I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7296 

To establish a Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations, Faith-based Organizations, and Houses of Worship 

within the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2024 

Ms. PORTER (for herself, Ms. SALAZAR, and Mr. CARTER of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, 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 establish a Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Best 

Practices for Nonprofit Organizations, Faith-based Organizations, and Houses of Worship within the Department 

of Homeland Security, 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 ‘‘Pray Safe Act of 

5 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SAFETY AND SECU2 RITY BEST PRACTICES FOR NONPROFIT OR3 GANIZATIONS, FAITH-BASED ORGANIZA4 TIONS, AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP (PRAY 

5 SAFE). 

6 (a) FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 

9 days after the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the At11 torney General, the Executive Director of the 

12 White House Office of Faith-Based and Neigh13 borhood Partnerships, and the head of any 

14 other agency the Secretary determines appro15 priate, shall establish within the Department a 

16 Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Security 

17 Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations, 

18 Faith-based Organizations, and Houses of Wor19 ship. 

20 (B) PURPOSE.—The Clearinghouse shall 

21 be the primary resource of the Federal Govern22 ment to— 

23 (i) educate and publish online best 

24 practices and recommendations for safety 

25 and security for nonprofit organizations, 


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1 including faith-based organizations, and 

2 houses of worship; and 

3 (ii) provide information relating to 

4 Federal grant programs available to non5 profit organizations, including faith-based 

6 organizations, and houses of worship. 

7 (C) PERSONNEL.— 

8 (i) ASSIGNMENTS.—The Clearing9 house shall be assigned such personnel and 

10 resources as the Secretary considers appro11 priate to carry out this subsection. 

12 (ii) DETAILEES.—The Secretary may 

13 coordinate detailees on a reimbursable or a 

14 nonreimbursable basis as required for the 

15 Clearinghouse. 

16 (iii) DESIGNATED POINT OF CON17 TACT.— 

18 (I) IN GENERAL.—There shall be 

19 not fewer than one employee assigned 

20 or detailed to the Clearinghouse who 

21 shall be the designated point of con22 tact to provide information and assist23 ance to nonprofit organizations, in24 cluding faith-based organizations, and 

25 houses of worship, including assistVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7296.IH H7296

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1 ance relating to the grant program es2 tablished under subsection (c). 

3 (II) CONTACT INFORMATION.— 

4 The contact information of the des5 ignated point of contact under sub6 clause (I) shall be made available on 

7 the website of the Clearinghouse. 

8 (iv) QUALIFICATION.—To the max9 imum extent possible, any personnel as10 signed or detailed to the Clearinghouse 

11 under this subparagraph should be familiar 

12 with— 

13 (I) nonprofit organizations, in14 cluding faith-based organizations, and 

15 houses of worship; and 

16 (II) physical and online security 

17 measures to identify and prevent safe18 ty and security risks. 

19 (2) CLEARINGHOUSE CONTENTS.— 

20 (A) EVIDENCE-BASED TIERS.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in 

22 consultation with the Attorney General, the 

23 Executive Director of the White House Of24 fice of Faith-Based and Neighborhood 

25 Partnerships, and the head of any other 


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1 agency the Secretary determines appro2 priate, shall develop tiers for determining 

3 evidence-based best practices and rec4 ommendations that demonstrate a signifi5 cant effect on improving safety and secu6 rity of nonprofit organizations, including 

7 faith-based organizations, and houses of 

8 worship. 

9 (ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The tiers re10 quired to be developed under clause (i) 

11 shall— 

12 (I) prioritize— 

13 (aa) strong evidence from 

14 not fewer than one well-designed 

15 and well-implemented experi16 mental study; and 

17 (bb) moderate evidence from 

18 not fewer than one well-designed 

19 and well-implemented quasi-ex20 perimental study; and 

21 (II) consider promising evidence 

22 that demonstrates a rationale based 

23 on high-quality research findings or 

24 positive evaluations that an activity, 

25 strategy, or intervention implemented 


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1 by the Department or a state or local 

2 agency is likely to improve and pro3 mote safety and security of nonprofit 

4 organizations, including faith-based 

5 organizations, and houses of worship. 

6 (B) CRITERIA FOR BEST PRACTICES AND

7 RECOMMENDATIONS.—The best practices and 

8 recommendations referred to in paragraph 

9 (1)(B)(i) of the Clearinghouse shall, at a min10 imum— 

11 (i) identify areas of concern for non12 profit organizations, including faith-based 

13 organizations, and houses of worship, in14 cluding event planning recommendations, 

15 checklists, facility hardening, tabletop exer16 cise resources, and other resilience meas17 ures; 

18 (ii) involve comprehensive safety and 

19 security measures, including threat preven20 tion, preparedness, protection, mitigation, 

21 incident response, and recovery to improve 

22 the safety and security posture of non23 profit organizations, including faith-based 

24 organizations, and houses of worship upon 

25 implementation; 


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1 (iii) involve comprehensive safety and 

2 security measures, including preparedness, 

3 protection, mitigation, incident response, 

4 and recovery to improve the resiliency of 

5 nonprofit organizations, including faith6 based organizations, and houses of worship 

7 from threats and incidents, including nat8 ural disasters, manmade disasters, or ter9 rorist attacks or other threats; 

10 (iv) include any evidence or research 

11 rationale supporting the determination of 

12 the Clearinghouse that the comprehensive 

13 safety and security measures under clauses 

14 (ii) and (iii) have been shown to have a 

15 significant effect on improving the safety 

16 and security of individuals who, at the time 

17 of any such threat or incident, are phys18 ically located in the place or building of a 

19 nonprofit organization, including a faith20 based organization, or house of worship, 

21 including— 

22 (I) findings and data from pre23 vious Federal, State, local, Tribal, ter24 ritorial, private sector, and nongovern25 mental organization research centers 


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1 relating to the safety and security of 

2 nonprofit organizations, including 

3 faith-based organizations, and houses 

4 of worship, including from targeted vi5 olence; and 

6 (II) other supportive evidence or 

7 findings relied upon by the Clearing8 house in determining best practices 

9 and recommendations to improve the 

10 safety and security posture of non11 profit organizations, including faith12 based organizations, and houses of 

13 worship upon implementation; and 

14 (v) include an overview of the avail15 able resources the Clearinghouse can pro16 vide to nonprofit organizations, including 

17 faith-based organizations, and houses of 

18 worship. 

19 (C) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—The 

20 Clearinghouse shall maintain and make avail21 able a comprehensive index of all Federal grant 

22 programs for which nonprofit organizations, in23 cluding faith-based organizations, and houses of 

24 worship are eligible, which shall include the perVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7296.IH H7296

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1 formance metrics for each grant the recipient 

2 will be required to provide. 

3 (D) PAST RECOMMENDATIONS.—To the 

4 greatest extent practicable, the Clearinghouse 

5 shall identify and present, as appropriate, best 

6 practices and recommendations issued by Fed7 eral, State, local, Tribal, territorial, private sec8 tor, and nongovernmental organizations rel9 evant to the safety and security of nonprofit or10 ganizations, including faith-based organizations, 

11 and houses of worship. 

12 (E) EXISTING PLATFORM.—The Secretary 

13 may establish and maintain the Clearinghouse 

14 on an online platform or a website that is in ex15 istence as of the date of the enactment of this 

16 Act. 

17 (3) ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—The Sec18 retary may produce and publish materials on the 

19 Clearinghouse to assist and train nonprofit organiza20 tions, including faith-based organizations, and 

21 houses of worship regarding the implementation of 

22 the best practices and recommendations under this 

23 subsection. 

24 (4) CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.— 

25 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 


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1 (i) collect for the purpose of contin2 uous improvement of the Clearinghouse— 

3 (I) Clearinghouse data analytics; 

4 (II) user feedback on the imple5 mentation of resources, best practices, 

6 and recommendations identified by 

7 the Clearinghouse; and 

8 (III) any evaluations conducted 

9 regarding implementation of such best 

10 practices and recommendations; 

11 (ii) in coordination with the Faith12 Based Security Advisory Council of the 

13 Department, the Department of Justice, 

14 the Executive Director of the White House 

15 Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood 

16 Partnerships, and any other agency the 

17 Secretary determines appropriate— 

18 (I) assess and identify Clearing19 house best practices and recommenda20 tions for which there are no resources 

21 available through Federal Government 

22 programs for implementation; 

23 (II) provide feedback on the im24 plementation of such best practices 

25 and recommendations; and 


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1 (III) propose additional rec2 ommendations for best practices for 

3 inclusion in the Clearinghouse; and 

4 (iii) not less frequently than annually, 

5 examine and update the Clearinghouse in 

6 accordance with— 

7 (I) the data analytics, feedback, 

8 and evaluations collected under clause 

9 (i); and 

10 (II) the recommendations pro11 posed under clause (ii)(III). 

12 (B) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The 

13 Secretary shall submit to Congress, on an an14 nual basis, a report on the updates under sub15 paragraph (A)(iii) made to the Clearinghouse 

16 during the preceding 1-year period, which shall 

17 include a description of any changes made pur18 suant thereto to the Clearinghouse. 

19 (b) NOTIFICATION OF THE CLEARINGHOUSE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

21 to the individuals, Federal agencies, and committees 

22 specified in paragraph (2) written notification of the 

23 establishment of the Clearinghouse, including up24 dates pertaining to grant programs identified under 

25 subsection (a)(2)(C). 


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1 (2) INDIVIDUALS, FEDERAL AGENCIES, AND

2 COMMITTEES SPECIFIED.—The individuals and enti3 ties specified in this paragraph are the following: 

4 (A) Every State homeland security advisor. 

5 (B) Every State department of homeland 

6 security. 

7 (C) Other Federal agencies with grant pro8 grams or initiatives that aid in the safety and 

9 security of nonprofit organizations, including 

10 faith-based organizations, and houses of wor11 ship, as determined appropriate by the Sec12 retary. 

13 (D) Every Cyber Security Advisor. 

14 (E) Every Protective Security Advisor. 

15 (F) Every Federal Bureau of Investigation 

16 Joint Terrorism Task Force. 

17 (G) Every Homeland Security Fusion Cen18 ter. 

19 (H) Every State or territorial Governor or 

20 other Chief Executive. 

21 (I) The Committee on Homeland Security 

22 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee 

23 on the Judiciary of the Senate. 


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1 (J) The Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

3 House of Representatives. 

4 (c) FEDERAL GRANTS AND RESOURCES OVER5 VIEW.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent practicable, 

7 the Secretary, when carrying out subsection 

8 (a)(2)(C), shall include a grants program overview 

9 on the website of the Clearinghouse that shall— 

10 (A) be the location for all information re11 garding Federal grant programs that are open 

12 to nonprofit organizations, including faith-based 

13 organizations, and houses of worship for the 

14 purposes of safety and security; 

15 (B) directly link to each grant application 

16 and any applicable user guides; 

17 (C) identify all safety and security home18 land security assistance programs managed by 

19 the Department that may be used to implement 

20 best practices and recommendations of the 

21 Clearinghouse; 

22 (D) concurrent with the application period 

23 for any grant identified under subsection 

24 (a)(2)(C), provide information related to the re25 quired elements of grant applications to aid 


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1 nonprofit organizations, including faith-based 

2 organizations, and houses of worship in meeting 

3 the eligibility criteria for Federal grants; and 

4 (E) provide answers to frequently asked 

5 questions regarding the implementation of best 

6 practices and recommendations of the Clearing7 house and best practices for applying for a 

8 grant identified under subsection (a)(2)(C). 

9 (2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO

10 FEDERAL GRANTS AND RESOURCES.—Each Federal 

11 agency notified under subsection (b) shall provide to 

12 the Secretary or other appropriate point of contact 

13 for the Clearinghouse for inclusion in the Clearing14 house necessary information regarding any Federal 

15 grant programs or resources of the Federal agency 

16 that are available for nonprofit organizations, includ17 ing faith-based organizations, and houses of worship 

18 for the purposes of safety and security. 

19 (3) STATE GRANTS AND RESOURCES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any State notified 

21 under subsection (b) may provide to the Sec22 retary or other appropriate point of contact for 

23 the Clearinghouse for inclusion in the Clearing24 house necessary information regarding any 

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1 able for nonprofit organizations, including faith2 based organizations, and houses of worship for 

3 the purposes of safety and security. 

4 (B) IDENTIFICATION OF RESOURCES.— 

5 The Clearinghouse shall, to the extent prac6 ticable, identify for each State the following: 

7 (i) Each State agency responsible for 

8 safety and security of nonprofit organiza9 tions, including faith-based organizations, 

10 and houses of worship in the State, or any 

11 State that does not have such an agency 

12 designated. 

13 (ii) Any grant program that may be 

14 used for the purposes of implementing best 

15 practices and recommendations of the 

16 Clearinghouse. 

17 (iii) Any resources or programs, in18 cluding community prevention or interven19 tion efforts, that may be used to assist in 

20 targeted violence and terrorism prevention. 

21 (d) OTHER RESOURCES.—The Secretary shall, on the 

22 website of the Clearinghouse, include a separate section 

23 for other resources that shall provide a centralized list of 

24 all available points of contact from which a nonprofit orga25 nization, including a faith-based organization, or a house 


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1 of worship may seek assistance in grant applications and 

2 in carrying out the best practices and recommendations 

3 of the Clearinghouse, including the following: 

4 (1) A list of contact information to reach De5 partment personnel to assist with grant-related ques6 tions. 

7 (2) The applicable agency contact information 

8 to connect nonprofit organizations, including faith9 based organizations, and houses of worship with 

10 Protective Security Advisors. 

11 (3) Contact information for all Department Fu12 sion Centers, listed by State. 

13 (4) Information on the ‘‘If you See Something 

14 Say Something Campaign’’ of the Department. 

15 (5) Any other appropriate contacts. 

16 (e) GAO REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

17 United States shall submit to Congress a report on the 

18 state of Federal grants devoted to safety and security for 

19 nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organiza20 tions, and houses of worship, and an evaluation of the rel21 evant programs and resources devoted to the safety and 

22 security of nonprofit organizations, including faith-based 

23 organizations, and houses of worship as of the date of the 

24 report. 


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1 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion may be construed to create, satisfy, or waive any re3 quirement under Federal civil rights laws, including— 

4 (1) title II of the Americans With Disabilities 

5 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.); or 

6 (2) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

7 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). 

8 (g) SUNSET.—This Act shall cease to be effective on 

9 the date that is four years after the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act. 

11 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) CLEARINGHOUSE.—The term ‘‘Clearing13 house’’ means the Federal Clearinghouse on Safety 

14 and Security Best Practices for Nonprofit Organiza15 tions, Faith-based Organizations, and Houses of 

16 Worship established under subsection (a). 

17 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

18 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

19 (3) FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The term 

20 ‘‘faith-based organization’’ means a group, center, or 

21 nongovernmental organization with a religious, ideo22 logical, or spiritual motivation, character, affiliation, 

23 or purpose that meets the definition of nonprofit or24 ganization. 


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1 (4) HOUSE OF WORSHIP.—The term ‘‘house of 

2 worship’’ means a place or building, including a syn3 agogue, mosque, temple, and church, in which 

4 congregants practice their religious or spiritual be5 liefs. 

6 (5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

7 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization— 

8 (A) of the type described in subsection 

9 (c)(3) of section 501 of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under 

11 subsection (a) of such section; and 

12 (B) determined to be at risk of a terrorist 

13 attack or other threat by the Secretary. 

14 (6) SAFETY AND SECURITY.—The term ‘‘safety 

15 and security’’ means prevention of, protection 

16 against, or recovery from threats and incidents, in17 cluding natural disasters, manmade disasters, or ter18 rorist attacks. 

19 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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