6 U.S.C. § 121 Information and Analysis

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-21 (published on www.congress.gov on 11/13/2023)

(a) Intelligence and analysis

There shall be in the Department an Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

(b) Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis

(1) Office of Intelligence and Analysis

The Office of Intelligence and Analysis shall be headed by an Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(2) Chief Intelligence Officer

The Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis shall serve as the Chief Intelligence Officer of the Department.

(c) Discharge of responsibilities

The Secretary shall ensure that the responsibilities of the Department relating to information analysis, including those described in subsection (d), are carried out through the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis.

(d) Responsibilities of Secretary relating to intelligence and analysis

The responsibilities of the Secretary relating to intelligence and analysis shall be as follows:

(1) To access, receive, and analyze law enforcement information, intelligence information, and other information from agencies of the Federal Government, State and local government agencies (including law enforcement agencies), and private sector entities, and to integrate such information, in support of the mission responsibilities of the Department and the functions of the National Counterterrorism Center established under section 119 of the National Security Act of 1947 [ 50 U.S.C. 3056 ], in order to-

(A) identify and assess the nature and scope of terrorist threats to the homeland;

(B) detect and identify threats of terrorism against the United States; and

(C) understand such threats in light of actual and potential vulnerabilities of the homeland.

(2) To carry out comprehensive assessments of the vulnerabilities of the key resources and critical infrastructure of the United States, including the performance of risk assessments to determine the risks posed by particular types of terrorist attacks within the United States (including an assessment of the probability of success of such attacks and the feasibility and potential efficacy of various countermeasures to such attacks).

(3) To integrate relevant information, analysis, and vulnerability assessments (regardless of whether such information, analysis or assessments are provided by or produced by the Department) in order to-

(A) identify priorities for protective and support measures regarding terrorist and other threats to homeland security by the Department, other agencies of the Federal Government, State, ¹ and local government agencies and authorities, the private sector, and other entities; and

(B) prepare finished intelligence and information products in both classified and unclassified formats, as appropriate, whenever reasonably expected to be of benefit to a State, local, or tribal government (including a State, local, or tribal law enforcement agency) or a private sector entity.

(4) To ensure, pursuant to section 122 of this title, the timely and efficient access by the Department to all information necessary to discharge the responsibilities under this section, including obtaining such information from other agencies of the Federal Government.

(5) To review, analyze, and make recommendations for improvements to the policies and procedures governing the sharing of information within the scope of the information sharing environment established under section 485 of this title, including homeland security information, terrorism information, and weapons of mass destruction information, and any policies, guidelines, procedures, instructions, or standards established under that section.

(6) To disseminate, as appropriate, information analyzed by the Department within the Department, to other agencies of the Federal Government with responsibilities relating to homeland security, and to agencies of State and local governments and private sector entities with such responsibilities in order to assist in the deterrence, prevention, preemption of, or response to, terrorist attacks against the United States.

(7) To consult with the Director of National Intelligence and other appropriate intelligence, law enforcement, or other elements of the Federal Government to establish collection priorities and strategies for information, including law enforcement-related information, relating to threats of terrorism against the United States through such means as the representation of the Department in discussions regarding requirements and priorities in the collection of such information.

(8) To consult with State and local governments and private sector entities to ensure appropriate exchanges of information, including law enforcement-related information, relating to threats of terrorism against the United States.

(9) To ensure that-

(A) any material received pursuant to this chapter is protected from unauthorized disclosure and handled and used only for the performance of official duties; and

(B) any intelligence information under this chapter is shared, retained, and disseminated consistent with the authority of the Director of National Intelligence to protect intelligence sources and methods under the National Security Act of 1947 [ 50 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.] and related procedures and, as appropriate, similar authorities of the Attorney General concerning sensitive law enforcement information.

(10) To request additional information from other agencies of the Federal Government, State and local government agencies, and the private sector relating to threats of terrorism in the United States, or relating to other areas of responsibility assigned by the Secretary, including the entry into cooperative agreements through the Secretary to obtain such information.

(11) To establish and utilize, in conjunction with the chief information officer of the Department, a secure communications and information technology infrastructure, including data-mining and other advanced analytical tools, in order to access, receive, and analyze data and information in furtherance of the responsibilities under this section, and to disseminate information acquired and analyzed by the Department, as appropriate.

(12) To ensure, in conjunction with the chief information officer of the Department, that any information databases and analytical tools developed or utilized by the Department-

(A) are compatible with one another and with relevant information databases of other agencies of the Federal Government; and

(B) treat information in such databases in a manner that complies with applicable Federal law on privacy.

(13) To coordinate training and other support to the elements and personnel of the Department, other agencies of the Federal Government, and State and local governments that provide information to the Department, or are consumers of information provided by the Department, in order to facilitate the identification and sharing of information revealed in their ordinary duties and the optimal utilization of information received from the Department.

(14) To coordinate with elements of the intelligence community and with Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, and the private sector, as appropriate.

(15) To provide intelligence and information analysis and support to other elements of the Department.

(16) To coordinate and enhance integration among the intelligence components of the Department, including through strategic oversight of the intelligence activities of such components.

(17) To establish the intelligence collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination priorities, policies, processes, standards, guidelines, and procedures for the intelligence components of the Department, consistent with any directions from the President and, as applicable, the Director of National Intelligence.

(18) To establish a structure and process to support the missions and goals of the intelligence components of the Department.

(19) To ensure that, whenever possible, the Department-

(A) produces and disseminates unclassified reports and analytic products based on open-source information; and

(B) produces and disseminates such reports and analytic products contemporaneously with reports or analytic products concerning the same or similar information that the Department produced and disseminated in a classified format.

(20) To establish within the Office of Intelligence and Analysis an internal continuity of operations plan.

(21) Based on intelligence priorities set by the President, and guidance from the Secretary and, as appropriate, the Director of National Intelligence-

(A) to provide to the heads of each intelligence component of the Department guidance for developing the budget pertaining to the activities of such component; and

(B) to present to the Secretary a recommendation for a consolidated budget for the intelligence components of the Department, together with any comments from the heads of such components.

(22) To perform such other duties relating to such responsibilities as the Secretary may provide.

(23)

(A) Not later than six months after December 23, 2016, to conduct an intelligence-based review and comparison of the risks and consequences of EMP and GMD facing critical infrastructure, and submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate-

(i) a recommended strategy to protect and prepare the critical infrastructure of the homeland against threats of EMP and GMD; and

(ii) not less frequently than every two years thereafter for the next six years, updates of the recommended strategy.

(B) The recommended strategy under subparagraph (A) shall-

(i) be based on findings of the research and development conducted under section 195f of this title;

(ii) be developed in consultation with the relevant Federal sector-specific agencies (as defined under Presidential Policy Directive-21) for critical infrastructure;