[Congressional Record: July 29, 2008 (House)]
[Page H7189-H7191]
HOMELAND SECURITY OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2008
Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3815) 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, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3815
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.
[[Page H7190]]
``(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.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Harman) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis)
will each control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 3815, the Homeland Security Open Source
Enhancement Act of 2008, introduced last year by our subcommittee
member, Ed Perlmutter, who is, by my lights, though a freshman member,
an enormously talented contributor to the work of our subcommittee.
{time} 1330
Regrettably, he couldn't be here for this debate this afternoon.
This is an important piece of legislation that will go a long way
towards ensuring that the Department offers critical intelligence
products that matter to its State, local and tribal partners.
Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government has, at its disposal, nearly
limitless amounts of unclassified, open source information and can
share it with key stakeholders, regardless of whether those partners
have security clearances.
This is crucial because the next attack in the U.S. will not be
stopped, as I mentioned earlier, by a bureaucrat in Washington, D.C.,
it will be the cop on the beat who is familiar with the rhythms and
nuances of his or her neighborhood who will find out about that attack.
An observant police officer somewhere in America will see something or
someone out of place and, guided by timely, accurate and actionable and
unclassified, open source information, will connect the dots that will
unravel that new potential terrorist plot.
The Department, and specifically its Office of Intelligence and
Analysis, has pursued a variety of missions without a clear focus. Open
source is a case in point.
The Department's open source efforts have lagged far behind the rest
of the Federal Government. While the DNI and the CIA have both
established programs in this area, DHS, the lead Federal agency
responsible for sharing terrorism threat and vulnerability information
with State and local law enforcement, has yet to articulate a vision
for how it will collect, analyze and disseminate it to stakeholders.
This legislation directs the Department to jump start its open source
program and protect the privacy, civil rights and civil liberties of
all Americans in the process. It will help DHS fill a critical gap in
information sharing, and, hopefully, provide its primary customers with
timely and actionable information.
Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this important legislation and reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
I rise today in support of H.R. 3815, the Homeland Security Open
Source Information Enhancement Act, sponsored by my committee
colleague, Representative Ed Perlmutter, who is a great Member, by the
way.
H.R. 3815 will require the Secretary to establish an open source
collection analysis and dissemination program within the Department of
Homeland Security. This program would help facilitate information-
sharing between the Federal Government and State, local and private
sector officials to take advantage of the vast amount of information
that is publicly available through open sources.
Importantly, the bill would require the Secretary to protect the
privacy rights of individuals, including by conducting a private impact
statement on the Department's open source program.
H.R. 3815 also requires the Inspector General to audit the use and
dissemination of open source information to evaluate the effectiveness
of the Department's activities in this area and its consistency with
the open source policies of the Director of National Intelligence.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the Department of Homeland Security should
take full advantage of open source information and ensure its proper
dissemination to appropriate entities to maximize our homeland
security. I encourage our colleagues to help move the Department closer
toward that goal by supporting H.R. 3815.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers, and I am
prepared to close once the minority has closed.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I just urge everyone to support this
bill. Again, it is a very good bill.
I yield back.
Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume, and I am prepared to close debate.
Mr. Speaker, I am thinking back to those years on the Intelligence
Committee, when I would leave classified briefings dissatisfied with
the amount of information I was receiving. I would then go out and read
my local newspaper or maybe an article that I had saved for airplane
reading, and realize that in open sources there was a huge amount of
information directly relevant to the problem that had not been
organized in a way that I could quickly access it, and that in fact was
probably more useful than the classified briefings I received. This
happened not one time, not five times, but often.
So the point of Mr. Perlmutter's excellent legislation is to help the
Department of Homeland Security, which has primary responsibility for
the security of our homeland, make public source information available
to those who need it to keep us safe. And those would be our first
preventers, police and firefighters in our neighborhoods, and the
general public. It sounds obvious, but it doesn't happen. And I
appreciate the support of Mr. Bilirakis and the unanimous support of
the members of the committee.
Again, I want to commend the bill's principal author, Mr. Perlmutter,
for offering this legislation.
[[Page H7191]]
I ask for an ``aye'' vote on the bill and yield back the balance of
my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3815, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
____________________
[Congressional Record: July 30, 2008 (House)]
[Page H7596]
HOMELAND SECURITY OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2008
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The unfinished business is the question on
suspending the rules and passing the bill, H.R. 3815, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3815, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________
