10 U.S.C. § 182 — Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance

(a) Establishment The Secretary of Defense may operate a Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance ("the Center"). (b) Missions (1) The Center provides and supports education, training, and research in civil-military operations — especially operations needing international disaster management, humanitarian aid, and coordination between the Defense Department and other agencies. (2) The Center makes high-quality disaster management and humanitarian help available when disasters strike. (3) The Center also provides and supports education, training, coordination among agencies, and research on: (A) managing the aftermath of nuclear, biological, and chemical events; (B) managing the aftermath of terrorism; (C) what role reserve forces should play in handling such aftermaths and in disaster and humanitarian response to natural disasters; (D) meeting information needs for regional and global disasters, including using advanced communications technology as a virtual library; and (E) tropical medicine, especially as it relates to keeping Defense Department personnel medically ready. (4) The Center must build a database of disaster-risk indicators for the Asia-Pacific region. (5) The Center performs any other missions the Secretary of Defense assigns. (c) Joint Operation With Educational Institution Authorized The Secretary may agree with officials of a college or university to jointly run the Center. Any such agreement must have the school provide the necessary administrative support, including handling funds. (d) Acceptance of Donations (1) Except as limited by (2), the Secretary may accept donations for the Center, to cover its costs or improve its work. Donations may come from any federal agency, state or local government, foreign government, foundation or charity (including foreign ones), or any other private source, in the U.S. or abroad. (2) The Secretary may not accept a donation if doing so would compromise, or appear to compromise, (A) the Department's, an employee's, or a service member's ability to do their job fairly and objectively, or (B) the integrity of any Defense Department program or anyone involved in it. (3) The Secretary must write guidance setting out how to judge whether accepting a foreign donation would cause a problem described in (2). (4) Donations the Secretary accepts for the Center get credited to the Department's Center funding, merge with that funding, and stay available for the Center for the same purposes and time period as the funds they merge with.