[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3328-S3329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1805. Mr. JOHNSON submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 4049, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2021 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 appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SCHOOL SAFETY BEST
PRACTICES.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Luke
and Alex School Safety Act of 2020''.
(b) Clearinghouse.--Subtitle A of title XXII of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is
amended by inserting after section 2214 the following:
``SEC. 2215. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SCHOOL SAFETY BEST
PRACTICES.
``(a) Establishment.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary, in coordination with the
Secretary of Education, the Attorney General, and the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall establish a
Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices (in
this section referred to as the `Clearinghouse') within the
Department.
``(2) Purpose.--The Clearinghouse shall be the primary
resource of the Federal Government to identify and publish
online through SchoolSafety.gov, or any successor website,
the best practices and recommendations for school safety for
use by State and local educational agencies, institutions of
higher education, State and local law enforcement agencies,
health professionals, and the general public.
``(3) Personnel.--
``(A) Assignments.--The Clearinghouse shall be assigned
such personnel and resources as the Secretary considers
appropriate to carry out this section.
``(B) Detailees.--The Secretary of Education, the Attorney
General, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services may
detail personnel to the Clearinghouse.
``(4) Exemptions.--
``(A) Paperwork reduction act.--Chapter 35 of title 44,
United States Code (commonly known as the `Paperwork
Reduction Act') shall not apply to any rulemaking or
information collection required under this section.
``(B) Federal advisory committee act.--The Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply for the
purposes of carrying out this section.
``(b) Clearinghouse Contents.--
``(1) Consultation.--In identifying the best practices and
recommendations for the Clearinghouse, the Secretary may
consult with appropriate Federal, State, local, Tribal,
private sector, and nongovernmental organizations.
``(2) Criteria for best practices and recommendations.--The
best practices and recommendations of the Clearinghouse
shall, at a minimum--
``(A) involve comprehensive school safety measures,
including threat prevention, preparedness, protection,
mitigation, incident response, and recovery to improve the
safety posture of a school upon implementation;
``(B) include any evidence or research rationale supporting
the determination of the Clearinghouse that the best practice
or recommendation under subparagraph (A) has been shown to
have a significant effect on improving the health, safety,
and welfare of persons in school settings, including--
``(i) relevant research that is evidence-based, as defined
in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), supporting the best practice or
recommendation;
``(ii) findings and data from previous Federal or State
commissions recommending improvements to the safety posture
of a school; or
``(iii) other supportive evidence or findings relied upon
by the Clearinghouse in determining best practices and
recommendations to improve the safety posture of a school
upon implementation; and
``(C) include information on Federal grant programs for
which implementation of each best practice or recommendation
is an eligible use for the program.
``(3) Past commission recommendations.--To the greatest
extent practicable, the Clearinghouse shall present, as
appropriate, Federal, State, local, Tribal, private sector,
and nongovernmental organization issued best practices and
recommendations and identify any best practice or
recommendation of the Clearinghouse that was previously
issued by any such organization or commission.
``(c) Assistance and Training.--The Secretary may produce
and publish materials on the Clearinghouse to assist and
train educational agencies and law enforcement agencies on
the implementation of the best practices and recommendations.
``(d) Continuous Improvement.--The Secretary shall--
``(1) collect for the purpose of continuous improvement of
the Clearinghouse--
``(A) Clearinghouse data analytics;
``(B) user feedback on the implementation of resources,
best practices, and recommendations identified by the
Clearinghouse; and
``(C) any evaluations conducted on implementation of the
best practices and recommendations of the Clearinghouse; and
``(2) in coordination with the Secretary of Education, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Attorney
General--
``(A) regularly assess and identify Clearinghouse best
practices and recommendations for which there are no
resources available through Federal Government programs for
implementation; and
``(B) establish an external advisory board, which shall be
comprised of appropriate State, local, Tribal, private
sector, and nongovernmental organizations, including
organizations representing parents of elementary and
secondary school students, to--
``(i) provide feedback on the implementation of best
practices and recommendations of the Clearinghouse; and
``(ii) propose additional recommendations for best
practices for inclusion in the Clearinghouse.
``(e) Parental Assistance.--The Clearinghouse shall produce
materials to assist parents and legal guardians of students
with identifying relevant Clearinghouse resources related to
supporting the implementation of Clearinghouse best practices
and recommendations.''.
(1) Technical amendments.--The table of contents in section
1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-
296; 116 Stat. 2135) is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 2214 the following:
``Sec. 2215. Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices.''.
(c) Notification of Clearinghouse.--
(1) Notification by the secretary of education.--The
Secretary of Education shall provide written notification of
the publication of the Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety
Best Practices (referred to in this subsection and subsection
(d) as the ``Clearinghouse''), as required to be established
under section 2215 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as
added by subsection (b), to--
(A) every State and local educational agency; and
(B) other Department of Education partners in the
implementation of the best practices and recommendations of
the Clearinghouse, as determined appropriate by the Secretary
of Education.
(2) Notification by the secretary of homeland security.--
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide written
notification of the publication of the Clearinghouse, as
required to be established under section 2215 of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (b), to--
(A) every State homeland security advisor;
(B) every State department of homeland security; and
(C) other Department of Homeland Security partners in the
implementation of the best practices and recommendations of
the Clearinghouse, as determined appropriate by the Secretary
of Homeland Security.
(3) Notification by the secretary of health and human
services.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
provide written notification of the publication of the
Clearinghouse, as required to be established under section
2215 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by
subsection (b), to--
(A) every State department of public health; and
(B) other Department of Health and Human Services partners
in the implementation of the best practices and
recommendations of the Clearinghouse, as determined
appropriate by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(4) Notification by the attorney general.--The Attorney
General shall provide written notification of the publication
of the Clearinghouse, as required to be established under
section 2215 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added
by subsection (b), to--
(A) every State department of justice; and
(B) other Department of Justice partners in the
implementation of the best practices and recommendations of
the Clearinghouse, as determined appropriate by the Attorney
General.
(d) Grant Program Review.--
(1) Federal grants and resources.--The Secretary of
Education, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary
of Health and Human Services, and the Attorney General shall
each--
(A) review grant programs administered by their respective
agency and identify any grant program that may be used to
implement best practices and recommendations of the
Clearinghouse;
(B) identify any best practices and recommendations of the
Clearinghouse for which there is not a Federal grant program
that may be used for the purposes of implementing the best
practice or recommendation as applicable to the agency; and
(C) periodically report any findings under subparagraph (B)
to the appropriate committees of Congress.
(2) State grants and resources.--The Clearinghouse shall,
to the extent practicable, identify, for each State--
(A) each agency responsible for school safety in the State,
or any State that does not have such an agency designated;
(B) any grant program that may be used for the purposes of
implementing best practices and recommendations of the
Clearinghouse; and
[[Page S3329]]
(C) any resources other than grant programs that may be
used to assist in implementation of best practices and
recommendations of the Clearinghouse.
(e) Rules of Construction.--
(1) Waiver of requirements.--Nothing in this section or the
amendments made by this section shall be construed to create,
satisfy, or waive any requirement under--
(A) title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990
(42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.);
(B) the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.);
(C) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.
2000d et seq.);
(D) title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C.
1681 et seq.); or
(E) the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6101 et
seq.).
(2) Prohibition on federally developed, mandated, or
endorsed curriculum.--Nothing in this section or the
amendments made by this section shall be construed to
authorize any officer or employee of the Federal Government
to engage in an activity otherwise prohibited under section
103(b) of the Department of Education Organization Act (20
U.S.C. 3403(b)).
______