6 U.S.C. § 481 — Short title; findings; and sense of Congress

Page 250 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 481 1 See References in Text note below. 2 So in original. The opening quotation marks preceding ‘‘and’’ probably should precede ‘‘small’’. (2) Mentor firm The term ‘‘mentor firm’’ means a for-profit business concern that is not a small business concern that— (A) has the ability to assist and commits to assisting a prote´ge´ to compete for Federal prime contracts and subcontracts; and (B) satisfies any other requirements im- posed by the Secretary. (3) Minority-serving institution The term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an institution of higher education de- scribed in section 1067q(a) of title 20.1 (4) Prote´ge´ firm The term ‘‘prote´ge´ firm’’ means a small business concern, a historically Black college or university, or a minority-serving institu- tion that— (A) is eligible to enter into a prime con- tract or subcontract with the Department; and (B) satisfies any other requirements im- posed by the Secretary. (5) Small Business Act definitions The terms ‘‘small business concern’’, ‘‘small business concern owned and controlled by vet- erans’’, ‘‘small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans’’, ‘‘qualified HUBZone small business concern’’, ‘‘and small 2 business concern owned and con- trolled by women’’ have the meanings given such terms, respectively, under section 632 of title 15. The term ‘‘small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economi- cally disadvantaged individuals’’ has the meaning given such term in section 637(d)(3)(C) of title 15. (Pub. L. 107–296, title VIII, § 890D, as added Pub. L. 117–263, div. G, title LXXI, § 7115(a), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3634.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 1067q(a) of title 20, referrred to in subsec. (h)(3), was in the original ‘‘section 317 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a))’’ and was translated as reading ‘‘section 371(a) of the Higher Edu- cation Act of 1965’’, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. PART I—INFORMATION SHARING § 481. Short title; findings; and sense of Congress (a) Short title This part may be cited as the ‘‘Homeland Se- curity Information Sharing Act’’. (b) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Federal Government is required by the Constitution to provide for the common defense, which includes terrorist attack. (2) The Federal Government relies on State and local personnel to protect against ter- rorist attack. (3) The Federal Government collects, cre- ates, manages, and protects classified and sen- sitive but unclassified information to enhance homeland security. (4) Some homeland security information is needed by the State and local personnel to prevent and prepare for terrorist attack. (5) The needs of State and local personnel to have access to relevant homeland security in- formation to combat terrorism must be rec- onciled with the need to preserve the pro- tected status of such information and to pro- tect the sources and methods used to acquire such information. (6) Granting security clearances to certain State and local personnel is one way to facili- tate the sharing of information regarding spe- cific terrorist threats among Federal, State, and local levels of government. (7) Methods exist to declassify, redact, or otherwise adapt classified information so it may be shared with State and local personnel without the need for granting additional secu- rity clearances. (8) State and local personnel have capabili- ties and opportunities to gather information on suspicious activities and terrorist threats not possessed by Federal agencies. (9) The Federal Government and State and local governments and agencies in other juris- dictions may benefit from such information. (10) Federal, State, and local governments and intelligence, law enforcement, and other emergency preparation and response agencies must act in partnership to maximize the bene- fits of information gathering and analysis to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks. (11) Information systems, including the Na- tional Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the Terrorist Threat Warning Sys- tem, have been established for rapid sharing of classified and sensitive but unclassified infor- mation among Federal, State, and local enti- ties. (12) Increased efforts to share homeland se- curity information should avoid duplicating existing information systems. (c) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that Federal, State, and local entities should share homeland secu- rity information to the maximum extent prac- ticable, with special emphasis on hard-to-reach urban and rural communities. (Pub. L. 107–296, title VIII, § 891, Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2252.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This part, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the origi- nal ‘‘This subtitle’’, meaning subtitle I (§§ 891–899) of title VIII of Pub. L. 107–296, Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2252, which enacted this part, amended section 2517 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Rule 6 of the Fed- eral Rules of Criminal Procedure, set out in the Appen- dix to Title 18, and sections 1806, 1825, and 3365 of Title 50, War and National Defense, and amended provisions set out as a note under section 2517 of Title 18. For complete classification of subtitle I to the Code, see Tables. Page 251 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 482 Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries REPORTS TO CONGRESS Pub. L. 110–28, title III, May 25, 2007, 121 Stat. 139, pro- vided in part: ‘‘That starting July 1, 2007, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit quarterly reports to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives detailing the information required in House Report 110–107.’’ § 482. Facilitating homeland security information sharing procedures (a) Procedures for determining extent of sharing of homeland security information (1) The President shall prescribe and imple- ment procedures under which relevant Federal agencies— (A) share relevant and appropriate homeland security information with other Federal agen- cies, including the Department, and appro- priate State and local personnel; (B) identify and safeguard homeland secu- rity information that is sensitive but unclassi- fied; and (C) to the extent such information is in clas- sified form, determine whether, how, and to what extent to remove classified information, as appropriate, and with which such personnel it may be shared after such information is re- moved. (2) The President shall ensure that such proce- dures apply to all agencies of the Federal Gov- ernment. (3) Such procedures shall not change the sub- stantive requirements for the classification and safeguarding of classified information. (4) Such procedures shall not change the re- quirements and authorities to protect sources and methods. (b) Procedures for sharing of homeland security information (1) Under procedures prescribed by the Presi- dent, all appropriate agencies, including the in- telligence community, shall, through informa- tion sharing systems, share homeland security information with Federal agencies and appro- priate State and local personnel to the extent such information may be shared, as determined in accordance with subsection (a), together with assessments of the credibility of such informa- tion. (2) Each information sharing system through which information is shared under paragraph (1) shall— (A) have the capability to transmit unclassi- fied or classified information, though the pro- cedures and recipients for each capability may differ; (B) have the capability to restrict delivery of information to specified subgroups by geo- graphic location, type of organization, posi- tion of a recipient within an organization, or a recipient’s need to know such information; (C) be configured to allow the efficient and effective sharing of information; and (D) be accessible to appropriate State and local personnel. (3) The procedures prescribed under paragraph (1) shall establish conditions on the use of infor- mation shared under paragraph (1)— (A) to limit the redissemination of such in- formation to ensure that such information is not used for an unauthorized purpose; (B) to ensure the security and confiden- tiality of such information; (C) to protect the constitutional and statu- tory rights of any individuals who are subjects of such information; and (D) to provide data integrity through the timely removal and destruction of obsolete or erroneous names and information. (4) The procedures prescribed under paragraph (1) shall ensure, to the greatest extent prac- ticable, that the information sharing system through which information is shared under such paragraph include existing information sharing systems, including, but not limited to, the Na- tional Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, the Regional Information Sharing Sys- tem, and the Terrorist Threat Warning System of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (5) Each appropriate Federal agency, as deter- mined by the President, shall have access to each information sharing system through which information is shared under paragraph (1), and shall therefore have access to all information, as appropriate, shared under such paragraph. (6) The procedures prescribed under paragraph (1) shall ensure that appropriate State and local personnel are authorized to use such informa- tion sharing systems— (A) to access information shared with such personnel; and (B) to share, with others who have access to such information sharing systems, the home- land security information of their own juris- dictions, which shall be marked appropriately as pertaining to potential terrorist activity. (7) Under procedures prescribed jointly by the Director of Central Intelligence and the Attor- ney General, each appropriate Federal agency, as determined by the President, shall review and assess the information shared under paragraph (6) and integrate such information with existing intelligence. (c) Sharing of classified information and sen- sitive but unclassified information with State and local personnel (1) The President shall prescribe procedures under which Federal agencies may, to the extent the President considers necessary, share with appropriate State and local personnel homeland security information that remains classified or otherwise protected after the determinations prescribed under the procedures set forth in sub- section (a). (2) It is the sense of Congress that such proce- dures may include 1 or more of the following means: (A) Carrying out security clearance inves- tigations with respect to appropriate State and local personnel. (B) With respect to information that is sen- sitive but unclassified, entering into non- disclosure agreements with appropriate State and local personnel. (C) Increased use of information-sharing partnerships that include appropriate State and local personnel, such as the Joint Ter-