No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) currently operates a centralized model concentrated in Washington, DC; that DHS maintains a robust ten-region field structure used by components including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA); that effective homeland security intelligence requires collaboration with state, local, Tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners including fusion centers; and that decentralizing analytic functions will improve relevance, responsiveness, coordination, and efficiencies. The section states the purpose of the Act as restructuring DHS I&A into a field-centric intelligence model that places analytic personnel in supported regions to enhance interagency collaboration and homeland security intelligence effectiveness.
This section directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, not later than two years after enactment, to decentralize the primary analytic functions of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) from a centralized headquarters model to a field-based model by (1) assigning at least one Intelligence Officer (IO) and one Intelligence Analyst (IA) to every fusion center (i.e., state and local centers that serve as focal points for sharing terrorism-related information) and other strategic locations determined by the Secretary; and (2) assigning at least one IO to each joint or interagency task force as the primary I&A liaison. The section further requires that IOs and IAs (1) not serve concurrently in both roles; (2) receive training on civil rights, civil liberties, privacy (including the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. §552a), and related laws prior to assignment; (3) be selected with input from the relevant fusion center to match its needs; (4) serve three-year terms, extendable by up to two years; and (5) rotate in a staggered manner to ensure continuous I&A presence at fusion centers. Field-assigned IOs and IAs must report operationally to I&A regional directors under policy guidance from the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis and coordinate with regional leads from FEMA, CISA, ICE, CBP, and other DHS components. Not later than 180 days after enactment, the Under Secretary must submit to the appropriate congressional committees (i.e., House and Senate Homeland Security and Intelligence committees) a staffing and resource plan identifying regional personnel needs, headquarters roles for field reassignment, retained headquarters functions, a rotational program limiting field assignments to five years without headquarters rotation, and necessary hiring, training, or realignments. The section retains specified headquarters staff and resources per the plan and requires the Secretary to submit (1) an initial report to the committees not later than one year after enactment on decentralization progress, resource status, and challenges; and (2) annual reports for five years thereafter assessing operational impacts on I&A and state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners, interagency efficiencies, partner integration, and Privacy Act training details. (Thus, decentralization aims to enhance real-time intelligence support and sharing with SLTT and federal partners while safeguarding privacy.)