[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3483 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3483

To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for intergovernmental 
   cooperation to enhance the sharing of law enforcement information.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 13, 2001

     Mr. Horn (for himself, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Shays, Ms. 
  Schakowsky, and Mrs. Maloney of New York) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for intergovernmental 
   cooperation to enhance the sharing of law enforcement information.

    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 ``Intergovernmental Law Enforcement 
Information Sharing Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Governors and mayors are responsible for the protection 
        of their constituents, and State and local agencies are 
        typically the first responders to emergencies. Therefore, State 
        and local officials and agencies must be able to receive 
        information regarding potential threats within their 
        jurisdictions.
            (2) Most State and local law enforcement authorities 
        currently have mechanisms in place to receive and protect 
        classified information provided by Federal officials. These 
        mechanisms must be supplemented to include elected officials 
        and additional senior law enforcement officials in every State.
            (3) Expanding the issuance of security clearances, 
        consistent with all applicable Federal standards and 
        investigative requirements, is an important means of improving 
        information sharing among Federal, State, and local officials.
            (4) There is a need for a comprehensive review of 
        procedures within Federal law enforcement agencies in order to 
        identify and remedy unnecessary barriers to information sharing 
        among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies.

SEC. 3. SECURITY CLEARANCES AND ENHANCED INFORMATION SHARING.

    Chapter 65 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section:
``Sec. 6509. Intergovernmental cooperation to enhance the sharing of 
              law enforcement information
    ``(a) The Attorney General shall expeditiously carry out security 
clearance investigations for the persons identified in subsection (b), 
and shall grant appropriate security clearances to all such persons who 
qualify for clearances under the standards set forth in applicable laws 
and Executive orders.
    ``(b) The persons referred to in subsection (a) are:
            ``(1) Every Governor of a State or territory who applies 
        for a security clearance.
            ``(2) Every chief elected official of a political 
        subdivision of a State or territory with a population exceeding 
        30,000 who applies for a security clearance.
            ``(3) At least one senior law enforcement official for each 
        State or territory, as designated by the Governor of such State 
        or territory.
            ``(4) At least one senior law enforcement official for each 
        political subdivision described in paragraph (2), as designated 
        by the chief elected official of such subdivision.
            ``(5) Law enforcement officers from State, territorial, and 
        local agencies that participate in Federal counter-terrorism 
        working groups, joint or regional terrorism task forces, and 
        other activities involving the combined efforts of Federal and 
        non-Federal law enforcement agencies.
            ``(6) The chiefs, commissioners, sheriffs, or comparable 
        officials who head each State, territorial, and local agency 
        that participates in a working group, task force, or similar 
        activity described in paragraph (5).
    ``(c)(1) The Attorney General may charge State, territorial, and 
local governments, in whole or in part, for the costs of carrying out 
security clearance investigations and granting security clearances 
under this section. Such charges may not exceed the amounts charged for 
carrying out such investigations and granting such clearances for 
Federal employees.
    ``(2) The Attorney General may waive any charges that would 
otherwise apply under paragraph (1) to a State, territorial, or local 
government if such government agrees to promptly provide Federal 
officials, without charge, access to the criminal databases of such 
government for the purpose of conducting personnel security background 
investigations for military, civilian, and contract employees.
    ``(d) To the maximum extent practicable, the Attorney General shall 
ensure that information systems, including databases, are configured to 
allow efficient and effective sharing of information among appropriate 
Federal, State, territorial, and local officials and agencies.''.

SEC. 4. STUDY BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

    (a) Study Required.--The Attorney General shall conduct a study of 
methods to enhance the sharing of sensitive Federal law enforcement 
information with State, territorial, and local law enforcement 
officials. The study shall review--
            (1) appropriate safeguards to protect confidential sources 
        and methods;
            (2) mechanisms for determining the credibility of 
        information relating to potential threats;
            (3) restrictions on access to Federal databases by State, 
        territorial, and local elected officials and law enforcement 
        personnel; and
            (4) any other matter that the Attorney General considers 
        appropriate.
    (b) Participation.--The Attorney General shall ensure that 
officials from State, territorial, and local law enforcement agencies 
participate in the study.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit a report 
containing the findings and recommendations of the study to the 
Committee on Government Reform and the Committee on the Judiciary of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs 
and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.

SEC. 5. DISCLAIMER.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of 
the head of a Federal agency to classify information or to continue the 
classification of information previously classified by an agency.
                                 <all>