CATRA Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8184 To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish the Center for Asymmetric Threat Research and Analytics to conduct research countering violent extremist organizations, weapons of mass destruction, and influence oper- ations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 Mr. BROWN of Maryland introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish the Center for Asymmetric Threat Research and Analytics to con- duct research countering violent extremist organizations, weapons of mass destruction, and influence operations, 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 ‘‘Center for Asymmetric 4 Threat Research and Analytics Act of 2020’’ or the 5 ‘‘CATRA Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8184.IH H8184 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8184 IH SEC. 2. CENTER FOR ASYMMETRIC THREAT RESEARCH AND 1 ANALYTICS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DE- 2 FENSE. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 4 shall establish a research center on asymmetric threats 5 known as the ‘‘Center for Asymmetric Threat Research 6 and Analytics’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Cen- 7 ter’’). 8 (b) MISSIONS.—The Center shall— 9 (1) establish and maintain public global data- 10 bases on— 11 (A) asymmetric threats, including with re- 12 spect to— 13 (i) terrorist incidents and the behavior 14 of foreign violent extremist organizations; 15 (ii) weapons of mass destruction; 16 (iii) emerging or disruptive tech- 17 nologies; 18 (iv) influence operations; and 19 (v) other threats identified by the Sec- 20 retary; 21 (B) efficacy of responses to the asymmetric 22 threats specified in subparagraph (A); and 23 (C) relevant social, legal, political, and eco- 24 nomic factors related to terrorism and re- 25 sponses to such asymmetric threats; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8184.IH H8184 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8184 IH (2) conduct advanced research on current and 1 emerging asymmetric threats; 2 (3) conduct advanced research on the effective- 3 ness of responses to asymmetric threats, and dis- 4 seminate recommendations for prioritization of re- 5 sponses; 6 (4) provide training and education to relevant 7 departments and agencies of the Federal Govern- 8 ment and associated organizations on contemporary 9 trends in global asymmetric threats, and lessons 10 learned on the effectiveness of responses; and 11 (5) coordinate with the Center of Excellence for 12 Terrorism Prevention and Counterterrorism Re- 13 search of the Department of Homeland Security, as 14 appropriate. 15 (c) LEAD INSTITUTION.—The Secretary shall select 16 an institution of higher education to serve as the lead in- 17 stitution established pursuant to subsection (a). 18 (d) CONSORTIUM.—The institution of higher edu- 19 cation selected under subsection (c) shall enter into agree- 20 ments with other institutions of higher education that the 21 Secretary determines meet the criteria for selection speci- 22 fied in subsection (e) to develop a consortium to assist 23 in accomplishing the goals of the Center. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8184.IH H8184 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8184 IH (e) CRITERIA.—In selecting an institution of higher 1 education for participation in the consortium referred to 2 in subsection (d), the Secretary shall— 3 (1) consider— 4 (A) demonstrated expertise in the study of 5 global terrorism, the pursuit of weapons of 6 mass destruction and disruptive technologies, 7 influence operations, data collection, and dis- 8 semination; 9 (B) demonstrated expertise in the study of 10 countering violent extremist organizations, re- 11 sponding to influence operations, and coun- 12 tering the pursuit of weapons of mass destruc- 13 tion and disruptive technologies; and 14 (C) demonstrated expertise in research 15 transition to the Federal Government in the 16 form of knowledge tools, publications, and pro- 17 fessional training; and 18 (2) ensure participation from a representative 19 number of minority institutions. 20 (f) RESEARCH ON PRIORITIZATION OF RESPONSES 21 TO ASYMMETRIC THREATS.— 22 (1) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 23 the establishment of the Center, and annually there- 24 after, the Center shall make publicly available on the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8184.IH H8184 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8184 IH internet a report on the threat posed by asymmetric 1 threats globally, and the efficacy of responses by the 2 Secretary of Defense to asymmetric threats taking 3 social, political, legal, and economic factors into con- 4 sideration, with recommendations for prioritizing re- 5 sponses to asymmetric threats. 6 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report published under 7 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 8 (A) Information on the behaviors of asym- 9 metric threat groups and movements globally. 10 (B) Strategies that foreign governments 11 and civil society actors have undertaken to 12 counter such movements. 13 (C) Strategies that Federal, State, local, 14 and Tribal governments and civil society actors 15 have taken to counter such movements. 16 (D) Lessons learned from such strategies, 17 and recommendations for the prioritization of 18 responses to asymmetric threats. 19 (3) RECIPIENTS.—In addition to making the re- 20 port publicly available on the internet, the Center 21 shall submit each report under paragraph (1) to the 22 following: 23 (A) The Committee on Armed Services, the 24 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8184.IH H8184 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8184 IH on Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Select 1 Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep- 2 resentatives. 3 (B) The Committee on Armed Services, 4 the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 5 mittee on Foreign Relations, and the Select 6 Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. 7 (C) The Assistant Secretary of Defense for 8 Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. 9 (D) The Commander of the United States 10 Special Operations Command. 11 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 12 authorized to be appropriated $8,000,000 for each of fis- 13 cal years 2021 through 2026 to carry out this section, of 14 which $1,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated to the 15 Department of Defense to administer this Act and 16 $7,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated to the Center. 17 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the term ‘‘minor- 18 ity institution’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘covered 19 institution’’ in section 262(g)(2) of the National Defense 20 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116– 21 92). 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8184.IH H8184 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS