[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4226 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4226

     To establish a matching grant program to help State and local 
   jurisdictions purchase bullet resistant equipment for use by law 
                        enforcement departments.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 1998

 Mr. McInnis introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To establish a matching grant program to help State and local 
   jurisdictions purchase bullet resistant equipment for use by law 
                        enforcement departments.

    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 ``Officer Dale Claxton Bullet 
Resistant Police Protective Equipment Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) Officer Dale Claxton of the Cortez, Colorado, Police 
        Department was shot and killed by bullets that passed through 
        the windshield of his police car after he stopped a stolen 
        truck, and his life may have been saved if his police car had 
        been equipped with bullet resistant equipment;
            (2) the number of law enforcement officers who are killed 
        in the line of duty would significantly decrease if every law 
        enforcement officer in the United States had access to 
        additional bullet resistant equipment;
            (3) according to studies, between 1985 and 1994, 709 law 
        enforcement officers in the United States were feloniously 
        killed in the line of duty;
            (4) the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that the 
        risk of fatality to law enforcement officers while not wearing 
        bullet resistant equipment, such as an armor vest, is 14 times 
        higher than for officers wearing an armor vest;
            (5) according to studies, between 1985 and 1994, bullet-
        resistant materials helped save the lives of more than 2,000 
        law enforcement officers in the United States; and
            (6) the Executive Committee for Indian Country Law 
        Enforcement Improvements reports that violent crime in Indian 
        country has risen sharply, despite a decrease in the national 
        crime rate, and has concluded that there is a ``public safety 
        crisis in Indian country''.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to save lives of law 
enforcement officers by helping State, local, and tribal law 
enforcement agencies provide officers with bullet resistant equipment.

SEC. 3. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLET RESISTANT 
              EQUIPMENT.

    (a) In General.--Part Y of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended--
            (1) by striking the part designation and part heading and 
        inserting the following:

         ``PART Y--MATCHING GRANT PROGRAMS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

             ``Subpart A--Grant Program For Armor Vests'';

            (2) by striking ``this part'' each place that term appears 
        and inserting ``this subpart''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:

       ``Subpart B--Grant Program For Bullet Resistant Equipment

``SEC. 2511. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance 
is authorized to make grants to States, units of local government, and 
Indian tribes to purchase bullet resistant equipment for use by State, 
local, and tribal law enforcement officers.
    ``(b) Uses of Funds.--Grants awarded under this section shall be--
            ``(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of local 
        government, or Indian tribe; and
            ``(2) used for the purchase of bullet resistant equipment 
        for law enforcement officers in the jurisdiction of the 
        grantee.
    ``(c) Preferential Consideration.--In awarding grants under this 
subpart, the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance may give 
preferential consideration, if feasible, to an application from a 
jurisdiction that--
            ``(1) has the greatest need for bullet resistant equipment 
        based on the percentage of law enforcement officers in the 
        department who do not have access to a vest;
            ``(2) has a violent crime rate at or above the national 
        average as determined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 
        or
            ``(3) has not received a block grant under the Local Law 
        Enforcement Block Grant program described under the heading 
        `Violent Crime Reduction Programs, State and Local Law 
        Enforcement Assistance' of the Departments of Commerce, 
        Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies 
        Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105-119).
    ``(d) Minimum Amount.--Unless all eligible applications submitted 
by any State or unit of local government within such State for a grant 
under this section have been funded, such State, together with grantees 
within the State (other than Indian tribes), shall be allocated in each 
fiscal year under this section not less than 0.50 percent of the total 
amount appropriated in the fiscal year for grants pursuant to this 
section, except that the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 
Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands shall each be allocated .25 
percent.
    ``(e) Maximum Amount.--A qualifying State, unit of local 
government, or Indian tribe may not receive more than 5 percent of the 
total amount appropriated in each fiscal year for grants under this 
section, except that a State, together with the grantees within the 
State may not receive more than 20 percent of the total amount 
appropriated in each fiscal year for grants under this section.
    ``(f) Matching Funds.--The portion of the costs of a program 
provided by a grant under subsection (a) may not exceed 50 percent. Any 
funds appropriated by Congress for the activities of any agency of an 
Indian tribal government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing law 
enforcement functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the 
non-Federal share of a matching requirement funded under this 
subsection.
    ``(g) Allocation of Funds.--At least half of the funds available 
under this subpart shall be awarded to units of local government with 
fewer than 100,000 residents.

``SEC. 2512. APPLICATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--To request a grant under this subpart, the chief 
executive of a State, unit of local government, or Indian tribe shall 
submit an application to the Director of the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance in such form and containing such information as the Director 
may reasonably require.
    ``(b) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this subpart, the Director of the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance shall promulgate regulations to implement this section 
(including the information that must be included and the requirements 
that the States, units of local government, and Indian tribes must 
meet) in submitting the applications required under this section.
    ``(c) Eligibility.--A unit of local government that receives 
funding under the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program (described 
under the heading `Violent Crime Reduction Programs, State and Local 
Law Enforcement Assistance' of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 
and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 
(Public Law 105-119)) during a fiscal year in which it submits an 
application under this subpart shall not be eligible for a grant under 
this subpart unless the chief executive officer of such unit of local 
government certifies and provides an explanation to the Director that 
the unit of local government considered or will consider using funding 
received under the block grant program for any or all of the costs 
relating to the purchase of bullet resistant equipment, but did not, or 
does not expect to use such funds for such purpose.

``SEC. 2513. DEFINITIONS.

    ``For purposes of this subpart--
            ``(1) the term `equipment' means windshield glass, car 
        panels, shields, and protective gear;
            ``(2) the term `State' means each of the 50 States, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
        Northern Mariana Islands;
            ``(3) the term `unit of local government' means a county, 
        municipality, town, township, village, parish, borough, or 
        other unit of general government below the State level;
            ``(4) the term `Indian tribe' has the same meaning as in 
        section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
        Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)); and
            ``(5) the term `law enforcement officer' means any officer, 
        agent, or employee of a State, unit of local government, or 
        Indian tribe authorized by law or by a government agency to 
        engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or 
        investigation of any violation of criminal law, or authorized 
        by law to supervise sentenced criminal offenders.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1001(a) of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)) 
is amended by striking paragraph (23) and inserting the following:
    ``(23) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out part 
Y--
                    ``(A) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999 
                through 2001 for grants under subpart A of that part; 
                and
                    ``(B) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999 
                through 2001 for grants under subpart B of that 
                part.''.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    In the case of any equipment or products that may be authorized to 
be purchased with financial assistance provided using funds 
appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act, it is the sense 
of the Congress that entities receiving the assistance should, in 
expending the assistance, purchase only American-made equipment and 
products.

SEC. 5. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.

    Section 202 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3722) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(e) Bullet Resistant Technology Development.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Institute is authorized to--
                    ``(A) conduct research and otherwise work to 
                develop new bullet resistant technologies (i.e., 
                acrylic, polymers, aluminized material, and transparent 
                ceramics) for use in police equipment (including 
                windshield glass, car panels, shields, and protective 
                gear);
                    ``(B) inventory bullet resistant technologies used 
                in the private sector, in surplus military property, 
                and by foreign countries;
                    ``(C) promulgate relevant standards for, and 
                conduct technical and operational testing and 
                evaluation of, bullet resistant technology and 
                equipment, and otherwise facilitate the use of that 
                technology in police equipment.
            ``(2) Priority.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
        Institute shall give priority in testing and engineering 
        surveys to law enforcement partnerships developed in 
        coordination with High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.
            ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $3,000,000 for 
        fiscal years 1999 through 2001.''.
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