[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 94 (Thursday, June 7, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S3359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2502. Mr. TOOMEY (for himself and Mr. Jones) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr.
Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain) and intended to be proposed to the
bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of part II of subtitle F of title V, add the
following:
SEC. 577. BACKGROUND CHECKS.
(a) Background Checks.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, each covered local educational
agency and each Department of Defense domestic dependent
elementary and secondary school established pursuant to
section 2164 of title 10, United States Code, shall have in
effect policies and procedures that--
(1) require that a criminal background check be conducted
for each school employee of the agency or school,
respectively, that includes--
(A) a search of the State criminal registry or repository
of the State in which the school employee resides;
(B) a search of State-based child abuse and neglect
registries and databases of the State in which the school
employee resides;
(C) a Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint check
using the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification
System; and
(D) a search of the National Sex Offender Registry
established under section 119 of the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (34 U.S.C. 20921);
(2) prohibit the employment of a school employee as a
school employee at the agency or school, respectively, if
such employee--
(A) refuses to consent to a criminal background check under
paragraph (1);
(B) knowingly submits false information concerning past
convictions in connection with such a criminal background
check;
(C) has been convicted of a felony consisting of--
(i) murder;
(ii) child abuse or neglect;
(iii) a crime against children, including child
pornography;
(iv) spousal abuse;
(v) a crime involving rape or sexual assault;
(vi) kidnapping;
(vii) arson; or
(viii) physical assault, battery, or a drug-related
offense, committed on or after the date that is 5 years
before the date of such employee's criminal background check
under paragraph (1); or
(D) has been convicted of any other crime that is a violent
or sexual crime against a minor;
(3) require that each criminal background check conducted
under paragraph (1) be periodically repeated or updated in
accordance with policies established by the covered local
educational agency or the Department of Defense (in the case
of a Department of Defense domestic dependent elementary and
secondary school established pursuant to section 2164 of
title 10, United States Code);
(4) upon request, provide each school employee who has had
a criminal background check under paragraph (1) with a copy
of the results of the criminal background check;
(5) provide for a timely process, by which a school
employee of the school or agency may appeal, but which does
not permit the employee to be employed as a school employee
during such appeal, the results of a criminal background
check conducted under paragraph (1) which prohibit the
employee from being employed as a school employee under
paragraph (2) to--
(A) challenge the accuracy or completeness of the
information produced by such criminal background check; and
(B) establish or reestablish eligibility to be hired or
reinstated as a school employee by demonstrating that the
information is materially inaccurate or incomplete, and has
been corrected; and
(6) allow the covered local educational agency or school,
as the case may be, to share the results of a school
employee's criminal background check recently conducted under
paragraph (1) with another local educational agency that is
considering such school employee for employment as a school
employee.
(b) Fees for Background Checks.--The Attorney General,
attorney general of a State, or other State law enforcement
official may charge reasonable fees for conducting a criminal
background check under subsection (a)(1), but such fees shall
not exceed the actual costs for the processing and
administration of the criminal background check.
(c) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Covered local educational agency.--The term ``covered
local educational agency'' means a local educational agency
that receives funds under subsection (b) or (d) of section
7003, or section 7007, of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703, 7707).
(2) School employee.--The term ``school employee'' means--
(A) a person who--
(i) is an employee of, or is seeking employment with--
(I) a covered local educational agency; or
(II) a Department of Defense domestic dependent elementary
and secondary school established pursuant to section 2164 of
title 10, United States Code, such elementary and secondary
school; and
(ii) as a result of such employment, has (or will have) a
job duty that results in unsupervised access to elementary
school or secondary school students; or
(B)(i) any person, or an employee of any person, who has a
contract or agreement to provide services to a covered local
educational agency or a Department of Defense domestic
dependent elementary and secondary school established
pursuant to section 2164 of title 10, United States Code; and
(ii) such person or employee, as a result of such contract
or agreement, has a job duty that results in unsupervised
access to elementary school or secondary school students.
______