[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1741 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 329
111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 1741


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 10, 2009

  Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

               March 22 (legislative day, March 19), 2010

                Reported by Mr. Leahy, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Witness Security and 
Protection Grant Program Act of 2009''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF WITNESS PROTECTION GRANT 
              PROGRAM.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. USE OF GRANTS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    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.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. PRIORITY.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    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.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 5. APPLICATION.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    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.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 6. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    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.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 7. BEST PRACTICES.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) witness safety;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) short-term and permanent witness 
        relocation;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) financial and housing assistance; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) any other services related to witness 
        protection or assistance that are determined by the Attorney 
        General to be necessary.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 8. REPORT TO CONGRESS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    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).</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
Act $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 
2014.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Witness Security and Protection 
Grant Program Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. WITNESS PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM.

    Subtitle Q of title III of the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994 (42. U.S.C. 13861 et seq.) is amended by 
inserting after section 31702 the following:

``SEC. 31702A. WITNESS PROTECTION GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--Under paragraph (5) of section 31702, 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--
            ``(1) 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; and
            ``(2) court proceedings involving gangs or organized crime.
    ``(b) Criteria.--In determining whether need has been demonstrated 
under this section, the Attorney General shall evaluate applicants 
based upon--
            ``(1) lack of infrastructure to support a witness 
        assistance program;
            ``(2) level of witness intimidation;
            ``(3) level of cases not prosecuted due to witness 
        intimidation;
            ``(4) level of homicides;
            ``(5) level of serious violent felonies or serious drug 
        offenses, as defined in section 3559 (c)(2) of title 18, United 
        States Code;
            ``(6) level of organized crime; and
            ``(7) other appropriate criteria as determined by the 
        Attorney General.
    ``(c) Technical Assistance.--From amounts made available to carry 
out paragraph (5) of section 31702, the Attorney General, upon request 
of a recipient of a grant under this section, shall direct the 
appropriate offices within the Department of Justice to 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.
    ``(d) Best Practices.--
            ``(1) Report.--Each recipient of a grant under this section 
        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.
            ``(2) Development of best practices.--Based on the reports 
        submitted under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall 
        develop best practice models to assist States and other 
        relevant entities in addressing--
                    ``(A) witness safety;
                    ``(B) short-term and permanent witness relocation;
                    ``(C) financial and housing assistance; and
                    ``(D) any other services related to witness 
                protection or assistance that are determined by the 
                Attorney General to be necessary.
            ``(3) Dissemination to states.--Not later than 1 year after 
        the development of best practice models under paragraph (2), 
        the Attorney General shall disseminate to States and other 
        relevant entities such models.
            ``(4) 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 
        section to evaluate, improve, and develop witness protection or 
        witness assistance as appropriate.
            ``(5) Clarification.--Nothing in this section 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.
    ``(e) Federal Share.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Federal share of the cost a project 
        carried out using a grant made under this section shall not be 
        more than 75 percent.
            ``(2) In-kind contributions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the 
                non-Federal share for a project carried out using a 
                grant made under this section may be made in the form 
                of in-kind contributions that are directly related to 
                the purpose for which the grant was made.
                    ``(B) Maximum percentage.--Not more than 50 percent 
                of the non-Federal share for a project carried out 
                using a grant made under this section may be in the 
                form of in-kind contributions.
    ``(f) Administrative Expenses.--Federal administrative costs in 
administering the programs funded by this section shall not exceed 5 
percent of funds appropriated per fiscal year.
    ``(g) Geographic Distribution.--The Attorney General shall ensure 
that, to the extent reasonable and practical, grants authorized by this 
section are made to achieve an equitable geographical distribution of 
such programs throughout the United States and that due consideration 
be given to applicants of rural and urban communities.
    ``(h) Report to Congress.--The Attorney General shall submit a 
report to Congress--
            ``(1) not later than December 31, 2012, on the 
        implementation of this section and any information on programs 
        funded by grants made pursuant to this section; and
            ``(2) not later than December 31, 2015, on the programs 
        funded by grants awarded under this section, including on 
        matters specified under subsection (d)(2).''.
                                                       Calendar No. 329

111th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 1741

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

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.

_______________________________________________________________________

               March 22 (legislative day, March 19), 2010

                       Reported with an amendment