I

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2276

To provide for the establishment of the National Institutes of Health Police,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 22, 2003

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. WAXMAN,

Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. NORTON, Mr.

WYNN, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr.

FROST, Mr. KILDEE, and Mr. BISHOP of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, for a

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of the National Institutes

of Health Police, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NIH Security Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH POLICE.

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the National

7 Institutes of Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Di-
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1 rector of NIH’’) shall establish a permanent police force,

2 to be known as the National Institutes of Health Police

3 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘NIH Police’’), for the

4 purpose of performing law enforcement, security, and in5 vestigative functions for property under the jurisdiction,

6 custody, and control of or occupied by the National Insti7 tutes of Health.

8 (b) APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of NIH shall

10 appoint a Chief, a Deputy Chief, and such other of11 ficers as may be necessary to carry out the purpose

12 of the NIH Police.

13 (2) OFFICERS ABOVE MAXIMUM AGE.—The Di14 rector of NIH may appoint officers of the NIH Po15 lice without regard to standard maximum limits of

16 age prescribed under section 3307 of title 5, United

17 States Code. Officers appointed under this

18 paragraph—

19 (A) may include the Chief and Deputy

20 Chief of the NIH Police, shall have the same

21 authorities and powers as other officers of the

22 NIH Police, and shall receive the same pay and

23 benefits as other officers of the NIH Police;

24 and
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1 (B) shall not be treated as law enforce2 ment officers for purposes of retirement bene3 fits.

4 (c) POWERS.—Each officer of the NIH Police may—

5 (1) carry firearms, serve warrants and sub6 poenas issued under the authority of the United

7 States, and make arrests without warrant for any

8 offense against the United States committed in the

9 officer’s presence, or for any felony cognizable under

10 the laws of the United States, if the officer has rea11 sonable grounds to believe that the person to be ar12 rested has committed or is committing such a felony;

13 (2) conduct investigations within the United

14 States and its territories for offenses that have been

15 or may be committed on property described in para16 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (d); and

17 (3) protect in any area of the United States or

18 its territories the Director of NIH and other offi19 cials, as authorized by the Director of NIH.

20 (d) JURISDICTION.—Officers of the NIH Police may

21 exercise their powers—

22 (1) on all properties under the custody and con23 trol of the National Institutes of Health;
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1 (2) on other properties occupied by the Na2 tional Institutes of Health, as determined by the Di3 rector of NIH; and

4 (3) as authorized under paragraphs (2) and (3)

5 of subsection (c).

6 (e) PAY, BENEFITS, RETIREMENT.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection

8 (b)(2)(B) and paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection,

9 all officers of the NIH Police appointed under sub10 section (b) are law enforcement officers as that term

11 is used in title 5, United States Code, without re12 gard to any eligibility requirements prescribed by

13 law, and are eligible for all pay and benefits pre14 scribed by law for such law enforcement officers.

15 (2) PAY; RANKS.—

16 (A) PAY.—The officers of the NIH Police

17 shall receive the same pay and benefits, as de18 termined by the Director of NIH, as officers

19 who hold comparable positions in the United

20 States Park Police. For purposes of this sub21 paragraph, the Chief of the NIH Police is

22 deemed comparable to the Assistant Chief in

23 the United States Park Police, and the Deputy

24 Chief of the NIH Police is deemed comparable
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1 to the Deputy Chief in the United States Park

2 Police.

3 (B) RANK.—The Chief and Deputy Chief

4 of the NIH Police shall have ranks not lower

5 than a colonel and a lieutenant colonel, respec6 tively. Other ranks and equivalences shall be de7 termined by the Director of NIH or the Direc8 tor’s designee.

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