[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5556 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5556

   To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 7, 2002

   Mr. Foley (for himself, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Calvert, and Mr. Cramer) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``National Child Protection and 
Volunteers for Children Improvement Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 5 of the National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 
5119c) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ``and'' at the end; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (10) the following:
            ``(10A) the term `qualified State program' means the 
        policies and procedures referred to in section 3(a)(1) of a 
        State that are in place in order to implement this Act, 
        including policies and procedures that require--
                    ``(A) requests for national criminal history 
                background checks to be routinely returned to a 
                qualified entity not later than 20 business days after 
                the date on which the request was made;
                    ``(B) authorized agencies to charge not more than 
                $18 for State background checks;
                    ``(C) the designation of the authorized agencies 
                that may receive national criminal history background 
                check requests from qualified entities; and
                    ``(D) the designation of the qualified entities 
                that shall submit background check requests to an 
                authorized agency;
            ``(10B) the term `routinely' means--
                    ``(A) instances where 85 percent or more of 
                nationwide background check requests are returned to 
                qualified entities within 20 business days; or
                    ``(B) instances where 90 percent or more of 
                nationwide background check requests are returned to 
                qualified entities within 30 business days; and''.

SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING AND ENFORCING THE NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION ACT 
              AND THE VOLUNTEERS FOR CHILDREN ACT.

    Section 3 of the National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 
5119a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``A State may'' and 
                        inserting the following: ``Request.--A State 
                        may'';
                            (ii) by inserting after ``procedures'' the 
                        following: ``meeting the guidelines set forth 
                        in subsection (b)'';
                            (iii) by inserting after ``regulation)'' 
                        the following: ``or a qualified State 
                        program''; and
                            (iv) by striking ``convicted of'' and all 
                        that follows through the period and inserting 
                        ``convicted of, or is under pending arrest or 
                        indictment for, a crime that renders the 
                        provider unfit to provide care to children, the 
                        elderly, or individuals with disabilities.'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``The authorized agency'' 
                        and inserting the following: ``Response.--The 
                        authorized agency'';
                            (ii) by striking ``make reasonable efforts 
                        to'';
                            (iii) by striking ``15'' and inserting 
                        ``20''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``The Attorney General shall respond to the 
                        inquiry of the State authorized agency within 
                        15 business days of the request. A State is not 
                        in violation of this section if the Attorney 
                        General fails to respond to the inquiry within 
                        15 business days of the request.''; and
                    (C) by striking paragraph (3), and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(3) Absence of qualified state program.--
                    ``(A) Request.--Not later than 12 months after the 
                date of enactment of the National Child Protection and 
                Volunteers for Children Improvement Act of 2002, a 
                qualified entity doing business in a State that does 
                not have a qualified State program may request a 
                national criminal background check from the Attorney 
                General for the purpose of determining whether a 
                provider has been convicted of, or is under pending 
                arrest or indictment for, a crime that renders the 
                provider unfit to provide care to children, the 
                elderly, or individuals with disabilities.
                    ``(B) Review and response.--The Attorney General 
                shall respond to the request of a qualified entity made 
                under subparagraph (A) not later than 20 business days 
                after the request is made.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ``shall make'' 
                and inserting ``may make''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (5)--
                            (i) by inserting after ``qualified entity'' 
                        the following: ``or by a State authorized 
                        agency that disseminates criminal history 
                        records information directly to qualified 
                        entities''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``pursuant to subsection 
                        (a)(3)''.

SEC. 4. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.

    The National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 6. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.

    ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney General 
and authorized agencies of States may disseminate criminal history 
background check record information to a qualified entity.

``SEC. 7. OFFICE FOR VOLUNTEER AND PROVIDER SCREENING.

    ``(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall establish an Office 
for Volunteer and Provider Screening (referred to in this Act as the 
`Office') which shall serve as a point of contact for qualified 
entities to request a national criminal background check pursuant to 
section 3(a)(3).
    ``(b) Model Guidelines.--The Office shall provide model guidelines 
concerning standards to guide qualified entities in making fitness 
determinations regarding care providers based upon the criminal history 
record information of those providers.''.

SEC. 5. FEES.

    Section 3(e) of the National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 
U.S.C. 5119a(e)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``In the case'' and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(1) In general.--In the case''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Volunteer with qualified entity.--In the case of a 
        national criminal fingerprint background check conducted 
        pursuant to section 3(a)(3) on a person who volunteers with a 
        qualified entity, the fee collected by the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation shall not exceed $5.
            ``(3) Provider.--In the case of a national criminal 
        fingerprint background check on a provider who is employed by 
        or applies for a position with a qualified entity, the fee 
        collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall not 
        exceed $18.''.

SEC. 6. STRENGTHENING STATE FINGERPRINT TECHNOLOGY.

    (a) Establishment of Model Program in Each State To Strengthen 
Criminal Data Repositories and Fingerprint Technology.--The Attorney 
General shall establish a model program in each State and the District 
of Columbia for the purpose of improving fingerprinting technology 
which shall grant to each State funds to either--
            (1) purchase Live-Scan fingerprint technology and a State-
        vehicle to make such technology mobile and these mobile units 
        shall be used to travel within the State to assist in the 
        processing of fingerprint background checks; or
            (2) purchase electric fingerprint imaging machines for use 
        throughout the State to send fingerprint images to the Attorney 
        General to conduct background checks.
    (b) Additional Funds.--In addition to funds provided in subsection 
(a), funds shall be provided to each State and the District of Columbia 
to hire personnel to provide information and training to each county 
law enforcement agency within the State regarding all requirements for 
input of criminal and disposition data into the national criminal 
history background check system under the National Child Protection Act 
of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119 et seq.).
    (c) Funding Eligibility.--States with a qualified State program 
shall be eligible for not more than $2,000,000 under this section.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        carry out this section sums sufficient to improve fingerprint 
        technology units and hire data entry improvement personnel in 
        each of the 50 States and the District of Columbia for each of 
        fiscal years 2004 through 2008.
            (2) Availability.--Sums appropriated in accordance with 
        this section shall remain available until expended.

SEC. 7. PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.

    (a) Information.--Information derived as a result of a national 
criminal fingerprint background check request under section 3 of the 
National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119a) shall not be 
adjusted, deleted, or altered in any way except as required by law for 
national security purposes.
    (b) Designated Representative.--
            (1) In general.--Each qualified entity (as defined in 
        section 5 of the National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 
        U.S.C. 5119c)) shall assign a representative in their 
        respective organization to receive and process information 
        requested under section 3 of the National Child Protection Act 
        of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119a).
            (2) Deletion of information.--Each representative assigned 
        under paragraph (1) shall review the requested information and 
        delete all information that is not needed by the requesting 
        entity in making an employment decision.
    (c) Criminal Penalties.--Any person who knowingly releases 
information derived as a result of a national criminal fingerprint 
background check to any person other than the hiring authority or 
organizational leadership with the qualified entity shall be--
            (1) fined $50,000 for each violation; or
            (2) imprisoned not more than 1 year.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this Act--
            (1) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and
            (2) such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 
        2005 through 2008.
    (b) Availability of Funds.--Sums appropriated in accordance with 
this section shall remain available until expended.
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