

To designate an Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency Coordinator to 
coordinate the interagency investigation of, and response to, suspected 
    attacks presenting as anomalous health incidents, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Directed Energy Threat Emergency 
Response Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Since at least 2016, United States Government personnel 
        and their family members have reported anomalous health 
        incidents at diplomatic missions across the world and in the 
        United States, which are sometimes referred to as ``Havana 
        Syndrome''.
            (2) Some of the anomalous health incidents have resulted in 
        unexplained brain injuries, which have had permanent, life-
        altering effects that have disrupted lives and ended careers.
            (3) A panel of experts convened by the Bureau of Medical 
        Services of the Department of State in July 2017 to review 
        triage assessments of medically evaluated personnel from the 
        United States Embassy in Havana came to a consensus that the 
        findings were most likely related to neurotrauma from a 
        nonnatural source.
            (4) A 2020 report by the National Academy of Sciences found 
        that ``many of the distinctive and acute signs, symptoms, and 
        observations reported by [affected] employees are consistent 
        with the effects of directed, pulsed radio frequency (RF) 
        energy'' and that ``directed pulsed RF energy [...] appears to 
        be the most plausible mechanism in explaining these cases''.
            (5) According to the National Academy of Sciences report, 
        ``such a scenario raises grave concerns about a world with 
        disinhibited malevolent actors and new tools for causing harm 
        to others''.
            (6) The number and locations of these suspected attacks 
        have expanded and, according to press reporting, there have 
        been more than 130 possible cases that have been reported by 
        United States personnel in Asia, in Europe, and in the Western 
        Hemisphere, including within the United States.
            (7) The continuing and expanding scope of these suspected 
        attacks is impacting the security and morale of United States 
        personnel, especially those posted overseas.
            (8) The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of 
        Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons (including 
        diplomatic agents) to which 180 countries are a party, protects 
        diplomatic personnel from attacks on their persons, 
        accommodations, or means of transport, and requires all state 
        parties to punish and take measures to prevent such grave 
        crimes.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the threat to United States Government personnel from 
        suspected attacks presenting as anomalous health incidents is a 
        matter of urgent concern and deserving of the full attention of 
        government;
            (2) personnel, dependents, and other appropriate 
        individuals suffering anomalous health incidents from these 
        suspected attacks deserve equitable, accessible, and high-
        quality medical assessment and care, regardless of their 
        employing Government agency;
            (3) diagnoses and determinations to treat personnel, 
        dependents, and other appropriate individuals experiencing 
        symptoms consistent with such injuries should be made by 
        experienced medical professionals and made available by the 
        Federal Government;
            (4) any recriminations, retaliation, or punishment 
        associated with personnel self-reporting symptoms is 
        unacceptable and should be investigated by internal agency 
        oversight mechanisms;
            (5) information sharing and interagency coordination is 
        essential for the comprehensive investigation, attribution, and 
        mitigation of these injuries;
            (6) the Administration should provide Congress and the 
        public with timely and regular unclassified updates on the 
        threat posed to United States Government personnel by the 
        suspected causes of these injuries;
            (7) recent efforts by the Administration and among relevant 
        agencies represent positive steps toward responding to the 
        threat of anomalous health incidents, but more comprehensive 
        measures must be taken to further assist victims, investigate 
        and determine the cause of the injuries of such victims, and 
        prevent future incidents;
            (8) establishing the source and cause of these anomalous 
        health incidents must be a top priority for the United States 
        Government and requires the full coordination of relevant 
        agencies;
            (9) if investigations determine that the anomalous health 
        incidents are the result of deliberate acts by individuals, 
        entities, or foreign countries, the United States Government 
        should recognize and respond to these incidents as hostile 
        attacks; and
            (10) any actors found to have been targeting United States 
        Government personnel should be publicly identified, as 
        appropriate, and held accountable.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) to detect, deter, and punish any clandestine attacks 
        that cause persistent injuries to United States personnel;
            (2) to provide appropriate assistance to United States 
        personnel harmed by such attacks;
            (3) to hold responsible any persons, entities, or 
        governments involved in ordering or carrying out such attacks, 
        including through appropriate sanctions, criminal prosecutions, 
        or other tools;
            (4) to prioritize research into effective countermeasures 
        to help protect United States personnel from such attacks; and
            (5) to convey to foreign governments through official 
        contact at the highest levels the gravity of United States 
        concern about such suspected attacks and the seriousness of 
        consequences that may follow for any actors found to be 
        involved.

SEC. 4. ANOMALOUS HEALTH INCIDENTS INTERAGENCY COORDINATOR.

    (a) Designation.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall designate--
            (1) an appropriate senior official to be known as the 
        Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency Coordinator; and
            (2) an appropriate senior official in the White House 
        Office of Science and Technology Policy to be known as the 
        Deputy Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency Coordinator.
    (b) Duties.--The Interagency Coordinator shall work through the 
President's designated National Security process--
            (1) to coordinate the response of the United States 
        Government to anomalous health incidents;
            (2) to coordinate among relevant agencies to ensure 
        equitable and timely access to assessment and care for affected 
        personnel, dependents, and other appropriate individuals;
            (3) to ensure adequate training and education for United 
        States Government personnel;
            (4) to ensure that information regarding anomalous health 
        incidents is efficiently shared across relevant agencies in a 
        manner that provides appropriate protections for classified, 
        sensitive, and personal information;
            (5) to coordinate through the White House Office of Science 
        and Technology Policy, and across the science and technology 
        enterprise of the Government, the technological and research 
        efforts of the Government to address suspected attacks 
        presenting as anomalous health incidents; and
            (6) to develop policy options to prevent, mitigate, and 
        deter suspected attacks presenting as anomalous health 
        incidents.
    (c) Designation of Agency Coordination Leads.--
            (1) In general.--The head of each relevant agency shall 
        designate a Senate-confirmed or other appropriate senior 
        official, who shall--
                    (A) serve as the Anomalous Health Incident Agency 
                Coordination Lead for the relevant agency;
                    (B) report directly to the head of the relevant 
                agency regarding activities carried out under this Act;
                    (C) perform functions specific to the relevant 
                agency, consistent with the directives of the 
                Interagency Coordinator and the established interagency 
                process;
                    (D) participate in interagency briefings to 
                Congress regarding the response of the United States 
                Government to anomalous health incidents; and
                    (E) represent the relevant agency in meetings 
                convened by the Interagency Coordinator.
            (2) Delegation prohibited.--An Agency Coordination Lead may 
        not delegate the responsibilities described in subparagraphs 
        (A) through (C) of paragraph (1).
    (d) Secure Reporting Mechanisms.--Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Interagency Coordinator shall--
            (1) ensure that each relevant agency develops a process to 
        provide a secure mechanism for personnel, their dependents, and 
        other appropriate individuals to self-report any suspected 
        exposure that could be an anomalous health incident;
            (2) ensure that each relevant agency shares all relevant 
        data in a timely manner with the Office of the Director of 
        National Intelligence, and other relevant agencies, through 
        existing processes coordinated by the Interagency Coordinator; 
        and
            (3) in establishing the mechanism described in paragraph 
        (1), prioritize secure information collection and handling 
        processes to protect classified, sensitive, and personal 
        information.
    (e) Briefings.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter for the 
        following 2 years, the Interagency Coordinator, the Deputy 
        Coordinator, and the Agency Coordination Leads shall jointly 
        provide a briefing to the appropriate national security 
        committees regarding progress in carrying out the duties under 
        subsection (b), including the requirements under paragraph (2).
            (2) Elements.--The briefings required under paragraph (1) 
        shall include--
                    (A) an update on the investigation into anomalous 
                health incidents impacting United States Government 
                personnel and their family members, including technical 
                causation and suspected perpetrators;
                    (B) an update on new or persistent incidents;
                    (C) threat prevention and mitigation efforts to 
                include personnel training;
                    (D) changes to operating posture due to anomalous 
                health threats;
                    (E) an update on diagnosis and treatment efforts 
                for affected individuals, including patient numbers and 
                wait times to access care;
                    (F) efforts to improve and encourage reporting of 
                incidents;
                    (G) detailed roles and responsibilities of Agency 
                Coordination Leads;
                    (H) information regarding additional authorities or 
                resources needed to support the interagency response; 
                and
                    (I) other matters that the Interagency Coordinator 
                or the Agency Coordination Leads consider appropriate.
            (3) Unclassified briefing summary.--The Agency Coordination 
        Leads shall provide a coordinated, unclassified summary of the 
        briefings to Congress, which shall include as much information 
        as practicable without revealing classified information or 
        information that is likely to identify an individual.
    (f) Retention of Authority.--The appointment of the Interagency 
Coordinator shall not deprive any Federal agency of any authority to 
independently perform its authorized functions.
    (g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed 
to limit--
            (1) the President's authority under article II of the 
        United States Constitution; or
            (2) the provision of health care and benefits to afflicted 
        individuals, consistent with existing laws.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated--
            (1) to the Secretary of Defense $45,000,000 for fiscal year 
        2022, of which--
                    (A) $30,000,000 shall be used--
                            (i) to develop the necessary medical 
                        capacity to provide health assessments and 
                        appropriate care to United States Government 
                        personnel, dependents, and other appropriate 
                        individuals who have symptoms associated with 
                        anomalous health incidents;
                            (ii) to develop additional capability and 
                        capacity in the military healthcare system to 
                        provide assessment and timely care to affected 
                        United States Government personnel, dependents, 
                        and other appropriate individuals; and
                            (iii) to fund the assessment and care of 
                        civilian employees of the Department of Defense 
                        and other Department of Defense-affiliated non-
                        beneficiaries, if such funding is not otherwise 
                        available; and
                    (B) the remaining $15,000,000 shall be used to 
                support--
                            (i) the efforts of the Department of 
                        Defense to investigate and characterize the 
                        cause of anomalous health incidents, including 
                        investigations of technical causation, medical 
                        research, and other activities in support of 
                        attribution;
                            (ii) intelligence and data analysis by the 
                        Department of Defense of information related to 
                        anomalous health incidents; and
                            (iii) development and implementation by the 
                        Department of Defense of force protection and 
                        mitigation efforts; and
            (2) to the Secretary of State $5,000,000 for fiscal year 
        2022 to be used--
                    (A) to increase capacity and staffing for the 
                Health Incident Response Task Force of the Department 
                of State;
                    (B) to support the development and implementation 
                of efforts by the Department of State to prevent and 
                mitigate anomalous health incidents affecting its 
                workforce;
                    (C) to investigate and characterize the cause of 
                anomalous health incidents, including investigations of 
                causation and attribution;
                    (D) to collect and analyze data related to 
                anomalous health incidents;
                    (E) to coordinate with other relevant agencies and 
                the National Security Council regarding anomalous 
                health incidents; and
                    (F) to support other activities to understand, 
                prevent, deter, and respond to suspected attacks 
                presenting as anomalous health incidents, at the 
                discretion of the Secretary of State.

SEC. 6. DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF WORKFORCE GUIDANCE.

    The President shall direct relevant agencies to develop and 
disseminate to employees who are at risk of exposure to anomalous 
health incidents, not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, updated workforce guidance to report, mitigate, 
and address suspected attacks presenting as anomalous health incidents.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Agency coordination lead.--The term ``Agency 
        Coordination Lead'' means a senior official designated by the 
        head of a relevant agency to serve as the Anomalous Health 
        Incident Agency Coordination Lead for such agency.
            (2) Appropriate national security committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate national security committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate;
                    (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
                Senate;
                    (D) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                    (E) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
                    (F) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
                Representatives;
                    (G) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives;
                    (H) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
                of the House of Representatives;
                    (I) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    (J) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (3) Deputy coordinator.--The term ``Deputy Coordinator'' 
        means the Deputy Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency 
        Coordinator in the White House Office of Science and Technology 
        Policy designated pursuant to section 4(a).
            (4) Interagency coordinator.--The term ``Interagency 
        Coordinator'' means the Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency 
        Coordinator designated pursuant to section 4(a).
            (5) Relevant agencies.--The term ``relevant agencies'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Department of Defense;
                    (B) the Department of State;
                    (C) the Office of the Director of National 
                Intelligence;
                    (D) the Central Intelligence Agency;
                    (E) the Department of Justice;
                    (F) the Department of Homeland Security; and
                    (G) other agencies and bodies designated by the 
                Interagency Coordinator.
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