[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3470 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3470

  To remove arbitrary and anticompetitive limitations from the grant 
                   program for ICAC Program training.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 2011

   Mr. Ribble (for himself, Mr. Petri, Mr. Meehan, and Mr. Austria) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To remove arbitrary and anticompetitive limitations from the grant 
                   program for ICAC Program training.

    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 ``Competitive Justice Training Act of 
2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program 
        (hereinafter referred to as the ``ICAC Program'') was developed 
        in 1998 in response to the increasing number of children and 
        teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of child 
        pornography, and heightened online activity by predators 
        seeking unsupervised contact with potential underage victims.
            (2) The ICAC Program is a national network of more than 60 
        coordinated task forces representing more than 3,000 Federal, 
        State, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies.
            (3) The ICAC Program has identified millions of child 
        pornography transactions involving images and video of child 
        sexual assault from millions of computer IP addresses 
        worldwide.
            (4) The ICAC Program has helped State and local officials 
        develop and coordinate an effective response to cyber-
        enticement and child pornography cases.
            (5) Since its creation, the ICAC Program has reviewed more 
        than 180,000 complaints of alleged child sexual victimization 
        resulting in the arrest of more than 16,500 individuals.
            (6) In fiscal year 2010, ICAC Program investigations led to 
        more than 5,400 arrests, over 30,000 forensic examinations, and 
        the identification of over 2,100 children who were victims of 
        some form of abuse or neglect.
            (7) The ICAC Program technical and training assistance 
        program (hereinafter referred to as ``ICAC Program training'') 
        has trained more than 288,000 law enforcement officers, 
        prosecutors, and other professionals, including 31,000 law 
        enforcement personnel, more than 2,400 prosecutors, and more 
        than 9,000 other professionals in fiscal year 2010 alone.
            (8) The benefits of a competitive and open grant process 
        are widely accepted as the best method to match unique grantees 
        with program requirements, responsibly administer taxpayer 
        dollars, and ensure a fair and unbiased process for making 
        grant award determinations.
            (9) ICAC Program training has historically been awarded 
        through a competitive, open process. In general, Department of 
        Justice grants are awarded without arbitrary restrictions and 
        on a competitive basis. Further, most training administered by 
        Federal agencies is administered on a full and competitive open 
        grant process.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) deviating from the competitive open grant process for 
        ICAC Program training and establishing arbitrary limitations on 
        the amount of ICAC Program training provided by certain 
        providers is anticompetitive and does not result in maximizing 
        taxpayer value, training participation, or program quality, or 
        reducing associated overhead costs; and
            (2) the Attorney General should administer grants for ICAC 
        Program training without arbitrary statutory or regulatory 
        limitations, and in administering such grants should prioritize 
        cost, quality, and proven training results.

SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF ARBITRARY ANTICOMPETIVE CAP ON ICAC PROGRAM 
              TRAINING.

    Section 102(b)(4) of the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 (42 
U.S.C. 17612(b)(4)) is amended--
            (1) by striking subparagraph (B); and
            (2) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B).
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