[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1262 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1262

  To implement or enhance consistent AMBER Alert plans throughout the 
                                country.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 13, 2003

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To implement or enhance consistent AMBER Alert plans throughout the 
                                country.

    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 AMBER Alert Improvement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AMBER ALERT COORDINATOR.

    (a) Coordinator.--The Attorney General shall establish an AMBER 
Alert Coordinator position (referred to in this Act as the 
``Coordinator''). The Coordinator shall--
            (1) establish guidelines to ensure AMBER Alert plans are 
        consistent throughout the United States, including--
                    (A) criteria to determine if ample resources are 
                available to establish an AMBER Alert plan;
                    (B) criteria regarding confirmation by a law 
                enforcement agency that an abduction of a child has 
                occurred which threatens the life or physical well 
                being of the child and warrants issuing an alert;
                    (C) each State or a group of States, by written 
                agreement, establishes a central point of command to 
                share information and ensure quality control; and
                    (D) use of the name AMBER in identifying the plan 
                to avoid confusion; and
            (2) develop a prototype of protocols for each child 
        recovery plan from initial contact through reunification with 
        family, including--
                    (A) a public safety communications protocol;
                    (B) investigations protocol and investigation 
                cooperation agreements;
                    (C) case management protocol;
                    (D) command center operations;
                    (E) reunification with family;
                    (F) prosecution coordination;
                    (G) aftercare for victims; and
                    (H) incident review, evaluation, and debriefing.

SEC. 3. TRAINING AND EVALUATION.

    (a) Training.--The Coordinator shall make available throughout the 
country to agencies and organizations implementing an AMBER Alert plan, 
including law enforcement, broadcasters, chief executive officers, 
first responders, dispatchers, public safety communications, and radio 
station personnel--
            (1) training and educational programs which are updated 
        regularly to ensure compliance with new tools, technologies, 
        and resources; and
            (2) informational material, including brochures, videos, 
        posters, and web sites to support and supplement training and 
        educational programs.
    (b) Evaluation.--The Coordinator shall make available to any State 
or local agency or organization involved with the AMBER plan program 
monitoring, annual evaluation, and plan testing.

SEC. 4. ADVISORY GROUP.

    (a) In General.--The Coordinator shall establish an advisory group 
to assist agencies or organizations that do not participate in the 
AMBER plan.
    (b) Participants.--In selecting individuals to serve on the 
advisory group, the Coordinator shall include representation from 
different geographic areas of the country that includes individuals 
from law enforcement, broadcasters, chief executive officers, first 
responders, dispatchers, public safety communications, and radio 
station personnel.

SEC. 5. TECHNOLOGY GRANTS.

    (a) Grant Program.--The Coordinator shall establish a grant program 
to provide States with grants to implement new technologies which 
improve AMBER Alert communications.
    (b) Report.--The Coordinator shall submit a report to Congress not 
less than once every 3 years regarding new technologies that may be 
used to assist in disseminating AMBER Alerts.

SEC. 6. REPORTS.

    The Coordinator shall submit a report to Congress annually 
regarding the activities of the Office and the effectiveness and status 
of each State that has established AMBER plans.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each 
        of the outlying areas; and
            (2) Outlying area.--The term ``outlying area'' means the 
        United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated--
            (1) $25,000,000 to carry out training programs under 
        section 2(a) for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2009;
            (2) $50,000,000 to provide technology grants under section 
        4(a) for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2009; and
            (3) such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act 
        other than sections 2(a) and 4(a) for each of fiscal years 2004 
        through 2009.
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