Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. Lieberman):

S. 505. A bill to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide immunity for reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious behavior and response; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague, Senator Lieberman, in introducing the See Something, Say Something Act of 2011.

The number of thwarted and failed attacks in the past few years and the Fort Hood attack, which left 13 people dead and wounded dozens, are sobering reminders that terrorists continue to threaten our nation. We have seen, however, that an alert citizenry can be our first line of defense against terrorist attacks as evidenced by events only a few weeks ago in Texas.

Tips from alert citizens led to an investigation and the eventual arrest of Khalid Aldawsari on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Specifically, an alert chemical supplier reported Aldawsari's suspicious attempt to purchase a toxic chemical called phenol to the FBI. Shipping company personnel also notified local police officers about related suspicious behavior. Without these calls to law enforcement, it is possible that a person who wrote in his diary ``it is time for Jihad'' would have carried out an attack or attacks on his numerous intended targets, including dams, nuclear power plants, and former President George W. Bush.

Individuals must be protected from frivolous lawsuits when they report, in good faith, suspicious behavior that may indicate terrorist activity. That is why I am again introducing legislation, along with Senator Lieberman, that will provide these important protections.

In the 2007 homeland security law, Senator Lieberman and I authored a provision to encourage people to report potential terrorist threats directed against transportation systems. This legislation would expand those protections to reports of suspicious behavior in sectors other than transportation. For example, reports of suspicious activity could be equally important in detecting terrorist plans to attack ``soft targets'' like hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, and religious institutions.

In December 2008, a Federal jury convicted five men from New Jersey of conspiring to murder American soldiers at Fort Dix. According to law enforcement officials, the report of an alert store clerk, who stated that a customer had brought in a video showing men firing weapons and shouting in Arabic, triggered their investigation. If not for the report of this vigilant store clerk, law enforcement may not have disrupted this plot against military personnel at Fort Dix. Real life examples like these highlight the need for this bill.

That store clerk's action likely saved hundreds of lives. It reveals a core truth of the dangerous times in which we live. Our safety depends on more than just police officers, intelligence analysts, and soldiers. It also depends on the alertness and civic responsibility of all Americans. So we must encourage citizens to be watchful and to report suspicious activity whenever it occurs.

As a result of the devastating 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, Senator Lieberman and I convened hearings held by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to examine lessons learned from those attacks. These hearings helped bring to light the reality that terrorists might shift their attention from high-value, high-security targets to less secure commercial facilities, where there remains the potential for mass casualties and widespread panic.

Many of the Committee's witnesses during these hearings endorsed the idea of expanding the 2007 law beyond the transportation sector. Indeed, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said that the 2007 law ``made eminently good sense'' and recommended ``that it be expanded [to other sectors] if at all possible.''

The threat is real, and we must encourage citizens to be watchful and to report suspicious activity whenever it occurs. Our legal system, however, can be misused to chill the willingness of citizens to come forward and report possible dangers. As widely reported by the media in 2006, US Airways removed 6 Islamic clerics from a flight after other passengers expressed concerns that some of the clerics had moved out of the their assigned seats and had requested, but were not using, seat belt extenders that could possibly double as weapons. In response to these concerns, US Airways officials removed these individuals from the plane so that they could further investigate.

For voicing their reasonable fears that these passengers could be rehearsing or preparing to execute a hijacking, these concerned citizens found themselves as defendants in a civil rights lawsuit and accused of bigotry.

The existence of this lawsuit illustrates how unfair it is to allow private citizens to be intimidated into silence by the threat of litigation. Would the passengers have spoken up if they had anticipated that there would be a lawsuit filed against them? Even if such suits fail, they can expose citizens to heavy costs in time and legal fees.

The bill we introduce today would provide civil immunity in American courts for any person acting in good faith who reports any suspicious transaction, activity, or occurrence related to an act of terrorism. Specifically, the bill would encourage people to pass on information to federal officials with responsibility for preventing, protecting against, disrupting, or responding to a terrorist act, or to Federal, State, and local law enforcement officials, without fear of being sued for doing their civic duty. Only disclosures made to those responsible officials would be protected by the legislation.

Once a report is received, those officials would be responsible for assessing its reasonableness and determining whether further action is required. If they take reasonable action to mitigate the reported threat, they, too, would be protected from lawsuits. Just as we should not discourage reporting suspicious incidents, we also should not discourage reasonable responses to them.

Let me be very clear that this bill does not offer any protection whatsoever if an individual makes a statement that he or she knows to be false. No one will be able to use this protection as cover for mischievous, vengeful, or biased falsehoods.

Our laws and legal system must not intimidate people into silence or prevent our officials from responding to terrorist threats. Protecting citizens who make good faith reports--and that's an important condition in this bill--of potentially lethal activities is essential to maintaining homeland security. Our bill offers protection in a measured way that discourages abuses.

Each of us has an important responsibility in the fight against terrorism. It is not a fight that can be left to law enforcement alone. The police simply can't be everywhere all the time. Whether at a hotel, a mall, or an arena, homeland security and law enforcement officials need all citizens to alert them to unattended packages and behavior that appears out of the ordinary.

Along these lines, I applaud DHS Secretary Napolitano for establishing the Department's "If you see something, say something'' campaign and the recent partnerships with various organizations including the NFL. The Department is taking steps to expand this effort with public education and materials for businesses, communities, and citizens. As the Department's campaign continues to grow, there will be a greater need for this legislation as our citizens become better educated.

The National Sheriffs' Association, the National Association of Town Watch, and other national organizations have endorsed this legislation.

If someone "sees something'' suspicious, Congress should encourage him or her to "say something'' about it. This bill promotes and protects that civic duty. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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