Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Extension Act of 2023

IIB 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3224 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 12, 2023 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to extend the authorization of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office of the Department of Homeland Secu- rity, 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 01:53 Dec 13, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3224.RFS H3224 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 HR 3224 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering Weapons 2 of Mass Destruction Extension Act of 2023’’. 3 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF THE COUN- 4 TERING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION 5 OFFICE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 6 SECURITY. 7 (a) EXTENSION.— 8 (1) TERMINATION DATE.—Section 1901 of the 9 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 591) is 10 amended by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 11 following new subsection: 12 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—The Office shall terminate on 13 the date that is two years after the date of the enactment 14 of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Exten- 15 sion Act of 2023.’’. 16 (2) EXCEPTION.—The termination date speci- 17 fied in subsection (e) of section 1901 of the Home- 18 land Security Act of 2002, as amended by para- 19 graph (1), shall not apply to sections 1931 and 1932 20 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 21 597 and 597a; relating to the Chief Medical Officer 22 and the medical countermeasures program of the 23 Department of Homeland Security). 24 (b) ORGANIZATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 13, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3224.RFS H3224 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 HR 3224 RFS (1) EMPLOYEE MORALE.—Not later than 180 1 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 2 Assistant Secretary for the Countering Weapons of 3 Mass Destruction Office of the Department of 4 Homeland Security shall submit a report to and 5 brief the Committee on Homeland Security of the 6 House of Representatives and the Committee on 7 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 8 Senate regarding an employee engagement action 9 plan and strategy to continuously improve morale 10 within the Office. 11 (2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Not later than 12 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 13 the Comptroller General of the United States shall 14 conduct a review of and brief the Committee on 15 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 16 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov- 17 ernmental Affairs of the Senate regarding the fol- 18 lowing with respect to the Countering Weapons of 19 Mass Destruction Office of the Department of 20 Homeland Security: 21 (A) The efforts of the Office to prioritize 22 the programs and activities that carry out the 23 mission of the Office, including research and 24 development. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 13, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3224.RFS H3224 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 HR 3224 RFS (B) The consistency and effectiveness of 1 the Office’s stakeholder coordination across the 2 mission of the Department, including oper- 3 ational and support components of the Depart- 4 ment and State and local entities. 5 (C) The efforts of the Office to manage 6 and coordinate the lifecycle of research and de- 7 velopment within the Office and with other 8 components of the Department, including the 9 Science and Technology Directorate. 10 Passed the House of Representatives December 11, 2023. Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 13, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3224.RFS H3224 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB