H.R. 708 — SHIELD Against CCP Act

This section establishes a Working Group in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), headed by a Director appointed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, to counter terrorist, cybersecurity, border and port security, and transportation security threats posed to the United States by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Secretary must provide the Working Group with sufficient staff, including at least one employee dedicated to privacy compliance, and it may accept detailees from the intelligence community or other federal agencies. The Working Group must (1) examine and report on DHS efforts to counter CCP threats, including nontraditional immigration exploitation (e.g., identity theft, visa processes, unlawful border crossings, human smuggling, human trafficking), predatory economic practices (e.g., counterfeit goods trafficking, forced labor, intellectual property theft), support for transnational criminal organizations trafficking fentanyl and precursors via borders, mail, or express shipments, and illicit financial activity by Chinese money laundering organizations; (2) account for DHS resources dedicated to such programs and their efficacy; (3) review existing DHS evaluations to avoid duplication; (4) identify gaps in DHS policies, processes, and activities; and (5) facilitate inter-component cooperation at DHS. The Working Group must, in coordination with DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis, review threat-related information from federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners and the National Network of Fusion Centers and ensure its dissemination to those partners. Not later than 180 days after enactment and annually thereafter for five years, the Secretary of Homeland Security must submit to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment of CCP threats during the prior 12 months, coordinated with the DHS Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, FBI Director, and Director of National Intelligence; each assessment must describe Working Group activities under this section and any other relevant matters.