Senate Passes Peters’ Bipartisan Bill to Improve Emergency Communications in Federal Buildings
WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Bipartisan legislation authored by U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, James Lankford (R-OK), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) unanimously passed the Senate. The Federal Building Threat Notification Act would require the Federal Protective Service (FPS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish emergency communication standards for federal buildings, helping keep nearly 1.4 million federal employees and members of the public safe and informed during a crisis.
Before the bill passed, Peters spoke on the Senate floor about the need to strengthen emergency communications in federal buildings.
“When a firearm is discharged near a federal building and chaos ensues, the people inside should not be left wondering what is happening,” Peters said on the Senate floor. “I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense bill, strengthen emergency communications in federal buildings, and help ensure that employees and visitors receive timely information when their safety is at risk.”
To watch the full video Peters’ remarks on the Senate floor, click here.
The Federal Building Threat Notification Act requires the FPS Director and the Secretary of DHS to develop and implement guidance for emergency communication to respond to violent threats within one year of enactment. The bill also requires guidance to include best practices and protocols to inform building tenants in a timely manner of violent threats in and surrounding the building, including all firearm events, other weapons threats, potential terrorism, and suspicious devices. The guidance must also include instructions for tenants regarding the appropriate safety practices in response to a security threat.
In addition to ensuring every building under FPS protection has a designated security official who will carry out the enacted safety procedures, the FPS Director must conduct periodic testing in preparation for crises. Within a year of enactment, the FPS Director will also coordinate with the DHS Secretary to produce a report and briefing for Congress on the specific guidance effected under this Act.
In January 2025, a shooting occurred outside Detroit’s Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building, but federal employees working inside were not informed until hours after the incident. The shooting highlighted the need for clear, consistent emergency communication protocols to ensure federal employees and members of the public in Michigan and across the country are quickly notified of immediate threats and know how to respond.
Peters, Lankford, and Ernst introduced the legislation last year.
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