[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1741 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 70
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1741
[Report No. 111-138]
To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants to eligible
State, tribal, and local prosecutors to establish and maintain certain
protection and witness assistance programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 26, 2009
Mr. Cummings (for himself, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. McDermott, Mr.
Van Hollen, Mr. Sestak, and Ms. Bordallo) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
June 8, 2009
Additional sponsors: Mr. Conyers, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Payne,
Mr. Fattah, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Pierluisi, and Mr. Poe of
Texas
June 8, 2009
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March
26, 2009]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants to eligible
State, tribal, and local prosecutors to establish and maintain certain
protection and witness assistance programs.
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
Grant Program Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF WITNESS PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall make competitive grants
to eligible State, tribal, and local governments to establish or
maintain programs that provide protection or assistance to witnesses in
court proceedings involving homicide, or involving a serious violent
felony or serious drug offense as defined in section 3559(c)(2) of
title 18, United States Code. The Attorney General shall ensure that,
to the extent reasonable and practical, such grants are made to achieve
an equitable geographical distribution of such programs throughout the
United States.
(b) State Defined.--For purposes of this Act, the term ``State''
means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam,
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
SEC. 3. USE OF GRANTS.
A grant made under section 2 may be used only to pay all or part of
the cost of the program for which such grant is made.
SEC. 4. PRIORITY.
In making grants under section 2, the Attorney General shall give
priority to applications submitted under section 5 involving programs
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.
SEC. 5. APPLICATION.
To be eligible for a grant under section 2, a State, tribal, or
local government shall submit to the Office of Justice Programs an
application in such form and manner, at such time, and accompanied by
such information as the Attorney General specifies.
SEC. 6. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.
From amounts made available to carry out this Act, the Attorney
General, upon request of a recipient of a grant under section 2, shall
provide technical assistance to such recipient to the extent the
Attorney General determines such technical assistance is needed to
establish or maintain a program described in such section.
SEC. 7. BEST PRACTICES.
(a) Report.--Each recipient of a grant under section 2 shall submit
to the Attorney General a report, in such form and manner and
containing such information as specified by the Attorney General, that
evaluates each program established or maintained pursuant to such
grant, including policies and procedures under the program.
(b) Development of Best Practices.--Based on the reports submitted
under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall develop best practice
models to assist States and other relevant entities in addressing--
(1) witness safety;
(2) short-term and permanent witness relocation;
(3) financial and housing assistance; and
(4) any other services related to witness protection or
assistance that are determined by the Attorney General to be
necessary.
(c) Dissemination to States.--Not later than 1 year after the
development of best practice models under subsection (b), the Attorney
General shall disseminate to States and other relevant entities such
models.
(d) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that States and
other relevant entities should use the best practice models developed
and disseminated in accordance with this Act to evaluate, improve, and
develop witness protection or witness assistance as appropriate.
(e) Clarification.--Nothing in this Act requires the dissemination
of any information if the Attorney General determines such information
is law enforcement sensitive and should only be disclosed within the
law enforcement community or that such information poses a threat to
national security.
SEC. 8. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Not later than December 31, 2015, the Attorney General shall submit
a report to Congress on the programs funded by grants awarded under
section 2, including on matters specified under section 7(b).
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act
$30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014.
Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to require the
Attorney General to make competitive grants to eligible State,
tribal, and local governments to establish and maintain certain
protection and witness assistance programs.''.
Union Calendar No. 70
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1741
[Report No. 111-138]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants to eligible
State, tribal, and local prosecutors to establish and maintain certain
protection and witness assistance programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 8, 2009
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed