[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 12 (Thursday, January 23, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S1492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. EDWARDS:
  S. 216. A bill to authorize the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology to develop improvements in building and fire codes, 
standards, and practices to reduce the impact of terrorist and other 
extreme threats to the safety of buildings, their occupants, and 
emergency responders, and to authorize the Department of Homeland 
Security to form a task force to recommend ways to strengthen standards 
in the private security industry, stabilize the workforce, and create a 
safer environment for commercial building and industrial facility 
occupants; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. President, as we all know, when terrorists struck 
America on September 11, 2001, the greatest loss of life occurred when 
the World Trade Center's two towers fell. These two towers were symbols 
of America's strength and prosperity, and they were reduced to rubble 
by the two massive blows.
  As we continue securing America against terrorist attacks, we need to 
give more attention to the security of large buildings, especially 
skyscrapers and arenas. There are approximately 500 skyscrapers in the 
United States that are regularly occupied by at least 5000 people, and 
there are 250 major arenas and stadiums that hold many times more. 
These buildings will be primary targets of potential terrorist attack. 
We must do more to ensure that these buildings are secure.
  That is why I am introducing today the Building Security Act of 2003. 
The bill does two things: first, it supports the research and funding 
we need so that buildings can withstand extreme assaults, including 
terrorist attacks. Second, the bill takes steps so that buildings will 
be guarded by a security workforce that is adequately prepared to 
respond to these dangers.
  Consider the construction of large buildings. Today, many older 
buildings lack fire retardants and blast-resistant materials that can 
save hundreds of lives in a disaster. As a result of the study of the 
attack on the Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, we know that 
design changes that would have increased building costs by only 1 to 2 
percent might have saved as many of 85 percent of the people killed in 
that attack. The early reports on the World Trade Center collapse have 
suggested that the two towers could have endured the impact of the 
planes, but that the extraordinary heat generated by the explosions 
weakened the steel structure of those buildings. Advanced technologies 
in building construction would surely have slowed their collapse. On 
the positive side, we know that improvements in the construction of the 
Pentagon mitigated the loss of life; the plane struck the Pentagon on 
the one side of the building where the windows were blast-resistant and 
the structural columns had been reinforced. Those changes likely saved 
many lives.
  There are new, better construction practices and materials out there, 
but we are not using them as much as we should. Part of the reason is 
that today, our Nation's brightest scientists and most innovative 
companies do not have the resources needed to research, create, and 
implement these practices. We must enable these people to develop new 
methods and materials, and help industry meet the higher standards we 
need, and we must do all that as quickly and efficient as possible.
  The bill I introduce today will provide $40 million for the National 
Institutes of Science and Technology, or NIST, to help improve 
construction standards. The needed research is happening now, but it 
needs to move much more quickly. This legislation will do three things: 
1. undertake an intensive national research effort to determine both 
how to build strong buildings, and how to improve building codes and 
standards; 2. specifically research the question of how to ensure that 
these higher standards are actually met, whether by mandates, tax 
credits, or other incentives; and 3. provide technical guidance to 
builders in adopting the new standards and codes.
  We also must address standards for private security officers. Our 
country's buildings are staffed by almost two million private security 
officers. While they have the critical responsibility of preventing 
emergencies and protecting building occupants from harm, these officers 
are often inadequately trained or compensated to do so. The industry 
suffers from low retention, deficient training, and meager salaries. 
The job turnover rate within the private security industry is as high 
as 300 percent per year. Recent studies show that 4 in 10 private 
security officers report no new security measures in their buildings 
since September 11, and 7 in 10 report that their buildings never 
conduct evacuation and emergency drills. And over half of the States 
have no clear oversight for their respective private security 
industries, nor do they have standards or screening requirements for 
new hires.
  This legislation authorizes a review of the private security industry 
by a commission in the Department of Homeland Security that includes 
all those with critical knowledge of the industry. The commission is 
tasked with establishing industry guidelines and standards and 
developing a means to implement those guidelines and standards in a 
timely way.
  Our Nation's buildings have been targeted before, and I believe that 
they will be targeted again. We must do much more to make these 
buildings secure. This bill is important step in the right direction.
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