Directed Energy Threat Emergency Response Act
Bill: S.2590 | Sponsor: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne (D-NH)
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 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 (1) work with the interagency coordinator to 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, including processes to self-report suspected exposure to a possible anomalous health incident.

To designate an Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency Coordinator to 
coordinate the interagency investigation of, and response to, 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 TITLES.

    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.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the threat to United States Government personnel 
        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 afflicted by possible anomalous health incidents 
        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 
        the cause of such incidents, and mitigate 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 into anomalous health incidents are 
        found to be the result of deliberate acts by individuals, 
        entities, or foreign countries, the United States Government 
        should recognize 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. 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) Interagency coordinator.--The term ``Interagency 
        Coordinator'' means the Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency 
        Coordinator designated pursuant to section 4(a).
            (4) 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.

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 an appropriate 
senior official as the ``Anomalous Health Incidents Interagency 
Coordinator'', who shall work through the President's designated 
National Security process--
            (1) to coordinate the United States Government's response 
        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; and
            (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.
    (b) 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 United States Government 
                response 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 (E) of such paragraph.
    (c) Secure Reporting Mechanisms.--Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Interagency Coordinator shall--
            (1) ensure that agencies develop 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 agencies share all relevant data with the 
        Office of the Director of National Intelligence 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.
    (d) 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 Agency Coordination Leads shall jointly 
        provide a briefing to the appropriate national security 
        committees regarding progress made in achieving the objectives 
        described in subsection (a).
            (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.
    (e) Retention of Authority.--The appointment of the Interagency 
Coordinator shall not deprive any Federal agency of any authority to 
independently perform its authorized functions.
    (f) 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 to the Secretary of Defense 
$45,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, of which--
            (1) $30,000,000 shall be used--
                    (A) 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;
                    (B) 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
                    (C) 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
            (2) the remaining $15,000,000 shall be used to support the 
        Department of Defense's--
                    (A) efforts to investigate and characterize the 
                cause of anomalous health incidents, including 
                investigations of technical causation, medical 
                research, and other activities in support of 
                attribution;
                    (B) intelligence and data analysis of information 
                related to anomalous health incidents; and
                    (C) development and implementation of force 
                protection and mitigation efforts.

SEC. 6. DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF WORKFORCE GUIDANCE.

    The President shall direct relevant agencies to develop and 
disseminate to their employees, not later than 30 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, updated workforce guidance that 
describes--
            (1) the threat posed by anomalous health incidents;
            (2) known defensive techniques; and
            (3) processes to self-report suspected exposure that could 
        be an anomalous health incident.
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