Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 838 To develop a national strategy to prevent targeted violence through behavioral threat assessment and management, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 29, 2019 Mr. BABIN (for himself and Mrs. DEMINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To develop a national strategy to prevent targeted violence through behavioral threat assessment and management, 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 ‘‘Threat Assessment, 4 Prevention, and Safety Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 (1) incidents of targeted violence are impacting 8 our Nation frequently and indiscriminately; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 838 IH (2) a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and 1 multi-jurisdictional behavioral threat assessment and 2 management process on a Federal, State, local, and 3 Tribal level complements the development of better 4 methods for strategically preventing targeted vio- 5 lence in communities, including schools; 6 (3) the United States has the capability to rap- 7 idly develop behavioral threat assessment and man- 8 agement guidelines and best practices; 9 (4) the United States should encourage the 10 sharing of such guidelines and best practices for 11 streamlined and cohesive use across the United 12 States; 13 (5) establishing such guidelines and best prac- 14 tices is an important step toward preventing tar- 15 geted violence; 16 (6) such guidelines and best practices should 17 account for different needs of communities across 18 the United States; and 19 (7) it is in the national security interest of the 20 United States to develop such guidelines and best 21 practices. 22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 23 In this Act: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 838 IH (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 1 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 2 gress’’ means the Committee on Appropriations, the 3 Committee on Homeland Security and the Com- 4 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa- 5 tives and the Committee on Appropriations, the 6 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 7 Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 8 Senate. 9 (2) BEHAVIORAL THREAT ASSESSMENT AND 10 MANAGEMENT.—The term ‘‘behavioral threat assess- 11 ment and management’’ means the systematic and 12 evidence-based process of— 13 (A) identifying individuals who are exhib- 14 iting patterns of concerning behavior that indi- 15 cate an interest, motive, intention, or capability 16 of carrying out an act of violence; 17 (B) investigating and gathering informa- 18 tion from multiple sources to assess whether an 19 individual described in subparagraph (A) poses 20 a threat, based on articulable facts; and 21 (C) the subsequent management of such a 22 threat, if necessary. 23 (3) DEFINITIONS RELATED TO CERTAIN EDU- 24 CATIONAL TERMS.—The terms ‘‘early childhood edu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 838 IH cation program’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local edu- 1 cational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State 2 educational agency’’ have the meanings given those 3 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 4 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 5 (4) EDUCATIONAL ENTITIES.—The term ‘‘edu- 6 cational entities’’ means— 7 (A) a State educational agency; 8 (B) a local educational agency; 9 (C) an institution of higher education; 10 (D) an elementary school or secondary 11 school; 12 (E) an early childhood education program; 13 or 14 (F) a postsecondary vocational institution. 15 (5) FUSION CENTER.—The term ‘‘fusion cen- 16 ter’’ has the meaning given the term in section 17 210A(j)(1) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 18 U.S.C. 124h(j)(1)). 19 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 20 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 21 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 23 (7) MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE PROFES- 24 SIONAL.—The term ‘‘mental health service profes- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 838 IH sional’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 2 295p). 3 (8) NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION.—The 4 term ‘‘nongovernmental organization’’ means an or- 5 ganization that is not a Federal, State, or local gov- 6 ernmental agency. 7 (9) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU- 8 TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary vocational institu- 9 tion’’ has the meaning given such term in section 10 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 11 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 12 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 13 means the Secretary of Homeland Security. 14 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 15 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 16 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 17 States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and 18 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 19 lands. 20 (12) TARGETED VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘tar- 21 geted violence’’ means any incident of predatory vio- 22 lence with respect to which an identifiable individual 23 or group focuses an attack on a particular target. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 838 IH SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A JOINT BEHAVIORAL THREAT 1 ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT TASK 2 FORCE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 5 within the Department of Homeland Security a Joint Be- 6 havioral Threat Assessment and Management Task Force 7 (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 8 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL STRATEGY.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty of the 10 Task Force to provide recommendations to the ap- 11 propriate committees of Congress and the Secretary 12 on the development and implementation of a na- 13 tional strategy for preventing targeted violence 14 through behavioral threat assessment and manage- 15 ment (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘national strat- 16 egy’’). 17 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In developing the national 18 strategy required under paragraph (1), the Task 19 Force shall take into account the different needs of 20 communities across the United States. 21 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The national 22 strategy developed under this subsection shall not be 23 construed to be a national standard. 24 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 25 (1) COMPOSITION.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 838 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall 1 be composed of not more than 24 members as 2 follows: 3 (i) The Secretary or a designee with a 4 position classified at GS–15 or above. 5 (ii) Not more than 2 representatives 6 of a nongovernmental organization that is 7 determined by the Secretary to have exper- 8 tise in behavioral threat assessment and 9 management. 10 (iii) Not more than 2 mental health 11 service professionals with clinical experi- 12 ence who are determined by the Secretary 13 to have expertise in behavioral threat as- 14 sessment and management. 15 (iv) One State or local prosecutor who 16 is determined by the Secretary to have ex- 17 pertise in behavioral threat assessment and 18 management. 19 (v) Not more than 2 representatives 20 from an educational entity who are deter- 21 mined by the Secretary to have expertise in 22 behavioral threat assessment and manage- 23 ment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 838 IH (vi) Not more than 2 representatives 1 from local behavioral threat assessment 2 and management units who are determined 3 by the Secretary to have expertise in be- 4 havioral threat assessment and manage- 5 ment. 6 (vii) Not more than 2 representatives 7 from State behavioral threat assessment 8 and management units who are determined 9 by the Secretary to have expertise in be- 10 havioral threat assessment and manage- 11 ment. 12 (viii) One expert in behavioral threat 13 assessment and management appointed by 14 the head of each of the following entities: 15 (I) The National Threat Assess- 16 ment Center of the United States Se- 17 cret Service. 18 (II) The Protective Intelligence 19 and Assessment Division of the 20 United States Secret Service. 21 (III) The Behavioral Analysis 22 Unit–1 of the Critical Incident Re- 23 sponse Group of the Federal Bureau 24 of Investigation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 838 IH (IV) The Joint Terrorism Task 1 Force of the Federal Bureau of Inves- 2 tigation. 3 (V) The Office of Protective In- 4 telligence of the United States Mar- 5 shals Service of the Department of 6 Justice. 7 (VI) The Office on Violence 8 Against Women of the Department of 9 Justice. 10 (VII) The Naval Criminal Inves- 11 tigative Service of the Department of 12 the Navy. 13 (VIII) The Threat Assessment 14 Section of the United States Capitol 15 Police. 16 (IX) The Department of Edu- 17 cation. 18 (X) The Department of Health 19 and Human Services. 20 (XI) The Department of Vet- 21 erans Affairs. 22 (XII) The Office of Protective 23 Intelligence Investigations of the Dip- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 838 IH lomatic Security Service of the De- 1 partment of State. 2 (B) REPRESENTATION.—If a member of 3 the Task Force has expertise in more than 1 of 4 the subject matter areas described in subpara- 5 graph (A), the member shall be considered a 6 representative of only 1 subject matter area. 7 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall ap- 8 point a chairperson of the Task Force. 9 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Task Force may, as 10 the chairperson determines necessary, consult with 11 experts in behavioral threat assessment and manage- 12 ment from Federal, State, local, and Tribal govern- 13 ment agencies and private entities. 14 (4) TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.— 15 (A) TERM OF MEMBERS.—Members of the 16 Task Force shall serve until the head of the re- 17 spective entity of the member appoints a new 18 representative to the Task Force. 19 (B) TERM OF CHAIRPERSON.—The chair- 20 person shall serve until the Secretary appoints 21 a new chairperson. 22 (5) MEMBER COMPENSATION.—Members of the 23 Task Force may not receive additional pay, allow- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 838 IH ances, or benefits by reason of their service on the 1 Task Force. 2 (d) OPERATING RULES AND PROCEDURES.— 3 (1) RULES AND PROCEDURES.—Any member of 4 the Task Force may propose to develop or change 5 existing operating rules and procedures of the Task 6 Force consistent with the functions of the Task 7 Force. Any change to such operating rules and pro- 8 cedures shall be adopted upon a majority vote of the 9 Task Force. 10 (2) FINDINGS AND SOLUTIONS.—The Task 11 Force shall adopt recommendations for the imple- 12 mentation of the national strategy only upon a ma- 13 jority vote of the Task Force. 14 (3) VOTING.—Each member of the Task Force 15 shall have one vote. 16 (4) QUORUM.—Two-thirds of the members of 17 the Task Force shall be present to constitute a 18 quorum, but a lesser number may hold meetings. 19 (e) STAFF DIRECTOR AND STAFF.— 20 (1) STAFF DIRECTOR.—The chairperson may 21 appoint a staff director, who shall be paid at a rate 22 not to exceed the rate of basic pay for level IV of 23 the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 24 5, United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 838 IH (2) STAFF.—The staff director may appoint not 1 more than 3 additional staff personnel. 2 (3) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE 3 LAWS.—The staff of the Task Force shall be ap- 4 pointed subject to the provisions of title 5, United 5 States Code, governing appointments in the competi- 6 tive service, and shall be paid in accordance with the 7 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chap- 8 ter 53 of that title relating to classification and Gen- 9 eral Schedule pay rates. 10 (4) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Task 11 Force and the staff director, acting with the ap- 12 proval of the Task Force, may procure temporary 13 and intermittent services pursuant to section 14 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 15 (5) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the 16 request of the Secretary, the head of any Federal 17 department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable 18 basis, any of the personnel of such Federal depart- 19 ment or agency to the Task Force to assist it in car- 20 rying out the duties of the Task Force under this 21 section. 22 (f) POWERS OF THE TASK FORCE.—Any member of 23 the Task Force may, if authorized by the Task Force, take 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 838 IH any action which the Task Force is authorized to take by 1 this section. 2 (g) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—Subject to applica- 3 ble privacy laws and regulations, the Task Force may se- 4 cure directly from any Federal department or agency in- 5 formation necessary to enable it to carry out the duties 6 of the Task Force under this section. Upon request of the 7 chairperson of the Task Force, the head of such Federal 8 department or agency shall furnish such information to 9 the Task Force. 10 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 11 the request of the Task Force, the Administrator of Gen- 12 eral Services shall provide to the Task Force, on a reim- 13 bursable basis, the administrative support services nec- 14 essary for the Task Force to carry out the duties of the 1 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]