118TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. 9668
To establish in the Department of Homeland Security a working group
relating to countering terrorist, cybersecurity, border and port security,
and transportation security threats posed to the United States by the
Chinese Communist Party, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
Mr. STRONG (for himself and Mr. SUOZZI) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to
the Committees on Ways and Means, Financial Services, the Judiciary,
and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish in the Department of Homeland Security a
working group relating to countering terrorist, cybersecurity, border and port security, and transportation security threats posed to the United States by the Chinese
Communist Party, and for other purposes.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strategic Homeland
3 Intelligence and Enforcement Legislation to Defend
4 against the CCP Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD Against CCP
5 Act’’.
6 SEC. 2. WORKING GROUP TO COUNTER CERTAIN THREATS
7 POSED TO THE UNITED STATES BY THE CHI8 NESE COMMUNIST PARTY.
9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days
11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary of Homeland Security shall establish in the
13 Department of Homeland Security a working group
14 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Working
15 Group’’), which shall carry out the duties specified
16 in subsection (b) relating to countering terrorist, cy17 bersecurity, border and port security, and transpor18 tation security threats posed to the United States by
19 the Chinese Communist Party.
20 (2) DIRECTOR.—
21 (A) APPOINTMENT.—The head of the
22 Working Group shall be a Director (in this sec23 tion referred to as the ‘‘Director’’), who shall be
24 appointed by the Secretary of Homeland Secu25 rity.
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1 (B) REPORTING.—The Director shall re2 port to the Secretary of Homeland Security re3 garding all administrative, operational, and se4 curity matters of the Working Group.
5 (3) STAFFING.—The Secretary of Homeland
6 Security shall ensure the Working Group is provided
7 with the following:
8 (A) A sufficient number of employees to
9 perform required duties.
10 (B) Not fewer than one employee dedicated
11 to ensuring compliance with privacy laws and
12 regulations.
13 (4) DETAILEES.—The Working Group may ac14 cept and employ detailees with expertise in coun15 tering terrorist, cybersecurity, border and port secu16 rity, and transportation security threats posed by
17 the Chinese Communist Party to the United States,
18 or in related fields, from any element of the intel19 ligence community or any other Federal agency the
20 Director determines appropriate, with or without re21 imbursement, consistent with applicable laws and
22 regulations regarding such employees.
23 (b) DUTIES.—The Working Group shall carry out the
24 following:
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1 (1) Examine, assess, and report upon efforts by
2 the Department of Homeland Security to counter
3 terrorist, cybersecurity, border and port security,
4 and transportation security threats posed to the
5 United States by the Chinese Communist Party, in6 cluding efforts to counter the Chinese Communist
7 Party’s—
8 (A) nontraditional tactics and exploitation
9 of the United States immigration system
10 through—
11 (i) identity theft;
12 (ii) the immigrant and nonimmigrant
13 visa processes;
14 (iii) unlawful border crossings;
15 (iv) human smuggling; and
16 (v) human trafficking;
17 (B) predatory economic and trade prac18 tices, including the trafficking of counterfeit
19 and pirated goods, the use of forced labor, labor
20 exploitation for financial gain, customs fraud,
21 and theft of intellectual property and tech22 nology; and
23 (C) direct or indirect support for
24 transnational criminal organizations trafficking
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1 in fentanyl, illicit drug precursors, or other con2 trolled substances through—
3 (i) the United States border;
4 (ii) international mail shipments; or
5 (iii) express consignment operations.
6 (2) Account for the resources of the Depart7 ment that are dedicated to programs aimed at coun8 tering terrorist, cybersecurity, border and port secu9 rity, and transportation security threats posed to the
10 United States by the Chinese Communist Party, and
11 any supporting information as to the efficacy of each
12 such program.
13 (3) Build upon existing or ongoing evaluations
14 and avoid unnecessary duplication by reviewing the
15 findings, conclusions, and recommendations of other
16 appropriate working groups, committees, commis17 sions, or entities established by the Department re18 lated to efforts to counter terrorist, cybersecurity,
19 border and port security, and transportation security
20 threats posed to the United States by the Chinese
21 Communist Party.
22 (4) Identify gaps in policies, processes, and ac23 tivities of the Department to respond to terrorist,
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1 portation security threats posed to the United States
2 by the Chinese Communist Party.
3 (5) Facilitate cooperation and coordination
4 among offices and components of the Department on
5 a holistic response to countering terrorist, cybersecu6 rity, border and port security, and transportation se7 curity threats posed to the United States by the Chi8 nese Communist Party.
9 (c) ADDITIONAL DUTY RELATING TO INFORMATION
10 SHARING.—The Working Group shall review, in coordina11 tion with the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the De12 partment of Homeland Security, information relating to
13 terrorist, cybersecurity, border and port security, and
14 transportation security threats posed to the United States
15 by the Chinese Communist Party that is gathered by Fed16 eral, State, local, Tribal, and territorial partners, and the
17 National Network of Fusion Centers, and incorporate such
18 information, as appropriate, into the Working Group’s
19 own information relating to such threats. The Working
20 Group, in coordination with the Office of Intelligence and
21 Analysis, shall also ensure the dissemination to Federal,
22 State, local, Tribal, and territorial partners, and the Na23 tional Network of Fusion Centers, of information related
24 to such threats.
25 (d) ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days
2 after the date of the enactment of this section and
3 annually thereafter for five years, the Secretary of
4 Homeland Security, in coordination with the Under
5 Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis of the De6 partment of Homeland Security, the Director of the
7 Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Director of
8 National Intelligence, shall submit to the appro9 priate congressional committees a report that as10 sesses terrorist, cybersecurity, border and port secu11 rity, and transportation security threats posed to the
12 United States by the Chinese Communist Party dur13 ing the immediately preceding 12 months.
14 (2) CONTENTS.—Each assessment under para15 graph (1) shall also include the following:
16 (A) A description of the activities and op17 erations of the Working Group undertaken pur18 suant to subsection (b).
19 (B) Any other matters the Secretary of
20 Homeland Security determines relevant.
21 (3) FORM.—Each assessment under paragraph
22 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may
23 include a classified annex. The Secretary of Home24 land Security shall post on a publicly available
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1 website of the Department of Homeland Security the
2 unclassified portion of each assessment.
3 (4) BRIEFING.—Not later than 30 days after
4 the submission of each assessment under paragraph
5 (1), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall pro6 vide to the appropriate congressional committees a
7 briefing on such assessment and the progress and
8 challenges of the Working Group.
9 (e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—Not later
10 than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
11 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit
12 to the appropriate congressional committees a report on
13 the implementation of this section.
14 (f) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than
15 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
16 Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the
17 Director and the Under Secretary for Science and Tech18 nology of the Department of Homeland Security, shall, to
19 the extent practicable, carry out research and develop20 ment, including operational testing, of technologies and
21 techniques for enhancing the Department’s security and
22 situational awareness relating to countering terrorist, cy23 bersecurity, border and port security, and transportation
24 security threats posed to the United States by the Chinese
25 Communist Party.
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1 (g) IMPLEMENTATION.—All activities carried out
2 pursuant to this section—
3 (1) shall be carried out in accordance with ap4 plicable constitutional, privacy, civil rights, and civil
5 liberties protections; and
6 (2) may not infringe upon the lawful exercise of
7 free speech by United States persons.
8 (h) SUNSET.—The Working Group shall terminate on
9 the date that is seven years after the establishment of the
10 Working Group under subsection (a)(1).
11 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
12 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’’ means—
15 (A) in the House of Representatives—
16 (i) the Committee on Homeland Secu17 rity;
18 (ii) the Committee on Ways and
19 Means;
20 (iii) the Committee on Financial Serv21 ices;
22 (iv) the Committee on the Judiciary;
23 and
24 (v) the Committee on Foreign Affairs;
25 and
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1 (B) in the Senate—
2 (i) the Committee on Homeland Secu3 rity and Governmental Affairs;
4 (ii) the Committee on Banking, Hous5 ing, and Urban Affairs;
6 (iii) the Committee on Finance;
7 (iv) the Committee on the Judiciary;
8 and
9 (v) the Committee on Foreign Rela10 tions.
11 (2) FUSION CENTER.—The term ‘‘fusion cen12 ter’’ has the meaning given such term in subsection
13 (k) of section 210A of the Homeland Security Act
14 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124h).
15 (3) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term
16 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given
17 such term in section 3(4) of the National Security
18 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).
19 (4) NATIONAL NETWORK OF FUSION CEN20 TERS.—The term ‘‘National Network of Fusion Cen21 ters’’ means a decentralized arrangement of fusion
22 centers intended to enhance individual State and
23 urban area fusion centers’ ability to leverage the ca24 pabilities and expertise of all such fusion centers for
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1 the purpose of enhancing analysis and homeland se2 curity information sharing nationally.
3 (5) UNITED STATES PERSONS.—The term
4 ‘‘United States person’’ has the meaning given such
5 term in section 1637(d)(10) of the Carl Levin and
6 Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon National Defense Au7 thorization Act for Fiscal year 2015 (50 U.S.C.
8 1708(d)(10)).