[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 192 (Tuesday, November 2, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7653-S7654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4188. Mr. JOHNSON submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
to amendment SA 3867 submitted by Mr. Reed and intended to be proposed 
to the bill H.R. 4350, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022 
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 in title X, insert the following:

     SEC. ___ SCHOOL SAFETY.

       (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Luke 
     and Alex School Safety Act of 2021''.
       (b) Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best 
     Practices.--
       (1) In general.--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 2215 the following:

     ``SEC. 2216. 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.''.
       (2) 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 2215 the following:

``Sec. 2216. 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 section as the 
     ``Clearinghouse''), as required to be established under 
     section 2216 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added 
     by subsection (b) of this section, 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 2216 of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (b) of this 
     section, 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

[[Page S7654]]

     of Health and Human Services shall provide written 
     notification of the publication of the Clearinghouse, as 
     required to be established under section 2216 of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (b) of this 
     section, 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 2216 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added 
     by subsection (b) of this section, 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
       (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)).
                                 ______