ANALYSIS FOR THE HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002

Section 1. Short title; table of contents.

Short title

This section provides a short title and a table of contents for the bill. The bill's short title is the "Homeland Security Act of 2002."

Table of Contents

[ Text of Bill ]

Section 2. Definitions.

This section provides definitions for a number of terms used in the bill. As provided in the definitions, "Department" in the bill refers to the Department of Homeland Security, and "Secretary" refers to the Secretary of Homeland Security. Other important defined terms are "assets" and "functions," which are used recurrently in the bill in referring to the resources and operations that are to be transferred to the new Department of Homeland Security.

Many of the definitions in the section are borrowed from pre-existing statutes, such as the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Pub. L. No. 93-288. Among such borrowed definitions are that of "State," which includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and that of "local government," which includes all non-federal public entities and Indian tribes and tribal and Alaska Native organizations and villages. Another borrowed definition is that of "major disaster," which includes both natural disasters and severe fires, floods, and explosions, regardless of cause.

[ Text of Bill ]

Section 3. Construction; severability.

This section, modeled on existing law, provides an express rule of construction and severability for the bill.

[ Text of Bill ]

Section 4. Effective date.

This section specifies an effective date for the bill, which is thirty days following enactment or, if enacted within thirty days before January 1, 2003, on January 1, 2003.

[ Text of Bill ]