II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2123 

To establish the Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Security Best Practices 

for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2021 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Security Best Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and 

Houses of Worship, 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’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act— 

7 (1) the term ‘‘Clearinghouse’’ means the Fed8 eral Clearinghouse on Safety Best Practices for 

9 Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship 


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1 established under section 2220A of the Homeland 

2 Security Act of 2002, as added by section 3 of this 

3 Act; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart5 ment of Homeland Security; and 

6 (3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

7 of Homeland Security. 

8 SEC. 3. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SAFETY AND SECU9 RITY BEST PRACTICES FOR FAITH-BASED OR10 GANIZATIONS AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XXII of the 

12 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), 

13 as amended by section 9, is amended by adding at the 

14 end: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 2220A. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SAFETY AND 

16 SECURITY BEST PRACTICES FOR FAITH17 BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND HOUSES OF 

18 WORSHIP. 

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

20 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Clearinghouse’ means the Clear21 inghouse established under subsection (b); 

22 ‘‘(2) the term ‘faith-based organization’ means 

23 a group, center, or nongovernmental organization at 

24 risk because of religious, ideological, or spiritual be25 liefs; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘house of worship’ means a place 

2 or building, including synagogues, mosques, temples, 

3 and churches, in which congregants practice their re4 ligious or spiritual beliefs. 

5 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 

7 after the date of enactment of the Pray Safe Act, 

8 the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney 

9 General, the Executive Director of the White House 

10 Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partner11 ships, and the head of any other agency that the 

12 Secretary determines appropriate, shall establish a 

13 Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Security Best 

14 Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses 

15 of Worship within the Department. 

16 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The Clearinghouse shall be 

17 the primary resource of the Federal Government— 

18 ‘‘(A) to educate and publish online best 

19 practices and recommendations for safety and 

20 security for faith-based organizations and 

21 houses of worship; and 

22 ‘‘(B) to provide information relating to 

23 Federal grant programs available to faith-based 

24 organizations and houses of worship. 

25 ‘‘(3) PERSONNEL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ASSIGNMENTS.—The Clearinghouse 

2 shall be assigned such personnel and resources 

3 as the Secretary considers appropriate to carry 

4 out this section. 

5 ‘‘(B) DETAILEES.—The Secretary may co6 ordinate detailees as required for the Clearing7 house. 

8 ‘‘(C) DESIGNATED POINT OF CONTACT.— 

9 There shall be not less than 1 employee as10 signed or detailed to the Clearinghouse who 

11 shall be the designated point of contact to pro12 vide information and assistance to faith-based 

13 organizations and houses of worship, including 

14 assistance relating to the grant program estab15 lished under section 5 of the Pray Safe Act. 

16 The contact information of the designated point 

17 of contact shall be made available on the 

18 website of the Clearinghouse. 

19 ‘‘(D) QUALIFICATION.—To the maximum 

20 extent possible, any personnel assigned or de21 tailed to the Clearinghouse under this para22 graph should be familiar with faith-based orga23 nizations and houses of worship and with phys24 ical and online security measures to identify 

25 and prevent safety and security risks. 


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1 ‘‘(c) CLEARINGHOUSE CONTENTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) EVIDENCE-BASED TIERS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con4 sultation with the Attorney General, the Execu5 tive Director of the White House Office of 

6 Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, 

7 and the head of any other agency that the Sec8 retary determines appropriate, shall develop 

9 tiers for determining evidence-based practices 

10 that demonstrate a significant effect on improv11 ing safety or security, or both, for faith-based 

12 organizations and houses of worship. 

13 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The tiers required 

14 to be developed under subparagraph (A) shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) prioritize— 

16 ‘‘(I) strong evidence from not 

17 less than 1 well-designed and well-im18 plemented experimental study; and 

19 ‘‘(II) moderate evidence from not 

20 less than 1 well-designed and well-im21 plemented quasi-experimental study; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) consider promising evidence that 

24 demonstrates a rationale based on high25 quality research findings or positive evalVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2123.IS S2123

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1 uations that such activity, strategy, or 

2 intervention is likely to improve security 

3 and promote safety for faith-based organi4 zations and houses of worship. 

5 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR BEST PRACTICES AND REC6 OMMENDATIONS.—The best practices and rec7 ommendations of the Clearinghouse shall, at a min8 imum— 

9 ‘‘(A) identify areas of concern for faith10 based organizations and houses of worship, in11 cluding event planning recommendations, check12 lists, facility hardening, tabletop exercise re13 sources, and other resilience measures; 

14 ‘‘(B) involve comprehensive safety meas15 ures, including threat prevention, preparedness, 

16 protection, mitigation, incident response, and 

17 recovery to improve the safety posture of faith18 based organizations and houses of worship upon 

19 implementation; 

20 ‘‘(C) involve comprehensive safety meas21 ures, including preparedness, protection, mitiga22 tion, incident response, and recovery to improve 

23 the resiliency of faith-based organizations and 

24 houses of worship from manmade and natural 

25 disasters; 


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1 ‘‘(D) include any evidence or research ra2 tionale supporting the determination of the 

3 Clearinghouse that the best practice or recom4 mendation under subparagraph (B) has been 

5 shown to have a significant effect on improving 

6 the safety and security of individuals in faith7 based organizations and houses of worship, in8 cluding— 

9 ‘‘(i) findings and data from previous 

10 Federal, State, local, Tribal, territorial, 

11 private sector, and nongovernmental orga12 nization research centers relating to safety, 

13 security, and targeted violence at faith14 based organizations and houses of worship; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) other supportive evidence or find17 ings relied upon by the Clearinghouse in 

18 determining best practices and recommen19 dations to improve the safety and security 

20 posture of a faith-based organization or 

21 house of worship upon implementation; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(E) an overview of the available resources 

24 the Clearinghouse can provide for faith-based 

25 organizations and houses of worship. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—The Clear2 inghouse shall maintain and make available a com3 prehensive index of all Federal grant programs for 

4 which faith-based organizations and houses of wor5 ship are eligible, which shall include the performance 

6 metrics for each grant management that the recipi7 ent will be required to provide. 

8 ‘‘(4) PAST RECOMMENDATIONS.—To the great9 est extent practicable, the Clearinghouse shall iden10 tify and present, as appropriate, best practices and 

11 recommendations issued by Federal, State, local, 

12 Tribal, territorial, private sector, and nongovern13 mental organizations relevant to the safety and secu14 rity of faith-based organizations and houses of wor15 ship. 

16 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—The Secretary 

17 may produce and publish materials on the Clearinghouse 

18 to assist and train faith-based organizations, houses of 

19 worship, and law enforcement agencies on the implementa20 tion of the best practices and recommendations. 

21 ‘‘(e) CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) collect for the purpose of continuous 

24 improvement of the Clearinghouse— 

25 ‘‘(i) Clearinghouse data analytics; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) user feedback on the implemen2 tation of resources, best practices, and rec3 ommendations identified by the Clearing4 house; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) any evaluations conducted on 

6 implementation of the best practices and 

7 recommendations of the Clearinghouse; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) in coordination with the Faith-Based 

10 Security Advisory Council of the Department, 

11 the Department of Justice, the Executive Direc12 tor of the White House Office of Faith-Based 

13 and Neighborhood Partnerships, and any other 

14 agency that the Secretary determines appro15 priate— 

16 ‘‘(i) assess and identify Clearinghouse 

17 best practices and recommendations for 

18 which there are no resources available 

19 through Federal Government programs for 

20 implementation; 

21 ‘‘(ii) provide feedback on the imple22 mentation of best practices and recommen23 dations of the Clearinghouse; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) propose additional recommenda2 tions for best practices for inclusion in the 

3 Clearinghouse; and 

4 ‘‘(C) not less frequently than annually, ex5 amine and update the Clearinghouse in accord6 ance with— 

7 ‘‘(i) the information collected under 

8 subparagraph (A); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the recommendations proposed 

10 under subparagraph (B)(iii). 

11 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The 

12 Secretary shall submit to Congress, on an annual 

13 basis, a report on the updates made to the Clearing14 house during the preceding 1-year period under 

15 paragraph (1)(C), which shall include a description 

16 of any changes made to the Clearinghouse.’’. 

17 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of con18 tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 

19 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135), as amended 

20 by section 9 of this Act, is amended by inserting after 

21 the item relating to section 2220 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2220A. Federal Clearinghouse on Safety Best Practices for Faith-Based 

Organizations and Houses of Worship.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION OF CLEARINGHOUSE. 

23 The Secretary shall provide written notification of the 

24 establishment of the Clearinghouse, with an overview of 


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1 the resources required as described in section 2220A of 

2 the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by section 

3 3 of this Act, and section 5 of this Act, to— 

4 (1) every State homeland security advisor; 

5 (2) every State department of homeland secu6 rity; 

7 (3) other Federal agencies with grant programs 

8 or initiatives that aid in the safety and security of 

9 faith-based organizations and houses of worship, as 

10 determined appropriate by the Secretary; 

11 (4) every Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint 

12 Terrorism Task Force; 

13 (5) every Homeland Security Fusion Center; 

14 (6) every State or territorial Governor or other 

15 chief executive; 

16 (7) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

17 Governmental Affairs and the Committee on the Ju18 diciary of the Senate; and 

19 (8) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

20 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

21 Representatives. 

22 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM OVERVIEW. 

23 (a) DHS GRANTS AND RESOURCES.—The Secretary 

24 shall include a grants program overview on the website 

25 of the Clearinghouse that shall— 


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1 (1) be the primary location for all information 

2 regarding Department grant programs that are open 

3 to faith-based organizations and houses of worship; 

4 (2) directly link to each grant application and 

5 any applicable user guides; 

6 (3) identify all safety and security homeland se7 curity assistance programs managed by the Depart8 ment that may be used to implement best practices 

9 and recommendation of the Clearinghouse; 

10 (4) annually, and concurrent with the applica11 tion period for any grant identified under paragraph 

12 (1), provide information related to the required ele13 ments of grant applications to aid smaller faith 

14 based organizations and houses of worship in earn15 ing access to Federal grants; and 

16 (5) provide frequently asked questions and an17 swers for the implementation of best practices and 

18 recommendations of the Clearinghouse and best 

19 practices for applying for a grant identified under 

20 paragraph (1). 

21 (b) OTHER FEDERAL GRANTS AND RESOURCES.— 

22 Each Federal agency notified under section 4(3) shall pro23 vide necessary information on any Federal grant programs 

24 or resources of the Federal agency that are available for 

25 faith-based organizations and houses of worship to the 


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1 Secretary or the appropriate point of contact for the 

2 Clearinghouse. 

3 (c) STATE GRANTS AND RESOURCES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any State notified under 

5 paragraph (1), (2), or (6) of section 4 may provide 

6 necessary information on any grant programs or re7 sources of the State available for faith-based organi8 zations and houses of worship to the Secretary or 

9 the appropriate point of contact for the Clearing10 house. 

11 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF RESOURCES.—The 

12 Clearinghouse shall, to the extent practicable, iden13 tify, for each State— 

14 (A) each agency responsible for safety for 

15 faith-based organizations and houses of worship 

16 in the State, or any State that does not have 

17 such an agency designated; 

18 (B) any grant program that may be used 

19 for the purposes of implementing best practices 

20 and recommendations of the Clearinghouse; and 

21 (C) any resources or programs, including 

22 community prevention or intervention efforts, 

23 that may be used to assist in targeted violence 

24 and terrorism prevention. 


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1 SEC. 6. OTHER RESOURCES. 

2 The Secretary shall, on the website of the Clearing3 house, include a separate section for other resources that 

4 shall provide a centralized list of all available points of 

5 contact to seek assistance in grant applications and in car6 rying out the best practices and recommendations of the 

7 Clearinghouse, including— 

8 (1) a list of contact information to reach De9 partment personnel to assist with grant-related ques10 tions; 

11 (2) the applicable Cybersecurity and Infrastruc12 ture Security Agency contact information to connect 

13 houses of worship with Protective Security Advisors; 

14 (3) contact information for all Department Fu15 sion Centers, listed by State; 

16 (4) information on the If you See Something 

17 Say Something Campaign of the Department; and 

18 (5) any other appropriate contacts. 

19 SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

20 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

21 Act shall be construed to create, satisfy, or waive any re22 quirement under Federal civil rights laws, including— 

23 (1) title II of the Americans With Disabilities 

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

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

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


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1 SEC. 8. EXEMPTION. 

2 Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (com3 monly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’) shall 

4 not apply to any rulemaking or information collection re5 quired under this Act or under section 2220A of the 

6 Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by section 3 

7 of this Act. 

8 SEC. 9. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 

9 (a) REDESIGNATIONS.—Subtitle A of title XXII of 

10 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 

11 is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating section 2217 (6 U.S.C. 

13 665f) as section 2220; 

14 (2) by redesignating section 2216 (6 U.S.C. 

15 665e) as section 2219; 

16 (3) by redesignating the fourth section 2215 

17 (relating to Sector Risk Management Agencies) (6 

18 U.S.C. 665d) as section 2218; 

19 (4) by redesignating the third section 2215 (re20 lating to the Cybersecurity State Coordinator) (6 

21 U.S.C. 665c) as section 2217; and 

22 (5) by redesignating the second section 2215 

23 (relating to the Joint Cyber Planning Office) (6 

24 U.S.C. 665b) as section 2216. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 Section 2202(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

3 (6 U.S.C. 652(c)) is amended— 

4 (1) in the first paragraph (12), by striking 

5 ‘‘section 2215’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2217’’; and 

6 (2) by redesignating the second and third para7 graphs (12) as paragraphs (13) and (14), respec8 tively. 

9 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

10 section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public 

11 Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135) is amended by striking 

12 the item relating to section 2214 and all that follows 

13 through the item relating to section 2217 and inserting 

14 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2214. National Asset Database. 

‘‘Sec. 2215. Duties and authorities relating to .gov internet domain. 

‘‘Sec. 2216. Joint Cyber Planning Office. 

‘‘Sec. 2217. Cybersecurity State Coordinator. 

‘‘Sec. 2218. Sector Risk Management Agencies. 

‘‘Sec. 2219. Cybersecurity Advisory Committee. 

‘‘Sec. 2220. Cybersecurity education and training programs.’’. 

15 (d) ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.— 

16 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 904(b)(1) of the 

17 DOTGOV Act of 2020 (title IX of division U of 

18 Public Law 116–260) is amended, in the matter pre19 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Homeland 

20 Security Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Homeland Security Act 

21 of 2002’’. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

2 by paragraph (1) shall take effect as if enacted as 

3 part of the DOTGOV Act of 2020 (title IX of divi4 sion U of Public Law 116–260). 

Æ 


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