Secure High-voltage Infrastructure for Electricity from Lethal Damage Act

H.R.668 The Shield Act
The Congress makes the following findings:

(1) According to the Report of the Commission to Assess the
Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack
(in this Act referred to as the `EMP Commission Report'), the
society and economy of the United States are `critically
dependent upon the availability of electricity.'

(2) According to the EMP Commission Report, `continued
electrical supply is necessary for sustaining water supplies,
production and distribution of food, fuel, communications, and
everything else that is part of our economy'.

(3) According to the EMP Commission Report, `contemporary
U.S. society is not structured, nor does it have the means,
to provide for the needs of nearly 300 million Americans
without electricity.'

(4) According to the EMP Commission Report, due to the existing
electrical system operating at or near its physical capacity,
`a relatively modest upset to the system can cause functional
collapse.'

(5) According to the EMP Commission Report, electromagnetic
pulse (in this Act referred to as `EMP') is a threat to the
overall electrical power system.

(6) According to the EMP Commission Report, EMP occurs both
naturally, such as geomagnetic storms, and via man-made
devices.

(7) According to the EMP Commission Report, while the electric
infrastructure `has a degree of durability against . . . the
failure of one or a small number of [electric] components,'
the current strategy for recovery leaves the United States
ill-prepared to respond effectively to an EMP attack that
would potentially result in damage to vast numbers of
components nearly simultaneously over an unprecedented
geographic scale.

(8) According to the EMP Commission Report, EMP `may couple
ultimately unmanageable currents and voltages into an
electrical system routinely operated with little margin and
cause the collapse of large portions of the electrical
system.'

(9) According to the EMP Commission Report, a collapse of large
portions of the electrical system will result in significant
periods of power-outage and `restoration from collapse or loss
of significant portions of the system [will be] exceedingly
difficult.'

(10) According to the EMP Commission Report, `should the
electrical power system be lost for any substantial period of
time . . . the consequences are likely to be catastrophic to
civilian society.'

(11) According to the EMP Commission Report, `the Commission
is deeply concerned that [negative] impacts [on the electric
infrastructure] are certain in an EMP event unless practical
steps are taken to provide protection for critical elements
of the electric system.'