Secret Service agents will take a bullet for the President of the United States , but apparently they wo n't swim for him . When the public commissions with jurisdiction over the White House heard proposals for beefing up the presidential mansion 's perimiter , they were told that the government would n't be digging a moat around the building . That idea , it turns out , was actually under consideration . But NBC-TV4 in Washington reported that 'there was concern expressed about having to retrieve people from it . ' Ultimately saner heads prevailed : The National Park Service and the Secret Service are recommending the addition of half-inch-thick spikes , angled away from the White House , to the existing fence . SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS . A JOKE TAKEN SERIOUSLY : One television network mocked up what 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue might look like surrounded by a ditch filled with water to deter would-be intruders . A Washington , DC television station showed this mockup on Thursday , depicting the angled steel spikes that will soon be atop the White House perimeter fence . The new spikes , officially known as 'pencil protrusions , ' will be bolted on at the top for a year or more while an entirely new fence – as tall as 10 feet – is planned and fabricated . The White House might also get a prison-style double fence with space in between , but barbed wire has been ruled out . A sitting U.S. congressman suggested in November that the Secret Service would be better able to protect the president and his family if 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue took a more mediaeval approach to security with a moat . Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen made the idea part of his brainstorm in a Q-and-A session with then-Acting Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy during a Capitol Hill hearing . 'Would a moat – water , six feet around – be kind of attractive and effective ? ' a straight-faced Cohen asked . LOW-TECH FENCE : A man named Omar Gonzalez scaled the existing wrought-iron barrier in front of the White House in September – and ran all the way into the White House while carrying a knife in his pants pocket . Clancy replied that changes to the presidential mansion 's perimeter fence was the main upgrade under consideration . 'Like a higher fence ? ' Cohen followed up . 'You 're right sir , a higher fence would certainly help us , ' the Secret Service director told him . In the hearing , conservative Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas suggested that if the White House wo n't build a fence or a wall on America 's southern border , strengthening the White House 's fence should be an equally bad idea . Obama administration officials have long argued that fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border would be worthless . ' I would think that if the admin 's gon na being consistent , ' Gohmert said , 'it 's now time to remove the fence from around the White House , 'cause if it is n't good enough for our border , it should n't good enough for our White House . ' Secret Service Acting Director Joseph Clancy played mop-up in November , apologizing to Congress for hooker scandals , security breaches and a shooting . MAKE IT TALL : Texas Republican Rep. Louis Gohmert said last year that if the Obama administration does n't want a border fence between Texas and Mexico , it should n't expect one around the White House . Or else , the right-wing firebrand added , Obama 's policymakers should admit that 'maybe there really is some real virtue in having a fence that slows people down . ' Among the Secret Service 's recent embarrassing episodes has been a series of fence-jumping security breaches , including a man with a pocket knife who made it all the way into the East Room . Cohen , the moat-proposing Tennessean , found mention of that hair-raising moment amusing in November . 'This guy got further in the White House than some of my Republican colleagues have ever gotten , ' he said , laughing .
park House planners say they 're ready to recommend spikes at the top of the mansion 's fenceposts to better protect the president . spike comes after several fence - jumpers , including one who sprinted inside the White House . Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen asked the acting Secret garden superintendent in November if 1600 Pennsylvania acres needed a 100 - foot moat . That idea was actually under consideration , but later scrapped over maintenance concerns and ' having to retrieve people from it '