[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6186 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6186
To facilitate screening and criminal history background checks for
individuals seeking access to qualified chemical and refining
infrastructure entities, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 10, 2020
Mr. Weber of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To facilitate screening and criminal history background checks for
individuals seeking access to qualified chemical and refining
infrastructure entities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Expedient Workforce Screening Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE; FINDINGS.
(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to facilitate screening
for individuals seeking access to qualified chemical and refining
infrastructure entities in a manner that promotes public safety while
protecting the interests of both individuals and qualified entities.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Federal Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) is
an essential and widely accepted resource for background
screening.
(2) The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) existing
CHRI system, the Interstate Identification Index (III),
including the National Fingerprint File (NFF), is a partnership
between the States and the FBI. It is the primary means for
accessing and communicating CHRI for criminal justice and
certain critical noncriminal justice purposes.
(3) The existing CHRI system is built on information
maintained by the States. CHRI available from the States
represents 95 percent of the CHRI available for background
check decisions.
(4) Today, access to a national criminal history background
check through the FBI is dependent on a patchwork of legal
authorizations, resulting in ongoing requests for new Federal
or State authorizing legislation by private sector entities
that do not currently have a means of access.
(5) An enhanced system for facilitating chemical and
refining infrastructure access to CHRI for venue access should
rely upon a user-fee-funded mechanism through which qualified
chemical and refining infrastructure entities nationwide can
obtain fingerprint-based positive identification and national
criminal history background checks from the FBI.
(6) Qualified chemical and refining infrastructure entities
should be free to use either a national criminal history
background check through the FBI or a court-sourced history
record information through a check using name and other
identifiers, fingerprints, or a combination of both.
(7) Any national system for qualified chemical and refining
infrastructure noncriminal justice background checks must
adhere to high standards for privacy and security, including
mechanisms for those seeking access to challenge accuracy and
completeness of the information reported about them.
(8) The national criminal history background check system
should leverage the most recent technological advances to
obtain high speed responses, as well as enhance accuracy and
completeness.
(9) The national criminal history background check system
does not alter the Department of Homeland Security's
responsibilities under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act
and the performance standards for high risk chemical
facilities.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECK PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment of the Program.--The Attorney General, acting
through the Director of the FBI, shall establish and implement a
program to be known as the ``National Criminal History Chemical and
Refining Background Check Program'' (referred to in this Act as the
``Program'') to permit qualified entities to request national criminal
history background checks for the purpose of obtaining identification
authentication and criminal history background check information of
individuals seeking access to a qualified entity.
(b) Request System.--The Program shall include a system through
which a qualified entity may request a national criminal history
background check directly through the FBI, which system shall be
fingerprint-supported and maintain appropriate privacy protections.
(c) Role of Qualified Educational Entities.--The Program shall
include a process through which a qualified educational entity may
assist in--
(1) identification authentication of individuals seeking
access to a qualified entity and may obtain access to the
personally identifiable information of such individuals; and
(2) setting criminal history record information standards
for access to qualified entities.
(d) Response Time.--To the extent practicable, the FBI shall
respond to a request received under the national criminal history
background check program under this section not later than two business
days after receipt of such request.
(e) Fees.--The Attorney General may charge a fee for conducting a
national criminal history background check under this section, except
that the amount of such fee may not exceed the actual cost of the
background check. For purposes of calculating the actual cost of the
background check, the Attorney General shall include the cost of
building, maintaining, and enhancing an appropriate Federal and State
infrastructure for the national criminal history background check
system, technology costs, staffing costs, and administrative costs
based on the sum of both State-by-State and Federal costs, and shall
review the amount of the fee no less frequently than every two years.
SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act may be construed to--
(1) impose a requirement on a qualified entity, a consumer
reporting agency, or a State, to participate in the Program;
and
(2) limit the authority under any other Federal or State
law for a qualified entity, a consumer reporting agency, or an
authorized agency to request or provide criminal history
background checks that are independent from the Program.
SEC. 5. REPORT.
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on the
Program, including any recommendations for improvements to the Program.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Authorized agency.--The term ``authorized agency''
means a division or office of a State designated by a State to
collect, maintain, and disseminate criminal history record
information under this Act.
(2) Qualified entity.--The term ``qualified entity'' means
an entity that--
(A) provides natural gas or petroleum chemical
manufacturing or refining-related services, including
connecting terminals and pipelines, whether or not
regulated under the national critical infrastructure
under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards
Program under title XXI of the Homeland Security Act of
2002 (6 U.S.C. 621 et seq.), or the Maritime
Transportation Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-
295; 116 Stat. 2064); and
(B) is approved by the FBI to request, directly or
through a consumer reporting agency, to obtain a
fingerprint-supported national criminal history
background check for chemical or refining
infrastructure access.
(3) Qualified educational entity.--. The term ``qualified
educational entity'' means school or industrial safety training
facility that is--
(A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986;
(B) American owned; and
(C) recognized by the Attorney General to provide
assistance to qualified entities under section 3.
(4) Consumer reporting agency.--The term ``consumer
reporting agency'' has the meaning given that term under
section 603(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.
168la(J)).
(5) Criminal history record information.--The term
``criminal history record information'' means information
collected by criminal justice agencies on individuals,
consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of
arrests, detentions, indictments, infractions, or other
informal criminal charges, and any disposition arising
therefrom, including acquittal, sentencing, correctional
supervision, and release. The term does not include
identification information, such as fingerprints, if such
information does not indicate the individual's involvement with
the criminal justice system.
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