I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4073 
To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to establish a permanent 
background check system. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2015 
Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Michigan, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DOLD, Mr. HONDA, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. 
KUSTER, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. RANGEL, and 
Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Protection Im-
provements Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Next Generation Identification System 
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation maintains 
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fingerprints and criminal history records on more 
than 71,000,000 individuals. 
(2) Congress has worked with the States to 
make criminal history background checks available 
to organizations seeking to screen employees and 
volunteers who work with children, the elderly, and 
individuals with disabilities, through the National 
Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119 et 
seq.), the Volunteers for Children Act (Public Law 
105–251; 112 Stat. 1885), the Serve America Act 
(Public Law 111–13; 123 Stat. 1460), the Adam 
Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 
(Public Law 109–248; 120 Stat. 587), and statutes 
enacted by 48 States in compliance with Public Law 
92–544. However, there may still be persons pro-
viding care and services to vulnerable populations 
who fall outside these numerous and broad cat-
egories of criminal history background checks au-
thorized by Federal and State law. 
SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 
The National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 
U.S.C. 5119 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 5 as section 6; and 
(2) by inserting after section 4 the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 5. PROGRAM FOR NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY 
BACKGROUND CHECKS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘background check designee’ 
means the entity designated by the Attorney General 
under subsection (b)(3) to carry out the duties de-
scribed in subsection (c); 
‘‘(2) the term ‘covered entity’ means any busi-
ness or organization that provides, or licenses, cer-
tifies, or coordinates individuals or organizations to 
provide, care, care placement, supervision, treat-
ment, education, training, instruction, or recreation 
to vulnerable populations; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘covered individual’ means an in-
dividual— 
‘‘(A) who has, seeks to have, or may have 
unsupervised access to vulnerable populations 
served by a covered entity; or 
‘‘(B) who— 
‘‘(i) is employed by or volunteers with, 
or seeks to be employed by or volunteer 
with, a covered entity; or 
‘‘(ii) owns or operates, or seeks to 
own or operate, a covered entity; 
‘‘(4) the term ‘criminal history review designee’ 
means an entity designated by the Attorney General 
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under subsection (b)(3) to carry out the criminal 
history review program; 
‘‘(5) the term ‘criminal history review program’ 
means the program established under subsection (d); 
‘‘(6) the term ‘qualified State program’ means 
a program approved by a State authorized agency 
that provides access to national criminal history 
background checks, as authorized by Federal or 
State law; 
‘‘(7) the term ‘State’ means a State of the 
United States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the 
Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of 
Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 
and the Republic of Palau; and 
‘‘(8) the term ‘vulnerable populations’ shall in-
clude elderly persons, disabled persons, and children. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 
is to facilitate widespread access to national criminal 
history background checks on covered individuals, in 
cases where a State has not established procedures 
for such access pursuant to Federal or State law. 
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‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of the Child Protection Im-
provements Act of 2015, the Attorney General shall 
establish— 
‘‘(A) policies and procedures to carry out 
the duties described in subsection (c); and 
‘‘(B) a national criminal history review 
program in accordance with subsection (d). 
‘‘(3) DESIGNEES.—The Attorney General may 
designate 1 or more Federal Government agencies or 
enter into agreement with another entity or organi-
zation to carry out the duties described in sub-
sections (c) and (d). 
‘‘(c) ACCESS
TO STATE
AND NATIONAL BACK-
GROUND CHECKS.— 
‘‘(1) DUTIES.—The Attorney General or back-
ground check designee shall— 
‘‘(A) inform covered entities and covered 
individuals located in a State without a quali-
fied State program about how to request State 
and national background checks; 
‘‘(B) inform covered entities and covered 
individuals located in a State with a qualified 
State program about how to request national 
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background checks through the State author-
ized agency; 
‘‘(C) complete a check of the national 
criminal history background check system; and 
‘‘(D) provide information received in re-
sponse to such national criminal history back-
ground check to the criminal history review des-
ignee. 
‘‘(2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—A request for 
a national criminal history background check shall 
include— 
‘‘(A) the fingerprints of the covered indi-
vidual; and 
‘‘(B) the appropriate fee. 
‘‘(3) FEES.—The Attorney General shall, in ad-
dition to the fee for the noncriminal justice national 
criminal history background check authorized under 
section 534 of title 28, United States Code— 
‘‘(A) collect a fee to offset the costs of car-
rying out the duties described in subsection (d), 
in an amount equal to the cost of conducting 
the criminal history review; and 
‘‘(B) remit such fee to the Federal Bureau 
of Investigation or the State, as appropriate. 
‘‘(d) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW PROGRAM.— 
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‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 
is to provide covered entities with reliable and accu-
rate information regarding the fitness of the covered 
individuals to have responsibility for the safety and 
well-being of vulnerable populations in their care. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Attorney General 
or criminal history review designee shall— 
‘‘(A) establish procedures to securely re-
ceive criminal history records; 
‘‘(B) 
make 
determinations 
regarding 
whether the criminal history records received in 
response to a national criminal history back-
ground check conducted under this section indi-
cate that the covered individual has a criminal 
history that may bear on the covered individ-
ual’s fitness to provide care to vulnerable popu-
lations; 
‘‘(C) convey to the covered entity that sub-
mitted the request for a national criminal his-
tory background check— 
‘‘(i) the fitness and suitability of the 
covered individual based solely on the cri-
teria described in paragraph (3); and 
‘‘(ii) instructions and guidance that 
the covered entity should consult the Equal 
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Employment Opportunity Commission En-
forcement Guidance #915.002, dated April 
25, 2012, ‘Consideration of Arrest and 
Conviction Records in Employment Deci-
sions under Title VII of the Civil Rights 
Act of 1964’, or any successor thereto, 
issued by the United States Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commission. 
‘‘(3) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW CRITERIA.—In 
determining whether a criminal history record indi-
cates that a covered individual has a criminal history 
that may bear on the fitness of the covered indi-
vidual to provide care to vulnerable populations, the 
Attorney General or designee shall employ the cri-
teria used to evaluate individuals under other Fed-
eral laws, such as the Volunteers for Children Act 
(Public Law 105–251; 112 Stat. 1885), the Serve 
America Act (Public Law 111–13; 123 Stat. 1460), 
and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety 
Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–248; 120 Stat. 587). 
‘‘(4) APPLICATION PROCESSING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 
shall establish the process by which a covered 
entity or a covered individual in a State without 
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a qualified State program may obtain a na-
tional criminal history background check. 
‘‘(B) CHALLENGE TO COMPLETENESS OF 
RECORD.—A covered individual may challenge 
the completeness of any information in the 
criminal history record of the individual by con-
tacting the Federal Bureau of Investigations 
under the procedure set out in section 16.34 of 
title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
successor thereto. 
‘‘(5) PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM.—The Attor-
ney General or designee shall determine whether an 
entity is a covered entity. 
‘‘(6) PRIVACY OF INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any entity authorized 
to receive or transmit fingerprints or criminal 
history records under this section— 
‘‘(i) shall use the fingerprints, crimi-
nal history records, or information in the 
criminal history records only for the pur-
poses specifically set forth in this section; 
and 
‘‘(ii) shall maintain adequate security 
measures to ensure the confidentiality of 
the fingerprints, the criminal history 
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records, and the information in the crimi-
nal history records. 
‘‘(B) RETENTION
OF
FINGERPRINTS
BY 
THE FBI.—In accordance with State or Federal 
procedures, for the purpose of providing finger-
print verification, criminal investigation or sub-
sequent hit notification services, or for the re-
tention of criminal history, the Federal Bureau 
of Investigation may retain any fingerprints 
submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion under this section. 
‘‘(7) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to change or re-
place any background check program authorized by 
Federal or State law on the day before the date of 
enactment of the Child Protection Improvements Act 
of 2015.’’. 
Æ 
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