[Senate Report 118-160]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                     Calendar No. 347
118th Congress     }                                     {     Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                     {    118-160
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     



            IMPROVING FEDERAL BUILDING SECURITY ACT OF 2024

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 3613

               TO REQUIRE FACILITY SECURITY COMMITTEES TO
             RESPOND TO SECURITY RECOMMENDATIONS ISSUED BY
               THE FEDERAL PROTECTIVE SERVICE RELATING TO
               FACILITY SECURITY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES








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                 March 14, 2024.--Ordered to be printed  

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                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
                 
54-742 PDF                   WASHINGTON : 2024 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
LAPHONZA R. BUTLER, California       ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
            Lena C. Chang, Director of Governmental Affairs
              Chelsea A. Davis, Professional Staff Member
            Benjamin J. Schubert, Professional Staff Member
           William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
              Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
                  Andrew J. Hopkins, Minority Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk





























                                                     Calendar No. 347
118th Congress     }                                     {     Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                     {    118-160

======================================================================



 
            IMPROVING FEDERAL BUILDING SECURITY ACT OF 2024

                                _______
                                

                 March 14, 2024.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 3613]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 3613) to require 
Facility Security Committees to respond to security 
recommendations issued by the Federal Protective Service 
relating to facility security, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an the 
amendment, in the nature of a substitute, and recommends that 
the bill, as amended, do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................3
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported.............3
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................5
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............5

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    S. 3613, the Improving Federal Building Security Act, would 
require Facility Security Committees (FSCs) to adequately 
respond to security recommendations issued by the Federal 
Protective Service (FPS) within 90 days of the recommendations' 
issuance. While agencies may choose to adopt or reject FPS 
recommendations, they must provide an explanation to the 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detailing their reasons 
for rejecting any recommendations in whole or in part. The 
legislation would also require DHS to develop a method to 
monitor these responses to FPS security assessments and take 
reasonable actions to ensure agency responses. This bill would 
require DHS to report annually to Congress on agency responses 
to FPS security assessments, which would provide a regular 
snapshot of the security landscape for federal facilities 
across the country.

              II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

    FPS, an agency within DHS, is responsible for protecting 
over 9,000 federal facilities that house 1.4 million employees 
and countless visitors.\1\ FPS plays role in keeping federal 
facilities safe by making facility security recommendations. 
Individual FSCs, made up of agency tenants at each federal 
facility, are responsible for reviewing FPS recommendations for 
their facility's safety. Between fiscal years 2017 and 2021, 
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that FPS 
submitted over 25,000 facility security recommendations, yet 
agency FSCs ignored and failed to acknowledge 57% of those 
recommendations. Of the remaining 43%--where agencies at least 
acknowledged the receipt of FPS recommendations--agencies only 
approved 27% of FPS's recommendations. Agencies affirmatively 
rejected 12% of the recommendations and responded in a manner 
classified as ``other'' to the final 4%.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Government Accountability Office, Federal Facilities: Improved 
Oversight Needed for Security Recommendations (GAO 23-105649) (May 
2023).
    \2\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    FPS conducts its facility security assessments every three 
to five years, presenting its findings, including its 
recommended countermeasures, in a report to a given facility's 
security committee or designated official. Recommended 
countermeasures can include security cameras, physical access 
control systems, and x-ray screening equipment, which are aimed 
at preventing potentially dangerous security incidents. FSCs 
are tasked with responding to FPS guidance by either accepting 
the risk of rejecting security recommendations or adopting the 
recommendations. However, GAO has found that agencies largely 
ignore FPS's recommendations by failing to provide a 
response.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\Id.
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    Federal real-property management has been on GAO's High 
Risk List for two decades, in part due to security issues.\4\ 
Yet, as these management problems persist, political violence 
has seen its sharpest rise in half a century.\5\ In 2022, DHS 
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) observed ``an 
increase in violent threats posted on social media against 
federal officials and facilities.''\6\ Additionally, in May 
2023, DHS observed that they expect a heightened threat 
environment in 2024, warning of potential attacks against 
government buildings.\7\ Facing a heightened threat landscape, 
agencies must be held accountable to responding to FPS 
assessments and doing all they can to secure their facilities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Id.
    \5\Political violence in polarized U.S. at its worst since 1970s, 
Reuters (Aug. 9, 2023) (www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/
usa-politics-violence/).
    \6\FBI/DHS bulletin warns of ``increase in violent threats posted 
on social media against federal officials and facilities.'' CBS News 
(Aug. 14, 2022) (www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/fbi-dhs-
bulletin-mar-a-lago-ohio-gunman-ricky-shiffer-call-to-violence/).
    \7\DHS warns of attacks against government buildings, minority 
groups ahead of 2024 election. NBC News (May 24, 2023) 
(www.nbcnews.com/politics/dhs-warns-attacks-government-buildings-
minority-groups-ahead-2024-elec-rcna86067).
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    In order to further examine GAO's findings, the Committee 
held a hearing to examine the landscape of current threats, the 
ways Congress can improve the countermeasure assessment 
process, and ways to improve federal agency responsiveness when 
agencies receive security recommendations.\8\ The hearing also 
examined the Executive Order issued by President Biden in 
November 2023, which clarified the role of the Interagency 
Security Committee and helped update interagency roles and 
responsibilities for keeping these facilities safe.\9\ This 
legislation builds on the Committee's hearing and President 
Biden's Executive Order. It would improve security for federal 
employees and members of the public who use federal buildings, 
by requiring federal agencies to respond to FPS recommendations 
on security measures.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 
Hearing on Examining the Security of Federal Facilities, 118th Cong. 
(Nov. 29, 2023) (S. Hrg. 118-XX).
    \9\Exec. Order No. 14111, 88 Fed. Reg. 83809 (Nov. 27, 2023).
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                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced S. 3613, the 
Improving Federal Building Security Act, on January 18, 2024, 
with original cosponsor Senator Rick Scott (R-FL). The bill was 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs.
    The Committee considered S. 3613 at a business meeting on 
January 31, 2024. At the business meeting, Senator Peters 
offered a substitute amendment to the bill, as well as a 
modification to the substitute amendment. The Peters substitute 
amendment, as modified, required a report to Congress, no later 
than 180 days after the enactment of this legislation, on all 
surveillance technology recommended by FPS and the intended use 
of the technology. The modification also: directed GAO to 
submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of this bill; 
added a 5-year sunset to the bill; prohibited the authorization 
of additional funds to carry out the bill; and required a 
summary of the financial implications of FSC responses to FPS's 
recommendations, including if the benefits outweigh the costs. 
The modified substitute amendment also revised the reporting 
requirements, by allowing DHS to report summary statistics and 
specifying its report must be unclassified but may include a 
classified annex if necessary.
    The Committee adopted the modification to the Peters 
substitute amendment, and the Peters substitute amendment as 
modified, by unanimous consent, with Senators Peters, Carper, 
Hassan, Rosen, Ossoff, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and 
Marshall present. The bill, as amended by the Peters substitute 
amendment as modified, was ordered favorably by roll call vote 
of 10 yeas to 0 nays, with Senators Peters, Carper, Hassan, 
Rosen, Ossoff, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Marshall 
voting in the affirmative. Senators Sinema, Blumenthal, Butler, 
Johnson, and Hawley voted yea by proxy, for the record only. 
Consistent with Committee Rule 3(G), the Committee reports the 
bill with a technical amendment by mutual agreement of the 
Chairman and Ranking Member.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the bill as the 
``Improving Federal Building Security Act of 2024.''

Section 2. Responding to security recommendations

    Subsection (a) defines the terms ``agency,'' ``Facility 
Security Committee,'' and ``Secretary.''
    Subsection (b)(1) requires the head or designee of an FSC 
to respond to FPS when a security recommendation is issued, 
within 90 days of the date the recommendation was issued.
    Subsection (b)(2) requires DHS to develop a method to 
monitor the recommendations issued by FPS and responses by FSCs 
and take reasonable action to ensure FSCs are responsive.
    Subsection (c)(1) requires DHS to submit an annual report 
to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs and the House Homeland Security and Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committees, with information including: a 
summary of the recommendations issued by FPS, the percentage of 
recommendations adopted or rejected by FSCs, the percentage of 
facilities that failed to respond to recommendations, the 
justifications for rejected recommendations, financial 
implications of FSC responses, risk mitigation analysis, and 
analysis on trends.
    Subsection (c)(2) requires the DHS report be unclassified 
but may include a classified annex.
    Subsection (c)(3) requires DHS to annually brief the Senate 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the 
House Homeland Security and Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committees on the findings of the most recent report.
    Subsection (d) requires a report to Congress within 180 
days after the enactment of this bill on all surveillance 
technology recommended by FPS and the intended use of the 
technology.
    Subsection (e) provides that no additional funds are 
authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out 
this bill.
    Subsection (f)(1) terminates the provisions of this bill 
five years after its enactment.
    Subsection (f)(2) directs GAO to submit a report to 
Congress on the effectiveness of this bill no later than five 
years after enactment.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

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    S. 3613 would require the facility security committee of 
each federal building to respond to security recommendations 
from the Federal Protective Service (FPS) within 90 days. The 
FPS conducts security assessments of federal facilities and 
makes recommendations for improvements to each building's 
security committee. Each committee, which includes 
representatives from all federal tenants in a nonmilitary 
facility, decides whether to implement those recommendations.
    S. 3613 would require the FPS to monitor its 
recommendations and the responses it receives and annually 
report that information to the Congress. The bill also would 
require the FPS to report to the Congress within 180 days of 
enactment on the surveillance technology it recommends be used 
at federal facilities. Additionally, the Government 
Accountability Office would need to report to the Congress 
within five years of enactment on the effectiveness of the 
bill. The bill's requirements would sunset five years after 
enactment.
    Based on the costs of similar reports, CBO estimates that 
the required reports would cost $1 million over the 2024-2029 
period. Any spending would be subject to the availability of 
appropriated funds. Because facility security committees are 
currently required to respond to the agency's recommendations 
within 45 days, CBO expects that implementing that requirement 
would not have a cost.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeremy Crimm. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    This legislation would make no change in existing law, 
within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph 12 of 
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, because this 
legislation would not repeal or amend any provision of current 
law.

                                  [all]