EAGLES Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3714 To amend title 18, United States Code, to reauthorize and expand the National Threat Assessment Center of the Department of Homeland Security. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 11, 2019 Mr. DEUTCH (for himself and Mr. DIAZ-BALART) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to reauthorize and expand the National Threat Assessment Center of the Department of Homeland Security. 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 ‘‘EAGLES Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3714 IH (1) On February 14, 2018, 17 individuals lost 1 their lives in a senseless and violent attack on Mar- 2 jory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, 3 Florida, a school whose mascot is the eagle. 4 (2) These individuals lived lives of warmth, joy, 5 determination, service, and love, and their loss is 6 mourned by the Nation. 7 (3) The shooter in that attack exhibited pat- 8 terns of behavior that were alarming and that should 9 have alerted law enforcement and other Federal, 10 State, and local officials. 11 (4) The attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas 12 High School was preventable. 13 (5) Lives were saved because of the brave and 14 exemplary conduct of many students, teachers, and 15 staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in- 16 cluding several of the victims of the attack. 17 (6) The National Threat Assessment Center 18 (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Center’’) was estab- 19 lished in 1998 to conduct research on various types 20 of targeted violence. 21 (7) Studies conducted by the Center on tar- 22 geted school violence, in particular, have shown 23 that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3714 IH (A) most incidents were planned in ad- 1 vance; 2 (B) the attackers’ behavior gave some indi- 3 cation that the individual was planning, or at 4 least contemplating, an attack; 5 (C) most attackers had already exhibited a 6 pattern of behavior that was of concern to other 7 people in their lives; and 8 (D) prior to the attack, someone associated 9 with the attacker, such as a family member or 10 peer, knew the attack was likely to occur. 11 (8) Through their research, the Center devel- 12 oped the threat assessment model for responding to 13 indicators of targeted violence, which includes a 3- 14 step process— 15 (A) identifying individuals who are exhib- 16 iting behaviors that indicate they are planning 17 an attack on a school; 18 (B) assessing whether the individual poses 19 a threat to the school, based on articulable 20 facts; and 21 (C) managing the threat the individual 22 may pose to the school. 23 (9) The threat assessment model works most 24 effectively when all the relevant parties, including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3714 IH school officials, local law enforcement, and members 1 of the community, are part of a comprehensive pro- 2 tocol to identify, assess, and manage a potential 3 threat to the school. 4 (10) The primary goal of threat assessment 5 programs in schools should be to prevent violent con- 6 duct, with an emphasis on early intervention, treat- 7 ment, and care of individuals exhibiting behaviors 8 associated with targeted violence. 9 (11) Early intervention, treatment, and preven- 10 tion of violent behavior is an effective way to prevent 11 violent conduct that would harm others and neces- 12 sitate disciplinary action, including criminal pen- 13 alties. 14 (12) The parties involved need the appropriate 15 training and tools to establish the appropriate mech- 16 anisms for implementing this type of approach. 17 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 18 gress that a fact-based threat assessment approach, in- 19 volving school officials, local law enforcement, and mem- 20 bers of the community, is one of the most effective ways 21 to prevent targeted violence in schools, and is a fitting me- 22 morial to those who lost their lives in the February 14, 23 2018, attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3714 IH and those who heroically acted to preserve the lives of their 1 friends, students, and colleagues. 2 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION AND EXPANSION OF THE NA- 3 TIONAL THREAT ASSESSMENT CENTER OF 4 THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 203 of title 18, United 6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3056A 7 the following: 8 ‘‘§ 3056B. Functions of the National Threat Assess- 9 ment Center of the United States Secret 10 Service 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a National 12 Threat Assessment Center (in this section referred to as 13 the ‘Center’), to be operated by the United States Secret 14 Service, at the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Se- 15 curity. 16 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Center shall 17 include the following: 18 ‘‘(1) Training in the area of best practices on 19 threat assessment. 20 ‘‘(2) Consultation on complex threat assessment 21 cases or programs. 22 ‘‘(3) Research on threat assessment and the 23 prevention of targeted violence, consistent with evi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3714 IH dence-based standards and existing laws and regula- 1 tions. 2 ‘‘(4) Facilitation of information sharing on 3 threat assessment and the prevention of targeted vi- 4 olence among agencies with protective or public safe- 5 ty responsibilities, as well as other public or private 6 entities. 7 ‘‘(5) Development and implementation of evi- 8 dence-based programs to promote the standardiza- 9 tion of Federal, State, and local threat assessments, 10 best practices in investigations involving threats, and 11 the prevention of targeted violence. 12 ‘‘(c) SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE.—In carrying out the 13 functions described in subsection (b), the Center shall es- 14 tablish a national program on targeted school violence pre- 15 vention, focusing on the following activities: 16 ‘‘(1) RESEARCH.—The Center shall— 17 ‘‘(A) conduct evidence-based research into 18 targeted school violence and school threat as- 19 sessment; and 20 ‘‘(B) publish the findings of the Center on 21 the public website of the United States Secret 22 Service. 23 ‘‘(2) TRAINING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3714 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall offer 1 training courses on targeted school violence pre- 2 vention to agencies with protective or public 3 safety responsibilities and other public or pri- 4 vate entities, including public school districts 5 and schools. 6 ‘‘(B) DEVELOPMENT.—Training programs 7 developed by the Center shall use best practices 8 in school threat assessment, such as data pro- 9 duced through experimental, quasi-experi- 10 mental, and non-experimental research. 11 ‘‘(C) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after 12 the date of enactment of this section, the Cen- 13 ter shall establish a plan to offer its training 14 and other educational resources to public or pri- 15 vate entities within each State. 16 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL 17 AGENCIES.—To the extent practicable, the Center 18 shall develop research and training programs under 19 this section in coordination with the Department of 20 Justice and Department of Education. 21 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION WITH ENTITIES OUTSIDE 22 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The Center is au- 23 thorized to consult with State and local educational, 24 law enforcement, and mental health officials and pri- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3714 IH vate entities in the development of research and 1 training programs under this section. 2 ‘‘(5) CONTRACTING SERVICES.—In carrying out 3 the functions under subsection (b), and subject to 4 the requirements of other applicable Federal law, the 5 Director of the United States Secret Service may 6 enter into contracts with public and private entities 7 to assist in conducting research and training. 8 ‘‘(6) INTERACTIVE WEBSITE.—The Center may 9 create an interactive website to disseminate informa- 10 tion and data on evidence-based practices in tar- 11 geted school violence prevention. 12 ‘‘(d) HIRING OF ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Di- 13 rector of the Secret Service may hire additional personnel 14 to comply with the requirements of this section. 15 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the func- 17 tions of the Center— 18 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 19 ‘‘(2) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 20 through 2023. 21 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 22 after the date of enactment of this section, the Director 23 of the Secret Service shall submit to the Committee on 24 the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Ju- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3714 IH diciary of the House of Representatives a report on actions 1 taken by the United States Secret Service to implement 2 provisions of this section, which shall include— 3 ‘‘(1) the number of employees hired (on a full- 4 time equivalent basis); 5 ‘‘(2) the number of individuals in each State 6 trained in school threat assessment; 7 ‘‘(3) the number of school districts in each 8 State trained in school threat assessment or targeted 9 school violence prevention; 10 ‘‘(4) information on Federal, State, and local 11 agencies trained or otherwise assisted by the Center; 12 ‘‘(5) a formal evaluation indicating whether the 13 training and other assistance provided by the Center 14 is effective; 15 ‘‘(6) a formal evaluation indicating whether the 16 training and other assistance provided by the Center 17 was implemented by the school; 18 ‘‘(7) a summary of the Center’s research activi- 19 ties and findings; and 20 ‘‘(8) a strategic plan for disseminating the Cen- 21 ter’s educational and training resources to each 22 State. 23 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 24 ‘‘(1) the term ‘evidence-based’— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 3714 IH ‘‘(A) means a program that demonstrates 1 a rationale based on high-quality research find- 2 ings or positive evaluation that such program is 3 likely to improve relevant outcomes; and 4 ‘‘(B) includes ongoing efforts to examine 5 the effects of the program; and 6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘State’ means any State of the 7 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com- 8 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 9 Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 10 the Northern Mariana Islands. 11 ‘‘(h) NO FUNDS TO PROVIDE FIREARMS TRAIN- 12 ING.—None of the funds authorized to be appropriated 13 under this section may be used to train any person in the 14 use of a firearm. 15 ‘‘(i) NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this 16 section may be construed to preclude or contradict any 17 other provision of law authorizing training in the use of 18 firearms.’’. 19 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 20 (1) Section 4 of the Presidential Threat Protec- 21 tion Act of 2000 (18 U.S.C. 3056 note), is repealed. 22 (2) The table of sections for chapter 203 of title 23 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 3714 IH after the item relating to section 3056A the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘3056B. Functions of the National Threat Assessment Center of the United States Secret Service.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3714.IH H3714 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS