Terror Intelligence Improvement Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 183 To provide appropriate information to Federal law enforcement and intel- ligence agencies, pursuant to investigating terrorism, and for other pur- poses. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 2, 2021 Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide appropriate information to Federal law enforce- ment and intelligence agencies, pursuant to investigating terrorism, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Terror Intelligence Im- 4 provement Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) On June 12, 2016, the deadliest terrorist 8 attack on our homeland since September 11, 2001, 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S183.IS S183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 183 IS occurred at the Pulse Bar and Club in downtown 1 Orlando, Florida. The Orlando Police Department 2 shortly after the incident reported 49 fatalities and 3 53 injured. 4 (2) On June 13, 2016, the Washington Post re- 5 ported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation in- 6 vestigated the Orlando shooter for 10 months begin- 7 ning in 2013, putting him under surveillance, re- 8 cording his calls, and using confidential informants 9 to gauge whether he had been radicalized after he 10 talked at work about his connections with al-Qaeda 11 and dying as a martyr. 12 (3) On June 13, 2016, the Federal Bureau of 13 Investigation remarked that the suspect had made 14 clear his affinity, at the time of the attack, for the 15 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (commonly known as 16 ‘‘ISIS’’), and generally, leading up to the attack, for 17 radical Islamist groups. 18 (4) On June 12, 2016, the Bureau of Alcohol, 19 Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced it had 20 completed a trace of the firearms used in the shoot- 21 ing and determined both were purchased legally. 22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 23 In this Act: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S183.IS S183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 183 IS (1) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 1 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given the 2 term in section 1016(e) of the Uniting and 3 Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate 4 Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism 5 Act of 2001 (also known as the ‘‘USA PATRIOT 6 Act’’) (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 7 (2) EXPLOSIVE.—The term ‘‘explosive’’ has the 8 meaning given the term ‘‘explosives’’ in section 9 841(d) of title 18, United States Code. 10 (3) FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OR AGENCY.—The 11 term ‘‘Federal department or agency’’ means— 12 (A) an Executive agency, as defined in sec- 13 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code; and 14 (B) the United States Postal Service. 15 (4) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the 16 meaning given the term in section 921 of title 18, 17 United States Code. 18 (5) JTTF.—The term ‘‘JTTF’’ means the 19 Joint Terrorism Task Forces established by the 20 Federal Bureau of Investigation. 21 (6) KEY RESOURCES.—The term ‘‘key re- 22 sources’’ has the meaning given the term in section 23 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 24 101). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S183.IS S183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 183 IS (7) TERRORISM.—The term ‘‘terrorism’’ in- 1 cludes international terrorism and domestic ter- 2 rorism, as those terms are defined in section 2331 3 of title 18, United States Code. 4 SEC. 4. CONSOLIDATION AND NOTIFICATION OF TER- 5 RORISM INVESTIGATION INFORMATION. 6 (a) CONSOLIDATION OF TERRORISM INVESTIGATION 7 INFORMATION.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 9 the date of enactment of this Act and on an ongoing 10 basis thereafter, the head of each Federal depart- 11 ment or agency shall, to the extent permitted by law, 12 provide to the Director of the Federal Bureau of In- 13 vestigation any information in the possession, cus- 14 tody, or control of the Federal department or agency 15 relating to any person who is, or has been, under a 16 terrorism investigation. 17 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Director of the Fed- 18 eral Bureau of Investigation shall— 19 (A) implement appropriate procedures and 20 safeguards with respect to all information pro- 21 vided under paragraph (1); and 22 (B) identify, prioritize, and coordinate the 23 protection of critical infrastructure and key re- 24 sources in order to prevent, deter, and mitigate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S183.IS S183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 183 IS the effects of deliberate efforts to destroy, inca- 1 pacitate, or exploit such infrastructure and re- 2 sources. 3 (b) NOTIFICATION OF TERRORISM INVESTIGATION 4 INFORMATION TO APPROPRIATE LAW ENFORCEMENT EN- 5 TITIES.—The Attorney General shall ensure that the na- 6 tional instant criminal background check system estab- 7 lished under section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence 8 Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901) immediately notifies 9 the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 10 the JTTF of any request to transfer a firearm or explosive 11 to a person who is, or within the previous 10 years was, 12 the subject of a terrorism investigation by any Federal de- 13 partment or agency. 14 (c) AUDIT.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 180 days, 16 and not later than 1 year, after the date of enact- 17 ment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Intel- 18 ligence Community shall initiate an audit of all of 19 the terrorism-related screening and watch list proce- 20 dures of the Federal Government in order to identify 21 any problems or inefficiencies in the nomination and 22 redress procedures pertaining to the maintenance of 23 terrorism watch list records. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S183.IS S183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 183 IS (2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 1 date of enactment of this Act, the Inspector General 2 of the Intelligence Community shall submit a report 3 to the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Sen- 4 ate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intel- 5 ligence of the House of Representatives on the find- 6 ings of the audit conducted under paragraph (1), 7 which shall include recommendations, if any, for im- 8 proving the nomination or redress procedures de- 9 scribed in paragraph (1). 10 (3) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required to 11 be submitted under paragraph (2) shall be submitted 12 in unclassified form, but may include a classified 13 annex. 14 SEC. 5. ATTORNEY GENERAL AUTHORITY TO DELAY FIRE- 15 ARMS TRANSFER TO SUSPECTED TERROR- 16 ISTS. 17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCESS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen- 20 eral shall establish a process under which, for any 21 person who is, or during the preceding 10-year pe- 22 riod was, the subject of a terrorism investigation by 23 any Federal department or agency, the Attorney 24 General may— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S183.IS S183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 183 IS (A) delay the transfer of a firearm or ex- 1 plosive to the person for a period not to exceed 2 10 business days; and 3 (B) file an emergency petition in a court of 4 competent jurisdiction to prevent the transfer of 5 the firearm or explosive. 6 (2) HEARING.— 7 (A) PRIORITY; APPLICABLE LAWS.—An 8 emergency petition filed under paragraph 9 (1)(B) and the subsequent hearing shall— 10 (i) receive the highest possible priority 11 on the docket of the court of competent ju- 12 risdiction; and 13 (ii) be subject to the Classified Infor- 14 mation Procedures Act (18 U.S.C. App.). 15 (B) NOTICE; COUNSEL.—A court shall en- 16 sure that a person for whom an emergency peti- 17 tion is filed under paragraph (1)(B)— 18 (i) receives actual notice of the hear- 19 ing; and 20 (ii) is provided with an opportunity to 21 participate with counsel in the hearing. 22 (C) GRANT OF PETITION.—A court shall 23 grant an emergency petition filed for a person 24 under paragraph (1)(B) if the court finds that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S183.IS S183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 183 IS there is probable cause to believe that the per- 1 son is engaged, or has been engaged, in conduct 2 constituting, in preparation of, in aid of, or re- 3 lating to terrorism, or providing material sup- 4 port or resources therefor. 5 (D) COSTS AND FEES.—If an emergency 6 petition filed under paragraph (1)(B) is denied, 7 the Government shall be responsible for all rea- 8 sonable costs and attorney’s fees. 9 (3) ARREST AUTHORITY.—The Attorney Gen- 10 eral may arrest and detain a person for whom an 11 emergency petition has been filed under paragraph 12 (1)(B) where probable cause exists to believe that 13 the person is engaged, or has been engaged, in con- 14 duct constituting, in preparation of, in aid of, or re- 15 lating to terrorism, or providing material support or 16 resources therefor. 17 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 18 of enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, the At- 19 torney General shall submit to the Committee on the Judi- 20 ciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary 21 of the House of Representatives a report providing, for 22 the reporting period— 23 (1) the number of emergency petitions filed 24 under subsection (a); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S183.IS S183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 183 IS (2) the number of individuals to whom the 1 transfer of a firearm or explosive was prevented 2 under an order granting an emergency petition filed 3 under subsection (a); and 4 (3) the number of instances in which a court 5 denied an emergency petition filed under subsection 6 (a). 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S183.IS S183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS