116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 838
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 29, 2019
Mr. Babin (for himself and Mrs. Demings) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To develop a national strategy to prevent targeted violence through behavioral threat assessment and management, and for other purposes.
1.Short title
This Act may be cited as the Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety Act of 2019.
2.Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)incidents of targeted violence are impacting our Nation frequently and indiscriminately;
(2)a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and multi-jurisdictional behavioral threat assessment and management process on a Federal, State, local, and Tribal level complements the development of better methods for strategically preventing targeted violence in communities, including schools;
(3)the United States has the capability to rapidly develop behavioral threat assessment and management guidelines and best practices;
(4)the United States should encourage the sharing of such guidelines and best practices for streamlined and cohesive use across the United States;
(5)establishing such guidelines and best practices is an important step toward preventing targeted violence;
(6)such guidelines and best practices should account for different needs of communities across the United States; and
(7)it is in the national security interest of the United States to develop such guidelines and best practices.
3.Definitions
In this Act:
(1)Appropriate committees of Congress
The term appropriate committees of Congress means the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
(2)Behavioral threat assessment and management
The term behavioral threat assessment and management means the systematic and evidence-based process of—
(A)identifying individuals who are exhibiting patterns of concerning behavior that indicate an interest, motive, intention, or capability of carrying out an act of violence;
(B)investigating and gathering information from multiple sources to assess whether an individual described in subparagraph (A) poses a threat, based on articulable facts; and
(C)the subsequent management of such a threat, if necessary.
(3)Definitions related to certain educational terms
The terms early childhood education program, elementary school, local educational agency, secondary school, and State educational agency have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(4)Educational entities
The term educational entities means—
(A)a State educational agency;
(B)a local educational agency;
(C)an institution of higher education;
(D)an elementary school or secondary school;
(E)an early childhood education program; or
(F)a postsecondary vocational institution.
(5)Fusion center
The term fusion center has the meaning given the term in section 210A(j)(1) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124h(j)(1)).
(6)Institution of higher education
The term institution of higher education has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(7)Mental health service professional
The term mental health service professional has the meaning given the term in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p).
(8)Nongovernmental organization
The term nongovernmental organization means an organization that is not a Federal, State, or local governmental agency.
(9)Postsecondary vocational institution
The term postsecondary vocational institution has the meaning given such term in section 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(c)).
(10)Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Homeland Security.
(11)State
The term State means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
(12)Targeted violence
The term targeted violence means any incident of predatory violence with respect to which an identifiable individual or group focuses an attack on a particular target.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr838/text/ih