[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2649 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2649

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from making any funds available 
    to a State under any program administered by the Department of 
Education unless the Secretary determines that the State has in place a 
                  criminal information sharing system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2003

   Mr. Porter (for himself, Mr. Carter, and Mr. Cole) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the Secretary of Education from making any funds available 
    to a State under any program administered by the Department of 
Education unless the Secretary determines that the State has in place a 
                  criminal information sharing system.

    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 ``Schools Safely Acquiring Faculty 
Excellence Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) It is necessary to be sure that individuals who 
        interact closely with children in the Nation's schools do not 
        have a criminal history in any State or pose any threat to any 
        child.
            (2) To meet the needs of growing communities, many school 
        districts rely on recruitment of teachers from other States.
            (3) To ensure the safety of students, many school districts 
        require prospective personnel who will work with students to be 
        fingerprinted for background checks through the Federal Bureau 
        of Investigations.
            (4) Unfortunately, not all States submit their criminal 
        records to the Federal Bureau of Investigations for non-
        criminal justice purposes.
            (5) The National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, 
        enacted in 1998, governs the use of the Interstate 
        Identification Index System for non-criminal justice purposes.
            (6) As of 2003, only 16 States have ratified the National 
        Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL EDUCATIONAL FUNDING FOR STATES 
              WITHOUT A CRIMINAL INFORMATION SHARING SYSTEM.

    (a) Prohibition.--Beginning on the date described in subsection 
(b)(1), the Secretary of Education (in this section referred to as the 
``Secretary'') shall not make any funds available to a State under any 
program administered by the Department of Education unless the 
Secretary determines under subsection (b) that the State has in place a 
criminal information sharing system.
    (b) Criminal Information Sharing System.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with 
        the Attorney General, shall determine whether each State has in 
        place a criminal information sharing system under which the 
        State shares with the Federal Government information (including 
        for non-criminal justice purposes) on each arrest, charge, or 
        conviction (including any no contest plea) in such State for 
        any offense described in paragraph (2), including--
                    (A) the identity of each individual so arrested, 
                charged, or convicted; and
                    (B) the identity of each individual under suspicion 
                for such an offense.
            (2) Offenses.--An offense described in this paragraph is 
        any offense that--
                    (A) is a felony or involves violence, a controlled 
                substance, child abuse, statutory rape, rape, 
                molestation, or sexual abuse; and
                    (B) occurs on or after the date that is 15 years 
                before the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (3) Revision.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
        Attorney General, may revise a determination made under 
        paragraph (1) as the Secretary determines appropriate.
            (4) State defined.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        ``State'' includes the several States, the District of 
        Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of 
        the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the United 
        States Virgin Islands, and any other territory or possession of 
        the United States.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
                                 <all>