I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4022
To strengthen the Nation’s ability to protect its key assets and the life, 
health, and property of its populace by granting providers of private 
security services access to the criminal history records available through 
the National Crime Information Center in connection with their employ-
ees and prospective employees, requiring such providers to employ only 
those employees who pass criminal history records checks, to protect 
against unauthorized use of such records, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 24, 2004
Mr. ANDREWS (for himself and Mr. SAXTON) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 
and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen the Nation’s ability to protect its key assets 
and the life, health, and property of its populace by 
granting providers of private security services access to 
the criminal history records available through the Na-
tional Crime Information Center in connection with their 
employees and prospective employees, requiring such pro-
viders to employ only those employees who pass criminal 
history records checks, to protect against unauthorized 
use of such records, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Private Security En-
hancement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) One of the legacies of the horrific attacks 
of September 11, 2001, is the greatly enhanced need 
for security of the homeland. Meeting this need has 
imposed serious stresses on government agencies at 
all levels and entities whose primary task is protec-
tion of the Nation’s key assets and the life, health, 
and property of its populace. 
(2) President Bush stated, in a February 2003 
report titled ‘‘The National Strategy for the Physical 
Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key As-
sets’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Report’’), 
that there is an increased need to assess the Na-
tion’s vulnerabilities and to provide additional secu-
rity for its key assets. Providing such security will 
require increased cooperation between Government 
and the private sector. 
(3) The Report also recognized that terrorists, 
in the pursuit of their long-term, strategic objectives,
will likely continue to attack critical infrastructures 
and key assets, the vast majority of which are owned 
and operated by the private sector. 
(4) Because of enhanced security needs, the use 
of private security companies in guarding the Na-
tion’s key assets and the life, health, and property 
of its populace has increased significantly since Sep-
tember 11, 2001, and will continue to do so. 
(5) Also because of the enhanced security 
needs, businesses generally have increased their se-
curity efforts and the number of internal employees 
dedicated to securing their facilities. 
(6) As reliance on private security companies to 
guard the Nation’s key assets and to protect the life, 
health, and property of its populace continues to 
grow, the hiring and placement decisions of these 
companies—which employ more than 500,000 pri-
vate security officers nationwide—have become crit-
ical, as they determine which individuals will protect 
the Nation and have access to its key assets. Simi-
larly, businesses providing their own internal secu-
rity services have experienced a heightened need to 
improve their internal security measures and to ob-
tain more information about the individuals who 
provide their internal security. It has, therefore, be-
come imperative that companies employing or hiring 
security personnel have access to and be permitted 
to use a criminal background checking system that 
is efficient, inclusive, nationwide in scope, depend-
able, and technologically advanced, so as to minimize 
the occurrence of dangerous if not disastrous place-
ment and hiring decisions. 
(7) Companies cannot properly and effectively 
evaluate their prospective and current employees 
providing private security services without access to 
the criminal history records available through the 
National Crime Information Center (in this section 
referred to as ‘‘NCIC’’). Access to the NCIC for the 
purpose of reviewing the background of current and 
prospective employees is currently enjoyed by the 
banking industry, the nuclear power industry, public 
housing authorities, and others and should be made 
available to private security companies and to busi-
nesses providing their own security so that they can 
safely and effectively partner with Federal, State, 
and local governments in the effort to protect the 
homeland. 
(8) Given its critical role in the security of the 
homeland, the Department of Homeland Security, 
working in conjunction with the Department of Jus-
tice, is best suited to act as the clearinghouse for ob-
taining and disseminating NCIC criminal history 
records for the purposes set forth in this section. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the following definitions shall apply: 
(1) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘covered 
employee’’ means any individual, other than an ac-
tive law enforcement officer for any governmental 
unit, who is—
(A) employed by, or seeking employment 
with, a nongovernmental company that provides 
security guard services; or 
(B) employed as an internal security em-
ployee by, or seeking employment as an internal 
security employee with, a nongovernmental 
company that has more than 50 employees, of 
which 3 or more are internal security employ-
ees. 
(2) COVERED EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘covered 
employer’’ means—
(A) any nongovernmental company that—
(i) provides security guard services; 
(ii) for each jurisdiction in which it 
provides such services, is licensed by such 
jurisdiction to provide such services, to the
extent such jurisdiction permits or requires 
it to be so licensed; and 
(iii) provides such services—
(I) in interstate or foreign com-
merce; 
(II) at any site where there is lo-
cated any element of the Federal Gov-
ernment; or 
(III) for any person engaged in 
interstate or foreign commerce; or 
(B) any nongovernmental company that—
(i) has more than 50 employees, of 
which 3 or more are internal security em-
ployees; 
(ii) for each jurisdiction in which it 
provides internal security services with re-
spect to itself, is licensed by such jurisdic-
tion to provide such services, to the extent 
such jurisdiction permits or requires it to 
be so licensed; and 
(iii) is either engaged in interstate or 
foreign commerce or provides any product 
or service to any element of the Federal 
Government.
(3) INTERNAL
SECURITY
EMPLOYEE.—The 
term ‘‘internal security employee’’ means an em-
ployee whose primary responsibility is to provide in-
ternal security with respect to the company employ-
ing such employee. 
(4) NCIC.—The term ‘‘NCIC’’ means the Na-
tional Crime Information Center of the Department 
of Justice. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Homeland Security. 
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, and any other territory or possession of the 
United States. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO RECEIVE NCIC INFORMATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the other provisions of 
this section, the Secretary shall, upon receipt of a request 
by a covered employer with respect to a covered employee, 
provide for an NCIC criminal history records check with 
respect to that covered employee and provide the results 
of that check to that covered employer. 
(b) FINGERPRINTS.—A request under subsection (a) 
shall include the fingerprints of the covered employee, 
which shall be submitted electronically to the Secretary. 
The Secretary shall transmit those fingerprints to the At-
torney General. To assist the Secretary in complying with 
subsection (a), the Attorney General shall, notwith-
standing any other provision of law, provide for—
(1) an NCIC criminal history records check to 
be carried out with respect to that covered employee; 
and 
(2) the results of that check to be transmitted 
to the Secretary. 
(c) FEE.—The Secretary may, by regulation, estab-
lish and collect a reasonable fee for responding to a re-
quest under subsection (a). 
SEC. 5. USE OF NCIC INFORMATION BY COVERED EMPLOY-
ERS. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—A covered employer may not em-
ploy a covered employee to provide any security service 
or function unless—
(1) the covered employer first obtains the re-
sults of an NCIC criminal history records check with 
respect to that covered employee; and 
(2) neither the results of that check, nor any 
other information made available to the covered em-
ployer, indicate that the covered employee has any 
unpardoned conviction under any Federal or State 
law of any felony or any one or more of the following 
offenses:
(A) Illegally using, carrying, or possessing 
any firearm or other dangerous weapon. 
(B) Making or possessing any burglar’s in-
strument. 
(C) Buying or receiving stolen property. 
(D) Unlawful entry of a building. 
(E) Aiding escape from prison. 
(F) Unlawfully possessing or distributing 
any illegal narcotic drug. 
(G) Picking a pocket or attempting to do 
so. 
(H) Recklessly endangering another per-
son. 
(I) Making any terroristic threat. 
(J) Assaulting another person. 
(b) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section prevents a 
covered employer from making any use in its employment 
decisions of any such check or any other information, ex-
cept to the extent that section 7 or 8 of this Act prohibit 
such use. 
(c) DELAYED APPLICABILITY
FOR CURRENT EM-
PLOYEES.—In the case of a covered employee who is, on 
the date of the enactment of this Act, employed by a cov-
ered employer to provide a security service or function, 
the prohibition in subsection (a) shall not apply until—
(1) the date that is 6 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act; or 
(2) a later date specified by the Secretary, for 
any case in which the Secretary certifies that the re-
sults of the records check could not be obtained 
within 6 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act despite the exercise of reasonable diligence 
on the part of both the employee and the employer. 
SEC. 6. EMPLOYEE RIGHTS. 
(a) WRITTEN CONSENT.—A covered employer may 
not make a request under section 4(a) with respect to a 
covered employee, or obtain the fingerprints under section 
4(b) of a covered employee, without the written consent 
of that employee. 
(b) FREQUENCY OF REQUESTS.—A covered employer 
that makes a request under section 4(a) with respect to 
a covered employee and thereafter employs that employee 
for a continuous period may not make another such re-
quest with respect to such employee unless—
(1) such request is made at least 12 months 
after the previous request; or 
(2) good cause exists. 
(c) ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS.—The Secretary 
shall provide each covered employee subject to a request 
under section 4(a) with the opportunity to provide to the
NCIC information concerning the accuracy or complete-
ness of the results of the check. 
SEC. 7. RECORDS MANAGEMENT. 
A covered employer receiving any information under 
section 4 shall ensure that such information is—
(1) maintained confidentially; 
(2) not misused or disseminated to any person 
not involved in the employment decision with respect 
to the covered employee; and 
(3) destroyed, upon deciding whether to employ 
or continue to employ the covered employee or upon 
the passage of 180 days after the receipt of such in-
formation, whichever occurs first. 
SEC. 8. USE OF INFORMATION BY DEPARTMENT OF HOME-
LAND SECURITY. 
In carrying out this Act, the Secretary shall establish 
procedures to ensure that the Department of Homeland 
Security uses the results of checks carried out under sec-
tion 4 in a manner that—
(1) limits the dissemination of such results out-
side the Department only to the covered employer; 
(2) ensures that such results are used only for 
the purpose of determining the suitability of a cov-
ered employee for employment in the private security 
field; and
(3) protects covered employees from misuse of 
such results. 
SEC. 9. REGULATIONS. 
The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out 
this Act. 
SEC. 10. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 
Any person who knowingly and intentionally uses any 
information obtained pursuant to this Act for a purpose 
other than the purpose of determining the suitability of 
a covered employee for employment in the private security 
field shall be imprisoned not more than 2 years or fined 
under title 18, United States Code, or both.
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