[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2474 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2474

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish a program to assist 
members of the Armed Forces who are involuntarily separated from active 
  duty to obtain training and employment as law enforcement officers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 22, 1993

Mr. Horn (for himself, Mr. Towns, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Johnson 
 of Connecticut, Mr. McDade, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Moorhead, Mr. Pastor, Mr. 
   Rangel, Mr. Shays, Mr. Torres, Mr. Traficant, Mr. Upton, and Mr. 
   Waxman) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish a program to assist 
members of the Armed Forces who are involuntarily separated from active 
  duty to obtain training and employment as law enforcement officers.

    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 ``Community Security Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROGRAM TO ASSIST DISCHARGED MEMBERS OF 
              THE ARMED FORCES TO OBTAIN TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT AS LAW 
              ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

    (a) Training and Placement Program.--Chapter 58 of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1152. Training and placement of involuntarily separated members 
              as law enforcement officers
    ``(a) Training and Placement of Involuntarily Separated Members.--
The Secretary of Defense shall establish a program to assist members of 
the armed forces who are involuntarily separated from active duty after 
six or more years of continuous active duty immediately before the 
separation to obtain training and employment as law enforcement 
officers with a unit of local government described in subsection (b).
    ``(b) Limitation on Eligibility.--If a member of the armed forces 
described in subsection (a) is not accepted by a unit of local 
government for training and employment as a law enforcement officer 
within one year after the date of the separation of the member, the 
member shall not be eligible for a stipend under subsection (h), and a 
unit of local government providing the training or employment shall not 
receive assistance under this section for such member.
    ``(c) Agreements With Units of Local Government.--(1) The Secretary 
of Defense shall offer to enter into agreements under this subsection 
with any unit of local government providing law enforcement functions 
in a high crime area if the unit of local government agrees--
            ``(A) to select a member of the armed forces described in 
        subsection (a) to receive training as a law enforcement 
        officer;
            ``(B) to offer the member full-time employment with the 
        unit of local government as a law enforcement officer for a 
        period of at least two years; and
            ``(C) to treat the member so employed in the same manner as 
        any other law enforcement officer employed by the unit of local 
        government for purposes of determining seniority, duty 
        assignments, or eligibility for benefits.
    ``(2) If a State does not have any high crime areas, the Secretary 
shall enter into agreements under this subsection with units of local 
governments that provide law enforcement functions in areas in the 
State with the highest rates of crime.
    ``(3) The actual selection of a member by a unit of local 
government pursuant to the agreement shall be subject to the 
certification of the Secretary of Defense that the member meets the 
eligibility requirements described in subsection (a).
    ``(4) Under an agreement referred to in paragraph (1), the 
Secretary of Defense shall agree to pay to the unit of local government 
an amount based upon the basic salary paid by the unit of local 
government to the selected member as a law enforcement officer. The 
rate of payment by the Secretary shall be as follows:
            ``(A) For the first year of employment, 100 percent of the 
        basic salary.
            ``(B) For the second year of employment, 80 percent of the 
        basic salary.
            ``(C) For the third year of employment if continued under 
        the agreement, 60 percent of the basic salary.
            ``(D) For the fourth year of employment if continued under 
        the agreement, 40 percent of the basic salary.
            ``(E) For the fifth year of employment if continued under 
        the agreement, 20 percent of the basic salary.
    ``(5) Payments required under paragraph (4) may be made by the 
Secretary of Defense in such installments as the Secretary may 
determine. If the Secretary makes payments in advance and the member 
leaves the employment of the unit of local government before the end of 
the period covered by the advance payment, the unit of local government 
shall reimburse the Secretary of Defense for any portion of the advance 
payment that remains unpaid to the member.
    ``(6) The Secretary of Defense may not enter into an agreement 
under this subsection with a unit of local government if the Secretary 
determines that the agency terminated the employment of another law 
enforcement officer in order to fill the vacancy so created with a 
member described in subsection (a).
    ``(d) Priority Given to Violent Crime Areas.--In entering into 
agreements with units of local government under subsection (c), the 
Secretary of Defense shall give priority to those units of local 
government performing law enforcement functions in areas with an 
especially high rate of violent crimes, as identified by the Attorney 
General.
    ``(e) Assistance Subject to Availability of Appropriations.--Each 
agreement under subsection (c) shall contain a condition that the 
provision of assistance, including stipends, under the agreement is 
subject to the certification of the Secretary of Defense that, at the 
time the member described in subsection (a) is selected to receive 
training and employment as a law enforcement officer, the Secretary has 
sufficient appropriations to carry out this section available to 
satisfy the obligations to be incurred by the United States with 
respect to the training and employment of that member.
    ``(f) Number of Participants per State.--(1) Except as provided in 
paragraph (2), for each fiscal year, the number of members of the armed 
forces who are selected to receive assisted training and employment 
under this section as law enforcement officers in a particular State 
may not exceed the number that bears the same ratio to 75 percent of 
the total number of participants to be selected in that fiscal year as 
the population of that State bears to the total population of all the 
States.
    ``(2) Of the total number of members to be selected to receive 
assisted training and employment under this section for a fiscal year, 
25 percent of such participants shall be selected pursuant to 
agreements entered into under subsection (c) on a competitive basis 
without regard to the limitation on the number of participants per 
State specified in paragraph (1).
    ``(g) Participant Agreement.--A member of the armed forces 
described in subsection (a) who is selected by a unit of local 
government to receive assisted training and employment as a law 
enforcement officer pursuant to an agreement under subsection (c) shall 
be required to enter into an agreement with the unit of local 
government and the Secretary of Defense in which the member agrees--
            ``(1) to obtain, within such time as the unit of local 
        government may require, the training required by the unit of 
        local government to become a law enforcement officer; and
            ``(2) to accept employment with the unit of local 
        government as a law enforcement officer for at least two years, 
        to begin within six months after completing the training under 
        paragraph (1).
    ``(h) Training Stipend.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
the Secretary of Defense shall pay to each member of the armed forces 
who is selected to receive assisted training and employment as a law 
enforcement officer pursuant to an agreement under subsection (c) a 
stipend in an amount equal to not more than $5,000 to cover costs 
incurred by the member while training to become a law enforcement 
officer.
    ``(2) A member who is employed by the unit of local government or 
receives a living allowance from the unit of local government while 
receiving training as a law enforcement officer shall not be paid a 
stipend under paragraph (1).
    ``(i) Reimbursement Under Certain Circumstances.--(1) If a member 
of the armed forces who receives assisted training and employment as a 
law enforcement officer under this section fails to successfully 
complete the training required to become a law enforcement officer or 
voluntarily leaves, or is terminated for cause, from the employment 
during the one year of required employment, the member shall be 
required to reimburse the Secretary of Defense for any stipend paid to 
the person under subsection (h)(1) in an amount that bears the same 
ratio to the amount of the stipend as the unserved portion of required 
service bears to the one year of required service.
    ``(2) The obligation to reimburse the Secretary under this 
subsection is, for all purposes, a debt owing the United States. A 
discharge in bankruptcy under title 11 shall not release a member 
described in subsection (a) from the obligation to reimburse the 
Secretary. Any amount owed by a person under paragraph (1) shall bear 
interest at the rate equal to the highest rate being paid by the United 
States on the day on which the reimbursement is determined to be due 
for securities having maturities of ninety days or less and shall 
accrue from the day on which the person is first notified of the amount 
due. The Secretary may enter into an agreement with the Secretary of 
the Treasury to arrange for the collection of amounts owed by a person 
under paragraph (1) through the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
    ``(j) Exceptions to Reimbursement Provisions.--(1) A member of the 
armed forces described in subsection (a) shall not be considered to be 
in violation of an agreement entered into under subsection (g) during 
any period in which the member--
            ``(A) is pursuing a full-time course of study, approved by 
        the unit of local government involved, related to the field of 
        law enforcement at an educational or vocational institution;
            ``(B) is serving on active duty as a member of the Armed 
        Forces;
            ``(C) is employed by any unit of local government and 
        serves as a law enforcement officer in a high crime area;
            ``(D) is temporarily totally disabled for a period of time 
        not to exceed three years as established by sworn affidavit of 
        a qualified physician;
            ``(E) is unable to secure employment for a period not to 
        exceed 12 months by reason of the care required by a spouse who 
        is disabled; or
            ``(F) satisfies the provisions of such additional 
        reimbursement exceptions as may be prescribed by the Secretary 
        of Defense.
    ``(2) A person shall be excused from reimbursement under subsection 
(i) if the person becomes permanently totally disabled as established 
by sworn affidavit of a qualified physician. The Secretary may also 
waive reimbursement in cases of extreme hardship to the person, as 
determined by the Secretary.
    ``(k) Information Regarding Placement Program.--The Secretary of 
Defense shall provide information regarding the training and placement 
opportunities available under this section to members of the armed 
forces as part of preseparation counseling provided under section 1142 
of this title. The information provided shall include a list of all 
units of local government with which the Secretary has entered into an 
agreement under subsection (c) and the name, address, and telephone 
number of the representative of each unit of local government 
administering the agreement on behalf of the unit of local government.
    ``(l) Special Eligibility of Certain Persons Already Separated or 
Terminated.--A member of the armed forces described in subsection (a) 
who was involuntarily separated during the period beginning on October 
1, 1990, and ending on October 1, 1993, may receive assisted training 
and employment under this section if the member is accepted by a unit 
of local government for training and employment as a law enforcement 
officer by October 1, 1994.
    ``(m) Expansion of Program.--(1) If the Secretary of Defense 
determines for a fiscal year that the number of eligible members likely 
to be selected to participate in the training and placement program 
under this section the Secretary may authorize local governments 
entering into an agreement under subsection (c) to select--
            ``(A) civilian employees of the Department of Defense who 
        are terminated from employment with the Department as a result 
        of reductions in defense spending or the closure or realignment 
        of a military installation; and
            ``(B) employees of private defense contractors who were 
        employed for not less than five years with a private defense 
        contractor and are terminated or laid off (or receive a notice 
        of termination or lay off) as a result of the completion or 
        termination of a defense contract or program or reductions in 
        defense spending.
    ``(2) A civilian employee of the Department of Defense or the 
Department of Energy or an employee of a private defense contractor who 
is terminated for cause shall not be eligible for a stipend under 
subsection (h), and a unit of local government providing training or 
employment to such an employee shall not receive assistance under this 
section for such employee.
    ``(n) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `State' includes the District of Columbia, 
        American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the 
        Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
        Palau, and the Virgin Islands.
            ``(2) The term `unit of local government' means--
                    ``(A) any city, county, township, town, borough, 
                parish, village, or other general purpose political 
                subdivision of a State;
                    ``(B) an Indian tribe which performs law 
                enforcement functions as determined by the Secretary of 
                the Interior; or
                    ``(C) any agency of the District of Columbia 
                government or the United States Government performing 
                law enforcement functions in and for the District of 
                Columbia.
            ``(3) The term `law enforcement officer' means an 
        individual involved in crime and juvenile delinquency control 
        or reduction, or enforcement of the laws, including police, 
        corrections, probation, parole, and judicial officers.
            ``(4) The term `high crime area' shall have such meaning as 
        may be given the term by the Attorney General.
            ``(5) The term `private defense contractor' means a person 
        that provides services, supplies, or both (including 
        construction) to the Department of Defense under a contract 
        directly with the Department.
    ``(o) Termination.--Members of the armed forces described in 
subsection (a) may not be selected to receive assisted training and 
employment as law enforcement officers pursuant to an agreement under 
subsection (c) after September 30, 1999.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new items:

``1152. Training and placement of involuntarily separated members as 
                            law enforcement officers.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--Section 1152 of title 10, United States Code, 
as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on October 1, 1993.

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