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S. 772: SECURE Facilities Act of 2012

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S. 772: SECURE Facilities Act of 2012

112th Congress · introduced 2011-04-08 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 492.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2011-04-08 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Lieberman, Joseph I. [ID-CT] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 492. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

SECURE Facilities Act of 2012

Plain summary

Supporting Employee Competency and Updating Readiness Enhancements for Facilities Act of 2012 or the SECURE Facilities Act of 2012 - (Sec. 2) Defines "appropriate congressional committees" for purposes of this Act as: (1) the Senate Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Appropriations; and (2) the House Committees on Homeland Security, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Appropriations. (Sec. 3) Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to modify requirements relating to the Federal Protective Service (FPS) and the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) and to provide for the security of federal facilities (i.e., buildings and grounds owned, occupied, or secured by the federal government), including facilities used for activities covered under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Requires the Director of FPS to: (1) secure federal facilities protected by FPS and safeguard all occupants, (2) provide adequate numbers of trained personnel to ensure that federal security standards are met, and (3) ensure that areas in and around such facilities are regularly patrolled by FPS officers. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure that FPS maintains not fewer than 1,371 full-time equivalent employees in FY2012, including not fewer than 950 in-service field staff. Establishes a minimum level for full-time equivalent employees of 1,200, including not fewer than 900 in-service field staff. Requires the Secretary to ensure that the hiring of each full-time equivalent employee is offset by a reduction of 1 full-time equivalent employee in DHS. Requires the Director to: (1) establish minimum training requirements for all armed contract security guards procured by FPS of least 80 hours of instruction and increase FPS monitoring of the initial training of armed contract security guards, (2) establish a program to periodically assess the training of guards and the security of federal facilities, (3) update the Security Guard Information Manual and post orders within 180 days and every 2 years thereafter, (4) establish a database to monitor all contracts for guard services, and (5) increase the number of infrastructure security canine teams by up to 15 teams in each of FY2012-FY2015. Directs the Secretary to develop performance-based standards for checkpoint detection technologies for explosives and other threats at facilities protected by FPS. Authorizes the Secretary to assess and collect: (1) fees and security charges from agencies for the costs of providing protective services, and (2) additional charges for the costs of necessary security countermeasures for facilities determined to be noncompliant with ISC security standards. Directs ISC to: (1) prescribe regulations for determining federal facility security levels and to establish risk-based performance standards for facility security, (2) establish protocols for testing facility compliance with such standards, (3) prescribe regulations to determine minimum levels of training and certification of armed contract security guards and to establish a list of prohibited items for entry into federal facilities, (4) establish minimum requirements and a process for providing basic security training for members of Facility Security Committees, (5) take necessary actions to enhance the quality and effectiveness of security and protection of federal facilities, and (6) establish an appeals board to consider appeals relating to facility security level and noncompliance determinations. Directs the Secretary to establish a process to authorize an agency to provide protective services for a federal facility instead of FPS. Requires agencies that are tenants at each federal facility to maintain a Facility Security Committee for such facility. Requires basic security training to be provided to all members of the Committee. (Sec. 4) Authorizes FPS law enforcement officers to carry firearms on or off duty. Amends the federal criminal code to allow FPS law enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms. (Sec. 5) Extends retirement benefits to FPS employees under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). (Sec. 6) Requires the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) FPS personnel needs, (2) retention rates within the FPS contract guard workforce, (3) the feasibility of federalizing the FPS contract guard workforce, (4) methods for funding FPS, and (5) available methods to detect or prevent explosives from entering federal facilities. (Sec. 11) States that nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the authority of: (1) the U.S. Marshals Service to protect and serve federal judicial personnel, (2) any federal law enforcement agency other than FPS, or (3) any authority of FPS not specifically enumerated by this Act prior to the enactment date of this Act.

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s)), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Lieberman, Joseph I. [ID-CT] · 2 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Susan M. Collins (R-ME)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (4)
Appropriation
Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Rulemaking
The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.
Securities
Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong112-s772 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112