6 U.S.C. § 481 — Short title; findings; and sense of Congress
submitted 24 years ago by Pub. L. 107-296 to r/title-6-DOMESTIC-SECURITY · 362 words · no verdicts yet
This part is called the Homeland Security Information Sharing Act. Congress found that fighting terrorism depends on sharing information between federal, state, and local governments, while still protecting classified sources and methods. Some information can be declassified or adjusted so it can be shared without giving out new security clearances. Congress says federal, state, and local agencies should share homeland security information as widely as practical, especially with hard-to-reach communities.
(a) This part may be called the "Homeland* Security Information Sharing Act."
(b) Congress makes several findings: the Constitution requires the federal government to provide for the common defense, including against terrorist attack; the federal government relies on state* and local personnel to help protect against terrorist attack; the federal government collects, creates, manages, and protects classified and sensitive information for homeland security; some of that information is needed by state and local personnel to prevent and prepare for attacks; the need to share this information with state and local personnel must be balanced against the need to protect the information and its sources and methods; giving security clearances to some state and local personnel is one way to share information about specific terrorist threats across government levels; there are ways to declassify, redact, or otherwise adapt classified information so it can be shared without needing extra clearances; state and local personnel can gather information on suspicious activity and threats that federal agencies cannot; federal, state, and local governments may all benefit from this information; all levels of government and their agencies must work in partnership to get the most benefit from gathering and analyzing this information; systems like the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the Terrorist Threat Warning System already exist to rapidly share classified and sensitive information; and any new information-sharing effort should avoid duplicating those existing systems.
(c) It is the sense of Congress that federal, state, and local agencies should share homeland security information as much as practical, with special attention to hard-to-reach urban and rural communities.
This part may be cited as the “Homeland* Security Information Sharing Act”.
Congress finds the following:
The Federal Government is required by the Constitution to provide for the common defense, which includes terrorist attack.
The Federal Government relies on State* and local personnel to protect against terrorist attack.
The Federal Government collects, creates, manages, and protects classified and sensitive but unclassified information to enhance homeland security.
Some homeland security information is needed by the State and local personnel to prevent and prepare for terrorist attack.
The needs of State and local personnel to have access to relevant homeland security information to combat terrorism must be reconciled with the need to preserve the protected status of such information and to protect the sources and methods used to acquire such information.
Granting security clearances to certain State and local personnel is one way to facilitate the sharing of information regarding specific terrorist threats among Federal, State, and local levels of government.
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 security clearances.
State and local personnel have capabilities and opportunities to gather information on suspicious activities and terrorist threats not possessed by Federal agencies.
The Federal Government and State and local governments and agencies in other jurisdictions may benefit from such information.
Federal, State, and local governments and intelligence, law enforcement, and other emergency* preparation and response agencies must act in partnership to maximize the benefits of information gathering and analysis to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks.
Information systems, including the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the Terrorist Threat Warning System, have been established for rapid sharing of classified and sensitive but unclassified information among Federal, State, and local entities.
Increased efforts to share homeland security information should avoid duplicating existing information systems.
It is the sense of Congress that Federal, State, and local entities should share homeland security information to the maximum extent practicable, with special emphasis on hard-to-reach urban and rural communities.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 107–296, title VIII, § 891, Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2252.)
- 2002Enacted · Pub. L. 107-296 · 116 Stat. 2252
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 107-296 on 2002-11-25.
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