II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1319 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 30, 2011 

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

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 ‘‘Electronic Life Safety 

5 and Security Systems Federal Background Check Act of 

6 2011’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The electronic life safety and security sys2 tems industry performs critical security installation 

3 and protection for much of the infrastructure in the 

4 United States and provides commercial buildings, 

5 public agencies and residences with alarm and secu6 rity systems that are an important part of homeland 

7 security and anti-crime and terrorist prevention. 

8 (2) The electronic life safety and security sys9 tems industry includes central monitoring stations 

10 and individual employer-owned companies and other 

11 private sector businesses that install alarm and secu12 rity systems in infrastructure of the United States. 

13 (3) Some States do not provide for any licens14 ing or regulation requirement that includes a State 

15 or Federal background check on employers and em16 ployees of the companies involved in the electronic 

17 life safety and security systems industry. 

18 (4) Many employers and employees in the elec19 tronic life safety and security systems industry trav20 el across State lines to install systems and may or 

21 may not be required to undergo Federal background 

22 checks as a condition of employment and in some 

23 cases there may be background check requirements 

24 at the State level or duplicated background checks 

25 at the county or city levels. 


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1 (5) Many employers and employees in the elec2 tronic life safety and security systems industry have 

3 access to public and private structures and should 

4 undergo a Federal background check in order to 

5 protect lives and property. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘electronic life safety and secu8 rity systems industry’’ means businesses that provide in9 stallation and central monitoring of fire and burglar alarm 

10 systems to public or private entities, including fire alarms, 

11 burglar alarms, closed-circuit TV, biometric systems, ac12 cess control systems, personal emergency response sys13 tems, and other crime prevention systems. 

14 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF BACKGROUND CHECK. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

17 shall establish a method to permit employers in the elec18 tronic life safety and security systems installation and 

19 monitoring industry to request State and Federal finger20 print-based background checks, in accordance with the in21 formation contained in appropriate records acquired under 

22 section 534 of title 28, United States Code, and to provide 

23 any resulting relevant criminal history record information 

24 in accordance with the goals and standards described in 

25 this Act. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The method for background 

2 checks established under subsection (a)— 

3 (1) shall allow— 

4 (A) employers to discover if employees or 

5 prospective employees have been convicted of a 

6 felony or of an offense involving dishonesty or 

7 false statement or the use of force against the 

8 person of another during the 10-year period be9 fore the background check is conducted; and 

10 (B) employers to obtain a background 

11 check of State and Federal criminal history 

12 record information by submitting fingerprints— 

13 (i) to the Attorney General through 

14 the State criminal history record repository 

15 of the State in which the employer is lo16 cated; or 

17 (ii) if a State declines to allow access 

18 to the criminal history record repository of 

19 the State, in a manner determined by the 

20 Attorney General; and 

21 (2) shall not duplicate access by an employer 

22 regarding an employee working only within 1 State 

23 where the State licensing and regulation of that em24 ployee already requires a Federal background check. 


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1 (c) FEES.—The Attorney General may set reasonable 

2 fees to be charged in connection with the method for back3 ground checks established under subsection (a). 

4 (d) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—The Attorney General, 

5 in establishing the method for background checks under 

6 subsection (a), shall give due consideration to privacy pro7 tections and employee rights. Each employee for whom a 

8 background check is provided under this section should 

9 have an effective means provided to seek a correction or 

10 dispute the outcome of the background check. 

Æ 


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