[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 149 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6353-S6355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ENHANCED PRESIDENTIAL SECURITY ACT OF 2024

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, last week, in both the House and 
the Senate, legislation was introduced to

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increase the Secret Service protection for Presidential and Vice 
Presidential nominees. We all know why this legislation is needed. In 
the span of just 65 days, President Trump, our former President and the 
Republican nominee to be the next President of the United States, has 
been the target of two assassination attempts.
  In Butler, PA, President Trump was shot in the head but miraculously 
was spared from death. Unfortunately, Fire Chief Corey Comperatore was 
killed by the assassin's bullets, and others were gravely injured by 
his gunfire. Then it happened again in my home State of Florida.
  It is thanks to the incredible work of President Trump's Secret 
Service detail that another would-be assassin was unable to take a shot 
at the President while he was golfing with friends. We know that day 
could have ended much differently. We thank God that these attempts 
have not been successful. But each of these events has reminded the 
Nation of the dangers surrounding President Trump and the need to make 
sure he, his family, and those around him are safe. That is why I 
introduced the Protect Our Presidents Act here in the Senate and 
Representatives Mike Lawler and Ritchie Torres introduced the Enhanced 
Presidential Security Act in the House.
  The safety and security of those seeking to lead our Nation should 
never be in jeopardy and should be applied regardless of party. That is 
why these bills ensure all Presidential nominees, both now and in the 
future, are provided the enhanced protection they clearly require and 
deserve.
  On Friday, the House passed Representatives Lawler and Torres's bill 
in a unanimous vote of 405 to 0. This unanimous vote shows that when 
commonsense and desperately needed legislation come before Congress, we 
can act quickly to do what the American people expect of us.
  I am proud to lead this effort in the Senate, and I am on the floor 
today to request the immediate passage of the Enhanced Presidential 
Security Act so we can send this good and necessary bill to President 
Biden's desk so it may become law.
  Our action today goes beyond the simple language of this bill to 
increase the Secret Service protection for our party's Presidential and 
Vice Presidential nominees. Passing the Enhanced Presidential Security 
Act today, with the unanimous consent of the Senate, sends an important 
message to the American public and the world that we will not ignore 
these threats, which are truly an attack on our democratic process and 
have rightly shocked the world.
  As in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 9106, which was received 
from the House and is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Helmy). The clerk will report the bill by 
title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 9106) to direct the Director of the United 
     States Secret Service to apply the same standards for 
     determining the number of agents required to protect 
     Presidents, Vice Presidents, and major Presidential and Vice 
     Presidential candidates, and for other purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to proceeding to the 
measure?
  The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, let me make 
it clear that I share Senator Scott's concern--deep concern--that the 
recent attacks on former President Trump's life have made it clear that 
there are security gaps in his protection. What happened in Butler and 
Palm Beach was unacceptable, and it cannot be allowed to happen again.
  That is why this week, Congress is coming together, poised to pass a 
continuing resolution that I hope the Senator will support that will 
give the Secret Service $231 million in additional funding to provide 
the Agency with the authority to spend money at a faster rate so that 
they can meet their mission, and their mission is ``zero fail.''
  I am the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on 
Homeland Security, which is charged with funding the Secret Service. I 
am proud of the quick work that we have done to identify the funds that 
can be spent between now and the election and between now and the 
inauguration to make sure that any gaps are closed.
  The reason that I rise on this particular bill, though, is because I 
don't want to promise the American public more than this bill actually 
delivers.
  This bill says that the Secret Service shall use ``the same standards 
for determining the number of agents required to protect Presidents, 
Vice Presidents, and major Presidential and Vice Presidential 
candidates.'' Now, that may sound meaningful, but in reality, my sense 
is that that is current law.
  Right now, when the Secret Service makes a determination on the 
provision of protection, it is assessing the protectee's life, their 
work, their travel patterns, the potential threats, and the risk of 
harm to that person. The standard that the Secret Service uses is to 
provide whatever protection level is necessary to meet that ``zero 
fail'' mission to protect the person under their charge. With a team of 
experts, the Secret Service determines the level and the type of 
protection that is needed. That is the process, and those are the 
existing standards.
  Let's be clear. Commanders in Chief--Presidents of the United 
States--do have certain unique requirements regarding their protection. 
For instance, the Department of Defense is supplying a traveling 
Commander in Chief with certain capabilities, chiefly amongst them the 
ability to stay in contact with our nuclear triad and communication 
assets necessary for the President to be in seamless communication with 
the Department of Defense and military command should a crisis arise. 
That is a unique set of capabilities that a Commander in Chief has, and 
it goes into the assessment that the Secret Service makes as to the 
level of protection that the Commander in Chief needs.
  They are using the same standard--do whatever is necessary in order 
to protect the life of the protectee--but Commanders in Chief, because 
they are Commanders in Chief, have a different constellation of assets 
that surround them that mean that the standard gets applied 
accordingly.
  So I am not actually going to object. I am not sure that this bill 
changes anything about the way the Secret Service approaches their 
mission. They are going to continue to do whatever is necessary in 
order to protect the detailee, to protect the individual under their 
mandate. I think the much more substantive thing we are going to do 
this week is to get them the resources they need. My hope is that all 
of my Republican colleagues who have been talking about the importance 
of Secret Service protection are willing to support this increase in 
funding that the continuing resolution will include.
  I will end by expressing my additional hope that we will seek to have 
a more holistic conversation here about how to protect former President 
Trump, how to protect President Biden, and how to protect Vice 
President Harris.
  I am ready to move forward with this bill. I don't think it does 
anything to meaningfully change the way that the Secret Service 
approaches their job. I am ready to move forward on additional assets.
  But we also continue to choose to give weapons of mass destruction to 
assassins. Other nations around the world don't choose to hand weapons 
with such accurate long-range capabilities, such powerful destructive 
force, to these assassins whose brains are breaking.
  We also have a constellation of actors in this country who are 
engaged in a web of conspiracy theories. There is a justification of 
political violence that exists in this country today--apologies for 
those people who tried to kill us, attacked us on January 6--that leads 
many others to contemplate that they will also be let off the hook for 
their acts of political violence.
  So I take the protection of former President Trump and Vice President 
Harris and everyone under Secret Service protection very seriously.
  Let's move ahead with this bill. I don't think it actually solves the 
problem. Let's pass the additional money so that they have everything 
they need--the Secret Service--in order to get the job done. Then let's 
sit down and have a broader conversation about why we have seen this 
spike in political violence and what other ways Republicans and 
Democrats can come together.

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  Only by having that comprehensive conversation about funding, about 
the lethal means of assassination, about the celebration of political 
violence that happens in this country will we really do the job that is 
necessary and help the Secret Service reach their ``zero fail'' 
mission.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, H.R. 9106, the Enhanced Presidential 
Security Act, passed the House of Representatives last week and is 
currently pending in the Senate. As chair of the Senate Judiciary 
Committee, which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Secret Service, I would 
like to offer a few thoughts on this legislation, which I support.
  The bill requires the Director of the Secret Service to follow the 
same standards for determining agent staffing levels for the President, 
Vice President, and major Presidential and Vice Presidential 
candidates. The bill also directs the Secret Service to conduct an 
internal review of its protection authorities and submit to Congress a 
report that includes recommendations for improvements.
  Since the first assassination attempt on former President Donald 
Trump, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Homeland and 
Government Affairs Committee have received a classified briefing and 
held a joint hearing where we heard testimony from the Secret Service 
and the FBI. We have worked on a bipartisan basis to get to the bottom 
of how the Secret Service failed to protect former President Trump on 
July 13.
  Following the awful events of July 13 in Butler, PA, the Secret 
Service elevated the posture of its protectees and bolstered protective 
details to ensure the highest levels of safety and security.
  Specifically, former President Trump is receiving additional 
personnel and protective assets at levels comparable to that of the 
President of the United States.
  Additionally, the Secret Service has dedicated available protective 
assets typically reserved for the President to the Vice President and 
both Vice Presidential candidates.
  H.R. 9106 serves to capture in statute these efforts undertaken by 
the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security to dedicate 
critical resources and personnel to mitigate the inherent risk in the 
protection of the President, Vice President, and other major 
Presidential candidates who seek our Nation's highest office in this 
heightened threat environment.
  I am concerned that the bill does not address the recruitment and 
retention challenges that have been perennial problems for the Agency. 
With the Secret Service now providing the same protections to 
candidates that it does for the sitting President, the strains on 
available agents will become even more apparent. Congress must continue 
working to address these issues.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to proceeding?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. I further ask that the bill be considered read 
a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered 
made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 9106) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues 
for their support of this commonsense legislation, which has now passed 
with unanimous, bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House of 
Representatives.
  I will continue working with my colleagues to ensure nominees for 
President and Vice President are never in jeopardy and are provided the 
enhanced protection they clearly require and deserve.
  This bill will now go to President Biden's desk, and I hope he acts 
quickly to sign it into law.

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