79–006 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 115–674 

LIEUTENANT OSVALDO ALBARATI CORRECTIONAL 

OFFICER SELF-PROTECTION ACT OF 2017 

MAY 15, 2018.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. GOODLATTE, from the Committee on the Judiciary, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 613] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 613) to amend title 18, United States Code, to require that 

the Director of the Bureau of Prisons ensure that each chief executive officer of a Federal penal or correctional institution provides a 

secure storage area located outside of the secure perimeter of the 

Federal penal or correctional institution for firearms carried by certain employees of the Bureau of Prisons, and for other purposes, 

having considered the same, report favorably thereon without 

amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Purpose and Summary ............................................................................................ 2 

Background and Need for the Legislation ............................................................. 2 

Hearings ................................................................................................................... 2 

Committee Consideration ........................................................................................ 2 

Committee Votes ...................................................................................................... 2 

Committee Oversight Findings ............................................................................... 2 

New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures ...................................................... 3 

Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate .......................................................... 3 

Duplication of Federal Programs ............................................................................ 4 

Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings ..................................................................... 4 

Performance Goals and Objectives ......................................................................... 4 

Advisory on Earmarks ............................................................................................. 4 

Section-by-Section Analysis .................................................................................... 4 

Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ..................................... 5 

2 

1Pub. L. No. 108–277 (2004). 

Purpose and Summary 

H.R. 613 amends title 18, United States Code, to require that the 

Director of the Bureau of Prisons ensure that each chief executive 

officer of a Federal penal or correctional institution provides a secure storage area located outside of the secure perimeter of the 

Federal penal or correctional institution for firearms carried by certain employees of the Bureau of Prisons. 

Background and Need for the Legislation 

The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act 1 gives certain law enforcement officers, including certain correctional officers of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the right to carry a concealed firearm in all 

50 States for self-protection. While current law allows law enforcement officers to carry their firearms in an off-duty status, the BOP 

does not permit correctional officers to safely secure their personal 

firearms in secured locker space at its institutions. This leaves correctional workers vulnerable to attack commuting to and from 

work because they must leave their firearms at home without a 

safe place to store them at correctional institutions. 

On the evening of February 26, 2013, BOP Lieutenant Osvaldo 

Albarati was ambushed and murdered while on his way home from 

work. The shooting was carried out with assistance from federal inmates housed at Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) Guaynabo, 

Puerto Rico where Lieutenant Albarati worked. Authorities believe 

that Lieutenant Albarati’s murder was a direct result of his work 

at the prison—specifically, in retaliation for his investigations into 

cell phone smuggling at the MDC. Due to existing BOP policy, 

Lieutenant Albarati had no firearm available to protect himself because BOP does not provide safe, secure gun lockers for staff. 

Hearings 

The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R. 613. 

Committee Consideration 

On April 27, 2017, the Committee met in open session and ordered the bill, H.R. 613, favorably reported, without amendment, 

by voice vote, a quorum being present. 

Committee Votes 

In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there were 

no recorded votes during the Committee’s consideration of H.R. 

613. 

Committee Oversight Findings 

In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the findings 

and recommendations of the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report. 

3 

New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures 

Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does not provide new 

budgetary authority or increased tax expenditures. 

Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate 

In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with respect to 

H.R. 613, the following estimate and comparison prepared by the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of 

the Congressional Budget Act of 1974: 

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, June 7, 2017. 

Hon. BOB GOODLATTE, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 613, the Lieutenant 

Osvaldo Albarati Correctional Officer Self-Protection Act of 2017. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Robert Reese, who can 

be reached at 226–2860. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL. 

Enclosure. 

cc: Honorable John Conyers Jr. 

Ranking Member 

H.R. 613—Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Correctional Officer 

Self-Protection Act of 2017 

As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on 

April 27, 2017. 

H.R. 613 would require the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to either 

provide its law enforcement officers with a secure storage area outside of federal penal and correctional institutions to store firearms 

or permit storage in a BOP-approved lock box within officers’ vehicles. The bill also would allow BOP officers to carry concealed firearms outside of the secure perimeter of the institution where they 

work. 

Based on information from the Department of Justice, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 613 would have a negligible cost because BOP would probably opt to have the officers store their firearms in a lockbox within their vehicles. 

Enacting H.R. 613 would not affect direct spending or revenues; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates 

that enacting H.R. 613 would not increase net direct spending or 

on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028. 

4 

H.R. 613 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Robert Reese. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

Duplication of Federal Programs 

No provision of H.R. 613 establishes or reauthorizes a program 

of the Federal government known to be duplicative of another Federal program, a program that was included in any report from the 

Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to section 

21 of Public Law 111–139, or a program related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. 

Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings 

The Committee finds that H.R. 613 contains no directed rule 

making within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. § 551. 

Performance Goals and Objectives 

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee states that H.R. 613 will amend 

title 18, United States Code, to require that the Director of the Bureau of Prisons ensure that each chief executive officer of a Federal 

penal or correctional institution provides a secure storage area located outside of the secure perimeter of the Federal penal or correctional institution for firearms carried by certain employees of the 

Bureau of Prisons 

Advisory on Earmarks 

In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, H.R. 613 does not contain any congressional 

earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 

in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of rule XXI. 

Section-by-Section Analysis 

The following discussion describes the bill as reported by the 

Committee. 

Section 1. Short title. Section 1 sets forth the short title of the 

bill as the ‘‘Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Correctional Officer SelfProtection Act of 2017.’’ 

Section 2. Findings. Section 2 articulates the Congressional findings. 

Section 3. Secure Firearms Storage. Section 3 amends the federal 

criminal code to require the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to allow a 

correctional officer at a federal prison or correctional institution to 

store firearms on BOP premises in a secure storage area outside 

the security perimeter of the institution or in a vehicle lockbox, and 

carry a concealed firearm on BOP premises outside the security perimeter of the institution. 

5 

Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported 

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is printed in italic 

and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in 

roman): 

TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE 

* * * * * * * 

PART III—PRISONS AND PRISONERS 

* * * * * * * 

CHAPTER 303—BUREAU OF PRISONS 

Sec. 

4041. Bureau of Prisons; director and employees. 

* * * * * * * 

4050. Secure firearms storage. 

* * * * * * * 

§ 4050. Secure firearms storage 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

(1) the term ‘‘employee’’ means a qualified law enforcement officer employed by the Bureau of Prisons; and 

(2) the terms ‘‘firearm’’ and ‘‘qualified law enforcement officer’’ have the meanings given those terms under section 926B. 

(b) SECURE FIREARMS STORAGE.—The Director of the Bureau of 

Prisons shall ensure that each chief executive officer of a Federal 

penal or correctional institution— 

(1)(A) provides a secure storage area located outside of the secure perimeter of the institution for employees to store firearms; 

or 

(B) allows employees to store firearms in a vehicle lockbox approved by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons; and 

(2) notwithstanding any other provision of law (including regulations), allows employees to carry concealed firearms on the 

premises outside of the secure perimeter of the institution. 

* * * * * * * 

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