ess such additional reports on specific policy
matters as it considers appropriate.
(i) Federal Advisory Committee Act Exemption.--Section 14
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the
Advisory Committee.
(j) Termination.--The Department of Homeland Security
Science and Technology Advisory Committee shall terminate on
December 31, 2008.

SEC. 312. [6 U.S.C. 192] HOMELAND SECURITY INSTITUTE.

(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a
federally funded research and development center to be known as
the ``Homeland Security Institute'' (in this section referred
to as the ``Institute'').
(b) Administration.--The Institute shall be administered as
a separate entity by the Secretary.
(c) Duties.--The duties of the Institute shall be
determined by the Secretary, and may include the following:
(1) Systems analysis, risk analysis, and simulation
and modeling to determine the vulnerabilities of the
Nation's critical infrastructures and the effectiveness
of the systems deployed to reduce those
vulnerabilities.
(2) Economic and policy analysis to assess the
distributed costs and benefits of alternative
approaches to enhancing security.
(3) Evaluation of the effectiveness of measures
deployed to enhance the security of institutions,
facilities, and infrastructure that may be terrorist
targets.
(4) Identification of instances when common
standards and protocols could improve the
interoperability and effective utilization of tools
developed for field operators and first responders.
(5) Assistance for Federal agencies and departments
in establishing testbeds to evaluate the effectiveness
of technologies under development and to assess the
appropriateness of such technologies for deployment.
(6) Design of metrics and use of those metrics to
evaluate the effectiveness of homeland security
programs throughout the Federal Government, including
all national laboratories.
(7) Design of and support for the conduct of
homeland security-related exercises and simulations.
(8) Creation of strategic technology development
plans to reduce vulnerabilities in the Nation's
critical infrastructure and key resources.
(d) Consu