HR 3026 IH

107th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3026

To establish an Office of Homeland Security within the Executive Office of the President to lead, oversee, and coordinate a comprehensive national homeland security strategy to safeguard the Nation.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 4, 2001

Mr. GIBBONS (for himself, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. ROEMER, and Mr. CASTLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, the Judiciary, Transportation and Infrastructure, Intelligence (Permanent Select), and Energy and Commerce, 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

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A BILL

To establish an Office of Homeland Security within the Executive Office of the President to lead, oversee, and coordinate a comprehensive national homeland security strategy to safeguard the Nation.

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 `Office of Homeland Security Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

There is established within the Executive Office of the President an office to be known as the `Office of Homeland Security' (in this Act referred to as the `Office').

SEC. 3. DIRECTOR OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

(a) DIRECTOR- The head of the Office shall be the Director of the Office of Homeland Security, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The President shall ensure that the Director functions as a cabinet-level official.

(b) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE I PAY RATE FOR DIRECTOR- Section 5312 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to the Director of National Drug Control Policy the following new item:

`Director of the Office of Homeland Security.'.

SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES.

Subject to the direction and control of the President, the responsibilities of the Director shall include the following:

(1) Directing, in consultation with appropriate Federal and State agencies and Congress, the creation of a national strategy for homeland security, as provided in section 5, to include all aspects of prevention and response to terrorist activities.

(2) Developing, reviewing, and approving, in collaboration with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, a national budget for homeland security.

(3) Reviewing programs, plans and activities of the relevant Federal agencies to insure effective implementation of the national homeland security strategy.

(4) Coordinating the planning and implementation of all Federal homeland security activities with relevant Federal agencies for the purposes of removing unnecessary duplication and gaps in counterterrorism activities.

(5) Certifying as part of the budget submission of the President to Congress the relevance and accuracy of counterterrorism budgets from Federal agencies and rejecting budget requests not consistent with the national homeland security strategy.

(6) Directing and reviewing the development of a comprehensive national assessment on the threat to homeland security, which shall be conducted by the heads of relevant Federal agencies.

(7) Overseeing the appropriate sharing of information among Federal, State, and local agencies involved in intelligence collection and law enforcement for the purpose of protecting homeland security.

(9) Establishing a center within the Office to analyze and publicize as appropriate lessons learned from homeland security exercises conducted by Federal, State, and local government agencies and other organizations involved in terrorism response.

(10) Consulting regularly with Congress on all issues relating to homeland security.

(11) Attending meetings of the President's cabinet and the National Security Council relating to counterterrorism and homeland security.

(12) Serving as the President's principal spokesperson on issues relevant to homeland security.

SEC. 5. NATIONAL HOMELAND SECURITY STRATEGY.

The national homeland security strategy created under section 4 shall include the following:

(1) A comprehensive research, development, and procurement plan for supporting homeland security.

(2) Mechanisms to insure the flexibility and mobility in Federal personnel policies and practices to achieve maximum effective use of personnel among all concerned agencies.

(3) Policies and procedures to maximize the collection, analysis, translation, exploitation, and dissemination of, throughout the Federal Government

and with State and local authorities, information relevant to homeland security concerns.

(4) Plans for improving the resources of, coordination among, and effectiveness of health and medical sectors for detecting and responding to terrorist attacks on the homeland.

(5) Specific measures to enhance cooperative efforts between the public and private sectors in protecting homeland security.

SEC. 6. OFFICERS AND STAFF OF OFFICE.

(a) OFFICERS- The President shall assign to the Office such officers in addition to the Director, if any, as the President, in consultation with the Director, considers appropriate to discharge the responsibilities of the Office.

(b) STAFF- The Director may appoint such employees, and may detail employees from other agencies, as necessary to carry out the functions of the Office. Such employees shall include individuals with relevant State and local expertise.

SEC. 7. HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISORY COUNCIL.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT- There is established a Homeland Security Advisory Council. The Council shall--

(1) advise the President and the Director of the Office of Homeland Security on the creation and implementation of the national strategy for homeland security; and

(2) advise the Director on the operation of the Office of Homeland Security.

(b) CHAIR- The Director of the Office of Homeland Security shall be the Chair of the Council.

(c) MEMBERS- The members of the Council shall be the following:

(1) The Secretary of State.

(2) The Secretary of the Treasury.

(3) The Secretary of Defense.

(4) The Attorney General.

(5) The Secretary of Agriculture.

(6) The Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(7) The Secretary of Transportation.

(8) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

(9) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(10) The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

(11) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(12) The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

(13) The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(14) The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.

(15) Such other Federal and other officials as may be designated by the President or the Director of the Office.

SEC. 8. REVIEW OF LEGAL AUTHORITIES.

(a) REVIEW- The Director of the Office of Homeland Security shall conduct a review of the legal authorities needed but not currently provided to prevent and respond effectively to terrorist threats, including legal authorities regarding the role of the Department of Defense in homeland security and the imposition of regulations on civilian populations and private entities during a state of emergency.

(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS- The Director shall submit to Congress a report of the results of the review under subsection (a). The report shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall include recommendations for addressing shortcomings in current legal authority.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated such amounts as are necessary to carry out this Act.