Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3425, the POST Act of 2025, strengthens the Federal Protective Service, or FPS, and their ability to secure Federal facilities and improve accountability for the contract guards who protect them. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has conducted bipartisan oversight of FPS operations and Federal facility security. Both testimony at hearings and Government Accountability Office reports have reinforced the need for these reforms. The Federal Protective Service is tasked with securing approximately 9,000 GSA-leased and -owned facilities across America. To protect these buildings, FPS oversees over 15,000 contracted guards, known as protective security officers. Despite the size and importance of the FPS' mission, serious vulnerabilities exist in its oversight of contract guards. For example, one GAO investigation found that contracted guards failed to detect concealed weapons, including batons and pepper spray, in half of covert security tests. While FPS uses covert testing to assess security vulnerabilities, they lack a standardized system to track, analyze, and respond to the results. The POST Act addresses this critical gap by requiring the FPS Director to establish and maintain a centralized database to capture covert test data, including why a contract guard failed to detect contraband.”