II 

Calendar No. 218 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 705 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to establish a national 

criminal history background check system and criminal history review 

program for certain individuals who, related to their employment, have 

access to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2017 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

SCHUMER, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SASSE, 

and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017 

Reported by Mr. GRASSLEY, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to 

establish a national criminal history background check 

system and criminal history review program for certain 

individuals who, related to their employment, have access 

to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities, 

and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Child Protection Im5 provements Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND 

7 CHECK AND CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW 

8 PROGRAM. 

9 The National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 

10 U.S.C. 5119 et seq.) is amended— 

11 (1) in section 3 (42 U.S.C. 5119a)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘provider’’ each place it 

13 appears and inserting ‘‘covered individual’’; 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘provider’s’’ each place it 

15 appears and inserting ‘‘covered individual’s’’; 

16 (C) by amending subsection (a)(3) to read 

17 as follows: 

18 ‘‘(3)(A) The Attorney General shall establish a 

19 program, in accordance with this section, to provide 

20 qualified entities located in States that do not have 

21 in effect procedures described in paragraph (1), or 

22 qualified entities located in States that do not pro23 hibit the use of the program established under this 

24 paragraph, with access to national criminal history 


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1 background checks on, and criminal history reviews 

2 of, covered individuals. 

3 ‘‘(B) A qualified entity described in subpara4 graph (A) may submit to the appropriate designated 

5 entity a request for a national criminal history back6 ground check on, and a criminal history review of, 

7 a covered individual. Qualified entities making a re8 quest under this paragraph shall comply with the 

9 guidelines set forth in subsection (b), and with any 

10 additional applicable procedures set forth by the At11 torney General or by the State in which the entity 

12 is located.’’; 

13 (D) in subsection (b)— 

14 (i) in paragraph (1)(E), by striking 

15 ‘‘unsupervised’’; 

16 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (I) by redesignating subpara18 graphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and 

19 (ii), respectively; 

20 (II) in the matter preceding 

21 clause (i), as so redesignated, by 

22 striking ‘‘that each covered individual 

23 who is the subject of a background 

24 check’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) that each 

25 covered individual who is the subject 


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1 of a background check conducted pur2 suant to the procedures established 

3 pursuant to subsection (a)(1)’’; and 

4 (III) by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(B) that each covered individual who is 

7 the subject of a national criminal history back8 ground check and criminal history review con9 ducted pursuant to the procedures established 

10 pursuant to subsection (a)(3) is entitled to chal11 lenge the accuracy and completeness of any in12 formation in the criminal history record of the 

13 individual by contacting the Federal Bureau of 

14 Investigation under the procedure set forth in 

15 section 16.34 of title 28, Code of Federal Regu16 lations, or any successor thereto.’’; 

17 (iii) in paragraph (3), insert after 

18 ‘‘authorized agency’’ the following: ‘‘or des19 ignated entity, as applicable,’’; and 

20 (iv) in paragraph (4), insert after 

21 ‘‘authorized agency’’ the following: ‘‘or des22 ignated entity, as applicable,’’; 

23 (E) in subsection (d), insert after ‘‘officer 

24 or employee thereof,’’ the following: ‘‘, nor shall 


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1 any designated entity nor any officer or em2 ployee thereof,’’; 

3 (F) by amending subsection (e) to read as 

4 follows: 

5 ‘‘(e) FEES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) STATE PROGRAM.—In the case of a back7 ground check conducted pursuant to a State require8 ment adopted after December 20, 1993, conducted 

9 with fingerprints on a covered individual, the fees 

10 collected by authorized State agencies and the Fed11 eral Bureau of Investigation may not exceed eight12 een dollars, respectively, or the actual cost, which13 ever is less, of the background check conducted with 

14 may not exceed the actual cost of the background 

15 check conducted with fingerprints. 

16 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PROGRAM.—In the case of a na17 tional criminal history background check and crimi18 nal history review conducted pursuant to the proce19 dures established pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the 

20 fees collected by a designated entity shall be set at 

21 a level that will ensure the recovery of the full costs 

22 of providing all such services. The designated entity 

23 shall remit the appropriate portion of such fee to the 

24 Attorney General, which amount is in accordance 

25 with the amount published in the Federal Register 


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1 to be collected for the provision of a criminal history 

2 background check by the Federal Bureau of Inves3 tigation. 

4 ‘‘(3) ENSURING FEES DO NOT DISCOURAGE

5 VOLUNTEERS.—A fee system under this subsection 

6 shall be established in a manner that ensures that 

7 fees to qualified entities for background checks do 

8 not discourage volunteers from participating in pro9 grams to care for children, the elderly, or individuals 

10 with disabilities. A fee charged to a qualified entity 

11 that is not organized under section 501(c)(3) of the 

12 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 may not be less than 

13 the total sum of the costs of the Federal Bureau of In14 vestigation and the designated entity.’’; and 

15 (G) by inserting after subsection (e) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND

18 CHECK AND CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW PROGRAM.— 

19 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACK20 GROUND CHECK.—Upon a designated entity receiv21 ing notice of a request submitted by a qualified enti22 ty pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the designated en23 tity shall forward the request to the Attorney Gen24 eral, who shall, acting through the Director of the 

25 Federal Bureau of Investigation, complete a fingerVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Sep 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S705.RS S705

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1 print-based check of the national criminal history 

2 background check system, and provide the informa3 tion received in response to such national criminal 

4 history background check to the appropriate des5 ignated entity. The designated entity may, upon re6 quest from a qualified entity, complete a check of a 

7 State criminal history database. 

8 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW.— 

9 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATED ENTITIES.—The Attor10 ney General shall designate, and enter into an 

11 agreement with, one or more entities to make 

12 determinations described in paragraph (2). The 

13 Attorney General may not designate and enter 

14 into an agreement with a Federal agency under 

15 this subparagraph. 

16 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS.—A designated en17 tity shall, upon the receipt of the information 

18 described in paragraph (1), make a determina19 tion of fitness described in subsection (b)(4), 

20 using the criteria described in subparagraph 

21 (C). 

22 ‘‘(C) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW CRI23 TERIA.—The Attorney General shall, by rule, 

24 establish the criteria for use by designated enti25 ties in making a determination of fitness deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Sep 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S705.RS S705

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1 scribed in subsection (b)(4). Such criteria shall 

2 be based on the criteria established pursuant to 

3 section 108(a)(3)(G)(i) of the Prosecutorial 

4 Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploi5 tation of Children Today Act of 2003 (42 

6 U.S.C. 5119a note).’’; and 

7 (2) in section 5 (42 U.S.C. 5119c)— 

8 (A) by amending paragraph (9) to read as 

9 follows: 

10 ‘‘(9) the term ‘covered individual’ means an in11 dividual— 

12 ‘‘(A) who has, seeks to have, or may have 

13 access to children, the elderly, or individuals 

14 with disabilities, served by a qualified entity; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) who— 

17 ‘‘(i) is employed by or volunteers with, 

18 or seeks to be employed by or volunteer 

19 with, a qualified entity; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) owns or operates, or seeks to 

21 own or operate, a qualified entity.’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

23 at the end; 

24 (C) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe25 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (D) by inserting after paragraph (11) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(12) the term ‘designated entity’ means an en4 tity designated by the Attorney General under sec5 tion 3(f)(2)(A).’’. 

6 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

7 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

8 be fully implemented by not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 218 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 705 

A BILL 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 

and for other purposes. dren, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities, lated to their employment, have access to chilreview program for certain individuals who, rebackground check system and criminal history 1993 to establish a national criminal history 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017 

Reported with amendments 


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