[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 440 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 440
To establish a matching grant program to help State and local
jurisdictions purchase bullet-resistant equipment for use by law
enforcement departments.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 1, 2001
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 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 Bulletproof
Police Protective Equipment Act of 2001''.
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 1990 and 2000, 1,700 law
enforcement officers in the United States were shot and 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; and
(5) 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
and video cameras.
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
`State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance' of the Departments
of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-553).
``(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 0.25
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
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 `State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance' of the
Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-553), 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.
``In 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 2002
through 2004 for grants under subpart A of that part;
and
``(B) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002
through 2004 for grants under subpart B of that
part.''.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF 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 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; and
``(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 2002 through 2004.''.
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