[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3815 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
2d Session
H. R. 3815
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 31, 2008
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Secretary of
Homeland Security to make full and efficient use of open source
information to develop and disseminate open source homeland security
information products, 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 ``Homeland Security Open Source
Information Enhancement Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Internet has profoundly expanded the amount,
significance, and accessibility of all types of information,
but the Department of Homeland Security has not sufficiently
expanded its use of such information to produce analytical
products.
(2) Open source products can be shared with Federal, State,
local, and tribal law enforcement, the American public, the
private sector, and foreign allies because of their
unclassified nature.
(3) The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for
providing open source products to consumers consistent with
existing Federal open source information guidelines.
SEC. 3. FULL AND EFFICIENT USE OF OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION.
(a) In General.--Subtitle A of title II of the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``SEC. 210F. FULL AND EFFICIENT USE OF OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION.
``(a) Responsibilities of Secretary.--The Secretary shall establish
an open source collection, analysis, and dissemination program within
the Department. This program shall make full and efficient use of open
source information to develop and disseminate open source intelligence
products.
``(b) Open Source Products.--The Secretary shall ensure that among
the open source products that the Department generates, there shall be
a specific focus on open source products that--
``(1) analyze news and developments related to foreign
terrorist organizations including how the threat of such
organizations is relevant to homeland security;
``(2) analyze the risks and vulnerabilities to the Nation's
critical infrastructure;
``(3) analyze terrorist tactics and techniques to include
recommendations on how to identify patterns of terrorist
activity and behavior allowing State, local and tribal first
responders to allocate resources appropriately; and
``(4) utilize, as appropriate, computer-based electronic
visualization and animation tools that combine imagery, sound,
and written material into unclassified open source intelligence
products.
``(c) Sharing Results of Analysis.--The Secretary shall share the
unclassified results of such analysis with appropriate Federal, State,
local, tribal, and private-sector officials.
``(d) Protection of Privacy.--The Secretary shall ensure that the
manner in which open source information is gathered and disseminated by
the Department complies with the Constitution, section 552a of title 5,
United States Code (popularly known as the Privacy Act of 1974),
provisions of law enacted by the E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law
107-347), and all other relevant Federal laws.
``(e) Inspector General Report.--The Inspector General of the
Department shall audit the use and dissemination of open source
information by the Department to evaluate the effectiveness of the
Department's activities and to ensure that it is consistent with the
procedures established by the Secretary or a designee of the Secretary
for the operation of the Department's open source program and with
Federal open source information and intelligence guidelines promulgated
by the Director of National Intelligence.
``(f) Open Source Information Defined.--In this section the term
`open source information' means information that is publicly available
and that can be used and disseminated in a timely manner to an
appropriate audience for the purpose of addressing a specific homeland
requirement.
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013 such sums as
may be necessary to carry out this section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to such
subtitle the following:
``Sec. 210F. Full and efficient use of open source information.''.
SEC. 4. PRIVACY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES IMPACT ASSESSMENT.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Privacy Officer and the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil
Liberties of the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with
the Chief Privacy Officer and Civil Liberties Protection Officer of the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, shall submit to the
Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence,
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the
Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives, and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a
privacy and civil liberties impact assessment of the Department of
Homeland Security's open source program, including information on the
collection, analysis, and dissemination of any information on United
States persons.
SEC. 5. OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION DEFINED.
In this Act the term ``open source information'' has the meaning
that term has in section 203 of Homeland Security Act of 2002, as
amended by this Act.
Passed the House of Representatives July 30, 2008.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.