(a) Short Title.--This subtitle may be cited as the
``Homeland Security Information Sharing Act''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Federal Government is required by the
Constitution to provide for the common defense, which
includes terrorist attack.
(2) The Federal Government relies on State and
local personnel to protect against terrorist attack.
(3) The Federal Government collects, creates,
manages, and protects classified and sensitive but
unclassified information to enhance homeland security.
(4) Some homeland security information is needed by
the State and local personnel to prevent and prepare
for terrorist attack.
(5) The needs of State and local personnel to have
access to relevant homeland security information to
combat terrorism must be reconciled with the need to
preserve the protected status of such information and
to protect the sources and methods used to acquire such
information.
(6) Granting security clearances to certain State
and local personnel is one way to facilitate the
sharing of information regarding specific terrorist
threats among Federal, State, and local levels of
government.
(7) Methods exist to declassify, redact, or
otherwise adapt classified information so it may be
shared with State and local personnel without the need
for granting additional security clearances.
(8) State and local personnel have capabilities and
opportunities to gather information on suspicious
activities and terrorist threats not possessed by
Federal agencies.
(9) The Federal Government and State and local
governments and agencies in other jurisdictions may
benefit from such information.
(10) Federal, State, and local governments and
intelligence, law enforcement, and other emergency
preparation and response agencies must act in
partnership to maximize the benefits of information
gathering and analysis to prevent and respond to
terrorist attacks.
(11) Information systems, including the National
Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the
Terrorist Threat Warning System, have been established
for rapid sharing of classified and sensitive but
unclassified information among Federal, State, and
local entities.
(12) Increased efforts to share homeland security
information should avoid duplicating existing
information systems.
(c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
Federal, State, and local entities should share homeland
security information to the maximum extent practicable, with
special emphasis on hard-to-reach urban and rural communities.
SEC. 892. [6 U.S.C. 482] FACILITATING HOMELAND SECURITY INFORMATION
SHARING PROCEDURES.
(a) Procedures for Determining Extent of Sharing of
Homeland Security Information.--
(1) The President shall prescribe and implement
procedures under which relevant Federal agencies--
(A) share relevant and appropriate homeland
security information with other Federal
agencies, including the Department, and
appropriate State and local personnel;
(B) identify and safeguard homeland
security information that is sensitive but
unclassified; and
(C) to the extent such information is in
classified form, determine whether, how, and to
what extent to remove classified information,
as appropriate, and with which such personnel
it may be shared after such information is
removed.
(2) The President shall ensure that such procedures
apply to all agencies of the Federal Government.
(3) Such procedures shall not change the
substantive requirements for the classification and
safeguarding of classified information.
(4) Such procedures shall not change the
requirements and authorities to protect sources and
methods.
(b) Procedures for Sharing of Homeland Security
Information.--
(1) Under procedures prescribed by the President,
all appropriate agencies, including the intelligence
community, shall, through information sharing systems,
share homeland security information with Federal
agencies and appropriate State and local personnel to
the extent such information may be shared, as
determined in accordance with subsection (a), together
with assessments of the credibility of such
information.
(2) Each information sharing system through which
information is shared under paragraph (1) shall--
(A) have the capability to transmit
unclassified or classified information, though
the procedures and recipients for each
capability may differ;
(B) have the capability to restrict
delivery of information to specified subgroups
by geographic location, type of organization,
position of a recipient within an organization,
or a recipient's need to know such information;
(C) be configured to allow the efficient
and effective sharing of information; and
(D) be accessible to appropriate State and
local personnel.
(3) The procedures prescribed under paragraph (1)
shall establish conditions on the use of information
shared under paragraph (1)--
(A) to limit the redissemination of such
information to ensure that such information is
not used for an unauthorized purpose;
(B) to ensure the security and
confidentiality of such information;
(C) to protect the constitutional and
statutory rights of any individuals who are
subjects of such information; and
(D) to provide data integrity through the
timely removal and destruction of obsolete or
erroneous names and information.
(4) The procedures prescribed under paragraph (1)
shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that
the information sharing system through which
information is shared under such paragraph include
existing information sharing systems, including, but
not limited to, the National Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System, the Regional Information
Sharing System, and the Terrorist Threat Warning System
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(5) Each appropriate Federal agency, as determined
by the President, shall have access to each information
sharing system through which information is shared
under paragraph (1), and shall therefore have access to
all information, as appropriate, shared under such
paragraph.
(6) The procedures prescribed under paragraph (1)
shall ensure that appropriate State and local personnel
are authorized to use such information sharing
systems--
(A) to access information shared with such
personnel; and
(B) to share, with others who have access
to such information sharing systems, the
homeland security information of their own
jurisdictions, which shall be marked
appropriately as pertaining to potential
terrorist activity.
(7) Under procedures prescribed jointly by the
Director of Central Intelligence and the Attorney
General, each appropriate Federal agency, as determined
by the President, shall review and assess the
information shared under paragraph (6) and integrate
such information with existing intelligence.
(c) Sharing of Classified Information and Sensitive but
Unclassified Information With State and Local Personnel.--
(1) The President shall prescribe procedures under
which Federal agencies may, to the extent the President
considers necessary, share with appropriate State and
local personnel homeland security information that
remains classified or otherwise protected after the
determinations prescribed under the procedures set
forth in subsection (a).
(2) It is the sense of Congress that such
procedures may include 1 or more of the following
means:
(A) Carrying out security clearance
investigations with respect to appropriate
State and local personnel.
(B) With respect to information that is
sensitive but unclassified, entering into
nondisclosure agreements with appropriate State
and local personnel.
(C) Increased use of information-sharing
partnerships that include appropriate State and
local personnel, such as the Joint Terrorism
Task Forces of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Anti-Terrorism Task Forces
of the Department of Justice, and regional
Terrorism Early Warning Groups.
(3)(A) The Secretary shall establish a program to
provide appropriate training to officials described in
subparagraph (B) in order to assist such officials in--
(i) identifying sources of potential
terrorist threats through such methods as the
Secretary determines appropriate;
(ii) reporting information relating to such
potential terrorist threats to the appropriate
Federal agencies in the appropriate form and
manner;
(iii) assuring that all reported
information is systematically submitted to and
passed on by the Department for use by
appropriate Federal agencies; and
(iv) understanding the mission and roles of
the intelligence community to promote more
effective information sharing among Federal,
State, and local officials and representatives
of the private sector to prevent terrorist
attacks against the United States.
(B) The officials referred to in subparagraph (A)
are officials of State and local government agencies
and representatives of private sector entities with
responsibilities relating to the oversight and
management of first responders, counterterrorism
activities, or critical infrastructure.
(C) The Secretary shall consult with the Attorney
General to ensure that the training program established
in subparagraph (A) does not duplicate the training
program established in section 908 of the USA PATRIOT
Act (Public Law 107-56; 28 U.S.C. 509 note).
(D) The Secretary shall carry out this paragraph in
consultation with the Director of Central Intelligence
and the Attorney General.
(d) Responsible Officials.--For each affected Federal
agency, the head of such agency shall designate an official to
administer this Act with respect to such agency.
(e) Federal Control of Information.--Under procedures
prescribed under this section, information obtained by a State
or local government from a Federal agency under this section
shall remain under the control of the Federal agency, and a
State or local law authorizing or requiring such a government
to disclose information shall not apply to such information.
(f) Definitions.--As used in this section:
(1) The term ``homeland security information''
means any information possessed by a Federal, State, or
local agency that--
(A) relates to the threat of terrorist
activity;
(B) relates to the ability to prevent,
interdict, or disrupt terrorist activity;
(C) would improve the identification or
investigation of a suspected terrorist or
terrorist organization; or
(D) would improve the response to a
terrorist act.
(2) The term ``intelligence community'' has the
meaning given such term in section 3(4) of the National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(4)).
(3) The term ``State and local personnel'' means
any of the following persons involved in prevention,
preparation, or response for terrorist attack:
(A) State Governors, mayors, and other
locally elected officials.
(B) State and local law enforcement
personnel and firefighters.
(C) Public health and medical
professionals.
(D) Regional, State, and local emergency
management agency personnel, including State
adjutant generals.
(E) Other appropriate emergency response
agency personnel.
(F) Employees of private-sector entities
that affect critical infrastructure, cyber,
economic, or public health security, as
designated by the Federal Government in
procedures developed pursuant to this section.
(4) The term ``State'' includes the District of
Columbia and any commonwealth, territory, or possession
of the United States.
(g) Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed
as authorizing any department, bureau, agency, officer, or
employee of the Federal Government to request, receive, or
transmit to any other Government entity or personnel, or
transmit to any State or local entity or personnel otherwise
authorized by this Act to receive homeland security
information, any information collected by the Federal
Government solely for statistical purposes in violation of any
other provision of law relating to the confidentiality of such
information.