[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 146 (Monday, September 8, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H3877-H3879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PERSONNEL OVERSIGHT AND SHIFT TRACKING ACT OF 2025
Mr. BARRETT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3425) to direct the Director of the Federal Protective
Service to establish processes to strengthen oversight, performance,
and accountability of contract security personnel engaged in the
protection of certain buildings and grounds, and for other purposes, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3425
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Personnel Oversight and
Shift Tracking Act of 2025'' or the ``POST Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION AND PERFORMANCE
ACCOUNTABILITY.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Protective
Service shall establish processes to strengthen oversight,
performance, and accountability of contract security
personnel engaged in the protection of buildings and grounds
that are owned, occupied, or secured by the General Services
Administration Public Buildings Service.
(b) Oversight of Contract Security Personnel.--In carrying
out the activities described in subsection (a), the Director
shall--
(1) establish standards for the collection, maintenance,
and analysis of covert testing data, including the creation
of a comprehensive
[[Page H3878]]
and uniform method for documenting test outcomes, identifying
root causes of failures, and categorizing types of
vulnerabilities detected;
(2) begin conducting quarterly analytical reviews of covert
testing data to identify trends, recurring deficiencies, and
opportunities for operational improvement across all covered
facilities;
(3) direct the security contractor who is providing
security services to the Federal Protective Service to
establish a mandatory, cause-specific corrective training and
performance improvement plan for any contract security
personnel who fail a covert test and review the security
contractor's performance improvement plan to ensure that the
security contractor has and will provide appropriate training
and procedures to avoid any future covert testing failures;
and
(4) develop updated security training guidance for contract
security personnel to reflect findings from covert testing
data, emerging threats, and best practices.
(c) Report to Congress.--Upon completion of the activities
described in subsection (b), and annually thereafter, the
Director shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of
the Senate an report on the implementation of the
requirements of this section, including any identified
challenges and recommendations for additional legislative
action.
SEC. 3. PERSONNEL SHIFT MANAGEMENT AND SYSTEM MODERNIZATION.
(a) Evaluation of the Personnel Tracking System.--Not later
than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Director of the Federal Protective Service shall--
(1) conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the personnel
tracking system used to manage and monitor the deployment
availability of contract security personnel;
(2) determine whether to replace the system described in
paragraph (1) with a more reliable personnel tracking
platform, including private sector solutions, or whether to
implement corrective actions to improve the system described
in paragraph (1), including technical, operational, or
administrative fixes; and
(3) develop and publish an implementation plan that
includes--
(A) a timeline for completion of system replacement or
corrective actions; and
(B) procedures to ensure timely and accurate communication
to building tenants regarding contract security personnel
shortages or absences or security coverage gaps.
(b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 3
years, the Director shall submit to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report that includes--
(1) the determination made under subsection (a)(2);
(2) a detailed summary of any implementation actions
undertaken pursuant to subsection (a);
(3) an evaluation of the effectiveness of tenant
communication protocols; and
(4) any recommendations for additional legislative or
administrative actions.
SEC. 4. SAVINGS CLAUSE.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed as designating an
employee of a contractor of the Department of Homeland
Security who is engaged in the protection of Federal property
pursuant to section 1315 of title 40, United States Code, as
a Federal employee.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Barrett) and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Figures)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.
General Leave
Mr. BARRETT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 3425, as amended.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Mr. BARRETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3425, the POST Act of 2025, strengthens the Federal
Protective Service, or FPS, and their ability to secure Federal
facilities and improve accountability for the contract guards who
protect them.
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has conducted
bipartisan oversight of FPS operations and Federal facility security.
Both testimony at hearings and Government Accountability Office reports
have reinforced the need for these reforms.
The Federal Protective Service is tasked with securing approximately
9,000 GSA-leased and -owned facilities across America. To protect these
buildings, FPS oversees over 15,000 contracted guards, known as
protective security officers.
Despite the size and importance of the FPS' mission, serious
vulnerabilities exist in its oversight of contract guards. For example,
one GAO investigation found that contracted guards failed to detect
concealed weapons, including batons and pepper spray, in half of covert
security tests. While FPS uses covert testing to assess security
vulnerabilities, they lack a standardized system to track, analyze, and
respond to the results.
The POST Act addresses this critical gap by requiring the FPS
Director to establish and maintain a centralized database to capture
covert test data, including why a contract guard failed to detect
contraband.
The legislation mandates quarterly analyses of this data to identify
trends and training needs and requires targeted, corrective training
for guards who fail covert tests, which helps to close performance gaps
and improve public safety.
This is a commonsense reform that turns the tests that FPS is already
conducting into data that can drive actionable improvements, making
Federal buildings safer for employees and the American people who we
serve.
The POST Act also tackles another persistent problem: FPS' broken
shift tracking system.
{time} 1720
In 2018, FPS launched the Post Tracking System to modernize its
paper-based guard sign-in process. Seven years later, the Post Tracking
System remains unreliable, and FPS still relies on paper records.
As a result, FPS has been unable to issue timely notifications to
tenant agencies about guard shortages. In some cases, this even forced
the closure of Federal buildings to the public.
The POST Act would require FPS to either fix PTS or replace it with a
modern, dependable solution.
H.R. 3425 contains practical measures to improve FPS' oversight of
contract guards, strengthen accountability, and improve safety at
Federal buildings.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Kennedy) for his
leadership on this legislation and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr.
Figures) for working on this bipartisan bill.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. FIGURES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3425, the Personnel Oversight
and Shift Tracking Act of 2025, a bill that I am proud to cosponsor.
This bill would require the Director of the FPS, the Federal
Protective Service, to establish processes to strengthen oversight,
performance, and accountability of contract security personnel engaged
in the protection of Federal buildings and grounds that are owned,
occupied, or secured by GSA.
FPS law enforcement officers and the contract guards who support them
risk their lives every day to protect Federal workers and the public by
controlling access to government facilities and screening visitors for
prohibited items. As part of these efforts, FPS investigators have
covertly tested security at Federal buildings to ensure the accuracy of
these systems and have developed a tracking system to ensure guards are
qualified and posts are staffed adequately.
Despite these efforts, however, guards failed to detect prohibited
items in about half of the 27 covert tests that the Government
Accountability Office investigators conducted just last year.
Additionally, the new FPS tracking system has not worked well enough
to replace the old paper-based system, as my colleague has just
described. By improving FPS data collection and analysis and
implementing the findings on these security tests, the agency will be
able to better ensure the safety and security of Federal buildings,
employees, the public, and the FPS officers themselves.
Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation and urge all Members to do
the same to make sure that we are holding our contractors accountable
and doing everything we can to protect our Federal buildings and our
personnel located within.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BARRETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Kennedy).
Mr. KENNEDY of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill,
H.R. 3425, the Personnel Oversight and Shift Tracking Act of 2025, or
the POST Act.
[[Page H3879]]
I thank Mr. Barrett and Mr. Figures for their support of this really
important bill.
This is a commonsense bill that fixes a broken system and restores
accountability within the Federal Protective Service.
The Federal Protective Service, or FPS, is responsible for protecting
nearly 9,000 Federal facilities nationwide. In fiscal year 2024, FPS
operated with a $2.2 billion budget and oversaw more than 15,000
contract protective security officers.
With that level of funding and manpower, taxpayers expect reliable
results. Unfortunately, that is not what they are getting. A recent GAO
investigation showed contract guards failed to detect banned items like
batons and pepper spray in half of all covert tests. That is
unacceptable, and it should never have been allowed to persist. It is
also preventable.
H.R. 3425 makes sure FPS reviews these failures, documents them,
identifies the root causes, and then takes corrective action.
This bill also addresses the embarrassing state of FPS's Post
Tracking System. Back in 2018, FPS promised to modernize guard sign-in
with a digital system. Years later, that system still doesn't work, and
the agency is still relying on paper as its official record. That means
Washington can't even confirm in real time whether a building is
staffed and secure. In some cases, buildings have had to close because
of it. That is a waste of money and a failure of leadership.
H.R. 3425 fixes this by giving FPS 6 months to either make the system
work or replace it with one that does.
Mr. Speaker, this is not complicated. When Americans walk into a
Federal building, they deserve to know it is staffed and secured. The
American people expect their government to meet basic duties. The POST
Act honors that expectation by restoring accountability and requiring
results.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3425, the POST Act,
so that we restore proper oversight and accountability in the Federal
Protective Service and protect taxpayers from waste and failure.
Mr. FIGURES. Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 3425, and I thank my
colleague, Mr. Kennedy, for his leadership on this important matter.
The POST Act of 2025 is something that I urge all of my colleagues to
support, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BARRETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3425, as amended, strengthens oversight of the
Federal Protective Service's contract guard program and ensures
protective security officers are properly trained and accountable.
Additionally, and importantly, this legislation modernizes critical
systems to make Federal buildings safer for employees and the public.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H.R. 3425, as amended, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Barrett) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3425, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. BARRETT. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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