[Senate Report 118-160]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 347
118th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 118-160
_______________________________________________________________________
IMPROVING FEDERAL BUILDING SECURITY ACT OF 2024
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 3613
TO REQUIRE FACILITY SECURITY COMMITTEES TO
RESPOND TO SECURITY RECOMMENDATIONS ISSUED BY
THE FEDERAL PROTECTIVE SERVICE RELATING TO
FACILITY SECURITY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
March 14, 2024.--Ordered to be printed
_______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
54-742 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
LAPHONZA R. BUTLER, California ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Lena C. Chang, Director of Governmental Affairs
Chelsea A. Davis, Professional Staff Member
Benjamin J. Schubert, Professional Staff Member
William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
Andrew J. Hopkins, Minority Counsel
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 347
118th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 118-160
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IMPROVING FEDERAL BUILDING SECURITY ACT OF 2024
_______
March 14, 2024.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 3613]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 3613) to require
Facility Security Committees to respond to security
recommendations issued by the Federal Protective Service
relating to facility security, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an the
amendment, in the nature of a substitute, and recommends that
the bill, as amended, do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................3
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported.............3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................5
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............5
I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
S. 3613, the Improving Federal Building Security Act, would
require Facility Security Committees (FSCs) to adequately
respond to security recommendations issued by the Federal
Protective Service (FPS) within 90 days of the recommendations'
issuance. While agencies may choose to adopt or reject FPS
recommendations, they must provide an explanation to the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detailing their reasons
for rejecting any recommendations in whole or in part. The
legislation would also require DHS to develop a method to
monitor these responses to FPS security assessments and take
reasonable actions to ensure agency responses. This bill would
require DHS to report annually to Congress on agency responses
to FPS security assessments, which would provide a regular
snapshot of the security landscape for federal facilities
across the country.
II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION
FPS, an agency within DHS, is responsible for protecting
over 9,000 federal facilities that house 1.4 million employees
and countless visitors.\1\ FPS plays role in keeping federal
facilities safe by making facility security recommendations.
Individual FSCs, made up of agency tenants at each federal
facility, are responsible for reviewing FPS recommendations for
their facility's safety. Between fiscal years 2017 and 2021,
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that FPS
submitted over 25,000 facility security recommendations, yet
agency FSCs ignored and failed to acknowledge 57% of those
recommendations. Of the remaining 43%--where agencies at least
acknowledged the receipt of FPS recommendations--agencies only
approved 27% of FPS's recommendations. Agencies affirmatively
rejected 12% of the recommendations and responded in a manner
classified as ``other'' to the final 4%.\2\
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\1\Government Accountability Office, Federal Facilities: Improved
Oversight Needed for Security Recommendations (GAO 23-105649) (May
2023).
\2\Id.
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FPS conducts its facility security assessments every three
to five years, presenting its findings, including its
recommended countermeasures, in a report to a given facility's
security committee or designated official. Recommended
countermeasures can include security cameras, physical access
control systems, and x-ray screening equipment, which are aimed
at preventing potentially dangerous security incidents. FSCs
are tasked with responding to FPS guidance by either accepting
the risk of rejecting security recommendations or adopting the
recommendations. However, GAO has found that agencies largely
ignore FPS's recommendations by failing to provide a
response.\3\
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\3\Id.
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Federal real-property management has been on GAO's High
Risk List for two decades, in part due to security issues.\4\
Yet, as these management problems persist, political violence
has seen its sharpest rise in half a century.\5\ In 2022, DHS
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) observed ``an
increase in violent threats posted on social media against
federal officials and facilities.''\6\ Additionally, in May
2023, DHS observed that they expect a heightened threat
environment in 2024, warning of potential attacks against
government buildings.\7\ Facing a heightened threat landscape,
agencies must be held accountable to responding to FPS
assessments and doing all they can to secure their facilities.
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\4\Id.
\5\Political violence in polarized U.S. at its worst since 1970s,
Reuters (Aug. 9, 2023) (www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/
usa-politics-violence/).
\6\FBI/DHS bulletin warns of ``increase in violent threats posted
on social media against federal officials and facilities.'' CBS News
(Aug. 14, 2022) (www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/fbi-dhs-
bulletin-mar-a-lago-ohio-gunman-ricky-shiffer-call-to-violence/).
\7\DHS warns of attacks against government buildings, minority
groups ahead of 2024 election. NBC News (May 24, 2023)
(www.nbcnews.com/politics/dhs-warns-attacks-government-buildings-
minority-groups-ahead-2024-elec-rcna86067).
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In order to further examine GAO's findings, the Committee
held a hearing to examine the landscape of current threats, the
ways Congress can improve the countermeasure assessment
process, and ways to improve federal agency responsiveness when
agencies receive security recommendations.\8\ The hearing also
examined the Executive Order issued by President Biden in
November 2023, which clarified the role of the Interagency
Security Committee and helped update interagency roles and
responsibilities for keeping these facilities safe.\9\ This
legislation builds on the Committee's hearing and President
Biden's Executive Order. It would improve security for federal
employees and members of the public who use federal buildings,
by requiring federal agencies to respond to FPS recommendations
on security measures.
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\8\Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
Hearing on Examining the Security of Federal Facilities, 118th Cong.
(Nov. 29, 2023) (S. Hrg. 118-XX).
\9\Exec. Order No. 14111, 88 Fed. Reg. 83809 (Nov. 27, 2023).
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III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced S. 3613, the
Improving Federal Building Security Act, on January 18, 2024,
with original cosponsor Senator Rick Scott (R-FL). The bill was
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs.
The Committee considered S. 3613 at a business meeting on
January 31, 2024. At the business meeting, Senator Peters
offered a substitute amendment to the bill, as well as a
modification to the substitute amendment. The Peters substitute
amendment, as modified, required a report to Congress, no later
than 180 days after the enactment of this legislation, on all
surveillance technology recommended by FPS and the intended use
of the technology. The modification also: directed GAO to
submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of this bill;
added a 5-year sunset to the bill; prohibited the authorization
of additional funds to carry out the bill; and required a
summary of the financial implications of FSC responses to FPS's
recommendations, including if the benefits outweigh the costs.
The modified substitute amendment also revised the reporting
requirements, by allowing DHS to report summary statistics and
specifying its report must be unclassified but may include a
classified annex if necessary.
The Committee adopted the modification to the Peters
substitute amendment, and the Peters substitute amendment as
modified, by unanimous consent, with Senators Peters, Carper,
Hassan, Rosen, Ossoff, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and
Marshall present. The bill, as amended by the Peters substitute
amendment as modified, was ordered favorably by roll call vote
of 10 yeas to 0 nays, with Senators Peters, Carper, Hassan,
Rosen, Ossoff, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Marshall
voting in the affirmative. Senators Sinema, Blumenthal, Butler,
Johnson, and Hawley voted yea by proxy, for the record only.
Consistent with Committee Rule 3(G), the Committee reports the
bill with a technical amendment by mutual agreement of the
Chairman and Ranking Member.
IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED
Section 1. Short title
This section establishes the short title of the bill as the
``Improving Federal Building Security Act of 2024.''
Section 2. Responding to security recommendations
Subsection (a) defines the terms ``agency,'' ``Facility
Security Committee,'' and ``Secretary.''
Subsection (b)(1) requires the head or designee of an FSC
to respond to FPS when a security recommendation is issued,
within 90 days of the date the recommendation was issued.
Subsection (b)(2) requires DHS to develop a method to
monitor the recommendations issued by FPS and responses by FSCs
and take reasonable action to ensure FSCs are responsive.
Subsection (c)(1) requires DHS to submit an annual report
to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs and the House Homeland Security and Transportation and
Infrastructure Committees, with information including: a
summary of the recommendations issued by FPS, the percentage of
recommendations adopted or rejected by FSCs, the percentage of
facilities that failed to respond to recommendations, the
justifications for rejected recommendations, financial
implications of FSC responses, risk mitigation analysis, and
analysis on trends.
Subsection (c)(2) requires the DHS report be unclassified
but may include a classified annex.
Subsection (c)(3) requires DHS to annually brief the Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the
House Homeland Security and Transportation and Infrastructure
Committees on the findings of the most recent report.
Subsection (d) requires a report to Congress within 180
days after the enactment of this bill on all surveillance
technology recommended by FPS and the intended use of the
technology.
Subsection (e) provides that no additional funds are
authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out
this bill.
Subsection (f)(1) terminates the provisions of this bill
five years after its enactment.
Subsection (f)(2) directs GAO to submit a report to
Congress on the effectiveness of this bill no later than five
years after enactment.
V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
S. 3613 would require the facility security committee of
each federal building to respond to security recommendations
from the Federal Protective Service (FPS) within 90 days. The
FPS conducts security assessments of federal facilities and
makes recommendations for improvements to each building's
security committee. Each committee, which includes
representatives from all federal tenants in a nonmilitary
facility, decides whether to implement those recommendations.
S. 3613 would require the FPS to monitor its
recommendations and the responses it receives and annually
report that information to the Congress. The bill also would
require the FPS to report to the Congress within 180 days of
enactment on the surveillance technology it recommends be used
at federal facilities. Additionally, the Government
Accountability Office would need to report to the Congress
within five years of enactment on the effectiveness of the
bill. The bill's requirements would sunset five years after
enactment.
Based on the costs of similar reports, CBO estimates that
the required reports would cost $1 million over the 2024-2029
period. Any spending would be subject to the availability of
appropriated funds. Because facility security committees are
currently required to respond to the agency's recommendations
within 45 days, CBO expects that implementing that requirement
would not have a cost.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeremy Crimm.
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy
Director of Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director, Congressional Budget Office.
VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
This legislation would make no change in existing law,
within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph 12 of
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, because this
legislation would not repeal or amend any provision of current
law.
[all]