[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 17, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO REFORM FEDERAL PROTECTIVE SERVICE GUARD 
                         CONTRACTING OPERATIONS

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 17, 2007

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today I introduce a bill that I believe 
Congress must pass forthwith to assure that Federal Protective Service, 
FPS, guard contractors are capable, responsible, and ethical as 
required by the Federal Acquisition Regulations. It was clear to me 
that this bill was necessary when a vital security contractor issue 
emerged from our Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings 
and Emergency Management hearing on June 21, 2007. A security guard 
contractor had failed to pay its guards from FPS funds. At the hearing 
we learned that Weldon Waites, who had served five years in prison for 
money laundering and fraud, was the de facto owner, with his wife, of 
STARTECH, despite federal law barring felons from owning companies that 
do business with the federal government. In fact, it was Waites, not 
his wife, who came forward to defend the company after it failed to pay 
its 600 D.C.- based guards despite receipt of funds from FPS for 
payment. Mr. Waites' testimony concerning his operational control of 
the company was nothing short of a case study in evasion of existing 
law by merely taking advantage of obvious loopholes. Today I am filing 
the Federal Protective Service Guard Contracting Reform Act to prohibit 
FPS from contracting with any security guard service that is ``owned, 
controlled or operated by an individual who has been convicted of a 
felony.'' My bill would eliminate proxy ownership of vital FPS 
contracting operations by relatives or spouses. The bill would be 
effective immediately upon passage and therefore would mean that FPS 
would be required to dismiss any felon exercising control over any FPS 
contracting operation now, not merely future contractors.
  My bill reminds us that we must not lose sight of the mission of 
private contract guards who serve the federal government--to guard 
federal employees and sites as vital as nuclear plants and military 
posts against terrorism and crime, and in the case of Jenkins Security, 
two secure federal power plants here. The STARTECH example of unpaid 
contract guards and apparent misuse of federal funds directed to pay 
guards demonstrated why federal law requires these businesses have a 
``satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics.''
  Contract security officers are a critical component of federal 
strategies to protect the safety and security of federal employees and 
vital federal facilities. In the federal sector, security guards, many 
of whom carry guns, are as essential to protecting federal employees 
and sites as members of FPS. Although not a replacement for public law 
enforcement officers, whether local police officers, or FPS law 
enforcement officers, private security guards, like peace officers, are 
engaged in counter-terrorism activities in the post 9/11 environment. 
It was 9/11 and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security 
that led to the transfer of the FPS from the General Services 
Administration to the new Department of Homeland Security. Since the 
transfer, however, FPS has become even more dependant on contract 
guards, who have grown rapidly to 15,000, while the number FPS guards 
is down from an authorized 1,450 to about 1,000. In passing 
appropriations for FPS this year, the Appropriations Committee 
indicated that the administration is seeking to totally eliminate FPS, 
the official police force for federal government work sites and 
facilities. The Appropriation Committee took action that assures that 
FPS officer levels as of 2006 will remain in place unless certain 
strong conditions are met. Today's legislation concerning the vitality 
and integrity of contracting operations assume even greater importance 
in light of FPS downsizing.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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