Infrastructure protection Bill calls for all utility plant worker background checks
Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) will introduce new legislation that would require all major utility plants to run background checks on its employees; the bill would require FBI background checks on all employees of all major utility plants, strengthening the current requirement which mandates such checks only at nuclear power plants
Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) said Sunday he was planning to introduce new legislation that would require all major utility plants to run background checks on its employees.
Schumer cited a DHS report, stating insider sabotage at electric, gas and water utilities served as a significant threat to U.S. national security, as a basis for his proposal, reported Reuters.
“Power plants and utilities present a tempting and potentially catastrophic target to extremists who are bent on wreaking havoc on the United States,” Schumer told the Associated Press.
“Which is why thorough background checks on all workers with access to the most sensitive areas of these operations are a must,” he said.
His bill would require FBI background checks on all employees of all major utility plants, instead of only at nuclear power plants.
