[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 638 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 638

 To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to 
       improve efforts to reduce gang activity and violent crime.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 23, 2007

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to 
       improve efforts to reduce gang activity and violent crime.

    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 ``Violent Crime Reduction Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF AND ASSISTANCE FOR HIGH-INTENSITY INTERSTATE 
              GANG ACTIVITY AREAS.

    Title XV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 
1994 (42 U.S.C 14061 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

``SEC. 150010. DESIGNATION OF AND ASSISTANCE FOR HIGH-INTENSITY 
              INTERSTATE GANG ACTIVITY AREAS.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section the following definitions shall 
apply:
            ``(1) Governor.--The term `Governor' means a Governor or 
        other chief executive officer of a State or the Mayor of the 
        District of Columbia.
            ``(2) High-intensity interstate gang activity area.--The 
        term `high-intensity interstate gang activity area' means a 
        specified area within one or more States that is designated as 
        a high-intensity interstate gang activity area under subsection 
        (b)(1).
            ``(3) State.--The term `State' means a State of the United 
        States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, 
        territory, or possession of the United States.
    ``(b) High-Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas.--
            ``(1) Designation.--The Attorney General, after 
        consultation with the Governors of appropriate States, may 
        designate as a high-intensity interstate gang activity area, 
        any specified area that is located within 1 or more States, 
        based on the criteria for designation under paragraph (4).
            ``(2) Assistance.--In order to provide Federal assistance 
        to high-intensity interstate gang activity areas, the Attorney 
        General shall--
                    ``(A) establish a criminal street gang enforcement 
                team in each high-intensity interstate gang activity 
                area, consisting of Federal, State, and local law 
                enforcement authorities, for the coordinated 
                investigation, disruption, apprehension, and 
                prosecution of criminal street gangs and offenders in 
                such area;
                    ``(B) direct the reassignment or detailing from any 
                Federal department or agency (subject to the approval 
                of the head of that department or agency, in the case 
                of a department or agency other than the Department of 
                Justice) of personnel to each criminal street gang 
                enforcement team established under subparagraph (A);
                    ``(C) provide all necessary funding for the 
                operation of such criminal street gang enforcement 
                teams in each high-intensity interstate gang activity 
                area; and
                    ``(D) provide all necessary funding for national 
                and regional meetings of criminal street gang 
                enforcement teams, and all other related organizations, 
                as needed, to ensure effective operation of such teams 
                through the sharing of intelligence, best practices, 
                and for any other related purpose.
            ``(3) Composition of criminal street gang enforcement 
        teams.--Each criminal street gang enforcement team established 
        pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) shall consist of agents and 
        officers, where feasible, from--
                    ``(A) the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
                    ``(B) the Drug Enforcement Administration;
                    ``(C) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 
                Explosives;
                    ``(D) the United States Marshals Service;
                    ``(E) the Directorate of Border and Transportation 
                Security of the Department of Homeland Security;
                    ``(F) the Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development;
                    ``(G) State and local law enforcement; and
                    ``(H) Federal, State, and local prosecutors.
            ``(4) Criteria for designation.--In considering an area for 
        designation as a high-intensity interstate gang activity area 
        under this section, the Attorney General shall consider--
                    ``(A) the current and predicted levels of gang 
                crime activity in the area;
                    ``(B) the extent to which violent crime in the area 
                appears to be related to criminal street gang activity, 
                such as drug trafficking, murder, robbery, assault, 
                carjacking, arson, kidnapping, extortion, and other 
                criminal activity;
                    ``(C) the extent to which State and local law 
                enforcement agencies have committed resources to--
                            ``(i) respond to the gang crime problem; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) participate in a criminal street 
                        gang enforcement team;
                    ``(D) the extent to which a significant increase in 
                the allocation of Federal resources would enhance local 
                response to the gang crime activities in the area; and
                    ``(E) any other criteria that the Attorney General 
                considers to be appropriate.
    ``(c) Additional Assistant U.S. Attorneys.--The Attorney General is 
authorized to hire not more than 94 additional Assistant United States 
attorneys to carry out the provisions of this section. Each attorney 
hired under this subsection shall be assigned to a high-intensity 
interstate gang activity area.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 
section.''.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL PROSECUTORS TO COMBAT VIOLENT CRIME 
              AND TO PROTECT WITNESSES AND VICTIMS OF CRIMES.

    (a) In General.--Section 31702 of the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13862) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) to hire additional prosecutors to--
                    ``(A) allow more cases to be prosecuted; and
                    ``(B) reduce backlogs;
            ``(6) to fund technology, equipment, and training for 
        prosecutors and law enforcement in order to increase accurate 
        identification of gang members and violent offenders, and to 
        maintain databases with such information to facilitate 
        coordination among law enforcement and prosecutors; and
            ``(7) to fund technology, equipment, and training for 
        prosecutors to increase the accurate identification and 
        successful prosecution of young violent offenders.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 31707 of the Violent 
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13867) is 
amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 31707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
subtitle $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 
.''.

SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO ESTABLISH STATE-
              WIDE CRIME PREVENTION DATABASES.

    Subtitle I of title XXXII of the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended by adding at the end the following 
new section:

``SEC. 320936. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO ESTABLISH 
              STATE-WIDE CRIME PREVENTION DATABASES.

    ``(a) Authority to Make Grants.--The Office of Justice Programs of 
the Department of Justice shall award grants, in accordance with such 
regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe, to State and local 
programs designed to establish a State-wide database to track 
criminals, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions.
    ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 
section.''.
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