I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 809

To amend the Act of June 1, 1948, to provide for reform of the Federal

Protective Service.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 23, 1999

Mr. TRAFICANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Act of June 1, 1948, to provide for reform

of the Federal Protective Service.

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 ‘‘Federal Protective

5 Service Reform Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF POLICE OFFICERS.

7 The Act of June 1, 1948 (40 U.S.C. 318–318d), is

8 amended—

9 (1) in section 1 by striking the section heading

10 and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘SECTION 1. POLICE OFFICERS.’’;

2 (2) in sections 1 and 3 by striking ‘‘special po3 licemen’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘police

4 officers’’;

5 (3) in section 1(a) by striking ‘‘uniformed

6 guards’’ and inserting ‘‘certain employees’’; and

7 (4) in section 1(b) by striking ‘‘Special police8 men’’ and inserting ‘‘Police officers’’.

9 SEC. 3. POWERS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1(b) of the Act of June

11 1, 1948 (40 U.S.C. 318(b)), is amended—

12 (1) by inserting ‘‘, and upon areas adjacent to

13 such property in accordance with paragraph (3),’’

14 after ‘‘subsection (a)’’; and

15 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the

16 following: ‘‘and, with respect to areas adjacent to

17 Federal property, shall be concurrent with State and

18 local law enforcement authorities in the area in

19 which the property is located’’.

20 (b) ADDITIONAL POWERS.—Section 1(b) of such Act

21 is further amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘Police officers’’ and inserting

23 the following:

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Police officers’’;

25 (2) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL POWERS.—A police officer

2 appointed under this section is authorized—

3 ‘‘(A) to carry firearms in any State, the

4 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

5 Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of

6 the United States, subject to conditions con7 tained in regulations to be prescribed by the

8 Commissioner of the Federal Protective Service;

9 ‘‘(B) to petition Federal courts for arrest

10 and search warrants and to execute such war11 rants;

12 ‘‘(C) to arrest an individual without a war13 rant if the individual commits a crime in the of14 ficer’s presence or if the officer has probable

15 cause to believe that the individual has commit16 ted a crime or is committing a crime;

17 ‘‘(D) to conduct investigations, on and off

18 the property in question, of offenses that have

19 been or may be committed against property

20 under the charge and control of the Adminis21 trator or against persons on such property; and

22 ‘‘(E) to coordinate with other law enforce23 ment agencies that have intelligence gathering

24 authority for the protection of persons and

25 property described in subparagraph (D).
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1 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OUTSIDE FEDERAL PROP2 ERTY.—A police officer appointed under this section

3 is authorized to exercise any power granted under

4 this section upon an area that is adjacent to prop5 erty owned or occupied by the United States and

6 under the charge and control of the Administrator

7 if—

8 ‘‘(A)(i) the officer reasonably believes that

9 the action is necessary to prevent or stop a fel10 ony in progress that threatens life, limb, or

11 property;

12 ‘‘(ii) the felony is being committed in the

13 presence of the officer; and

14 ‘‘(iii) there is insufficient time to contact

15 local law enforcement authorities; or

16 ‘‘(B) there is a known, immediate threat

17 directed at property under the charge and con18 trol of the Administrator or against persons on

19 such property.’’; and

20 (3) by moving the left margin of paragraph (1),

21 as designated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, so

22 as to appropriately align with paragraphs (2) and

23 (3), as designated by paragraph (2) of this sub24 section.
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1 SEC. 4. PENALTIES.

2 Section 4(a) of the Act of June 1, 1948 (40 U.S.C.

3 318c(a)), is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

5 (b), whoever violates any rule or regulation promulgated

6 pursuant to section 2 shall be fined or imprisoned, or both,

7 in an amount not to exceed the maximum amount pro8 vided for a Class C misdemeanor under sections 3571 and

9 3581 of title 18, United States Code.’’.

10 SEC. 5. SPECIAL AGENTS.

11 Section 5 of the Act of June 1, 1948 (40 U.S.C.

12 318d), is amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘nonuniformed special police14 men’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘special

15 agents’’;

16 (2) by striking ‘‘special policeman’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘special agent’’; and

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Any

19 such special agent shall have the same authority out20 side Federal property as police officers have under

21 section 1(b)(3).’’.

22 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL PROTECTIVE SERV23 ICE.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Act of June 1, 1948 (40

25 U.S.C. 318–318d), is amended by adding at the end the

26 following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL PROTECTIVE SERV2 ICE.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of General

4 Services shall establish the Federal Protective Service as

5 a separate operating service of the General Services Ad6 ministration.

7 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONER.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Protective

9 Service shall be headed by a Commissioner who shall

10 be appointed by and report directly to the Adminis11 trator.

12 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Commissioner

13 shall be appointed from among individuals who have

14 at least 5 years of professional law enforcement ex15 perience in a command or supervisory position.

16 ‘‘(c) DUTIES OF THE COMMISSIONER.—The Commis17 sioner shall—

18 ‘‘(1) assist the Administrator in carrying out

19 the duties of the Administrator under this Act;

20 ‘‘(2) serve as the principal law enforcement offi21 cer and security official of the United States with re22 spect to the protection of Federal officers and em23 ployees in buildings and areas that are owned or oc24 cupied by the United States and under the charge

25 and control of the Administrator;
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1 ‘‘(3) render necessary assistance, as determined

2 by the Administrator, to other Federal, State, and

3 local law enforcement agencies upon request; and

4 ‘‘(4) coordinate the activities of the Commis5 sioner with the activities of the Commissioner of the

6 Public Buildings Service.

7 ‘‘(d) APPOINTMENT OF REGIONAL DIRECTORS AND

8 ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner may ap10 point regional directors and assistant commissioners

11 of the Federal Protective Service.

12 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Commissioner

13 shall select individuals for appointments under para14 graph (1) from among individuals who have at least

15 5 years of direct law enforcement experience, includ16 ing at least 2 years in a supervisory position.’’.

17 (b) PAY LEVEL OF COMMISSIONER.—Section 5316 of

18 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after

19 the paragraph relating to the Commissioner of the Public

20 Buildings Service the following:

21 ‘‘Commissioner, Federal Protective Service,

22 General Services Administration.’’.
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1 SEC. 7. PAY AND BENEFITS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Act of June 1, 1948 (40

3 U.S.C. 318–318d), is further amended by adding at the

4 end the following:

5 ‘‘SEC. 7. PAY AND BENEFITS.

6 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any

7 other rule or regulation, the pay and benefits for police

8 officers and criminal investigators in the Federal Protec9 tive Service shall be determined in accordance with a pay

10 and benefits package established and maintained by the

11 Administrator of General Services that is equivalent to the

12 pay scale and benefits package applicable to members of

13 the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division.

14 Such pay scale and benefits package shall be established

15 by regulation, shall apply with respect to pay periods be16 ginning after January 1, 1999, and shall not result in a

17 decrease in the pay or benefits of any individual.’’.

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1(a) of

19 such Act (40 U.S.C. 318(a)), is amended by striking

20 ‘‘without additional compensation’’.

21 SEC. 8. NUMBER OF POLICE OFFICERS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Act of June 1, 1948 (40

23 U.S.C. 318–318d), is further amended by adding at the

24 end the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 8. NUMBER OF POLICE OFFICERS.

2 ‘‘(a) REDUCTIONS NOT PERMITTED.—After the 1-

3 year period beginning on the date of enactment of this

4 section, there shall be at least 730 full-time equivalent po5 lice officers in the Federal Protective Service. This num6 ber shall not be reduced unless specifically authorized by

7 law.

8 ‘‘(b) CONSOLIDATION OF BUILDING SECURITY

9 FORCES.—

10 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the

11 United States shall conduct a study to determine the

12 feasibility of merging all building security forces of

13 the Executive branch within, and under the super14 vision of, the Federal Protective Service.

15 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after

16 the date of enactment of this section, the Comptrol17 ler General shall transmit to Congress a report con18 taining the results of the study conducted under

19 paragraph (1).’’.

20 SEC. 9. EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS AND TRAINING.

21 The Act of June 1, 1948 (40 U.S.C. 318–318d), is

22 further amended by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘SEC. 9. EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS AND TRAINING.

24 ‘‘The Commissioner of Federal Protective Service

25 shall prescribe standards for the contracting of security

26 personnel for buildings and areas that are owned or occu-
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1 pied by the United States and under the charge and con2 trol of the Administrator of General Services. Such stand3 ards shall ensure that contract personnel receive adequate

4 training and are subject to the same background check

5 requirements as police officers of the Federal Protective

6 Service.’’.

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