Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act of 2016
Floor Speech
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Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4407) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish in the Department of Homeland Security a board to coordinate and integrate departmental intelligence, activities, and policy related to counterterrorism, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4407
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act of 2016''. SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISORY BOARD.
(a) In General.--At the end of subtitle A of title II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.) insert the following new section: ``SEC. 210G. DEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION ON COUNTERTERRORISM.
``(a) Establishment.--There is in the Department a board to be composed of senior representatives of departmental operational components and headquarters elements. The purpose of the board shall be to coordinate and integrate departmental intelligence, activities, and policy related to the counterterrorism mission and functions of the Department.
``(b) Charter.--There shall be a charter to govern the structure and mission of the board. Such charter shall direct the board to focus on the current threat environment and the importance of aligning departmental counterterrorism activities under the Secretary's guidance. The charter shall be reviewed and updated every four years, as appropriate.
``(c) Members.--
``(1) Chair.--The Secretary shall appoint a Coordinator for Counterterrorism within the Department who will serve as the chair of the board.
``(2) Additional members.--The Secretary shall appoint additional members of the board from among the following:
``(A) The Transportation Security Administration.
``(B) United States Customs and Border Protection.
``(C) United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
``(D) The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
``(E) The Coast Guard.
``(F) United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
``(G) The United States Secret Service.
``(H) The National Protection and Programs Directorate.
``(I) The Office of Operations Coordination.
``(J) The Office of the General Counsel.
``(K) The Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
``(L) The Office of Policy.
``(M) The Science and Technology Directorate.
``(N) Other Departmental offices and programs as determined appropriate by the Secretary.
``(d) Meetings.--The board shall meet on a regular basis to discuss intelligence and coordinate ongoing threat mitigation efforts and departmental activities, including coordination with other Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners, and shall make recommendations to the Secretary.
``(e) Terrorism Alerts.--The board shall advise the Secretary on the issuance of terrorism alerts pursuant to section 203 of this Act.
``(f) Prohibition on Additional Funds.--No additional funds are authorized to carry out this section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 210F the following new item: ``Sec. 210G. Departmental coordination on counterterrorism.''.
(c) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on the status and activities of the board established under section 210G of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a).
Since the tragic events of 9/11, this body has endeavored to better integrate intelligence and law enforcement agencies to react to new and evolving threats and to reduce duplicative efforts and waste. To a large extent, we have succeeded in producing a more integrated security apparatus that properly reflects the terrorist threats of the 21st century. However, we must continue to make improvements to counter fast-changing threats like those posed by ISIS.
Mr. Speaker, we are seeing the greatest convergence of radical Islamic threats in history, with more than 40,000 jihadist fighters traveling to the battlefield in Syria and Iraq.
Furthermore, the United States faces the highest threat level since 9/11--with open counterterrorism investigations in all 50 States in this great country of ours and with more than 80 ISIS-related arrests in the past 2 years, including one just up the road from my district on New Year's Eve.
With the current threat environment in mind, I offer H.R. 4407, the Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act of 2016.
Initially established at the end of 2010, this panel brings together the Department of Homeland Security's top counterterrorism decisionmakers to respond to threats. However, I led a bipartisan task force, which found that the Counterterrorism Advisory Board, or CTAB, had neither been codified nor had its charter kept pace with today's evolving terrorist threats. That is why we need to pass this bill--to ensure that the DHS is effectively integrating intelligence, operations, and policy to fight terrorism and that it is quickly exchanging threat information.
This legislation formally establishes the CTAB in law, and it makes it the Department's central coordination body for counterterrorism activities. The bill also updates the Board's charter to better enable it to confront tomorrow's challenges today, and it requires the Secretary to appoint a Coordinator for Counterterrorism to oversee the Board's activities. It is an important change to the current structure.
Additionally, the legislation requires the CTAB to advise the Secretary on the issuance of terrorism alerts, ensuring that top counterterrorism and intelligence officials play a key role in developing these critical notices to the public.
Finally, H.R. 4407 ensures continued congressional oversight by requiring the DHS to report on the status and activities of the CTAB so that we can be certain it is meeting its mandate.
I thank Chairman McCaul for appointing me to lead the bipartisan Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel, which formulated, roughly, 50 recommendations for making our country safer, one of which serves as the basis for this legislation.
I also thank Ranking Member Thompson and his great staff for all of the work we have been doing to get a lot of these bills passed into law, and I very much appreciate our bipartisan work together.
I am proud to say we have now acted legislatively on more than half of the task force's findings, largely thanks to the hard work of the other members of the task force and their willingness to reach across the aisle and do what is right for our country.
I urge my colleagues to support this measure.
I once again urge my colleagues to support this strong bipartisan piece of legislation. It is commonsense legislation, but it is very important to institutionalize things that are working to some extent within the Department of Homeland Security and the counterterrorism advisory board. The tweaks that we have in this legislation are going to make it a good, firm setting for fighting the counterterrorism activity going forward.
I do want to note for a moment as well that there have been an awful lot of bills that came out of Homeland Security this term, and the vast majority of those bills have had bipartisan support. I am proud of the work we are doing together with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and we are going to continue to do that moving forward to keep this country safe.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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