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1 1 (October 23, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govercg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Cogesoa Reeac Service U S Updated October 23, 2024 U.S. Secret Service: Threats to and Assaults on Sitting Presidents and Vice Presidents Overview USSS has two mandated missions: (1) criminal investigations, and (2) protection of persons and facilities. Criminal investigations focus primarily on financial crimes, whereas protection focuses on the safety and security of specific government officials and specifically identified government facilities. The criminal investigation mission is the USSS's oldest mission; however, the protection mission is the one that often receives the most public and media attention. USSS protects the President, Vice President, their families, former Presidents, and major candidates for those offices, along with the White House and the Vice President's official residence. Protective activities also extend to foreign missions in the District of Columbia (embassies, consulates, residences, and other buildings used by foreign governments) and to designated individuals, such as the Secretary of Homeland Security and visiting dignitaries. Separate from protecting these specific mandated individuals and facilities, USSS is responsible for coordinating security activities for National Special Security Events (NSSE), including inauguration ceremonies, major party quadrennial national conventions, and certain international conferences and events held in the United States. History of USSS Protection In March 2003, USSS was transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). With this transfer, DHS generally, and USSS specifically, became the federal department responsible for protecting significant and specified persons and property. Prior to the enactment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Treasury Department had been responsible for this protection (through USSS) for over 100 years. USSS has been protecting presidents from President Grover Cleveland in 1894 on a part-time basis to the continuous, round-the-clock protection of the President today. Over the years, the USSS protection mission has been determined by unofficial decisions (such as the one to protect President Cleveland) and congressional mandates (such as the one to protect major presidential candidates). USSS protection activities have generally expanded with an increase in the number of protected individuals; there has been one instance of a specified type of protectee being removed from the authorized list of protectees-presidentially designated federal officials temporarily representing the United States abroad. Over the past century, congressional action has focused primarily on the USSS's protection mission. Protected Individuals and Facilities The following individuals are currently authorized USSS protection under 18 U.S.C. Section 3056(a): * President, Vice President, President- and Vice President-elect; * immediate families of those listed above; * former Presidents, their spouses, and their children under the age of 16; * former Vice Presidents, their spouses, and their children under the age 16; * visiting heads of foreign states or governments; * distinguished foreign visitors and official United States representatives on special missions abroad; and * major presidential and vice presidential candidates within 120 days of the general presidential elections, and their spouses. The USSS is also required to secure the White House complex, the Vice President's official residence at the Naval Observatory, the Treasury Building, foreign diplomatic missions in Washington, DC, and during their presidential administration, the personal residences of the President and Vice President. The USSS's Uniformed Division primarily secures these facilities. Specific Protection Activities As the pool of protectees has evolved over time, so has the manner in which they are protected. Originally, USSS protection primarily involved agents acting as body guards and providing personal security to protectees. Today, protection operations include not only the presence of agents in close proximity to the protectee, but also advance security surveys of locations to be visited; coordination with foreign, state, and local law enforcement entities; and intelligence analysis of present and future threats. The USSS protection mission comprises human resources, physical barriers, technology, and reviews of critical infrastructure and their vulnerabilities. 18 U.S.C. 3056(e)-(f) also authorizes the USSS to conduct other activities, such as planning, coordination, and implementation of security operations at NSSEs; and providing forensic and investigative assistance involving missing and exploited children. https://crsreports~congress.gov

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