H.R. 1299 — EAGLES Act of 2025

This section provides the short title of the Act as the “EAGLES Act of 2025.”

This section states findings regarding the February 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and the Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (the Center), which was established in 1998 to research targeted violence against government officials, government facilities, workplaces, houses of worship, K–12 schools, universities, and public spaces. It finds that targeted violence is preventable, that attackers often exhibit threatening or concerning behavior before an attack, and that the Center’s behavioral threat assessment model uses a 3-step process: (1) identifying individuals exhibiting concerning behavior, (2) assessing whether they pose a risk based on articulable facts, and (3) managing the risk through proactive and preventive measures. It also states that the model is most effective when local law enforcement, mental health professionals, workplace managers, school personnel, and community members participate in a comprehensive protocol, and that behavioral threat assessment programs aim to prevent targeted violence through early intervention and connection to community resources. This section further notes that in K–12 schools, behavioral threat assessment is used to identify, assess, and provide age-appropriate interventions and supports for students whose behavior raises safety concerns. It cites a 79 percent decline in juvenile arrests in K–12 school communities that received Center training, over 2,575 training sessions and more than 273,000 attendees since the Center’s inception, a 117 percent increase in training demand from FY2018 to FY2022, and a 553 percent increase in consultation activities over the same period. It expresses the sense of Congress that fact-based behavioral threat assessment involving local law enforcement, mental health professionals, workplace managers, school personnel, other public safety officials, and community members is one of the most effective ways to prevent targeted violence and serves as a fitting memorial to the victims and responders in the Parkland attack.

This section establishes a National Threat Assessment Center within the United States Secret Service, operated at the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Security, and directs it to provide training and education on threat assessment and the prevention of targeted violence, consult on complex threat assessment cases and programs, conduct evidence-based research, facilitate information sharing among public safety and other entities, and develop programs to standardize Federal, State, and local threat assessments and best practices. This section also requires the Center to establish a national program on targeted school violence prevention. As background, targeted school violence prevention programs are intended to identify warning signs, improve school threat assessment practices, and support coordination among schools, law enforcement, mental health officials, and other public safety entities. The section directs the Center to (1) conduct and publish research on targeted school violence and evidence-based prevention practices, including school threat assessment; (2) develop and offer training to agencies with protective or public safety responsibilities and other public or private entities, including local educational agencies; (3) establish, not later than 1 year after enactment, a plan to offer training and educational resources in each State; (4) coordinate research and training with the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services; (5) consult with State and local educational, law enforcement, and mental health officials and private entities; and (6) may create an interactive website to disseminate information and data on evidence-based practices. This section authorizes the Secret Service Director to hire additional personnel to carry out the new requirements, including at least 1 employee with expertise in child psychological development and at least 1 employee with expertise in school threat assessment. It also requires the Director to submit a report to specified congressional committees not later than 2 years after enactment on implementation, including the number of employees hired, the number of individuals and school districts trained in each State, agencies assisted, evaluations of effectiveness and implementation, a summary of research activities and findings, and a strategic dissemination plan. This section authorizes $10 million for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 and terminates on September 30, 2030. It prohibits use of the funds to train any person in the use of a firearm, while clarifying that the section does not preclude other laws authorizing firearms training.