Darren Drake Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4089) to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and disseminate best practices for rental companies and dealers to report suspicious behavior to law enforcement agencies at the point of sale of a covered rental vehicle to prevent and mitigate acts of terrorism using motor vehicles, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4089

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Darren Drake Act''. SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES RELATED TO CERTAIN INFORMATION COLLECTED BY RENTAL COMPANIES AND DEALERS.

(a) Development and Dissemination.--

(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall develop and disseminate best practices for rental companies and dealers to report suspicious behavior to law enforcement agencies at the point of sale of a covered rental vehicle.

(2) Consultation; updates.--The Secretary shall develop and, as necessary, update the best practices described in paragraph (1) after consultation with Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies and relevant transportation security stakeholders.

(3) Guidance on suspicious behavior.--The Secretary shall include, in the best practices developed under paragraph (1), guidance on defining and identifying suspicious behavior in a manner that protects civil rights and civil liberties.

(b) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of this section, including an assessment of--

(1) the impact of the best practices described in subsection (a) on efforts to protect the United States against terrorist attacks; and

(2) ways to improve and expand cooperation and engagement between--

(A) the Department of Homeland Security;

(B) Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies; and

(C) rental companies, dealers, and other relevant rental industry stakeholders.

(c) Definitions.--In this section:

(1) The terms ``dealer'' and ``rental company'' have the meanings given those terms in section 30102 of title 49, United States Code.

(2) The term ``covered rental vehicle'' means a motor vehicle that--

(A) is rented without a driver for an initial term of less than 4 months; and

(B) is part of a motor vehicle fleet of 35 or more motor vehicles that are used for rental purposes by a rental company.
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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4089, the Darren Drake Act.

This month the Nation observed the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Next month we mark the fourth anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack to be carried out in New York City since the 9/11 attacks.

In that attack, a lone wolf, inspired by ISIS, rammed a rented truck into pedestrians and cyclists who were out enjoying a sunny Halloween afternoon on a pathway that ran along the Hudson River.

That attack took the lives of 8 people and injured 11 others. One of the victims of the attack was Darren Drake, a 32-year-old bicyclist and the namesake for this important legislation.

While it is not within our power to bring back Darren Drake or the seven other victims of this tragedy, we do have the ability to learn from this event to better address the threats of vehicle-based attacks.

H.R. 4089, introduced by my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), seeks to ensure that rental vehicle facilities, like the one where Darren Drake's killer rented a truck, are better equipped to prevent vehicle-based attacks.

Specifically, the Darren Drake Act requires the Department of Homeland Security to develop best practices for vehicle rental companies and dealers to report suspicious behavior in a manner that protects civil rights and civil liberties.

The bill directs DHS to consult and share best practices with State and local partners and rental companies to help strengthen communication and relationships to guard against vehicle-based attacks.

H.R. 4089 is a commonsense measure that acknowledges that vehicle rental companies are important partners in efforts to prevent vehicle- based terrorist attacks and provide them with the tools to identify suspicious behavior and notify authorities.

I urge my colleagues to support the Darren Drake Act and reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), the sponsor of this bill.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Madam Speaker, from the 2016 Bastille Day truck attack in France to the 2017 deadly car ramming in Charlottesville to the 2017 attack that took the lives of Darren Drake and seven others, we have seen the use of vehicles to carry out terrorist attacks become disturbingly common.

Our Nation faces a complex and evolving threat landscape. But the threat of vehicle-ramming attacks is not going away.

As long as would-be terrorists seek to use rental vehicles as weapons of terror, we must provide rental dealers with the ability to do their part.

I urge my colleagues to support the Darren Drake Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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