[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1982 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1982

 To establish within the United States Marshalls Service a short term 
  State witness protection program to provide assistance to State and 
  local district attorneys to protect their witnesses in homicide and 
   major violent crime cases and to provide Federal grants for such 
                              protection.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 9, 2003

  Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mr. Hatch, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish within the United States Marshalls Service a short term 
  State witness protection program to provide assistance to State and 
  local district attorneys to protect their witnesses in homicide and 
   major violent crime cases and to provide Federal grants for such 
                              protection.

    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 ``Witness Security and Protection Act 
of 2003''.

SEC. 2. SHORT TERM STATE WITNESS PROTECTION SECTION.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 37 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 570. Short Term State Witness Protection Section
    ``(a) In General.--There is established in the United States 
Marshalls Service a Short Term State Witness Protection Section which 
shall provide protection for witnesses in State and local trials 
involving homicide or other major violent crimes pursuant to 
cooperative agreements with State and local district attorneys and the 
United States attorney for the District of Columbia.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--The Short Term State Witness Protection Section 
shall give priority in awarding grants and providing services to 
prosecutor's offices in States with an average of not less than 100 
murders per year during the 5-year period immediately preceding an 
application for protection, as calculated using the latest available 
crime statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.''.
    (b) Chapter Analysis.--The chapter analysis for chapter 37 of title 
28, United States Code, is amended by striking the items for sections 
570 through 576 and inserting the following:

``570. Short Term State Witness Protection Section.''.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General is authorized to make 
        grants to State and local district attorneys and the United 
        States attorney for the District of Columbia for the purpose of 
        providing short term protection to witnesses in trials 
        involving homicide or serious violent felony (as defined in 
        section 3559(c)(2) of title 18, United States Code.
            (2) Allocation.--Each district attorney receiving a grant 
        under this section may either--
                    (A) use the grant to provide witness protection; or
                    (B) pursuant to a cooperative agreement with the 
                Short Term State Witness Protection Section of the 
                United States Marshalls Service, credit the grant to 
                the Short Term State Witness Protection Section to 
                cover the costs to the section of providing witness 
                protection on behalf of the district attorney.
            (3) Eligibility.--Grants under this section may only be 
        awarded in States with an average of not less than 100 murders 
        per year during the most recent 5-year period, as calculated 
        using the latest available crime statistics from the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) In general.--Each eligible district attorney desiring a 
        grant under this section shall submit an application to the 
        Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and accompanied 
        by such information as the Attorney General may reasonably 
        require.
            (2) Contents.--Each application submitted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) shall--
                    (A) describe the activities for which assistance 
                under this section is sought; and
                    (B) provide such additional assurances as the 
                Attorney General determines to be essential to ensure 
                compliance with the requirements of this section.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $90,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2005, 2006, and 2007.
                                 <all>