Panel OKs ban on contracts with felon-owned building security firms
Legislation was introduced after hearings last year revealing that one of the managers at a troubled Washington-area firm hired by the Federal Protective Service had a criminal history.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Wednesday approved a bill to prohibit the Federal Protective Service from contracting with any business owned or operated by a felon.
The bill (H.R. 3068) was approved by the panel on a voice vote with no debate. It passed the House in September 2007, also on a voice vote.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., who introduced the bill, said during debate on the House floor that it was necessitated by evidence uncovered at a hearing last year that a contractor for security guards had failed to pay some of his employees. That led to an investigation in which it was revealed that the contractor had other problems as well.
"It was clear that this bill was necessary when our subcommittee learned at a hearing in June [2007] that an FPS security guard contractor had failed to pay 600 D.C.-area federal security officers and to make other important benefit payments to pensions, health benefits, and the like. Our subcommittee intervened when an action by the FPS and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, a division of DHS where FPS is placed, was reported to us," she said.
"The effects on the security of employees, visitors and the federal agencies alike could not be ignored in today's post-9/11 climate," Norton added.