This bill asks the Department of Homeland Security to create a plan for updating the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS)—the system the government uses to alert Americans about potential terrorism threats. Right now, when there's a terrorism concern, DHS issues bulletins and alerts to warn the public, but this bill says the system needs modernizing to work better.

The Secretary of Homeland Security has to develop a strategy that looks at several important things: who should be in charge of running NTAS within the department, what rules should guide when alerts get issued and when they expire, how to make sure the public can easily access and understand these alerts, and whether the current system actually does a good job of telling people about real threats in a timely way. The strategy also needs to consider how these alerts help police, firefighters, and emergency responders prepare for and respond to threats, and how to make sure the alerts reach as many people as possible.

To create this strategy, DHS has to talk to a lot of people—law enforcement agencies at all levels (federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial), emergency responders, private companies, and other stakeholders—to get their feedback on how to improve the system. After the strategy is developed, the Government Accountability Office (an independent watchdog agency) will review how well it's being implemented and report back to Congress.