Preventing Radicalism by Exploring and Vetting its Emergence as a National Threat (PREVENT) Act

There is established in the legislative branch the National Commission on Radicalization and Terrorism (in this title referred to as the Commission.

The purposes of the Commission are the following:

(1) Examine and report upon the facts and causes relating to radicalization in the United States, including United States connections to non-United States persons and networks, radicalization in prison, individual or lone wolf radicalization, radicalization in connection with gang activity, radicalization and the use of the internet and other facets of the phenomenon of radicalization that the Commission considers important.

(2) Build upon and bring together the work of other entities and avoid unnecessary duplication, by reviewing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of—

(A) the ongoing work of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terror, the Homeland Security Policy Institute at the George Washington University, and other academic work, as appropriate;

(B) Federal, State, local or tribal studies on, reviews of, and experiences with radicalization; and

(C) foreign governments and overseas experiences.

(3) Report to the President and the Congress on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for immediate and long-term countermeasures to radicalization in the United States and measures that can be taken to prevent radicalization from developing and spreading within the United States.

The Commission shall be composed of 20 members, of whom—

(A) 4 members shall be appointed by the President, one of whom shall be designated by the President to serve as chairman of the Commission;

(B) 1 member shall be appointed by the Senate majority leader;

(C) 1 member shall be appointed by the Senate minority leader;

(D) 1 member shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(E) 1 member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives;

(F) 1 member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee of the House of Representatives;

(G) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Homeland Security Committee of the House of Representatives;

(H) 1 member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives;

(I) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives;

(J) 1 member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives;

(K) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives;

(L) 1 member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee of the Senate;

(M) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee of the Senate;

(N) 1 member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate;

(O) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate;

(P) 1 member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate; and

(Q) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate.

It is the sense of Congress that individuals appointed to the Commission should be prominent United States citizens, with national recognition and significant depth of experience in such professions as law enforcement, the armed services, sociology, psychology, technology and social networking, law, public administration, intelligence, corrections, and foreign affairs.

All members of the Commission shall be appointed on or before 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

The Commission shall meet and begin the operations of the Commission as soon as practicable.

After its initial meeting, the Commission shall meet upon the call of the Chairman or a majority of its members.

Eleven members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum.

Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, and shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.

The Commission or, on the authority of the Commission, any subcommittee or member thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out this section hold hearings and sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, receive such evidence, and administer such oaths as may be authorized by the Commission.

The Commission may, to such extent and in such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission to discharge its duties under this section.

The Commission may secure directly from any executive department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality of the Government, information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics for the purposes of this section. The head of each department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality shall, to the extent authorized by law, furnish such information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Commission, upon request made by the chairman, the chairman of any subcommittee created by a majority of the Commission, or any member designated by a majority of the Commission.

Information shall only be received, handled, stored, and disseminated by members of the Commission and its staff consistent with all applicable statutes, regulations, and Executive orders.

The Administrator of General Services shall provide to the Commission on a reimbursable basis administrative support and other services for the performance of the Commission’s functions.

In addition to the assistance prescribed in paragraph (1), departments and agencies of the United States may provide to the Commission such services, funds, facilities, staff, and support services as they may determine advisable and as may be authorized by law.

The Commission may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or property.

The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as departments and agencies of the United States.

The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission.

The Commission shall hold public hearings and meetings to the extent appropriate.

Any public hearings of the Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the protection of information provided to or developed for or by the Commission as required by any applicable statute, regulation, or Executive order.

The chairman of the Commission, in consultation with the vice chairman and in accordance with rules agreed upon by the Commission, may appoint and fix the compensation of a staff director and such other personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its functions, without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of pay fixed under this subsection may exceed the equivalent of that payable for a position at level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.

The executive director and any employees of the Commission shall be employees under section 2105 of title 5, United States Code, for purposes of chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, and 90 of that title.

Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed to apply to members of the Commission.

Any Federal Government employee may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement from the Commission, and such detailee shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular employment without interruption.

The Commission may procure the services of experts and consultants in accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a person occupying a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code.

Emphasis shall be made to hire employees and retain contractors and detailees with active security clearances.

Each member of the Commission may be compensated at not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day during which that member is engaged in the actual performance of the duties of the Commission.

While away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission, members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed intermittently in the Government service are allowed expenses under section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code.

The appropriate Federal agencies or departments shall cooperate with the Commission in expeditiously providing to the Commission members and staff appropriate security clearances to the extent possible pursuant to existing procedures and requirements, except that no person shall be provided with access to classified information under this section without the appropriate security clearances.

The Commission may submit to the President and Congress interim reports containing such findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective measures as have been agreed to by a majority of Commission members.

Not later than 24 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a final report containing such findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective measures as have been agreed to by a majority of Commission members.

The Commission shall release public versions of the reports required under this subsection.

The Commission, and all the authorities under this section, shall terminate 60 days after the date on which the final report is submitted under subsection (o)(2).

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission $9,000,000 for the activities of the Commission under this section.

Amounts made available to the Commission under paragraph (1) shall remain available until the earlier of the expenditure of the amounts or the termination of the Commission.

In this section the term radicalization means the process of adopting an extremist belief system, including the willingness to use, support, or facilitate violence, as a method to effect societal change.

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall work with the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), led by the University of Southern California, to evaluate the feasibility and practicality of creating further incentives for private sector critical infrastructure stakeholders to participate in the sharing of Protected Critical Infrastructure Information.

Incentives evaluated under this section shall include, but not be limited to, tax incentives, grant eligibility incentives, and certificates of compliance and other non-monetary incentives.

The evaluation shall also include recommendations on the structure and thresholds of any incentive program.