nd security information is needed by
the State and local personnel to prevent and prepare
for terrorist attack.
(5) The needs of State and local personnel to have
access to relevant homeland security information to
combat terrorism must be reconciled with the need to
preserve the protected status of such information and
to protect the sources and methods used to acquire such
information.
(6) Granting security clearances to certain State
and local personnel is one way to facilitate the
sharing of information regarding specific terrorist
threats among Federal, State, and local levels of
government.
(7) Methods exist to declassify, redact, or
otherwise adapt classified information so it may be
shared with State and local personnel without the need
for granting additional security clearances.
(8) State and local personnel have capabilities and
opportunities to gather information on suspicious
activities and terrorist threats not possessed by
Federal agencies.
(9) The Federal Government and State and local
governments and agencies in other jurisdictions may
benefit from such information.
(10) Federal, State, and local governments and
intelligence, law enforcement, and other emergency
preparation and response agencies must act in
partnership to maximize the benefits of information
gathering and analysis to prevent and respond to
terrorist attacks.
(11) Information systems, including the National
Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the
Terrorist Threat Warning System, have been established
for rapid sharing of classified and sensitive but
unclassified information among Federal, State, and
local entities.
(12) Increased efforts to share homeland security
information should avoid duplicating existing
information systems.
(c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
Federal, State, and local entities should share homeland
security information to the maximum extent practicable, with
special emphasis on hard-to-reach urban and rural communities.

SEC. 892. [6 U.S.C. 482] FACILITATING HOMELAND SECURITY INFORMATION
SHARING PROCEDURES.