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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1939 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1939

  To direct the Attorney General to establish a system of background 
 checks for employers and employees of the electronic life safety and 
  security system installation and monitoring industry, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 2, 2009

 Mr. Luetkemeyer introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To direct the Attorney General to establish a system of background 
 checks for employers and employees of the electronic life safety and 
  security system installation and monitoring industry, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Electronic Life Safety and Security 
Systems Federal Background Check Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds--
            (1) the electronic life safety and security systems 
        industry performs critical security installation and protection 
        for much of the infrastructure in the United States and 
        provides commercial buildings, public agencies and residences 
        with alarm and security systems that are an important part of 
        homeland security and anti-crime and terrorist prevention;
            (2) these systems include central monitoring stations and 
        individual employer-owned companies and other private sector 
        businesses that install systems in these structures;
            (3) some States do not provide for any licencing or 
        regulation requirement that includes a State or Federal 
        background check on employers and employees of these companies;
            (4) many employers and their employees in the industry 
        travel across State lines to install their systems and may or 
        may not be required to undergo Federal background checks as a 
        condition of employment and in some cases there may be 
        background check requirements at the State level or duplicated 
        background checks at the county or city levels; and
            (5) many employers and their employees in the industry have 
        access to public and private structures and should undergo a 
        Federal background check to protect lives and property.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF BACKGROUND CHECK.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Attorney General shall establish a method to permit employers 
in the electronic life safety and security systems installation and 
monitoring industry to access the information contained in appropriate 
records acquired under section 534 of title 28, United States Code, to 
provide the employers with any resulting relevant criminal history 
record information in accordance with the following goals and 
standards:
            (1) Employers should be able to discover if employees or 
        prospective employees have been convicted of a felony or of an 
        offense involving dishonesty or false statement or the use of 
        force against the person of another within the 10 years prior 
        to the check.
            (2) Employers should be able to obtain access to Federal 
        criminal history record information by the Attorney General 
        designating, the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, 
        as the channeling organization representing the electronic life 
        safety and security systems industry.
            (3) The access provided under this Act should not duplicate 
        access by an employer regarding an employee working only within 
        one State where the State licensing and regulation of that 
        employee already requires a Federal background check.
            (4) Each employee for whom a background check is provided 
        under this Act should be issued a Federal Background Check 
        Completion identification card by the Department of Justice for 
        an appropriate period of time up to two years, indicating that 
        the check was made with no adverse results. During that period 
        of time, an employer or prospective employer may rely on this 
        card instead of seeking a new Federal background check.
            (5) The Federal Background Check Completion ID card should 
        receive reciprocity from States, including those without a 
        requirement for a Federal background check for this industry or 
        without any requirement for background checks for this 
        industry.
            (6) The Attorney General may set reasonable fees to be 
        charged in connection with the method for background checks 
        authorized under this Act.
            (7) The Attorney General, in establishing the method for 
        background checks, shall give due consideration to privacy 
        protections and employee rights.

SEC. 4. DEFINITION.

    As used in this Act, the term ``electronic life safety and security 
systems industry'' means businesses that provide installation and 
central monitoring of fire and burglar alarm systems to public or 
private entities including but not limited to fire alarms, burglar 
alarms, closed-circuit TV, biometric systems, access control systems 
and other crime prevention systems.
                                 <all>
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