Deadly Escalation by Foreign Entities Notification and Disclosure Act or the DEFEND Act
This bill requires the Department of Defense to provide specified notice to Congress if it is determined with high confidence that an official of a foreign government has taken or plans to take a substantial step that is intended to cause the death of, or serious bodily injury to, any member of the Armed Forces.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4424 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4424
To direct the Secretary of Defense to notify Congress if the Secretary
determines, with high confidence, that a foreign government or foreign
official has taken, or plans to take, steps intended to cause the death
of, or serious bodily injury to, a member of the United States Armed
Forces.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 13, 2021
Mrs. Murphy of Florida (for herself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Defense to notify Congress if the Secretary
determines, with high confidence, that a foreign government or foreign
official has taken, or plans to take, steps intended to cause the death
of, or serious bodily injury to, a member of the United States Armed
Forces.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Deadly Escalation by Foreign
Entities Notification and Disclosure Act'' or the ``DEFEND Act''.
SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION OF CERTAIN THREATS TO UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES
BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.
(a) Determination That Foreign Government Intends To Cause the
Death of or Serious Bodily Injury to Members of the Armed Forces.--The
Secretary of Defense shall carry out the notification requirements
under subsection (b) whenever the Secretary, in consultation with the
Director of National Intelligence, determines with high confidence
that, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, an official of
a foreign government plans or takes some other substantial step that is
intended to cause the death of, or serious bodily injury to, any member
of the United States Armed Forces, whether through direct means or
indirect means, including through a promise or agreement by the foreign
government to pay anything of pecuniary value to an individual or
organization in exchange for causing such death or injury.
(b) Notice to Congress.--
(1) Notification.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), not
later than 14 days after making a determination under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall notify the congressional
leadership, the congressional intelligence committees and,
consistent with the protection of sources and methods, the
appropriate congressional committees of such determination.
Such notification shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(A) A description of the nature and extent of the
effort by the foreign government to target members of
the United States Armed Forces.
(B) An assessment of what specific officials,
agents, entities, and departments within the foreign
government ordered, authorized, or had knowledge of the
effort.
(C) An assessment of the motivations of the foreign
government for undertaking such an effort.
(D) An assessment of whether the effort of the
foreign government was a substantial factor in the
death or serious bodily injury of any member of the
United States Armed Forces.
(E) Any other information the Secretary determines
appropriate.
(2) Option for briefing.--Upon the request of a
congressional recipient specified in paragraph (1) after being
notified of a determination under such paragraph, the Secretary
shall provide to the recipient a briefing on the contents of
the notification.
(3) Protection of sources and methods.--This subsection
shall be carried out in a manner that is consistent with the
protection of sources and methods.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``anything of pecuniary value'' has the
meaning given that term in section 1958(b)(1) of title 18,
United States Code.
(2) The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means
the following:
(A) The Committee on Armed Services and the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
(B) The Committee on Armed Services and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
(3) The terms ``congressional intelligence committees'' and
``intelligence community'' have the meaning given those terms
in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.
3003).
(4) The term ``congressional leadership'' includes the
following:
(A) The majority leader of the Senate.
(B) The minority leader of the Senate.
(C) The Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(D) The minority leader of the House of
Representatives.
(5) The term ``determines with high confidence''--
(A) means that the official making the
determination--
(i) has concluded that the judgments in the
determination are based on sound analytic
argumentation and high-quality, consistent
reporting from multiple sources, including
through clandestinely obtained documents,
clandestine and open source reporting, and in-
depth expertise;
(ii) with respect to such judgments, has
concluded that the intelligence community has
few intelligence gaps and few assumptions
underlying the analytic line and that the
intelligence community has concluded that the
potential for deception is low; and
(iii) has examined long-standing analytic
judgments and considered alternatives in making
the determination; but
(B) does not mean that the official making the
determination has concluded that the judgments in the
determination are fact or certainty.
(6) The term ``direct means'' means without the use of
intermediaries.
(7) The term ``foreign government'' means the government of
a foreign country with which the United States is at peace.
(8) The term ``indirect means'' means through, or with the
assistance of, intermediaries.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
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