U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) has proposed bipartisan legislation that would strengthen national security via a federally coordinated plan with state and urban intelligence-gathering fusion centers located across the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security Field Engagement Accountability Act, H.R. 5079, would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop an action strategy with fusion centers, among other purposes. Specifically, fusion centers serve as frontline intelligence-sharing hubs that channel threat assessment and analysis between DHS and state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments and private-sector partners, according to the department.
“Ensuring the Department of Homeland Security has an agency-wide strategy for engagement with fusion centers will provide necessary support to our state and local law enforcement in their efforts to combat the evolving terrorism threat and keep pace with emerging homeland security issues,” said Bacon following the Feb. 23 introduction of H.R. 5079.
The nation’s 79 fusion centers, including the Nebraska Information Analysis Center in Lincoln, Neb., handle critical information sharing and coordinate with both first responders and the federal government, the congressman said. “This bill will ensure that DHS enhances its support to all fusion centers and fully leverages their capabilities in the department’s missions,” said Bacon, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, who counted U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, John Katko (R-NY) and William Keating (D-MA) as among the bill’s six original cosponsors.
H.R. 5079 also would call for the DHS engagement plan to encompass specific performance measures for information sharing and would direct more employee training and enhancements for the information sharing systems DHS provides to fusion centers, according to a bill summary provided by the congressman’s office.
Additionally, the bill would hold accountable field personnel from the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis, which oversees fusion centers, for their work performance at the centers. According to DHS, the office is the only entity in the U.S. intelligence community having such statutory responsibility for sharing intelligence with SLTT governments and private-sector partners and for developing intelligence based on those partners’ input.
H.R. 5079 has been referred to the House Homeland Security Committee.