II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1362 

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

background check system. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2013 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. HATCH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. FRANKEN, and 

Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to 

establish a permanent background check system. 

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 and Electronic Life and Safety Security Sys6 tems Act of 2013’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The Integrated Automated Fingerprint 

10 Identification System of the Federal Bureau of InVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:53 Jul 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1362.IS S1362

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1 vestigation maintains fingerprints and criminal his2 tory records on more than 71,000,000 individuals. 

3 (2) Congress has worked with the States to 

4 make criminal history background checks available 

5 to organizations seeking to screen employees and 

6 volunteers who work with children, the elderly, and 

7 individuals with disabilities, through the National 

8 Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119 et 

9 seq.), the Volunteers for Children Act (Public Law 

10 105–251; 112 Stat. 1885), the Serve America Act 

11 (Public Law 111–13; 123 Stat. 1460), the Adam 

12 Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 

13 (Public Law 109–248; 120 Stat. 587), and statutes 

14 enacted by 48 states in compliance with Public Law 

15 92–544. However, there may still be persons pro16 viding care and services to children who fall outside 

17 these numerous and broad categories of criminal his18 tory background checks authorized by Federal and 

19 State law. 

20 (3) The electronic life safety and security sys21 tems industry provides commercial buildings, public 

22 agencies and private residences with alarm, security 

23 and central monitoring systems to help prevent 

24 crime. These systems may be installed by individual 


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1 employer-owned companies and other private sector 

2 businesses. 

3 (4) Although 18 States currently have legisla4 tion, enacted under Public Law 92–544, to authorize 

5 criminal history background checks on individuals in 

6 burglar alarm installation and related professions, 

7 most States do not require a criminal history back8 ground check. To protect lives and property, individ9 uals in the electronic life safety and security systems 

10 industry should undergo a State and national crimi11 nal history background check. 

12 SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

13 The National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 

14 U.S.C. 5119 et seq.) is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating section 5 as section 6; and 

16 (2) by inserting after section 4 the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 5. PROGRAM FOR NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY 

18 BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

20 ‘‘(1) the term ‘background check designee’ 

21 means the entity designated by the Attorney General 

22 under subsection (b)(3) to carry out the duties de23 scribed in subsection (c); 

24 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered entity’ means any busi25 ness or organization that provides, or licenses, cerVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:53 Jul 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1362.IS S1362

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1 tifies, or coordinates individuals or organizations to 

2 provide, care, care placement, supervision, treat3 ment, education, training, instruction, or recreation 

4 to children; 

5 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered individual’ means an in6 dividual— 

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

8 unsupervised access to vulnerable populations 

9 served by a covered entity; 

10 ‘‘(B) who— 

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

12 or seeks to be employed by or volunteer 

13 with, a covered entity; or 

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

15 own or operate, a covered entity; or 

16 ‘‘(C) who is an employer or employee in 

17 the electronic life and safety security systems 

18 industry; 

19 ‘‘(4) the term ‘criminal history review designee’ 

20 means the entity designated by the Attorney General 

21 under subsection (b)(2) to carry out the criminal 

22 history review program; 

23 ‘‘(5) the term ‘criminal history review program’ 

24 means the program established under subsection (d); 


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1 ‘‘(6) the term ‘electronic life safety and security 

2 systems industry’ means employers and employees in 

3 businesses that provide installation and central mon4 itoring of fire and burglar alarm systems to public 

5 or private entities, including fire alarms, burglar 

6 alarms, closed-circuit television, biometric systems, 

7 access control systems, personal emergency response 

8 systems, and other crime prevention systems; 

9 ‘‘(7) the term ‘qualified State program’ means 

10 a program of a State authorized agency that pro11 vides access to national criminal history background 

12 checks, as authorized by Federal or State law; 

13 ‘‘(8) the term ‘State’ means a State of the 

14 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com15 monwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the 

16 Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 

17 Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of 

18 Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 

19 and the Republic of Palau; and 

20 ‘‘(9) the term ‘vulnerable populations’ shall in21 clude elderly persons, disabled persons, and children. 

22 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

23 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

24 is to facilitate widespread access to State and na25 tional criminal history background checks, not otherVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:53 Jul 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1362.IS S1362

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1 wise authorized by Federal or State law, on covered 

2 individuals and on employers and employees in the 

3 electronic life safety and security systems industry. 

4 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of enactment of the Child Protection Im6 provements and Electronic Life and Safety Security 

7 Systems Act of 2013, the Attorney General shall es8 tablish— 

9 ‘‘(A) policies and procedures to carry out 

10 the duties described in subsection (c); and 

11 ‘‘(B) a criminal history review program in 

12 accordance with subsection (d). 

13 ‘‘(3) DESIGNEES.—The Attorney General may 

14 designate 1 or more Federal Government agencies to 

15 carry out the duties described in subsection (c). 

16 ‘‘(c) ACCESS TO STATE AND NATIONAL BACK17 GROUND CHECKS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DUTIES.—The Attorney General shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) inform covered entities and covered 

20 individuals about how to request State and na21 tional background checks— 

22 ‘‘(i) for covered entities and covered 

23 individuals located in a State with a quali24 fied State program, by referring the covVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:53 Jul 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1362.IS S1362

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1 ered entity or covered individual to the 

2 State authorized agency; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) for covered entities and covered 

4 individuals located in a State without a 

5 qualified State program, by providing in6 formation on alternative methods of ob7 taining a State and national background 

8 check; 

9 ‘‘(B) complete a check of the national 

10 criminal history background check system; and 

11 ‘‘(C) provide information received in re12 sponse to such national criminal history back13 ground check to the criminal history review des14 ignee. 

15 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—A request for 

16 a State and national criminal history background 

17 check shall include— 

18 ‘‘(A) the fingerprints of the covered indi19 vidual; 

20 ‘‘(B) other documents required by State 

21 law for a State criminal history background 

22 check; and 

23 ‘‘(C) the appropriate fee. 

24 ‘‘(3) FEES.—The Attorney General shall, in ad25 dition to the fee for the noncriminal justice national 


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1 criminal history background check authorized under 

2 section 534 of title 28, United States Code— 

3 ‘‘(A) collect a fee to offset the costs of car4 rying out the duties described in subsection (d), 

5 in an amount equal to the cost of conducting 

6 the criminal history review; and 

7 ‘‘(B) remit such fee to the Federal Bureau 

8 of Investigation. 

9 ‘‘(d) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW PROGRAM.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

11 is to provide covered entities with reliable and accu12 rate information regarding the fitness of the covered 

13 individuals to have responsibility for the safety and 

14 well-being of vulnerable populations in their care, or 

15 for the installation and central monitoring of fire 

16 and burglar alarm systems. 

17 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Attorney General 

18 or designee shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) establish procedures to securely re20 ceive criminal history records; 

21 ‘‘(B) make determinations regarding 

22 whether the criminal history records received in 

23 response to a criminal history background check 

24 conducted under this section indicate that the 

25 covered individual has a criminal history that 


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1 may bear on the covered individual’s fitness to 

2 provide care to vulnerable populations or to in3 stall and monitor fire and burglar alarm sys4 tems; 

5 ‘‘(C) convey to the covered entity that sub6 mitted the request for a State and national 

7 criminal history background check— 

8 ‘‘(i) the fitness and suitability of the 

9 covered individual based solely on the cri10 teria described in paragraph (3); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) instructions and guidance that 

12 the covered entity should consult the Equal 

13 Employment Opportunity Commission En14 forcement Guidance #915.002, dated April 

15 25, 2012, ‘Consideration of Arrest and 

16 Conviction Records in Employment Deci17 sions under Title VII of the Civil Rights 

18 Act of 1964’, or any successor thereto, 

19 issued by the United States Equal Employ20 ment Opportunity Commission. 

21 ‘‘(3) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW CRITERIA.—In 

22 determining whether a criminal history record indi23 cates that a covered individual has a criminal history 

24 that may bear on the fitness of the covered indi25 vidual to provide care to vulnerable populations or to 


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1 install and monitor fire and burglar alarm systems, 

2 the Attorney General or designee shall employ the 

3 criteria used to evaluate individuals under other 

4 Federal laws, such as the Volunteers for Children 

5 Act (Public Law 105–251; 112 Stat. 1885), the 

6 Serve America Act (Public Law 111–13; 123 Stat. 

7 1460), and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 

8 Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–248; 120 Stat. 

9 587). 

10 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION PROCESSING.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

12 shall establish the process by which a covered 

13 entity or a covered individual in a State without 

14 a qualified State program may obtain a State 

15 and national criminal history background check. 

16 ‘‘(B) CHALLENGE TO COMPLETENESS OF

17 RECORD.—A covered individual may challenge 

18 the completeness of any information in the 

19 criminal history record of the individual by con20 tacting the Federal Bureau of Investigations 

21 under the procedure set out in section 16.34 of 

22 title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

23 successor thereto. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM.—The Attor2 ney General or designee shall determine whether an 

3 entity is a covered entity. 

4 ‘‘(6) PRIVACY OF INFORMATION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any entity authorized 

6 to receive or transmit fingerprints or criminal 

7 history records under this section— 

8 ‘‘(i) shall use the fingerprints, crimi9 nal history records, or information in the 

10 criminal history records only for the pur11 poses specifically set forth in this section; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii) shall maintain adequate security 

14 measures to ensure the confidentiality of 

15 the fingerprints, the criminal history 

16 records, and the information in the crimi17 nal history records. 

18 ‘‘(B) RETENTION OF FINGERPRINTS BY

19 THE FBI.—In accordance with State or Federal 

20 procedures, for the purpose of providing finger21 print verification, criminal investigation or sub22 sequent hit notification services, or for the re23 tention of criminal history, the Federal Bureau 

24 of Investigation may retain any fingerprints 


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1 submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investiga2 tion under this section. 

3 ‘‘(7) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

4 this subsection shall be construed to change or re5 place any background check program authorized by 

6 Federal or State law on the day before the date of 

7 enactment of the Child Protection Improvements 

8 and Electronic Life and Safety Security Systems Act 

9 of 2013.’’. 

Æ 


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