Pray Safe Act

117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2123 AN ACT To establish the Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Secu- rity Best Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 † S 2123 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pray Safe Act’’. 2 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act— 4 (1) the term ‘‘Clearinghouse’’ means the Fed- 5 eral Clearinghouse on Safety Best Practices for 6 Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship 7 established under section 2220A of the Homeland 8 Security Act of 2002, as added by section 3 of this 9 Act; 10 (2) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart- 11 ment of Homeland Security; 12 (3) the terms ‘‘faith-based organization’’ and 13 ‘‘house of worship’’ have the meanings given such 14 terms under section 2220A of the Homeland Secu- 15 rity Act of 2002, as added by section 3 of this Act; 16 and 17 (4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 18 of Homeland Security. 19 SEC. 3. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SAFETY AND SECU- 20 RITY BEST PRACTICES FOR FAITH-BASED OR- 21 GANIZATIONS AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XXII of the 23 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), 24 as amended by section 9, is amended by adding at the 25 end the following: 26 3 † S 2123 ES ‘‘SEC. 2220A. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SAFETY AND 1 SECURITY BEST PRACTICES FOR FAITH- 2 BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND HOUSES OF 3 WORSHIP. 4 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Clearinghouse’ means the Clear- 6 inghouse on Safety and Security Best Practices for 7 Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship 8 established under subsection (b)(1); 9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘faith-based organization’ means 10 a group, center, or nongovernmental organization 11 with a religious, ideological, or spiritual motivation, 12 character, affiliation, or purpose; 13 ‘‘(3) the term ‘house of worship’ means a place 14 or building, including synagogues, mosques, temples, 15 and churches, in which congregants practice their re- 16 ligious or spiritual beliefs; and 17 ‘‘(4) the term ‘safety and security’, for the pur- 18 pose of the Clearinghouse, means prevention of, pro- 19 tection against, or recovery from threats, including 20 manmade disasters, natural disasters, or violent at- 21 tacks. 22 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 24 after the date of enactment of the Pray Safe Act, 25 the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney 26 4 † S 2123 ES General, the Executive Director of the White House 1 Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partner- 2 ships, and the head of any other agency that the 3 Secretary determines appropriate, shall establish a 4 Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Security Best 5 Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses 6 of Worship within the Department. 7 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The Clearinghouse shall be 8 the primary resource of the Federal Government— 9 ‘‘(A) to educate and publish online best 10 practices and recommendations for safety and 11 security for faith-based organizations and 12 houses of worship; and 13 ‘‘(B) to provide information relating to 14 Federal grant programs available to faith-based 15 organizations and houses of worship. 16 ‘‘(3) PERSONNEL.— 17 ‘‘(A) ASSIGNMENTS.—The Clearinghouse 18 shall be assigned such personnel and resources 19 as the Secretary considers appropriate to carry 20 out this section. 21 ‘‘(B) DETAILEES.—The Secretary may co- 22 ordinate detailees as required for the Clearing- 23 house. 24 5 † S 2123 ES ‘‘(C) DESIGNATED POINT OF CONTACT.— 1 There shall be not less than 1 employee as- 2 signed or detailed to the Clearinghouse who 3 shall be the designated point of contact to pro- 4 vide information and assistance to faith-based 5 organizations and houses of worship, including 6 assistance relating to the grant program estab- 7 lished under section 5 of the Pray Safe Act. 8 The contact information of the designated point 9 of contact shall be made available on the 10 website of the Clearinghouse. 11 ‘‘(D) QUALIFICATION.—To the maximum 12 extent possible, any personnel assigned or de- 13 tailed to the Clearinghouse under this para- 14 graph should be familiar with faith-based orga- 15 nizations and houses of worship and with phys- 16 ical and online security measures to identify 17 and prevent safety and security risks. 18 ‘‘(c) CLEARINGHOUSE CONTENTS.— 19 ‘‘(1) EVIDENCE-BASED TIERS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con- 21 sultation with the Attorney General, the Execu- 22 tive Director of the White House Office of 23 Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, 24 and the head of any other agency that the Sec- 25 6 † S 2123 ES retary determines appropriate, shall develop 1 tiers for determining evidence-based practices 2 that demonstrate a significant effect on improv- 3 ing safety or security, or both, for faith-based 4 organizations and houses of worship. 5 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The tiers required 6 to be developed under subparagraph (A) shall— 7 ‘‘(i) prioritize— 8 ‘‘(I) strong evidence from not 9 less than 1 well-designed and well-im- 10 plemented experimental study; and 11 ‘‘(II) moderate evidence from not 12 less than 1 well-designed and well-im- 13 plemented quasi-experimental study; 14 and 15 ‘‘(ii) consider promising evidence that 16 demonstrates a rationale based on high- 17 quality research findings or positive eval- 18 uations that such activity, strategy, or 19 intervention is likely to improve security 20 and promote safety for faith-based organi- 21 zations and houses of worship. 22 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR BEST PRACTICES AND REC- 23 OMMENDATIONS.—The best practices and rec- 24 7 † S 2123 ES ommendations of the Clearinghouse shall, at a min- 1 imum— 2 ‘‘(A) identify areas of concern for faith- 3 based organizations and houses of worship, in- 4 cluding event planning recommendations, check- 5 lists, facility hardening, tabletop exercise re- 6 sources, and other resilience measures; 7 ‘‘(B) involve comprehensive safety meas- 8 ures, including threat prevention, preparedness, 9 protection, mitigation, incident response, and 10 recovery to improve the safety posture of faith- 11 based organizations and houses of worship upon 12 implementation; 13 ‘‘(C) involve comprehensive safety meas- 14 ures, including preparedness, protection, mitiga- 15 tion, incident response, and recovery to improve 16 the resiliency of faith-based organizations and 17 houses of worship from manmade and natural 18 disasters; 19 ‘‘(D) include any evidence or research ra- 20 tionale supporting the determination of the 21 Clearinghouse that the best practices or rec- 22 ommendations under subparagraph (B) have 23 been shown to have a significant effect on im- 24 proving the safety and security of individuals in 25 8 † S 2123 ES faith-based organizations and houses of wor- 1 ship, including— 2 ‘‘(i) findings and data from previous 3 Federal, State, local, Tribal, territorial, 4 private sector, and nongovernmental orga- 5 nization research centers relating to safety, 6 security, and targeted violence at faith- 7 based organizations and houses of worship; 8 and 9 ‘‘(ii) other supportive evidence or find- 10 ings relied upon by the Clearinghouse in 11 determining best practices and recommen- 12 dations to improve the safety and security 13 posture of a faith-based organization or 14 house of worship upon implementation; 15 and 16 ‘‘(E) include an overview of the available 17 resources the Clearinghouse can provide for 18 faith-based organizations and houses of wor- 19 ship. 20 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—The Clear- 21 inghouse shall maintain and make available a com- 22 prehensive index of all Federal grant programs for 23 which faith-based organizations and houses of wor- 24 ship are eligible, which shall include the performance 25 9 † S 2123 ES metrics for each grant management that the recipi- 1 ent will be required to provide. 2 ‘‘(4) PAST RECOMMENDATIONS.—To the great- 3 est extent practicable, the Clearinghouse shall iden- 4 tify and present, as appropriate, best practices and 5 recommendations issued by Federal, State, local, 6 Tribal, territorial, private sector, and nongovern- 7 mental organizations relevant to the safety and secu- 8 rity of faith-based organizations and houses of wor- 9 ship. 10 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—The Secretary 11 may produce and publish materials on the Clearinghouse 12 to assist and train faith-based organizations, houses of 13 worship, and law enforcement agencies on the implementa- 14 tion of the best practices and recommendations. 15 ‘‘(e) CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 17 ‘‘(A) collect for the purpose of continuous 18 improvement of the Clearinghouse— 19 ‘‘(i) Clearinghouse data analytics; 20 ‘‘(ii) user feedback on the implemen- 21 tation of resources, best practices, and rec- 22 ommendations identified by the Clearing- 23 house; and 24 10 † S 2123 ES ‘‘(iii) any evaluations conducted on 1 implementation of the best practices and 2 recommendations of the Clearinghouse; 3 and 4 ‘‘(B) in coordination with the Faith-Based 5 Security Advisory Council of the Department, 6 the Department of Justice, the Executive Direc- 7 tor of the White House Office of Faith-Based 8 and Neighborhood Partnerships, and any other 9 agency that the Secretary determines appro- 10 priate— 11 ‘‘(i) assess and identify Clearinghouse 12 best practices and recommendations for 13 which there are no resources available 14 through Federal Government programs for 15 implementation; 16 ‘‘(ii) provide feedback on the imple- 17 mentation of best practices and recommen- 18 dations of the Clearinghouse; and 19 ‘‘(iii) propose additional recommenda- 20 tions for best practices for inclusion in the 21 Clearinghouse; and 22 ‘‘(C) not less frequently than annually, ex- 23 amine and update the Clearinghouse in accord- 24 ance with— 25 11 † S 2123 ES ‘‘(i) the information collected under 1 subparagraph (A); and 2 ‘‘(ii) the recommendations proposed 3 under subparagraph (B)(iii). 4 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The 5 Secretary shall submit to Congress, on an annual 6 basis, a report on the updates made to the Clearing- 7 house during the preceding 1-year period under 8 paragraph (1)(C), which shall include a description 9 of any changes made to the Clearinghouse.’’. 10 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 11 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 12 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135), as amended by 13 section 9 of this Act, is amended by inserting after the 14 item relating to section 2220 the following: 15 ‘‘Sec. 2220A. Federal Clearinghouse on Safety Best Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship.’’. SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION OF CLEARINGHOUSE. 16 The Secretary shall provide written notification of the 17 establishment of the Clearinghouse, with an overview of 18 the resources required as described in section 2220A of 19 the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by section 20 3 of this Act, and section 5 of this Act, to— 21 (1) every State homeland security advisor; 22 (2) every State department of homeland secu- 23 rity; 24 12 † S 2123 ES (3) other Federal agencies with grant programs 1 or initiatives that aid in the safety and security of 2 faith-based organizations and houses of worship, as 3 determined appropriate by the Secretary; 4 (4) every Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint 5 Terrorism Task Force; 6 (5) every Homeland Security Fusion Center; 7 (6) every State or territorial Governor or other 8 chief executive; 9 (7) the Committee on Homeland Security and 10 Governmental Affairs and the Committee on the Ju- 11 diciary of the Senate; and 12 (8) the Committee on Homeland Security and 13 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 14 Representatives. 15 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM OVERVIEW. 16 (a) DHS GRANTS AND RESOURCES.—The Secretary 17 shall include a grants program overview on the website 18 of the Clearinghouse that shall— 19 (1) be the primary location for all information 20 regarding Department grant programs that are open 21 to faith-based organizations and houses of worship; 22 (2) directly link to each grant application and 23 any applicable user guides; 24 13 † S 2123 ES (3) identify all safety and security homeland se- 1 curity assistance programs managed by the Depart- 2 ment that may be used to implement best practices 3 and recommendation of the Clearinghouse; 4 (4) annually, and concurrent with the applica- 5 tion period for any grant identified under paragraph 6 (1), provide information related to the required ele- 7 ments of grant applications to aid smaller faith 8 based organizations and houses of worship in earn- 9 ing access to Federal grants; and 10 (5) provide frequently asked questions and an- 11 swers for the implementation of best practices and 12 recommendations of the Clearinghouse and best 13 practices for applying for a grant identified under 14 paragraph (1). 15 (b) OTHER FEDERAL GRANTS AND RESOURCES.— 16 Each Federal agency notified under section 4(3) shall pro- 17 vide necessary information on any Federal grant programs 18 or resources of the Federal agency that are available for 19 faith-based organizations and houses of worship to the 20 Secretary or the appropriate point of contact for the 21 Clearinghouse. 22 (c) STATE GRANTS AND RESOURCES.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any State notified under 24 paragraph (1), (2), or (6) of section 4 may provide 25 14 † S 2123 ES necessary information on any grant programs or re- 1 sources of the State available for faith-based organi- 2 zations and houses of worship to the Secretary or 3 the appropriate point of contact for the Clearing- 4 house. 5 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF RESOURCES.—The 6 Clearinghouse shall, to the extent practicable, iden- 7 tify, for each State— 8 (A) each agency responsible for safety for 9 faith-based organizations and houses of worship 10 in the State, or any State that does not have 11 such an agency designated; 12 (B) any grant program that may be used 13 for the purposes of implementing best practices 14 and recommendations of the Clearinghouse; and 15 (C) any resources or programs, including 16 community prevention or intervention efforts, 17 that may be used to assist in targeted violence 18 and terrorism prevention. 19 SEC. 6. OTHER RESOURCES. 20 The Secretary shall, on the website of the Clearing- 21 house, include a separate section for other resources that 22 shall provide a centralized list of all available points of 23 contact to seek assistance in grant applications and in car- 24 15 † S 2123 ES rying out the best practic [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]