Bill · H.R. 4971· House(119-HR-4971)
Terrorist Watchlist Data Accuracy and Transparency Act
- Introduced
- 8/15/2025
- Last activity
- 8/18/2025 — Referred to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.
- Sponsored by
- Bennie Thompson
- Cosponsors
- None
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The Terrorist Watchlist Data Accuracy and Transparency Act aims to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The bill seeks to improve the accuracy of terrorism screening information held by the Department of Homeland Security. It mandates quality assurance reviews of initial nominations for the terrorist watchlist, including the No Fly List and Selectee List. The act establishes requirements for annual audits of United States person nominations and monthly random audits for all nominations. It also outlines procedures for correcting or retracting records and requires consultation with the FBI or NCTC when corrections are not made. Finally, the Secretary must submit annual reports to Congress regarding these corrections and retractions.
Yes· 3 of 5
Does this make what the government does easier for the public to see?+5
The bill mandates annual reports to Congress regarding the correction and retraction of watchlist entries.
Does this protect people from being watched or searched?+4
The bill provides mechanisms to correct or retract inaccurate information held by the government in terrorism databases.
Would immigrants be better off under this?+3
The bill establishes a process for correcting or retracting inaccurate records for non-United States persons in terrorism databases.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Improved Data Accuracy: The Secretary must conduct quality assurance reviews of initial nominations to ensure they are free from error before they are submitted to the FBI or N2C (Section 2, subsection a).
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Protection for United States Persons: The Secretary is required to conduct annual reviews of all nominations of United States persons to ensure the information is error-free and meets specific criteria (Section 2, subsection b).
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Ongoing Oversight through Random Audits: A random audit program will be established to periodically review all nominations to ensure information is free from error and meets required criteria (Section 2, subsection c).
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Faster Corrections of Records: The Secretary is required to notify the FBI and NCTC within 24 hours after determining a nomination is incorrect, which includes requesting a correction or retraction (Section 2, subsection d).
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Accountability through Congressional Reporting: The Secretary must provide annual reports to Congress detailing the number of identities referred for corrections or retractions, broken down by United States and non-United States persons (Section 2, subsection f).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- No specific negative impacts are explicitly mentioned in the provided text.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Governance And Ideology
- Improves Government Transparency+5Improves Privacy Rights+4
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Immigrants+3
- Social Issues And Justice
- Improves Border Security+2
- National Security And Foreign Policy
- Improves Cybersecurity Defense+1
- 8/18/2025
- Referred to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.
- 8/15/2025
- Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
- Introduced in House