I 114th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2899 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 25, 2015 Mr. McCaul introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Office for Countering Violent Extremism.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Countering Violent Extremism Act of 2015 or the CVE Act . 2. Authorization of the Office for Countering Violent Extremism of the Department of Homeland Security (a) In general Title I of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 101 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 104. Office for Countering Violent Extremism (a) Establishment There is in the Department an Office for Countering Violent Extremism. The head of the Office shall be the Assistant Secretary for Countering Violent Extremism, who shall be appointed by the Secretary. The Secretary shall also appoint a career Deputy Assistant Secretary for Countering Violent Extremism. (b) Assignment of personnel The Secretary shall assign or hire, as appropriate, permanent staff to the Office for Countering Violent Extremism. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, seek to assign to or hire for the Office an individual who has a demonstrated background in technical matters, on and offline media, or marketing. (c) Support The Secretary shall appoint within each appropriate component and office of the Department, including at a minimum, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Office of Privacy, the National Protection and Programs Directorate, the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the Science and Technology Directorate, an individual to serve as liaison to the Office for Countering Violent Extremism. (d) Responsibilities The Assistant Secretary for Countering Violent Extremism shall be responsible for the following: (1) Coordinating the Department’s efforts to counter violent extremism across all the components and offices of the Department that conduct strategic and supportive efforts to counter violent extremism. Such efforts shall include the following: (A) Identifying risk factors that contribute to violent extremism in communities in the United States and potential remedies for Government and non-government institutions. (B) Identifying populations targeted by violent extremist propaganda, messaging, or recruitment. (C) Managing the outreach and engagement efforts of the Department directed toward communities at risk for radicalization and recruitment for violent extremist activities. (D) Ensuring relevant information, research, and products inform efforts to counter violent extremism. (E) Developing and maintaining a Department-wide strategy guiding policies and programs to counter violent extremism. Such strategy shall, at a minimum, address each of the following: (i) The Department’s counter-messaging program pursuant to paragraph (2), including a plan to leverage new and existing Internet and other technologies and social media platforms to counter violent extremism, as well as the best practices and lessons learned of other Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, and foreign partners engaged in similar counter-messaging efforts. (ii) The Department’s countering violent extremism-related engagement efforts. (iii) The use of cooperative agreements with State, local, tribal, territorial, and other Federal departments and agencies responsible for efforts relating to countering violent extremism. (iv) Ensuring all activities related to countering violent extremism fully respect the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of all Americans. (F) Identifying and recommending new research and analysis requirements in coordination with the Under Secretary for Science and Technology and the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis and ensure the dissemination of information and methods for Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial countering violent extremism practitioners, officials, law enforcement, and non-governmental partners to utilize such research and analysis. (G) Assessing the methods used by violent extremists to disseminate propaganda and messaging to communities at risk for radicalization and recruitment. (2) Establishing a counter-messaging program to craft strategic counter-messages to the propaganda and messaging referred to in subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) which shall— (A) explore ways to utilize relevant Internet and other technologies and social media platforms; and (B) maximize other resources available to the Department. (3) Serving as the primary representative of the Department in coordinating countering violent extremism efforts with other Federal departments and agencies and non-governmental organizations. (4) Serving as the primary Department-level representative in coordinating with the Department of State on international countering violent extremism issues. (5) In coordination with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, providing guidance regarding the use of grants made to State, local, and tribal governments under sections 2003 and 2004 under the allowable uses guidelines related to countering violent extremism. (e) Memorandum of understanding The Assistant Secretary for Countering Violent Extremism shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency outlining the roles of the Assistant Secretary and the Administrator with respect to the administration of grants under sections 2003 and 2004 related to countering violent extremism. (f) Annual report The Assistant Secretary for Countering Violent Extremism shall submit to Congress an annual report for each of the next five fiscal years (beginning in the fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment of this section) on the Office for Countering Violent Extremism. Each such report shall include the following: (1) A description of the status of the programs and policies of the Department for countering violent extremism in the United States, including the budget of the Department for countering violent extremism and the number of full-time employees dedicated to countering violent extremism programs, as well as the number of part-time employees supporting countering violent extremism programs. Each such budget shall include an accounting of all funding amounts for all departmental programs, initiatives, and personnel related to countering violent extremism. (2) A description of the efforts of the Office to cooperate with and provide assistance to other departments and agencies. (3) Qualitative and quantitative metrics for evaluating the success of such programs and policies and the steps taken to evaluate the success of such programs and policies. (4) A detailed summary of the organizations with which the Department conducted outreach to discuss countering violent extremism, an accounting of grants awarded by the Department to counter violent extremism, and an accounting of all training specifically aimed at countering violent extremism sponsored by the Department. (5) Details of the optimal level of personnel and funding for the Office. (g) Violent extremism defined In this section, the term violent extremism means ideologically motivated terrorist activities. (h) Authorization of funding Out of funds made available to the Office of the Secretary, $10,000,000 is authorized for the Office for Countering Violent Extremism for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 103 the following new item: Sec. 104. Office for Countering Violent Extremism. .