PROTECT Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1539 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to develop and make available guidance relating to domestic preparedness for and collective response to terrorism regarding active shooter and mass casualty incident response assistance, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 3, 2021 Mr. AGUILAR (for himself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Miss RICE of New York, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. CORREA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. LIEU, Mr. PANETTA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. KILMER, Mr. RYAN, Mr. CARSON, Mr. COOPER, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. KAHELE, and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to develop and make available guidance relating to domestic pre- paredness for and collective response to terrorism regard- ing active shooter and mass casualty incident response assistance, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:18 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1539.IH H1539 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1539 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Rational Op- 2 tions Toward the Elimination of Catastrophic Terrorism 3 Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PROTECT Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. ACTIVE SHOOTER AND MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT 5 RESPONSE ASSISTANCE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 7 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 8 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 9 ‘‘SEC. 890B. ACTIVE SHOOTER AND MASS CASUALTY INCI- 10 DENT RESPONSE ASSISTANCE. 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 12 with the Attorney General and the heads of other Federal 13 agencies as appropriate, shall develop and make available 14 to State, local, tribal, territorial, private sector, and non- 15 governmental partners guidance relating to domestic pre- 16 paredness for and collective response to terrorism in order 17 to assist in the development of emergency action and re- 18 sponse plans for active shooter and mass casualty inci- 19 dents in public and private locations, including facilities 20 that have been identified by the Department as potentially 21 vulnerable targets. 22 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE DESCRIBED.—Guidance developed 23 and provided pursuant to subsection (a) may relate to the 24 development of the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:18 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1539.IH H1539 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1539 IH ‘‘(1) A strategy for properly responding to an 1 active shooter or mass casualty incident in a public 2 or private location, including training, evacuating, 3 and providing care to persons in such location, with 4 consideration given to the needs of persons with dis- 5 abilities. 6 ‘‘(2) A plan for establishing a unified command, 7 including identification of casualty collection points 8 and staging areas for law enforcement, fire response, 9 and medical personnel. 10 ‘‘(3) A schedule for regular testing of equip- 11 ment used to receive communications during such an 12 incident. 13 ‘‘(4) A practiced method and plan to commu- 14 nicate with occupants of such location during such 15 an incident. 16 ‘‘(5) A practiced method and plan to commu- 17 nicate with the surrounding community regarding 18 such an incident and the needs of Federal, State, 19 and local officials. 20 ‘‘(6) A plan for coordinating with volunteer or- 21 ganizations to expedite assistance for victims. 22 ‘‘(7) A schedule for joint exercises and training. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:18 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1539.IH H1539 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1539 IH ‘‘(8) A plan for outreach to facilities that have 1 been identified by the Department as potentially vul- 2 nerable targets. 3 ‘‘(9) Other planning documents, as determined 4 by the Secretary, including appropriate regionally fo- 5 cused products, plans, training, and outreach.’’. 6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 7 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by in- 8 serting after the item relating to section 890A the fol- 9 lowing new item: 10 ‘‘Sec. 890B. Active shooter and mass casualty incident response assistance.’’. SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF ACTIVE SHOOTER THREATS. 11 Subsection (b) of section 2007 of the Homeland Se- 12 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 608) is amended— 13 (1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para- 14 graph (10); and 15 (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol- 16 lowing new paragraph: 17 ‘‘(9) Active shooters.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:18 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1539.IH H1539 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS