H.R. 6683

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6683 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6683

To establish a grant program to encourage schools to conduct 
independent facility security risk assessments and make hard security 
improvements, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 11, 2025

Mr. Williams of Texas (for himself and Mr. Moskowitz) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a 
period to be subsequently 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 grant program to encourage schools to conduct 
independent facility security risk assessments and make hard security 
improvements, 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 ``Safer Schools Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR GRANTS FOR INDEPENDENT FACILITY SECURITY RISK 
ASSESSMENTS AND HARD SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.

(a) Establishment.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act the Attorney General shall establish a pilot 
program (hereinafter referred to as the ``pilot program'') to issue 
grants pursuant to subsections (b) and (c), including releasing 
guidelines and applications with respect to such grant programs.
(b) Independent Facility Security Risk Assessment Grants.--
(1) In general.--Beginning not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this section, the Attorney General 
shall award grants to public schools to have independent 
facility security risk assessments performed.
(2) Application.--
(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, a public school shall submit to the 
Attorney General an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Attorney 
General may require, including--
(i) the size of the school;
(ii) a comprehensive report on the 
financial state of the school, including any 
Federal, State, or local funds used in the 
school's budget; and
(iii) a certification to the Attorney 
General that the school is unable to cover the 
cost of an independent facility security risk 
assessment without the grant awarded under this 
section.
(B) Priority.--The Attorney General, in awarding a 
grant under this section, shall give priority to 
applications of public schools that have experienced an 
event in which an individual inflicts deadly harm or 
attempts to inflict deadly harm against multiple 
individuals.
(3) Ineligibility.--
(A) In general.--A public school shall be 
ineligible to receive a grant under this section if 
it--
(i) received a grant under this section in 
the previous 5 fiscal years; or
(ii) receives a grant under this section in 
the same fiscal year.
(B) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in 
the case that a grant recipient experiences an event in 
which an individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to 
inflict deadly harm against multiple individuals, such 
grant recipient shall be eligible to receive an 
additional grant under this section in the fiscal year 
after the date of the event.
(c) Hard Security Improvement Grants.--
(1) In general.--Beginning not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this section, the Attorney General 
shall award grants to public schools for the purpose of making 
hard security improvements to schools.
(2) Application.--
(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, a public school shall submit to the 
Attorney General an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Attorney 
General may require, which application shall include--
(i) the size of the school;
(ii) a comprehensive report on the 
financial state of the school, including any 
Federal, State, or local funds used in the 
school's budget;
(iii) a comprehensive description of 
previous improvements made to the school meant 
to address school security related 
vulnerabilities;
(iv) the specific products and services 
that will be purchased with the grant funds and 
an estimate of such costs and services; and
(v) the results of the school's most recent 
independent facility security risk assessment.
(B) Priority.--The Attorney General, in awarding a 
grant under this section, shall give priority to 
applications of schools that have experienced an event 
in which an individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts 
to inflict deadly harm against multiple individuals.
(3) Ineligibility.--
(A) In general.--A public school shall be 
ineligible to receive a grant under this section if--
(i) a public school received a grant under 
this section in the previous 5 fiscal years; or
(ii) a public school receives a grant under 
this section in the same fiscal year.
(B) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in 
the case that a grant recipient experiences an event in 
which an individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to 
inflict deadly harm against multiple individuals, such 
grant recipient shall be eligible to receive an 
additional grant under this section in any fiscal year 
after the date on which the event occurred.
(4) Matching funds.--
(A) In general.--The Federal share of a grant 
received under this subsection may not exceed 50 
percent of the hard security improvement costs.
(B) Waiver.--The Attorney General may waive in 
whole or in part, the matching requirement under 
paragraph (1) in the case that the recipient has a 
financial need for such waiver.
(5) Grant conditions.--A recipient of a grant under this 
section shall--
(A) use the grant to make hard security 
improvements identified as necessary by the most recent 
independent facility security risk assessment;
(B) in the case that a panic alarm is not installed 
or operable according to the independent facility risk 
assessment, use the grant for the installation of at 
least 1 panic alarm for use in a school security 
emergency, including a non-fire evacuation, lockdown, 
or active shooter situation, which alarm--
(i) shall be directly linked to the local 
law enforcement agency that is closest in 
proximity to the grant recipient;
(ii) shall immediately transmit a signal or 
message to such law enforcement agency upon 
activation; and
(iii) shall not be audible within the 
public school building;
(C) before entering into a contract with a vendor, 
obtain written confirmation from the law enforcement 
agency or entity that conducted the independent 
facility security risk assessment that the improvement 
will mitigate a vulnerability identified in the 
independent facility security risk assessment; and
(D) ensure that hard security improvements comply 
with local building code requirements and standards.
(d) Information Dissemination.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall disseminate to 
each local educational agency in the United States information 
about the availability of grants under this section.
(2) Event notice.--Not later than 30 days after an event in 
which an individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to inflict 
deadly harm against multiple individuals occurs in a public 
school, the Director shall contact verbally the head of such 
public school to provide notice of priority eligibility for 
grants under this section and to offer technical assistance in 
navigating the application process.
(e) Reports.--
(1) Grant recipient report.--Not later than one year after 
receiving a grant under subsection (b) or (c), a recipient 
shall submit to the Attorney General--
(A) a copy of the results of each security 
assessment with how many vulnerabilities were found;
(B) a list of each hard improvement made and the 
percentage of vulnerabilities fixed, including the 
percentage of vulnerabilities outstanding;
(C) a list of the number of events in which an 
individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to inflict 
deadly harm against multiple individuals, if any, that 
happened five years before hard security 
vulnerabilities were fixed or one year after the hard 
security vulnerabilities were made; and
(D) a survey assessing how safe students and 
facility members feel on the school's campus before 
hard security improvements were made and one year after 
they were made.
(2) Attorney general report.--Not later than two years 
after the date of enactment, and annually thereafter, the 
Attorney General shall submit to appropriate Congressional 
committees a report on the national state of physical security 
in schools, including--
(A) the contents of grant recipient reports under 
paragraph (1);
(B) a percentage breakdown of the type of hard 
security fixes;
(C) the percentage of outstanding vulnerabilities 
remaining;
(D) a percentage breakdown of each type of hard 
security improvements made; and
(E) the average percentage of vulnerabilities fixed 
and average percentage of vulnerabilities outstanding 
after the hard security improvements were made.
(f) Sunset.--The pilot program shall terminate on the date that is 
five years after the date on which the pilot program is established.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
the Judiciary and the Committee on Education and Workforce of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary 
and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 
the Senate.
(2) Hard security improvements.--The term ``hard security 
improvements'' means improvements to the infrastructure of 
school property perimeter, parking lot perimeter, building 
perimeter, entrance and exit points of the school building, 
video monitoring equipment, alert notification equipment, the 
interior and perimeter of the classroom, and any other physical 
improvements related to camera systems and related hardware, 
alarm and notification technology, and visitor management 
technologies deemed eligible for improvement by the Attorney 
General.
(3) Independent facility security risk assessment.--The 
term ``independent facility security risk assessment'' means an 
assessment that--
(A) identifies active shooter and related security 
vulnerabilities of public schools, considering security 
factors, including the strength and maintenance levels 
of the property perimeter, parking lot perimeter, 
building perimeter, and classroom and interior 
perimeter, and the presence of a silent security system 
signal generated by the manual activation of a device 
intended to signal a life-threatening or emergency 
situation requiring a response from law enforcement; 
and
(B) is conducted by a Federal, State, or local 
entity determined to be qualified by the Department of 
Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance.
(4) Public school.--The term ``public school'' means a 
public elementary school or a public secondary school, 
including an elementary school or a secondary school that is 
predominately funded by an Indian tribal government.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
carry out the pilot program--
(A) $100,000,000 for fiscal year one of the pilot 
program;
(B) $200,000,000 for fiscal year two of the pilot 
program; and
(C) $300,000,000 for fiscal years three through 
five of the pilot program.
(2) Allocation of funds.--Any funds authorized under 
paragraph (1) shall be allocated--
(A) with 30 percent of any such funds to the grant 
program under section 2(b); and
(B) with 70 percent of any such funds to the grant 
program under section 2(c).
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