[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 54 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 54

  To establish a grant program that provides incentives for States to 
 enact mandatory minimum sentences for certain firearms offenses, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 2003

Mr. Crenshaw (for himself, Mr. Mica, Mr. Putnam, Mr. Oxley, Mr. Forbes, 
and Mr. Kennedy of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish a grant program that provides incentives for States to 
 enact mandatory minimum sentences for certain firearms offenses, 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 ``Project Exile Safe Streets and 
Neighborhoods Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FIREARMS SENTENCING INCENTIVE GRANTS.

    (a) Program Established.--Title II of the Violent Crime Control and 
Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subtitle D as subtitle E; and
            (2) by inserting after subtitle C the following new 
        subtitle:

           ``Subtitle D--Firearms Sentencing Incentive Grants

``SEC. 20351. DEFINITIONS.

    ``For purposes of this subtitle:
            ``(1) The term `violent crime' means murder and 
        nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and 
        aggravated assault, or a crime in a reasonably comparable class 
        of serious violent crimes as approved by the Attorney General.
            ``(2) The term `serious drug trafficking crime' means an 
        offense under State law for the manufacture or distribution of 
        a controlled substance, for which State law authorizes to be 
        imposed a sentence to a term of imprisonment of 10 years or 
        more.
            ``(3) The term `part 1 violent crime' means murder and 
        nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and 
        aggravated assault as reported to the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation for purposes of the Uniform Crime Reports.
            ``(4) The term `State' means a State of the United States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
        Northern Mariana Islands.

``SEC. 20352. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--From amounts made available to carry out this 
subtitle, the Attorney General shall provide Firearms Sentencing 
Incentive grants under section 20353 to eligible States.
    ``(b) Allowable Uses.--Such grants may be used by a State only for 
the following purposes:
            ``(1) To support--
                    ``(A) law enforcement agencies;
                    ``(B) prosecutors;
                    ``(C) courts;
                    ``(D) probation officers;
                    ``(E) correctional officers;
                    ``(F) the juvenile justice system;
                    ``(G) the expansion, improvement, and coordination 
                of criminal history records; or
                    ``(H) case management programs involving the 
                sharing of information about serious offenders.
            ``(2) To carry out a public awareness and community support 
        program described in section 20353(a)(2).
            ``(3) To build or expand correctional facilities.
    ``(c) Subgrants.--A State may use such grants directly or by making 
subgrants to units of local government within that State.

``SEC. 20353. FIREARMS SENTENCING INCENTIVE GRANTS.

    ``(a) Eligibility.--Except as provided in subsection (b), to be 
eligible to receive a grant award under this section, a State shall 
submit an application to the Attorney General that complies with the 
following:
            ``(1) The application shall demonstrate that such State has 
        implemented firearms sentencing laws requiring 1 or more of the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Any person who, during and in relation to any 
                violent crime or serious drug trafficking crime, uses 
                or carries a firearm, shall, in addition to the 
                punishment provided for such crime of violence or 
                serious drug trafficking crime, be sentenced to a term 
                of imprisonment of not less than 5 years (without the 
                possibility of parole during that term).
                    ``(B) Any person who, having at least 1 prior 
                conviction for a violent crime, possesses a firearm, 
                shall, for such possession, be sentenced to a term of 
                imprisonment of not less than 5 years (without the 
                possibility of parole during that term).
            ``(2) The application shall demonstrate that such State has 
        implemented, or will implement not later than 6 months after 
        receiving a grant under this subtitle, a public awareness and 
        community support program that seeks to build support for, and 
        warns potential violators of, the firearms sentencing laws 
        implemented under paragraph (1).
            ``(3) The application shall provide assurances that such 
        State--
                    ``(A) will coordinate with Federal prosecutors and 
                Federal law enforcement agencies whose jurisdictions 
                include such State, so as to promote Federal 
                involvement and cooperation in the enforcement of laws 
                within that State; and
                    ``(B) will allocate its resources in a manner 
                calculated to reduce crime in the high-crime areas of 
                the State.
    ``(b) Alternate Eligibility Requirement.--
            ``(1) In general.--A State that is unable to demonstrate in 
        its application that such State meets the requirement of 
        subsection (a)(1) shall be eligible to receive a grant award 
        under this section notwithstanding that inability if that 
        State, in such application, provides assurances that such State 
        has in effect an equivalent Federal prosecution agreement.
            ``(2) Equivalent federal prosecution agreement.--For 
        purposes of paragraph (1), an equivalent Federal prosecution 
        agreement is an agreement with appropriate Federal authorities 
        that ensures 1 or more of the following:
                    ``(A) If a person engages in the conduct specified 
                in subsection (a)(1)(A), but the conviction of that 
                person under State law for that conduct is not certain 
                to result in the imposition of an additional sentence 
                as specified in that subsection, that person is 
                referred for prosecution for such conduct under Federal 
                law.
                    ``(B) If a person engages in the conduct specified 
                in subsection (a)(1)(B), but the conviction of that 
                person under State law for that conduct is not certain 
                to result in the imposition of a sentence as specified 
                in that subsection, that person is referred for 
                prosecution for such conduct under Federal law.

``SEC. 20354. FORMULA FOR GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The amount available for grants under section 
20353 for any fiscal year shall be allocated to each eligible State, in 
the ratio that the number of part 1 violent crimes reported by such 
State to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the 3 years preceding 
the year in which the determination is made, bears to the average 
annual number of part 1 violent crimes reported by all eligible States 
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the 3 years preceding the 
year in which the determination is made.
    ``(b) Unavailable Data.--If data regarding part 1 violent crimes in 
any State is substantially inaccurate or is unavailable for the 3 years 
preceding the year in which the determination is made, the Attorney 
General shall utilize the best available comparable data regarding the 
number of violent crimes for the previous year for the State for the 
purposes of allocation of funds under this subtitle.

``SEC. 20355. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``(a) Authorizations.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
carry out this subtitle--
            ``(1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2003;
            ``(2) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2004;
            ``(3) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
            ``(4) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and
            ``(5) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
    ``(b) Limitations on Funds.--
            ``(1) Uses of funds.--Funds made available pursuant to this 
        subtitle shall be used only to carry out the purposes described 
        in section 20352(b).
            ``(2) Nonsupplanting requirement.--Funds made available 
        pursuant to this section shall not be used to supplant State 
        funds, but shall be used to increase the amount of funds that 
        would, in the absence of Federal funds, be made available from 
        State sources.
            ``(3) Administrative costs.--Not more than 3 percent of the 
        funds made available pursuant to this section shall be 
        available to the Attorney General for purposes of 
        administration, research and evaluation, technical assistance, 
        and data collection.
            ``(4) Carryover of appropriations.--Funds appropriated 
        pursuant to this section during any fiscal year shall remain 
        available until expended.
            ``(5) Matching funds.--The Federal share of a grant 
        received under this subtitle may not exceed 90 percent of the 
        costs of a proposal as described in an application approved 
        under this subtitle.

``SEC. 20356. REPORT BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

    ``Beginning on October 1, 2003, and each subsequent July 1 
thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 
of Representatives a report on the implementation of this subtitle. The 
report shall include information regarding the eligibility of States 
under section 20353 and the distribution and use of funds under this 
subtitle.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 2 of that 
Act is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the item relating to subtitle D of 
        title II as subtitle E of such title; and
            (2) by inserting after subtitle C of such title the 
        following:

           ``Subtitle D--Firearms Sentencing Incentive Grants

``Sec. 20351. Definitions.
``Sec. 20352. Authorization of grants.
``Sec. 20353. Firearms sentencing incentive grants.
``Sec. 20354. Formula for grants.
``Sec. 20355. Authorization of appropriations.
``Sec. 20356. Report by the Attorney General.''.
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