[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 140 (Thursday, October 8, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12036-S12043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CRIME IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY ACT OF 1998

  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask the Chair lay before the Senate a 
message from the House of Representatives on the bill (S. 2022) to 
provide for the improvement of interstate criminal justice 
identification, information, communications, and forensics.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the House of Representatives:

       Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 2022) entitled 
     ``An Act to provide for the improvement of interstate 
     criminal justice identification, information, communications, 
     and forensics'', do pass with the following amendment:
       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     SECTION 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Table of contents.

          TITLE I--CRIME IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY ACT OF 1998

Sec. 101. Short title.
Sec. 102. State grant program for criminal justice identification, 
              information, and communication.

  TITLE II--NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY ACCESS AND CHILD PROTECTION ACT

Sec. 201. Short title.

   Subtitle A--Exchange of Criminal History Records for Noncriminal 
                            Justice Purposes

Sec. 211. Short title.
Sec. 212. Findings.
Sec. 213. Definitions.
Sec. 214. Enactment and consent of the United States.
Sec. 215. Effect on other laws.
Sec. 216. Enforcement and implementation.
Sec. 217. National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact.

                                Overview

                         ARTICLE I--DEFINITIONS

                          ARTICLE II--PURPOSES

            ARTICLE III--RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMPACT PARTIES

               ARTICLE IV--AUTHORIZED RECORD DISCLOSURES

                  ARTICLE V--RECORD REQUEST PROCEDURES

              ARTICLE VI--ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPACT COUNCIL

                  ARTICLE VII--RATIFICATION OF COMPACT

                 ARTICLE VIII--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

                        ARTICLE IX--RENUNCIATION

                        ARTICLE X--SEVERABILITY

                  ARTICLE XI--ADJUDICATION OF DISPUTES

                Subtitle B--Volunteers for Children Act

Sec. 221. Short title.
Sec. 222. Facilitation of fingerprint checks.

          TITLE I--CRIME IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY ACT OF 1998

     SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``Crime Identification 
     Technology Act of 1998''.

     SEC. 102. STATE GRANT PROGRAM FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE 
                   IDENTIFICATION, INFORMATION, AND COMMUNICATION.

       (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of amounts 
     provided in advance in appropriations Acts, the Office of 
     Justice Programs relying principally on the expertise of the 
     Bureau of Justice Statistics shall make a grant to each 
     State, in a manner consistent with the national criminal 
     history improvement program, which shall be used by the 
     State, in conjunction with units of local government, State 
     and local courts, other States, or combinations thereof, to 
     establish or upgrade an integrated approach to develop 
     information and identification technologies and systems to--
       (1) upgrade criminal history and criminal justice record 
     systems, including systems operated by law enforcement 
     agencies and courts;
       (2) improve criminal justice identification;
       (3) promote compatibility and integration of national, 
     State, and local systems for--
       (A) criminal justice purposes;
       (B) firearms eligibility determinations;
       (C) identification of sexual offenders;
       (D) identification of domestic violence offenders; and
       (E) background checks for other authorized purposes 
     unrelated to criminal justice; and
       (4) capture information for statistical and research 
     purposes to improve the administration of criminal justice.
       (b) Use of Grant Amounts.--Grants under this section may be 
     used for programs to establish, develop, update, or upgrade--
       (1) State centralized, automated, adult and juvenile 
     criminal history record information systems, including arrest 
     and disposition reporting;
       (2) automated fingerprint identification systems that are 
     compatible with standards established by the National 
     Institute of Standards and Technology and interoperable with 
     the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System 
     (IAFIS) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
       (3) finger imaging, live scan, and other automated systems 
     to digitize fingerprints and to communicate prints in a 
     manner that is compatible with standards established by the 
     National Institute of Standards and Technology and 
     interoperable with systems operated by States and by the 
     Federal Bureau of Investigation;
       (4) programs and systems to facilitate full participation 
     in the Interstate Identification Index of the National Crime 
     Information Center;
       (5) systems to facilitate full participation in any compact 
     relating to the Interstate Identification Index of the 
     National Crime Information Center;

[[Page S12037]]

       (6) systems to facilitate full participation in the 
     national instant criminal background check system established 
     under section 103(b) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention 
     Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note) for firearms eligibility 
     determinations;
       (7) integrated criminal justice information systems to 
     manage and communicate criminal justice information among law 
     enforcement agencies, courts, prosecutors, and corrections 
     agencies;
       (8) noncriminal history record information systems relevant 
     to firearms eligibility determinations for availability and 
     accessibility to the national instant criminal background 
     check system established under section 103(b) of the Brady 
     Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note);
       (9) court-based criminal justice information systems that 
     promote--
       (A) reporting of dispositions to central State repositories 
     and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
       (B) compatibility with, and integration of, court systems 
     with other criminal justice information systems;
       (10) ballistics identification and information programs 
     that are compatible and integrated with the National 
     Integrated Ballistics Network (NIBN);
       (11) the capabilities of forensic science programs and 
     medical examiner programs related to the administration of 
     criminal justice, including programs leading to accreditation 
     or certification of individuals or departments, agencies, or 
     laboratories, and programs relating to the identification and 
     analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid;
       (12) sexual offender identification and registration 
     systems;
       (13) domestic violence offender identification and 
     information systems;
       (14) programs for fingerprint-supported background checks 
     capability for noncriminal justice purposes, including youth 
     service employees and volunteers and other individuals in 
     positions of responsibility, if authorized by Federal or 
     State law and administered by a government agency;
       (15) criminal justice information systems with a capacity 
     to provide statistical and research products including 
     incident-based reporting systems that are compatible with the 
     National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and uniform 
     crime reports; and
       (16) multiagency, multijurisdictional communications 
     systems among the States to share routine and emergency 
     information among Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
     agencies.
       (c) Assurances.--
       (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
     this section, a State shall provide assurances to the 
     Attorney General that the State has the capability to 
     contribute pertinent information to the national instant 
     criminal background check system established under section 
     103(b) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 
     U.S.C. 922 note).
       (2) Information sharing.--Such assurances shall include a 
     provision that ensures that a statewide strategy for 
     information sharing systems is underway, or will be 
     initiated, to improve the functioning of the criminal justice 
     system, with an emphasis on integration of all criminal 
     justice components, law enforcement, courts, prosecution, 
     corrections, and probation and parole. The strategy shall be 
     prepared after consultation with State and local officials 
     with emphasis on the recommendation of officials whose duty 
     it is to oversee, plan, and implement integrated information 
     technology systems, and shall contain--
       (A) a definition and analysis of ``integration'' in the 
     State and localities developing integrated information 
     sharing systems;
       (B) an assessment of the criminal justice resources being 
     devoted to information technology;
       (C) Federal, State, regional, and local information 
     technology coordination requirements;
       (D) an assurance that the individuals who developed the 
     grant application took into consideration the needs of all 
     branches of the State Government and specifically sought the 
     advice of the chief of the highest court of the State with 
     respect to the application;
       (E) State and local resource needs;
       (F) the establishment of statewide priorities for planning 
     and implementation of information technology systems; and
       (G) a plan for coordinating the programs funded under this 
     title with other federally funded information technology 
     programs, including directly funded local programs such as 
     the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program (described 
     under the heading `Violent Crime Reduction Programs, State 
     and Local Law Enforcement Assistance' of the Departments of 
     Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related 
     Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105-119)) and 
     the M.O.R.E. program established pursuant to part Q of title 
     I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.
       (d) Matching Funds.--The Federal share of a grant received 
     under this title may not exceed 90 percent of the costs of a 
     program or proposal funded under this title unless the 
     Attorney General waives, wholly or in part, the requirements 
     of this subsection.
       (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
     carry out this section $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
     1999 through 2003.
       (2) Limitations.--Of the amount made available to carry out 
     this section in any fiscal year--
       (A) not more than 3 percent may be used by the Attorney 
     General for salaries and administrative expenses;
       (B) not more than 5 percent may be used for technical 
     assistance, training and evaluations, and studies 
     commissioned by Bureau of Justice Statistics of the 
     Department of Justice (through discretionary grants or 
     otherwise) in furtherance of the purposes of this section;
       (C) not less than 20 percent shall be used by the Attorney 
     General for the purposes described in paragraph (11) of 
     subsection (b); and
       (D) the Attorney General shall ensure the amounts are 
     distributed on an equitable geographic basis.
       (f) Grants to Indian Tribes.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of this section, the Attorney General may use 
     amounts made available under this section to make grants to 
     Indian tribes for use in accordance with this section.

  TITLE II--NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY ACCESS AND CHILD PROTECTION ACT

     SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``National Criminal History 
     Access and Child Protection Act''.

   Subtitle A--Exchange of Criminal History Records for Noncriminal 
                            Justice Purposes

     SEC. 211. SHORT TITLE.

       This subtitle may be cited as the ``National Crime 
     Prevention and Privacy Compact Act of 1998''.

     SEC. 212. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and State 
     criminal history record repositories maintain fingerprint-
     based criminal history records;
       (2) these criminal history records are shared and exchanged 
     for criminal justice purposes through a Federal-State program 
     known as the Interstate Identification Index System;
       (3) although these records are also exchanged for legally 
     authorized, noncriminal justice uses, such as governmental 
     licensing and employment background checks, the purposes for 
     and procedures by which they are exchanged vary widely from 
     State to State;
       (4) an interstate and Federal-State compact is necessary to 
     facilitate authorized interstate criminal history record 
     exchanges for noncriminal justice purposes on a uniform 
     basis, while permitting each State to effectuate its own 
     dissemination policy within its own borders; and
       (5) such a compact will allow Federal and State records to 
     be provided expeditiously to governmental and nongovernmental 
     agencies that use such records in accordance with pertinent 
     Federal and State law, while simultaneously enhancing the 
     accuracy of the records and safeguarding the information 
     contained therein from unauthorized disclosure or use.

     SEC. 213. DEFINITIONS.

       In this subtitle:
       (1) Attorney general.--The term ``Attorney General'' means 
     the Attorney General of the United States.
       (2) Compact.--The term ``Compact'' means the National Crime 
     Prevention and Privacy Compact set forth in section 217.
       (3) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Compact 
     Council established under Article VI of the Compact.
       (4) FBI.--The term ``FBI'' means the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation.
       (5) Party state.--The term ``Party State'' means a State 
     that has ratified the Compact.
       (6) State.--The term ``State'' means any State, territory, 
     or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
     and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

     SEC. 214. ENACTMENT AND CONSENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

       The National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, as set 
     forth in section 217, is enacted into law and entered into by 
     the Federal Government. The consent of Congress is given to 
     States to enter into the Compact.

     SEC. 215. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

       (a) Privacy Act of 1974.--Nothing in the Compact shall 
     affect the obligations and responsibilities of the FBI under 
     section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly known 
     as the ``Privacy Act of 1974'').
       (b) Access to Certain Records Not Affected.--Nothing in the 
     Compact shall interfere in any manner with--
       (1) access, direct or otherwise, to records pursuant to--
       (A) section 9101 of title 5, United States Code;
       (B) the National Child Protection Act;
       (C) the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Public Law 
     103-159; 107 Stat. 1536);
       (D) the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 
     1994 (Public Law 103-322; 108 Stat. 2074) or any amendment 
     made by that Act;
       (E) the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 
     et seq.); or
       (F) the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
     Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); or
       (2) any direct access to Federal criminal history records 
     authorized by law.
       (c) Authority of FBI Under Departments of State, Justice, 
     and Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies 
     Appropriation Act, 1973.--Nothing in the Compact shall be 
     construed to affect the authority of the FBI under the 
     Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary, 
     and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1973 (Public Law 92-
     544 (86 Stat. 1115)).
       (d) Federal Advisory Committee Act.--The Council shall not 
     be considered to be a Federal advisory committee for purposes 
     of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
       (e) Members of Council Not Federal Officers or Employees.--
     Members of the Council (other than a member from the FBI or 
     any at-large member who may be a Federal official or 
     employee) shall not, by virtue of such membership, be 
     deemed--
       (1) to be, for any purpose other than to effect the 
     Compact, officers or employees of the United States (as 
     defined in sections 2104 and 2105 of title 5, United States 
     Code); or
       (2) to become entitled by reason of Council membership to 
     any compensation or benefit payable or made available by the 
     Federal Government to its officers or employees.

[[Page S12038]]

     SEC. 216. ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION.

       All departments, agencies, officers, and employees of the 
     United States shall enforce the Compact and cooperate with 
     one another and with all Party States in enforcing the 
     Compact and effectuating its purposes. For the Federal 
     Government, the Attorney General shall make such rules, 
     prescribe such instructions, and take such other actions as 
     may be necessary to carry out the Compact and this subtitle.

     SEC. 217. NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION AND PRIVACY COMPACT.

       The Contracting Parties agree to the following:

                                Overview

       (a) In General.--This Compact organizes an electronic 
     information sharing system among the Federal Government and 
     the States to exchange criminal history records for 
     noncriminal justice purposes authorized by Federal or State 
     law, such as background checks for governmental licensing and 
     employment.
       (b) Obligations of Parties.--Under this Compact, the FBI 
     and the Party States agree to maintain detailed databases of 
     their respective criminal history records, including arrests 
     and dispositions, and to make them available to the Federal 
     Government and to Party States for authorized purposes. The 
     FBI shall also manage the Federal data facilities that 
     provide a significant part of the infrastructure for the 
     system.

                         ARTICLE I--DEFINITIONS

       In this Compact:
       (1) Attorney general.--The term ``Attorney General'' means 
     the Attorney General of the United States;
       (2) Compact officer.--The term ``Compact officer'' means--
       (A) with respect to the Federal Government, an official so 
     designated by the Director of the FBI; and
       (B) with respect to a Party State, the chief administrator 
     of the State's criminal history record repository or a 
     designee of the chief administrator who is a regular full-
     time employee of the repository.
       (3) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Compact 
     Council established under Article VI.
       (4) Criminal history records.--The term ``criminal history 
     records''--
       (A) means information collected by criminal justice 
     agencies on individuals consisting of identifiable 
     descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, 
     indictments, or other formal criminal charges, and any 
     disposition arising therefrom, including acquittal, 
     sentencing, correctional supervision, or release; and
       (B) does not include identification information such as 
     fingerprint records if such information does not indicate 
     involvement of the individual with the criminal justice 
     system.
       (5) Criminal history record repository.--The term 
     ``criminal history record repository'' means the State agency 
     designated by the Governor or other appropriate executive 
     official or the legislature of a State to perform centralized 
     recordkeeping functions for criminal history records and 
     services in the State.
       (6) Criminal justice.--The term ``criminal justice'' 
     includes activities relating to the detection, apprehension, 
     detention, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution, 
     adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of 
     accused persons or criminal offenders. The administration of 
     criminal justice includes criminal identification activities 
     and the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal 
     history records.
       (7) Criminal justice agency.--The term ``criminal justice 
     agency''--
       (A) means--
       (i) courts; and
       (ii) a governmental agency or any subunit thereof that--

       (I) performs the administration of criminal justice 
     pursuant to a statute or Executive order; and
       (II) allocates a substantial part of its annual budget to 
     the administration of criminal justice; and

       (B) includes Federal and State inspectors general offices.
       (8) Criminal justice services.--The term ``criminal justice 
     services'' means services provided by the FBI to criminal 
     justice agencies in response to a request for information 
     about a particular individual or as an update to information 
     previously provided for criminal justice purposes.
       (9) Criterion offense.--The term ``criterion offense'' 
     means any felony or misdemeanor offense not included on the 
     list of nonserious offenses published periodically by the 
     FBI.
       (10) Direct access.--The term ``direct access'' means 
     access to the National Identification Index by computer 
     terminal or other automated means not requiring the 
     assistance of or intervention by any other party or agency.
       (11) Executive order.--The term ``Executive order'' means 
     an order of the President of the United States or the chief 
     executive officer of a State that has the force of law and 
     that is promulgated in accordance with applicable law.
       (12) FBI.--The term ``FBI'' means the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation.
       (13) Interstate identification system.--The term 
     ``Interstate Identification Index System'' or ``III 
     System''--
       (A) means the cooperative Federal-State system for the 
     exchange of criminal history records; and
       (B) includes the National Identification Index, the 
     National Fingerprint File and, to the extent of their 
     participation in such system, the criminal history record 
     repositories of the States and the FBI.
       (14) National fingerprint file.--The term ``National 
     Fingerprint File'' means a database of fingerprints, or other 
     uniquely personal identifying information, relating to an 
     arrested or charged individual maintained by the FBI to 
     provide positive identification of record subjects indexed in 
     the III System.
       (15) National identification index.--The term ``National 
     Identification Index'' means an index maintained by the FBI 
     consisting of names, identifying numbers, and other 
     descriptive information relating to record subjects about 
     whom there are criminal history records in the III System.
       (16) National indices.--The term ``National indices'' means 
     the National Identification Index and the National 
     Fingerprint File.
       (17) Nonparty state.--The term ``Nonparty State'' means a 
     State that has not ratified this Compact.
       (18) Noncriminal justice purposes.--The term ``noncriminal 
     justice purposes'' means uses of criminal history records for 
     purposes authorized by Federal or State law other than 
     purposes relating to criminal justice activities, including 
     employment suitability, licensing determinations, immigration 
     and naturalization matters, and national security clearances.
       (19) Party state.--The term ``Party State'' means a State 
     that has ratified this Compact.
       (20) Positive identification.--The term ``positive 
     identification'' means a determination, based upon a 
     comparison of fingerprints or other equally reliable 
     biometric identification techniques, that the subject of a 
     record search is the same person as the subject of a criminal 
     history record or records indexed in the III System. 
     Identifications based solely upon a comparison of subjects' 
     names or other nonunique identification characteristics or 
     numbers, or combinations thereof, shall not constitute 
     positive identification.
       (21) Sealed record information.--The term ``sealed record 
     information'' means--
       (A) with respect to adults, that portion of a record that 
     is--
       (i) not available for criminal justice uses;
       (ii) not supported by fingerprints or other accepted means 
     of positive identification; or
       (iii) subject to restrictions on dissemination for 
     noncriminal justice purposes pursuant to a court order 
     related to a particular subject or pursuant to a Federal or 
     State statute that requires action on a sealing petition 
     filed by a particular record subject; and
       (B) with respect to juveniles, whatever each State 
     determines is a sealed record under its own law and 
     procedure.
       (22) State.--The term ``State'' means any State, territory, 
     or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
     and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

                          ARTICLE II--PURPOSES

       The purposes of this Compact are to--
       (1) provide a legal framework for the establishment of a 
     cooperative Federal-State system for the interstate and 
     Federal-State exchange of criminal history records for 
     noncriminal justice uses;
       (2) require the FBI to permit use of the National 
     Identification Index and the National Fingerprint File by 
     each Party State, and to provide, in a timely fashion, 
     Federal and State criminal history records to requesting 
     States, in accordance with the terms of this Compact and with 
     rules, procedures, and standards established by the Council 
     under Article VI;
       (3) require Party States to provide information and records 
     for the National Identification Index and the National 
     Fingerprint File and to provide criminal history records, in 
     a timely fashion, to criminal history record repositories of 
     other States and the Federal Government for noncriminal 
     justice purposes, in accordance with the terms of this 
     Compact and with rules, procedures, and standards established 
     by the Council under Article VI;
       (4) provide for the establishment of a Council to monitor 
     III System operations and to prescribe system rules and 
     procedures for the effective and proper operation of the III 
     System for noncriminal justice purposes; and
       (5) require the FBI and each Party State to adhere to III 
     System standards concerning record dissemination and use, 
     response times, system security, data quality, and other duly 
     established standards, including those that enhance the 
     accuracy and privacy of such records.

            ARTICLE III--RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMPACT PARTIES

       (a) FBI Responsibilities.--The Director of the FBI shall--
       (1) appoint an FBI Compact officer who shall--
       (A) administer this Compact within the Department of 
     Justice and among Federal agencies and other agencies and 
     organizations that submit search requests to the FBI pursuant 
     to Article V(c);
       (B) ensure that Compact provisions and rules, procedures, 
     and standards prescribed by the Council under Article VI are 
     complied with by the Department of Justice and the Federal 
     agencies and other agencies and organizations referred to in 
     Article III(1)(A); and
       (C) regulate the use of records received by means of the 
     III System from Party States when such records are supplied 
     by the FBI directly to other Federal agencies;
       (2) provide to Federal agencies and to State criminal 
     history record repositories, criminal history records 
     maintained in its database for the noncriminal justice 
     purposes described in Article IV, including--
       (A) information from Nonparty States; and
       (B) information from Party States that is available from 
     the FBI through the III System, but is not available from the 
     Party State through the III System;
       (3) provide a telecommunications network and maintain 
     centralized facilities for the exchange of criminal history 
     records for both criminal justice purposes and the 
     noncriminal justice purposes described in Article IV, and 
     ensure that the exchange of such records for criminal justice 
     purposes has priority over exchange for noncriminal justice 
     purposes; and

[[Page S12039]]

       (4) modify or enter into user agreements with Nonparty 
     State criminal history record repositories to require them to 
     establish record request procedures conforming to those 
     prescribed in Article V.
       (b) State Responsibilities.--Each Party State shall--
       (1) appoint a Compact officer who shall--
       (A) administer this Compact within that State;
       (B) ensure that Compact provisions and rules, procedures, 
     and standards established by the Council under Article VI are 
     complied with in the State; and
       (C) regulate the in-State use of records received by means 
     of the III System from the FBI or from other Party States;
       (2) establish and maintain a criminal history record 
     repository, which shall provide--
       (A) information and records for the National Identification 
     Index and the National Fingerprint File; and
       (B) the State's III System-indexed criminal history records 
     for noncriminal justice purposes described in Article IV;
       (3) participate in the National Fingerprint File; and
       (4) provide and maintain telecommunications links and 
     related equipment necessary to support the services set forth 
     in this Compact.
       (c) Compliance With III System Standards.--In carrying out 
     their responsibilities under this Compact, the FBI and each 
     Party State shall comply with III System rules, procedures, 
     and standards duly established by the Council concerning 
     record dissemination and use, response times, data quality, 
     system security, accuracy, privacy protection, and other 
     aspects of III System operation.
       (d) Maintenance of Record Services.--
       (1) Use of the III System for noncriminal justice purposes 
     authorized in this Compact shall be managed so as not to 
     diminish the level of services provided in support of 
     criminal justice purposes.
       (2) Administration of Compact provisions shall not reduce 
     the level of service available to authorized noncriminal 
     justice users on the effective date of this Compact.

               ARTICLE IV--AUTHORIZED RECORD DISCLOSURES

       (a) State Criminal History Record Repositories.--To the 
     extent authorized by section 552a of title 5, United States 
     Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy Act of 1974''), the FBI 
     shall provide on request criminal history records (excluding 
     sealed records) to State criminal history record repositories 
     for noncriminal justice purposes allowed by Federal statute, 
     Federal Executive order, or a State statute that has been 
     approved by the Attorney General and that authorizes national 
     indices checks.
       (b) Criminal Justice Agencies and Other Governmental or 
     Nongovernmental Agencies.--The FBI, to the extent authorized 
     by section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
     known as the ``Privacy Act of 1974''), and State criminal 
     history record repositories shall provide criminal history 
     records (excluding sealed records) to criminal justice 
     agencies and other governmental or nongovernmental agencies 
     for noncriminal justice purposes allowed by Federal statute, 
     Federal Executive order, or a State statute that has been 
     approved by the Attorney General, that authorizes national 
     indices checks.
       (c) Procedures.--Any record obtained under this Compact may 
     be used only for the official purposes for which the record 
     was requested. Each Compact officer shall establish 
     procedures, consistent with this Compact, and with rules, 
     procedures, and standards established by the Council under 
     Article VI, which procedures shall protect the accuracy and 
     privacy of the records, and shall--
       (1) ensure that records obtained under this Compact are 
     used only by authorized officials for authorized purposes;
       (2) require that subsequent record checks are requested to 
     obtain current information whenever a new need arises; and
       (3) ensure that record entries that may not legally be used 
     for a particular noncriminal justice purpose are deleted from 
     the response and, if no information authorized for release 
     remains, an appropriate ``no record'' response is 
     communicated to the requesting official.

                  ARTICLE V--RECORD REQUEST PROCEDURES

       (a) Positive Identification.--Subject fingerprints or other 
     approved forms of positive identification shall be submitted 
     with all requests for criminal history record checks for 
     noncriminal justice purposes.
       (b) Submission of State Requests.--Each request for a 
     criminal history record check utilizing the national indices 
     made under any approved State statute shall be submitted 
     through that State's criminal history record repository. A 
     State criminal history record repository shall process an 
     interstate request for noncriminal justice purposes through 
     the national indices only if such request is transmitted 
     through another State criminal history record repository or 
     the FBI.
       (c) Submission of Federal Requests.--Each request for 
     criminal history record checks utilizing the national indices 
     made under Federal authority shall be submitted through the 
     FBI or, if the State criminal history record repository 
     consents to process fingerprint submissions, through the 
     criminal history record repository in the State in which such 
     request originated. Direct access to the National 
     Identification Index by entities other than the FBI and State 
     criminal history records repositories shall not be permitted 
     for noncriminal justice purposes.
       (d) Fees.--A State criminal history record repository or 
     the FBI--
       (1) may charge a fee, in accordance with applicable law, 
     for handling a request involving fingerprint processing for 
     noncriminal justice purposes; and
       (2) may not charge a fee for providing criminal history 
     records in response to an electronic request for a record 
     that does not involve a request to process fingerprints.
       (e) Additional Search.--
       (1) If a State criminal history record repository cannot 
     positively identify the subject of a record request made for 
     noncriminal justice purposes, the request, together with 
     fingerprints or other approved identifying information, shall 
     be forwarded to the FBI for a search of the national indices.
       (2) If, with respect to an request forwarded by a State 
     criminal history record repository under paragraph (1), the 
     FBI positively identifies the subject as having a III System-
     indexed record or records--
       (A) the FBI shall so advise the State criminal history 
     record repository; and
       (B) the State criminal history record repository shall be 
     entitled to obtain the additional criminal history record 
     information from the FBI or other State criminal history 
     record repositories.

              ARTICLE VI--ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPACT COUNCIL

       (a) Establishment.--
       (1) In general.--There is established a council to be known 
     as the ``Compact Council'', which shall have the authority to 
     promulgate rules and procedures governing the use of the III 
     System for noncriminal justice purposes, not to conflict with 
     FBI administration of the III System for criminal justice 
     purposes.
       (2) Organization.--The Council shall--
       (A) continue in existence as long as this Compact remains 
     in effect;
       (B) be located, for administrative purposes, within the 
     FBI; and
       (C) be organized and hold its first meeting as soon as 
     practicable after the effective date of this Compact.
       (b) Membership.--The Council shall be composed of 15 
     members, each of whom shall be appointed by the Attorney 
     General, as follows:
       (1) Nine members, each of whom shall serve a 2-year term, 
     who shall be selected from among the Compact officers of 
     Party States based on the recommendation of the Compact 
     officers of all Party States, except that, in the absence of 
     the requisite number of Compact officers available to serve, 
     the chief administrators of the criminal history record 
     repositories of Nonparty States shall be eligible to serve on 
     an interim basis.
       (2) Two at-large members, nominated by the Director of the 
     FBI, each of whom shall serve a 3-year term, of whom--
       (A) 1 shall be a representative of the criminal justice 
     agencies of the Federal Government and may not be an employee 
     of the FBI; and
       (B) 1 shall be a representative of the noncriminal justice 
     agencies of the Federal Government.
       (3) Two at-large members, nominated by the Chairman of the 
     Council, once the Chairman is elected pursuant to Article 
     VI(c), each of whom shall serve a 3-year term, of whom--
       (A) 1 shall be a representative of State or local criminal 
     justice agencies; and
       (B) 1 shall be a representative of State or local 
     noncriminal justice agencies.
       (4) One member, who shall serve a 3-year term, and who 
     shall simultaneously be a member of the FBI's advisory policy 
     board on criminal justice information services, nominated by 
     the membership of that policy board.
       (5) One member, nominated by the Director of the FBI, who 
     shall serve a 3-year term, and who shall be an employee of 
     the FBI.
       (c) Chairman and Vice Chairman.--
       (1) In general.--From its membership, the Council shall 
     elect a Chairman and a Vice Chairman of the Council, 
     respectively. Both the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the 
     Council--
       (A) shall be a Compact officer, unless there is no Compact 
     officer on the Council who is willing to serve, in which case 
     the Chairman may be an at-large member; and
       (B) shall serve a 2-year term and may be reelected to only 
     1 additional 2-year term.
       (2) Duties of vice chairman.--The Vice Chairman of the 
     Council shall serve as the Chairman of the Council in the 
     absence of the Chairman.
       (d) Meetings.--
       (1) In general.--The Council shall meet a least once each 
     year at the call of the Chairman. Each meeting of the Council 
     shall be open to the public. The Council shall provide prior 
     public notice in the Federal Register of each meeting of the 
     Council, including the matters to be addressed at such 
     meeting.
       (2) Quorum.--A majority of the Council or any committee of 
     the Council shall constitute a quorum of the Council or of 
     such committee, respectively, for the conduct of business. A 
     lesser number may meet to hold hearings, take testimony, or 
     conduct any business not requiring a vote.
       (e) Rules, Procedures, and Standards.--The Council shall 
     make available for public inspection and copying at the 
     Council office within the FBI, and shall publish in the 
     Federal Register, any rules, procedures, or standards 
     established by the Council.
       (f) Assistance From FBI.--The Council may request from the 
     FBI such reports, studies, statistics, or other information 
     or materials as the Council determines to be necessary to 
     enable the Council to perform its duties under this Compact. 
     The FBI, to the extent authorized by law, may provide such 
     assistance or information upon such a request.
       (g) Committees.--The Chairman may establish committees as 
     necessary to carry out this Compact and may prescribe their 
     membership, responsibilities, and duration.

                  ARTICLE VII--RATIFICATION OF COMPACT

       This Compact shall take effect upon being entered into by 2 
     or more States as between those

[[Page S12040]]

     States and the Federal Government. Upon subsequent entering 
     into this Compact by additional States, it shall become 
     effective among those States and the Federal Government and 
     each Party State that has previously ratified it. When 
     ratified, this Compact shall have the full force and effect 
     of law within the ratifying jurisdictions. The form of 
     ratification shall be in accordance with the laws of the 
     executing State.

                 ARTICLE VIII--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

       (a) Relation of Compact to Certain FBI Activities.--
     Administration of this Compact shall not interfere with the 
     management and control of the Director of the FBI over the 
     FBI's collection and dissemination of criminal history 
     records and the advisory function of the FBI's advisory 
     policy board chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee 
     Act (5 U.S.C. App.) for all purposes other than noncriminal 
     justice.
       (b) No Authority for Nonappropriated Expenditures.--Nothing 
     in this Compact shall require the FBI to obligate or expend 
     funds beyond those appropriated to the FBI.
       (c) Relating to Public Law 92-544.--Nothing in this Compact 
     shall diminish or lessen the obligations, responsibilities, 
     and authorities of any State, whether a Party State or a 
     Nonparty State, or of any criminal history record repository 
     or other subdivision or component thereof, under the 
     Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary, 
     and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1973 (Public Law 92-
     544), or regulations and guidelines promulgated thereunder, 
     including the rules and procedures promulgated by the Council 
     under Article VI(a), regarding the use and dissemination of 
     criminal history records and information.

                        ARTICLE IX--RENUNCIATION

       (a) In General.--This Compact shall bind each Party State 
     until renounced by the Party State.
       (b) Effect.--Any renunciation of this Compact by a Party 
     State shall--
       (1) be effected in the same manner by which the Party State 
     ratified this Compact; and
       (2) become effective 180 days after written notice of 
     renunciation is provided by the Party State to each other 
     Party State and to the Federal Government.

                        ARTICLE X--SEVERABILITY

       The provisions of this Compact shall be severable, and if 
     any phrase, clause, sentence, or provision of this Compact is 
     declared to be contrary to the constitution of any 
     participating State, or to the Constitution of the United 
     States, or the applicability thereof to any government, 
     agency, person, or circumstance is held invalid, the validity 
     of the remainder of this Compact and the applicability 
     thereof to any government, agency, person, or circumstance 
     shall not be affected thereby. If a portion of this Compact 
     is held contrary to the constitution of any Party State, all 
     other portions of this Compact shall remain in full force and 
     effect as to the remaining Party States and in full force and 
     effect as to the Party State affected, as to all other 
     provisions.

                  ARTICLE XI--ADJUDICATION OF DISPUTES

       (a) In General.--The Council shall--
       (1) have initial authority to make determinations with 
     respect to any dispute regarding--
       (A) interpretation of this Compact;
       (B) any rule or standard established by the Council 
     pursuant to Article V; and
       (C) any dispute or controversy between any parties to this 
     Compact; and
       (2) hold a hearing concerning any dispute described in 
     paragraph (1) at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Council 
     and only render a decision based upon a majority vote of the 
     members of the Council. Such decision shall be published 
     pursuant to the requirements of Article VI(e).
       (b) Duties of FBI.--The FBI shall exercise immediate and 
     necessary action to preserve the integrity of the III System, 
     maintain system policy and standards, protect the accuracy 
     and privacy of records, and to prevent abuses, until the 
     Council holds a hearing on such matters.
       (c) Right of Appeal.--The FBI or a Party State may appeal 
     any decision of the Council to the Attorney General, and 
     thereafter may file suit in the appropriate district court of 
     the United States, which shall have original jurisdiction of 
     all cases or controversies arising under this Compact. Any 
     suit arising under this Compact and initiated in a State 
     court shall be removed to the appropriate district court of 
     the United States in the manner provided by section 1446 of 
     title 28, United States Code, or other statutory authority.

                Subtitle B--Volunteers for Children Act

     SEC. 221. SHORT TITLE.

       This subtitle may be cited as the ``Volunteers for Children 
     Act''.

     SEC. 222. FACILITATION OF FINGERPRINT CHECKS.

       (a) State Agency.--Section 3(a) of the National Child 
     Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119a(a)) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) In the absence of State procedures referred to in 
     paragraph (1), a qualified entity designated under paragraph 
     (1) may contact an authorized agency of the State to request 
     national criminal fingerprint background checks. Qualified 
     entities requesting background checks under this paragraph 
     shall comply with the guidelines set forth in subsection (b) 
     and with procedures for requesting national criminal 
     fingerprint background checks, if any, established by the 
     State.''.
       (b) Federal Law.--Section 3(b)(5) of the National Child 
     Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119a(b)(5)) is amended by 
     inserting before the period at the end the following: ``, 
     except that this paragraph does not apply to any request by a 
     qualified entity for a national criminal fingerprint 
     background check pursuant to subsection (a)(3)''.
       (c) Authorization.--Section 4(b)(2) of the National Child 
     Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119b(b)(2)) is amended by 
     striking ``1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997'' and inserting ``1999, 
     2000, 2001, and 2002''.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, final passage of this bill--S. 2022, 
comprising the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 and the 
National Criminal History Access and Child Protection Act of 1998--is 
truly a historic achievement. I want to thank my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle, and in both Houses of Congress, for their hard work 
on this legislation. S. 2022 is based on the principle that technology 
is the future of police work. It is the number one edge our law 
enforcement officers are going to have in the struggle against 
criminals, well into the 21st century.
  The Crime Identification Technology Act (CETA) authorizes $1.25 
billion over the next five years in grants administered by the Office 
of Justice Programs (OJP) in the Department of Justice, with reliance 
upon the expertise of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), also in 
the Department of Justice, to help every state to establish or upgrade 
its use of information and identification and forensics technologies 
across the entire criminal justice system. Title II of the Act, the 
National Criminal History Access and Child Protection Act, establishes 
an Interstate Compact which binds the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
and, upon approval by the state legislatures, the states to participate 
in the non-criminal justice access program of the Interstate 
Identification Index (III) in accordance with the Compact and 
established system policies.
  I would like, first, to address Title I of this legislation.


             National Criminal History Improvement Program

  In a certain sense, Title I of the Act, The Crime Identification 
Technology Act, replaces the National Criminal History Improvement 
Program (NCHIP) which expired at the end of fiscal year 1998. NCHIP 
monies, totaling almost 200 million dollars, were provided to the 
states by BJS and the Department of Justice and have been enormously 
successful in helping states to enhance their automated criminal 
history records and to identify and develop other relevant information 
systems for instantaneous firearms eligibility determinations. Because 
more needs to be done and because it is important not to lose momentum 
in building a fast, comprehensive and reliable National Instant Check 
System for firearms eligibility, S. 2022 will permit the federal 
government and the states to continue to build upon this important 
work.


                          Systems Integration

  S. 2022, however, does much more. In particular, Title I provides for 
systems integration, permitting all components of criminal justice (law 
enforcement, courts, correction and prosecution) to share information 
and communicate more effectively and on a real-time basis. 
Revolutionary improvements in information and identification and 
communications technologies have created opportunities and, indeed, 
responsibilities, for all of our nation's criminal justice agencies to 
build integrated information and identification systems. This bill will 
provide leadership and, in partnership with state and local 
governments, the resources necessary to build these important systems. 
S. 2022 will also support the courts and their use of information and 
identification technology. The courts are a critical part of the 
criminal justice information system. Not only are the courts a supplier 
of information on disposition, they are also an all-important consumer 
of information on arrest and conviction. The courts require state-of-
the-art, integrated information identification systems for both 
functions. Until now, the courts have lagged behind in their use of 
technology--and this bill will help them to catch up.


                    Interstate Identification Index

  S. 2022 addresses virtually every technology-based, information 
identification and forensics need of state and local criminal justice 
agencies. Title I of S. 2022, for example, will support participation 
by all states in the Interstate Identification Index, which is the 
decentralized federal system that permits state, local and federal 
criminal justice agencies to exchange arrest and

[[Page S12041]]

conviction information on a reliable, national and real-time basis.


                          IAFIS and NCIC 2000

  S. 2022 will also help state and local agencies to take advantage of 
two important FBI initiatives which are nearing completion. The FBI's 
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) and the 
FBI's NCIC 2000 (National Criminal Information Center) will create a 
platform for the FBI to use state-of-the-art identification and 
information and technology, both internally and to communicate with 
state and local agencies. Obviously, state and local agencies must also 
be able to upgrade their information identification technologies in a 
way that is compatible with the FBI's new systems if the FBI and the 
Nation are to obtain full benefit from these FBI initiatives for which 
the Congress has appropriated several hundred million dollars over the 
last few years.


                        Employment and Licensing

  S. 2022 will also support faster, more complete and more reliable 
state and local responses to employment and licensing background check 
requests. Over the last decade, employers and non-criminal justice 
government agencies have emerged as the largest group of consumers of 
arrest and conviction record information for background checks for 
child care workers, school bus drivers, private security guards and a 
host of other individuals seeking employment and licensing in sensitive 
positions of trust. We simply must do a better job of providing 
appropriate arrest and conviction information on a fast and reliable 
basis. S. 2022 will go a long way toward helping our state and local 
law enforcement agencies to achieve this capability.


                       Aggregate Statistical Data

  S. 2022 will also support statistical and research systems, which can 
together provide community-relevant information to support smarter 
decisions and more cost efficient and effective administration of 
criminal justice resources.


                        Sex Offender Registries

  S. 2022 will permit state and local criminal justice agencies to 
continue to build more useful and effective sexual offender 
identification registration systems, as well as domestic violence 
identification and information systems.


                      Communications Technologies

  S. 2022 will also help our criminal justice agencies to acquire and 
implement communications systems which are compatible with neighboring 
police systems, compatible with systems operated by other components of 
the criminal justice system and compatible among federal, state and 
local criminal justice agencies. Every criminal justice agency should 
be able to communicate with other criminal justice agencies in an 
instantaneous and reliable way in order to respond to emergency 
situations and to promote the routine and appropriate sharing of 
information.


                               Forensics

  Finally, S. 2022 provides a 20 percent set-aside for forensic science 
and Medical Examiner programs. New forensics technologies are creating 
a truly remarkable potential to solve crimes that previously could not 
have been solved and to convict offenders who previously could not have 
been convicted. Implementing and using this technology across the 
nation takes leadership and resources. S. 2022 will provide both. The 
20 percent set-aside applies to the amount actually funded under S. 
2022 and is not a requirement which is made mandatory for each state. 
In other words, a state which does not wish to draw down 20 percent of 
its funding under this Act for forensic science and medical examiner 
purposes is not required to do so. We will be monitoring the states' 
use of funding for forensic science and Medical Examiner purposes, with 
an eye to reexamining whether this kind of earmark is necessary and, if 
so, at what level.


                             Overall Impact

  The Crime Identification Technology Act does more than provide 
support for critical information, identification, communications and 
forensic technology applications. S. 2022 creates a vision and makes a 
commitment. The Act envisions a criminal justice system in which all 
parts of the system--law enforcement, courts, prosecution and 
correction--use state-of-the-art, information, identification, 
communication and forensics technologies in a compatible and integrated 
manner, so as to mount the most effective and cost efficient challenge 
yet to crime. The Act also represents a federal commitment that every 
criminal justice agency in this country should have the resources, in 
partnership with state and local funding, to obtain and use state-of-
the-art technology in the war against crime.


                          Matching Requirement

  In this regard, the Act requires a 10 percent match to be borne by 
the states. As a practical matter, we expect that the states will spend 
state monies far in excess of 10 percent of the funding under this Act 
in the acquisition, implementation and use of crime fighting 
technologies. Because of this, it is expected that OJP will take into 
account all relevant costs borne by the state, regardless of the nature 
or character of these costs, so long as they truly support the 
application of technology for the administration of criminal justice. 
Furthermore, it is expected that OJP, working through the Bureau of 
Justice Statistics, will publish guidelines regarding the criteria for 
waiving a match, which will assure that states or components of the 
criminal justice system within a state which are deserving of a grant 
but which cannot meet the match requirement, are not disadvantaged. It 
is further expected that the match will not apply to grants made 
pursuant to Subparagraph (2)(B) of Subsection (d) which provides grants 
and funding for technical assistance, training, evaluations and other 
support for this technology initiative.


                             BJS Expertise

  Title I, while vesting grant administration authority in the Office 
of Justice Programs, directs the Office to rely principally upon the 
expertise of BJS in administering the program. This is important 
because the structure of the grant program is modeled after the 
National Criminal History Improvement Program, which was very 
successfully administered by BJS. Under that program, every state was 
required to receive a grant. Moreover, while the program was 
discretionary, it was administered by BJS in a manner that has 
permitted the states wide discretion in the purposes for which NCHIP 
grant monies were applied. A similar approach should be taken in the S. 
2022 grant program. The identification, information, communications and 
forensics programs which are identified in S. 2022 are purposefully 
broad, so that each state can use grant monies for its own particular 
technology needs.
  At the same time, the discretionary approach and requirements in the 
bill that each state develop a statewide strategy for information 
sharing, with an emphasis on the integration of all criminal justice 
components, assures that the needs of all components of criminal 
justice, including the courts, are taken into account and assures that 
adequate planning and implementation strategies have been developed so 
that the use of technology is compatible and integrated.
  OJP's role is important because the Department of Justice administers 
several justice assistance programs which can be and are being used for 
important, criminal justice identification, information and 
communications purposes. None of these programs are repealed, and 
funding should and will continue under these programs. Accordingly, 
coordination is important and OJP is expected to provide that 
coordination.


                         Contributions to NICS

  S. 2022 also requires, by way of assurances, that states assure the 
Attorney General that the state ``has the capability to contribute 
pertinent information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check 
System.'' This language does not mean that states are required to 
operate their own Instant Check Systems or to otherwise be a ``point-
of-contact'' or intermediary between licensed firearms dealers and the 
FBI's National Instant Background Check System. Rather, this assurance 
requires that states are contributing criminal history information and, 
if practicable and required by the FBI, other pertinent information to 
the national system. States which are participating in III or working 
actively toward participating in III are presumed to meet this 
assurance.

[[Page S12042]]

             Interstate Identification Index System Compact

  Finally, Title II, the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact 
of 1998, establishes a uniform standard for the interstate and federal-
state exchange of criminal history records for non-criminal justice 
purposes. In addition, Title II permits each state to continue to 
enforce its own record dissemination laws within its own borders. The 
Compact facilitates the interstate and federal-state exchange of 
criminal history information by clarifying the obligations and 
responsibilities of participating parties, streamlining the processing 
of background search applications, and eliminating record maintenance 
duplication at federal and state levels. Finally, the Compact provides 
a mechanism for establishing and enforcing uniform standards for record 
accuracy and for the confidentiality and privacy interests of record 
subjects.
  This is a landmark piece of legislation, and I thank my colleagues 
for helping to move it toward enactment.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am delighted that the Senate will pass 
the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998, S. 2022, sending it to 
the President for his signature into law.
  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 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;
  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; and
  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 challenge 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 these communication problems 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 each State meet its obligations under these Federal laws.
  The Crime Identification Technology Act provides a helping hand 
without the heavy hand of a top-down, Washington-knows-best approach. 
Unfortunately, some in Congress have pushed legislation mandating 
minute detail

[[Page S12043]]

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 identification, 
information and communication systems without prescriping new Federal 
mandates.
  Mr. President, I am also pleased we are passing, as title II of this 
bill, the Federal-State ``III'' Compact for exchange of criminal 
history records for noncriminal justice purposes. This Compact is the 
product of a decade-long effort by federal and state law enforcement 
officials to establish a legal framework for the exchange of criminal 
history records for authorized noncriminal justice purposes, such as 
security clearances, employment or licensing background checks.
  Since 1924, the FBI has collected and maintained duplicate state and 
local fingerprint cards, along with arrest and disposition records. 
Today, the FBI has over 200 million fingerprint cards in its system. 
These FBI records are accessible to authorized government entities for 
both criminal and authorized noncriminal justice purposes.
  Maintaining duplicate files at the FBI is costly and leads to 
inaccuracies in the criminal history records, since follow-up 
disposition information from the States is often incomplete. Such a 
large central database of routinely incomplete criminal history records 
raises significant privacy concerns.
  In addition, the FBI releases these records for noncriminal justice 
purposes (as authorized by Federal law), to State agencies upon 
request, even if the State from which the records originated or the 
receiving State more narrowly restricts the dissemination of such 
records for noncriminal justice purposes.
  The Compact is an effort to get the FBI out of the business of 
holding a duplicate copy of every State and local criminal history 
record, and instead to keep those records at the State level. Once 
fully implemented, the FBI will only need to hold the Interstate 
Identification Index (III), consisting of the national fingerprint file 
and a pointer index to direct the requestor to the correct State 
records repository. The Compact would eliminate the necessity for 
duplicate records at the FBI for those States participating in the 
Compact.
  Eventually, when all the States become full participants in the 
Compact, the FBI's centralized files of state offender records will be 
discontinued and users of such records will obtain those records from 
the appropriate State's central repository (or from the FBI if the 
offender has a Federal record).
  The Compact would establish both a framework for this cooperative 
exchange of criminal history records for noncriminal justice purposes, 
and create a Compact Council with representatives from the FBI and the 
States to monitor system operations and issue necessary rules and 
procedures for the integrity and accuracy of the records and compliance 
with privacy standards. Importantly, this Compact would not in any way 
expand or diminish noncriminal justice purposes for which criminal 
history records may be used under existing State or Federal law.
  Overall, I believe that the Compact would increase the accuracy, 
completeness and privacy protection for criminal history records.
  In addition, the Compact would result in important cost savings from 
establishing a decentralized system. Under the system envisioned by the 
Compact, the FBI would hold only an ``index and pointer'' to the 
records maintained at the originating State. The FBI would no longer 
have to maintain duplicate State records. Moreover, States would no 
longer have the burden and costs of submitting arrest fingerprints and 
charge/disposition data to the FBI for all arrests. Instead, the State 
would only have to submit to the FBI the fingerprints and textual 
identification data for a person's first arrest.
  With this system, criminal history records would be more up-to-date, 
or complete, because a decentralized system will keep the records 
closer to their point of origin in State repositories, eliminating the 
need for the States to keep sending updated disposition information to 
the FBI. To ensure further accuracy, the Compact would require requests 
for criminal history checks for noncriminal justice purposes to be 
submitted with fingerprints or some other form of positive 
identification, to avoid mistaken release of records.
  Furthermore, under the Compact, the newly-created Council must 
establish procedures to require that the most current records are 
requested and that when a new need arises, a new record check is 
conducted.
  Significantly, the newly-created Council must establish privacy 
enhancing procedures to ensure that requested criminal history records 
are only used by authorized officials for authorized purposes. 
Furthermore, the Compact makes clear that only the FBI and authorized 
representatives from the State repository may have direct access to the 
FBI index.
  The Council must also ensure that only legally appropriate 
information is released and, specifically, that record entries that may 
not be used for noncriminal justice purposes are deleted from the 
response.
  Thus, while the Compact would require the release of arrest records 
to a requesting State, the Compact would also ensure that if 
disposition records are available that the complete record be released. 
Also, the Compact would require States receiving records under the 
Compact to ensure that the records are disseminated in compliance with 
the authorized uses in that State. Consequently, under the Compact, a 
State that receives arrest-only information would have to give effect 
to disposition-only policies in that State and not release that 
information for noncriminal justice purposes. Thus, in my view, the 
impact of the Compact for the privacy and accuracy of the records would 
be positive.
  I am pleased to have joined with Senators Hatch and DeWine to make a 
number of refinements to the Compact as transmitted by to us by the 
Administration. Specifically, we have worked to clarify that (1) the 
work of the Council includes establishing standards to protect the 
privacy of the records; (2) sealed criminal history records are not 
covered or subject to release for noncriminal justice purposes under 
the Compact; (3) the meetings of the Council are open to the public, 
and (4) the Council's decisions, rules and procedures are available for 
public inspection and copying and published in the Federal Register.
  Commissioner Walton of the Vermont Department of Public Safety 
supports this Compact. He hopes that passage of the Compact will 
encourage Vermont to become a full participant in III for both criminal 
and noncriminal justice purposes, so that Vermont can ``reap the 
benefits of cost savings and improved data quality.'' The Compact is 
also strongly supported by the FBI and SEARCH.
  We all have an interest in making sure that the criminal history 
records maintained by our law enforcement agencies at the local, State 
and Federal levels, are complete, accurate and accessible only to 
authorized personnel for legally authorized purposes. This Compact is a 
significant step in the process of achieving that goal.
  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.
  Mr. President, the Crime Identification Technology Act will ensure 
that each State has the resources to capture the power of emerging 
information, communications and record-keeping technologies to serve 
and protect all of our citizens.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate agree to the 
amendment of the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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