[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 93 (Tuesday, July 14, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8129-S8130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CRIME IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY ACT OF 1998

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am delighted that the Senate passed the 
Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998, S. 2022.
  I am proud to join Senator DeWine in supporting our bipartisan 
legislation to authorize comprehensive Department of Justice grants to 
every state for criminal justice identification, information and 
communications technologies and systems. I applaud the Senator from 
Ohio, Senator DeWine, for his leadership. I also commend the Chairman 
of the Judiciary Committee and the Democratic Leader for their strong 
support of the Crime Identification Technology Act.
  I know from my experience in law enforcement in Vermont over the last 
30 years that access to quality, accurate information in a timely 
fashion is of vital importance. As we prepare to enter the 21st 
Century, we must provide our state and local law enforcement officers 
with the resources to develop the latest technological tools and 
communications systems to solve and prevent crime. I believe this bill 
accomplishes that goal.
  The Crime Identification Technology Act authorizes $250 million for 
each of the next five years in grants to states for crime information 
and identification systems. The Attorney General, through the Bureau of 
Justice Statistics, is directed to make grants to each state to be used 
in conjunction with units of local government, and other states, to use 
information and identification technologies and systems to upgrade 
criminal history and criminal justice record systems.
  Grants made under our legislation may include programs to establish, 
develop, update or upgrade:
  State, centralized, automated criminal history record information 
systems, including arrest and disposition reporting.
  Automated fingerprint identification systems that are compatible with 
the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) of 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  Finger imaging, live scan and other automated systems to digitize 
fingerprints and to communicate prints in a manner that is compatible 
with systems operated by states and the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation.
  Systems to facilitate full participation in the Interstate 
Identification Index (III).
  Programs and systems to facilitate full participation in the 
Interstate Identification Index National Crime Prevention and Privacy 
Compact.
  Systems to facilitate full participation in the National Instant 
Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for firearms eligibility 
determinations.
  Integrated criminal justice information systems to manage and 
communicate criminal justice information among law enforcement, courts, 
prosecution, and corrections.
  Non-criminal history record information systems relevant to firearms 
eligibility determinations for availability and accessibility to the 
NICS.
  Court-based criminal justice information systems to promote reporting 
of dispositions to central state repositories and to the FBI and to 
promote the compatibility with, and integration of, court systems with 
other criminal justice information systems.
  Ballistics identification programs that are compatible and integrated 
with the ballistics programs of the National Integrated Ballistics 
Network (NIBN).
  Information, identification and communications programs for forensic 
purposes.

[[Page S8130]]

  DNA programs for forensic and identification purposes.
  Sexual offender identification and registration systems.
  Domestic violence offender identification and information systems.
  Programs for fingerprint-supported background checks for non-criminal 
justice purposes including youth service employees and volunteers and 
other individuals in positions of trust, if authorized by federal or 
state law and administered by a government agency.
  Criminal justice information systems with a capacity to provide 
statistical and research products including incident-based reporting 
systems and uniform crime reports.
  Online and other state-of-the-art communications technologies and 
programs.
  Multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional communications systems to share 
routine and emergency information among federal, state and local law 
enforcement agencies.
  Let me just give a couple of examples from my home State of Vermont 
that illustrate how our comprehensive legislation will aid state and 
local law enforcement agencies across the country.
  The future of law enforcement must focus on working together to 
harness the power of today s information age to prevent crime and catch 
criminals. One way to work together is for state and local law 
enforcement agencies to band together to create efficiencies of scale. 
For example, together with New Hampshire and Maine, the State of 
Vermont has pooled its resources together to build a tri-state IAFIS 
system to identify fingerprints. Our bipartisan legislation would 
foster these partnerships by allowing groups of States to apply 
together for grants.
  Another challange for law enforcement agencies across the country is 
communication difficulties between federal, state and local law 
enforcement officials. In a recent report, the Department of Justice s 
National Institute of Justice concluded that law enforcement agencies 
throughout the nation lack adequate communications systems to respond 
to crimes that cross state and local jurisdictions.
  A 1997 incident along the Vermont and New Hampshire border 
underscored this problem. During a cross border shooting spree that 
left four people dead including two New Hampshire state troopers, 
Vermont and New Hampshire officers were forced to park two police 
cruisers next to one another to coordinate activities between federal, 
state and local law enforcement officers because the two states' police 
radios could not communicate with one another.
  The Vermont Department of Public Safety, the Vermont U.S. Attorney s 
Office and others have reacted to this communications problem by 
developing the Northern Lights proposal. This project will allow the 
northern borders States of Vermont, New York, New Hampshire and Maine 
to integrate their law enforcement communications systems to better 
coordinate interdiction efforts and share intelligence data seamlessly.
  Our legislation would provide grants for the development of 
integrated Federal, State and local law enforcement communications 
systems to foster cutting edge efforts like the Northern Lights 
project.
  In addition, our bipartisan legislation will help each of our States 
meet its obligations under national anti-crime initiatives. For 
instance, the FBI will soon bring online NCIC 2000 and IAFIS which will 
require states to update their criminal justice systems for the country 
to benefit. States are also being asked to participate in several other 
national programs such as sexual offender registries, national domestic 
violence legislation, Brady Act, and National Child Protection Act.
  Currently, there are no comprehensive programs to support these 
national crime-fighting systems. Our legislation will fill this void by 
helping the each State meet its obligations under these Federal laws.
  The Crime Identification Technology Act provides a helping hand with 
the heavy hand of a top-down, Washington-knows-best approach. 
Unfortunately, some in Congress have pushed legislation mandating 
minute detail changes that States must make in their laws to qualify 
for Federal funds. Our bill rejects this approach. Instead, we provide 
the States with Federal support to improve their criminal justice 
idenfication, information and communication systems without prescriping 
new Federal mandates
  Mr. President, we have patterned the administration of the technology 
grants under our bill after the highly successful DOJ National Criminal 
History Improvement Program (N-CHIP),which was created by the 1993 
Brady Act.
  The Vermont Department of Public Safety has received funds under the 
N-CHIP program for the past three years and I have been proud to 
strongly support their efforts. With that Federal assistance, Vermont 
has been achieved acquiring the automated fingerprint identification 
system in conjunction with Maine and New Hampshire, upgrading its 
records repository computer systems, as well as extending their online 
incident-based reporting system to local jurisdictions throughout 
Vermont. Our bill builds on the Justice Department s existing 
infrastructure under the successful N-CHIP program to provide fair and 
effective grant administration.
  I know that the Justice Department, under Attorney General Reno's 
leadership, has made it a priority to modernize and automate criminal 
history records. Our legislation will continue that leadership by 
providing each State with the necessary resources to continue to make 
important efforts to bring their criminal justice systems up to date.
  I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to act quickly 
on the Crime Identification Technology Act to ensure that each State 
has the resources to capture the power of emerging information and 
communications technologies to serve and protect all of our citizens.

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