[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 996 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 996

     To establish a matching grant program to help State and local 
            jurisdictions purchase school safety equipment.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 1999

 Mr. Campbell introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To establish a matching grant program to help State and local 
            jurisdictions purchase school safety equipment.

    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 ``Students Learning in Safe Schools 
Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL SAFETY 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

             ``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 School Safety 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, 
Indian tribes, and local educational agencies to purchase school safety 
equipment for use in and near elementary and secondary schools.
    ``(b) Uses of Funds.--Grants awarded under this section shall be--
            ``(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of local 
        government, Indian tribe, or local educational agency, as 
        applicable; and
            ``(2) used for the purchase of school safety equipment for 
        use in elementary and secondary schools 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 school safety equipment, 
        based on the percentage of elementary and secondary schools in 
        the jurisdiction of the applicant that do not have access to 
        such equipment;
            ``(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, Indian tribe, or local educational agency 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.--Not less than 50 percent of the total 
amount made available to carry out this subpart in each fiscal year 
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, Indian tribe, or local 
educational agency 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.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        enactment of the Students Learning in Safe Schools Act of 1999, 
        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, Indian tribes, and local 
        educational agencies must meet) in submitting the applications 
        required under this section.
            ``(2) Internet access.--The regulations promulgated under 
        this subsection shall provide for the availability of 
        applications for, and other information relating to, assistance 
        under this subpart on the Internet website of the Department of 
        Justice, in a manner that is closely linked to the information 
        on that Internet website concerning the program under part Q.
    ``(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 104-119)) 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 school safety equipment, but did not, or 
does not expect to use such funds for such purpose.

``SEC. 2513. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this subpart--
            ``(1) 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));
            ``(2) the term `school safety equipment' means metal 
        detectors, metal detecting wands, video cameras, and other 
        equipment designed to detect weapons and otherwise enhance 
        school safety;
            ``(3) 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; and
            ``(4) the term `unit of local government' means a county, 
        municipality, town, township, village, parish, borough, school 
        district, or other unit of general government below the State 
        level.''.
    (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 2000 
                through 2002 for grants under subpart A of that part; 
                and
                    ``(B) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 
                through 2002 for grants under subpart B of that 
                part.''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING AMERICAN-MADE PRODUCTS AND 
              EQUIPMENT.

    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, unless such equipment or products are not readily available 
at reasonable costs.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING SCHOOL SECURITY.

    It is the sense of the Senate that recipients of assistance under 
subpart B of part Y of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968, as added by this Act, should, to the maximum 
extent practicable, seek to achieve a balance between school security 
needs and the need for an environment that is conducive to learning.

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) School Safety Technology Development.--The Institute shall 
conduct research and otherwise work to develop new weapons detection 
technologies and safety systems that are appropriate to school 
settings.''.
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