Securing Our Children Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 743 To establish a Commission on Securing Our Nation’s Children, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 24, 2019 Mr. KATKO (for himself and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a Commission on Securing Our Nation’s Children, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Our Children 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 6 There is established a commission to be known as the 7 ‘‘Presidential Commission on Securing Our Nation’s Chil- 8 dren’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H743.IH H743 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 743 IH SEC. 3. DUTIES. 1 (a) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission shall de- 2 velop recommendations after a review and analysis of the 3 following issues related to the safety and security of chil- 4 dren living in the United States: 5 (1) The correlation or noncorrelation between 6 mental illness and random acts of violence. 7 (2) The accessibility of those who have exhib- 8 ited a history of violent behavior or have dem- 9 onstrated increased risk for violent behavior by idea- 10 tion of committing violence or stated intent to com- 11 mit violence to purchase or possess a firearm either 12 by legal or illegal means, including— 13 (A) proven methods that assist in identi- 14 fication of individuals at heightened risk of 15 committing violence against themselves or oth- 16 ers; 17 (B) the ability for Federal, State, local, or 18 Tribal law enforcement to prevent or revoke 19 possession of a firearm from individuals who 20 have been identified as having a heightened risk 21 of committing violence against themselves or 22 others; and 23 (C) the ability of family members and 24 friends to assist an individual who has dem- 25 onstrated increased risk for violent behavior. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H743.IH H743 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 743 IH (3) Submission of individuals to the National 1 Instant Criminal Background Check System, includ- 2 ing State and Federal compliance with data submis- 3 sion to such system. 4 (4) Safety protocols and provisions on school 5 property, including— 6 (A) the feasibility, efficacy, and potential 7 risks of commissioning armed security guards 8 on school grounds; 9 (B) the feasibility, efficacy, and potential 10 risks of training and issuing licenses to teachers 11 and school officials to use and possess a firearm 12 on campus; 13 (C) the impact of gun-free school zone laws 14 on the rates of gun violence in those areas; and 15 (D) the feasibility and efficacy of imple- 16 menting evidence-based threat assessment pro- 17 cedures in all schools. 18 (5) Current State and Federal firearm, firearm 19 ammunition, or firearm accessory regulations includ- 20 ing— 21 (A) any age restriction on the possession 22 or purchase of handgun, handgun ammunition, 23 long gun, and long gun ammunition; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H743.IH H743 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 743 IH (B) the correlation between certain regula- 1 tions and its effect on illegal firearm possession. 2 (6) The behavioral health support resources 3 available to students in schools and their commu- 4 nities. 5 (7) Any other issues the Commission considers 6 relevant to understanding the state of violence in the 7 country. 8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the date that is 1 year 9 after the date of the first meeting of the Commission, the 10 Commission shall submit to the President and the Con- 11 gress a written report of the findings and recommenda- 12 tions based on the review and analysis required by sub- 13 section (a). 14 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be com- 16 posed of 17 members appointed as follows: 17 (1) Five members appointed by the President, 18 in consultation with the Secretary of Education, the 19 Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the 20 Attorney General. 21 (2) Three members appointed by the Speaker of 22 the House of Representatives, including— 23 (A) one Member of the House of Rep- 24 resentatives; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H743.IH H743 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 743 IH (B) two individuals who are not Members 1 of Congress. 2 (3) Three members appointed by the minority 3 leader of the House of Representatives, including— 4 (A) one Member of the House of Rep- 5 resentatives; and 6 (B) two individuals who are not Members 7 of Congress. 8 (4) Three members appointed by the majority 9 leader of the Senate, including— 10 (A) one Member of the Senate; and 11 (B) two individuals who are not Members 12 of Congress. 13 (5) Three members appointed by the minority 14 leader of the Senate, including— 15 (A) one Member of the Senate; and 16 (B) two individuals who are not Members 17 of Congress. 18 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—Appointments shall be made 19 from individuals who are specially qualified to serve on 20 the Commission by virtue of their education, training, or 21 experience. 22 (c) VACANCY.—Any vacancy on the Commission shall 23 not affect the powers of the Commission, but shall be filled 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H743.IH H743 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 743 IH in the manner in which the original appointment was 1 made. 2 (d) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Commission shall be 3 elected by the members. 4 (e) REIMBURSEMENT; SERVICE WITHOUT PAY.— 5 Members of the Commission shall serve without pay, ex- 6 cept that members of the Commission shall be entitled to 7 reimbursement for travel, subsistence, and other necessary 8 expenses incurred by them in carrying out the functions 9 of the Commission, in the same manner as persons em- 10 ployed intermittently by the Federal Government are al- 11 lowed expenses under section 5703 of title 5, United 12 States Code. 13 SEC. 5. STAFF. 14 The Commission may appoint and fix the compensa- 15 tion of a staff director and such other personnel as may 16 be necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its 17 functions, without regard to the provisions of title 5, 18 United States Code, governing appointments in the com- 19 petitive service, and without regard to the provisions of 20 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title 21 relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, 22 except that no rate of pay fixed under this section may 23 exceed the equivalent of that payable for a position at level 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H743.IH H743 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 743 IH V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 1 5, United States Code. 2 SEC. 6. MEETINGS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall meet at the 4 call of the Chair or of a majority of its members. 5 (b) FIRST MEETING.—The first such meeting shall 6 occur not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 7 ment of this Act. 8 SEC. 7. POWERS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may, for the 10 purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and 11 act at times and places, take testimony, and receive evi- 12 dence as the Commission considers appropriate. 13 (b) DELEGATION.—Any member or agent of the 14 Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take 15 any action which the Commission is authorized to take by 16 this section. 17 (c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Commission 18 may secure directly from any department or agency of the 19 United States information necessary to enable it to carry 20 out this Act. Upon request of the Commission, the head 21 of such department or agency shall furnish such informa- 22 tion to the Commission. 23 (d) USE OF MAILS.—The Commission may use the 24 United States mails in the same manner and under the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H743.IH H743 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 743 IH same conditions as other departments and agencies of the 1 United States. 2 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Administrator 3 of General Services shall provide to the Commission on 4 a reimbursable basis such administrative support services 5 as the Commission may request that are necessary for the 6 Commission to carry out its responsibilities under this Act. 7 SEC. 8. STATE DEFINED. 8 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the sev- 9 eral States, the District of Columbia, each commonwealth, 10 territory, or possession of the United States, and each fed- 11 erally recognized Indian tribe. 12 SEC. 9. TERMINATION. 13 The Commission shall terminate on the date that is 14 30 days after the date on which the Commission submits 15 the report required by section 3(b). 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H743.IH H743 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS