[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6262-S6264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CAMPBELL:
  S. 1065. A bill to establish a matching grant program to help State 
and local jurisdictions purchase bullet-resistant equipment for use by 
law enforcement departments; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, the second bill I am introducing today 
is the ``Officer Dale Claxton Bullet Resistant Police Protective 
Equipment Act of 2003''.
  This bill is named in honor of Officer Dale Claxton of Cortez, CO, a 
fine law enforcement officer and family man, who was fatally shot 
through the windshield of his patrol car on May 29, 1998, after 
stopping a stolen truck. His assailants turned out to be dangerous 
fugitives and as a result, a large-scale man hunt was launched. The 
assailants were brought to justice, but Officer Claxton was tragically 
and prematurely taken away from his wife and four children.
  ``The Officer Dale Claxton Bullet Resistant Police Protective 
Equipment Act'' would aid law enforcement agencies in acquiring bullet 
resistant equipment for their forces, including bullet

[[Page S6263]]

resistant glass for law enforcement vehicles, hand-held shields and any 
other equipment that officers may need when they serve on the front 
lines of law enforcement. Specifically, this legislation would help our 
Nation's State and local law enforcement officers acquire the bullet 
resistant equipment they need in order to protect themselves from 
would-be killers. This legislation would authorize the Department of 
Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance to administer a $40 million 
matching grant program to assist these agencies purchase bullet 
resistant equipment.
  This legislation is a worthy companion, and similar in many ways, to 
S.764, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act, which I recently 
introduced for reauthorization. Like S. 764, today's bill would help 
State and local law enforcement agencies acquire bullet resistant 
equipment--however this bill would simply provide for a wider array of 
bullet resistant equipment to supplement bullet proof vests.
  As a former deputy sheriff, I am personally aware of the dangers 
which law enforcement officers face on the front lines every day. One 
way in which the Federal Government can improve their safety is to help 
them acquire bullet resistant glass and other equipment for patrol 
cars. These partnership grants are especially crucial for officers who 
serve in small, local jurisdictions that often lack the funds to 
provide their officers with the life saving equipment they may need.
  The second component of this legislation would launch expedited and 
targeted research and development by authorizing $3 million over 3 
years for the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice, NIJ, 
to conduct research and development of new bullet resistant 
technologies, such as bonded acrylic, polymers, polycarbons, aluminized 
material, and transparent ceramics.
  Promising new bullet resistant materials now being developed could be 
as revolutionary in coming years as the development of Kevlar was in 
the 1970s for the manufacture of body armor. These exciting new 
technologies promise to be lighter, more versatile and hopefully less 
expensive than traditional heavy bulletproof glass.
  Our Nation's police officers, sheriffs and deputies regularly put 
their lives in harm's way as they protect the people and preserve the 
peace. They deserve to have access to the bullet resistant equipment 
they need. The Officer Dale Claxton Bullet Resistant Police Protective 
Equipment Act will both accelerate the development of new lifesaving 
bullet resistant technologies and then help get them deployed into the 
field where they are needed. Officers lives will be saved.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of Officer Dale Claxton Bullet 
Resistant Police Protective Equipment Act of 2003 be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1065

       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 ``Officer Dale Claxton 
     Bulletproof Police Protective Equipment Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) Officer Dale Claxton of the Cortez, Colorado, Police 
     Department was shot and killed by bullets that passed through 
     the windshield of his police car after he stopped a stolen 
     truck, and his life may have been saved if his police car had 
     been equipped with bullet-resistant equipment;
       (2) the number of law enforcement officers who are killed 
     in the line of duty would significantly decrease if every law 
     enforcement officer in the United States had access to 
     additional bullet-resistant equipment;
       (3) according to studies, between 1990 and 2000, 1,700 law 
     enforcement officers in the United States were shot and 
     killed in the line of duty;
       (4) the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that the 
     risk of fatality to law enforcement officers while not 
     wearing bullet-resistant equipment, such as an armor vest, is 
     14 times higher than for officers wearing an armor vest; and
       (5) the Executive Committee for Indian Country Law 
     Enforcement Improvements reports that violent crime in Indian 
     country has risen sharply despite a decrease in the national 
     crime rate, and has concluded that there is a ``public safety 
     crisis in Indian country''.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to save lives of 
     law enforcement officers by helping State, local, and tribal 
     law enforcement agencies provide officers with bullet-
     resistant equipment and video cameras.

     SEC. 3. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLET-
                   RESISTANT EQUIPMENT.

       (a) In General.--Part Y of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
     Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended--
       (1) by striking the part designation and part heading and 
     inserting the following:

         ``PART Y--MATCHING GRANT PROGRAMS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

             ``Subpart A--Grant Program for Armor Vests'';

       (2) by striking ``this part'' each place that term appears 
     and inserting ``this subpart''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:

       ``Subpart B--Grant Program for Bullet-Resistant Equipment

     ``SEC. 2511. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

       ``(a) In General.--The Director of the Bureau of Justice 
     Assistance is authorized to make grants to States, units of 
     local government, and Indian tribes to purchase bullet-
     resistant equipment for use by State, local, and tribal law 
     enforcement officers.
       ``(b) Uses of Funds.--Grants awarded under this section 
     shall be--
       ``(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of local 
     government, or Indian tribe; and
       ``(2) used for the purchase of bullet-resistant equipment 
     for law enforcement officers in the jurisdiction of the 
     grantee.
       ``(c) Preferential Consideration.--In awarding grants under 
     this subpart, the Director of the Bureau of Justice 
     Assistance may give preferential consideration, if feasible, 
     to an application from a jurisdiction that--
       ``(1) has the greatest need for bullet-resistant equipment 
     based on the percentage of law enforcement officers in the 
     department who do not have access to a vest;
       ``(2) has a violent crime rate at or above the national 
     average as determined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 
     or
       ``(3) has not received a block grant under the Local Law 
     Enforcement Block Grant program described under the heading 
     `State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance' of the 
     Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, 
     and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 
     106-553).
       ``(d) Minimum Amount.--Unless all eligible applications 
     submitted by any State or unit of local government within 
     such State for a grant under this section have been funded, 
     such State, together with grantees within the State (other 
     than Indian tribes), shall be allocated in each fiscal year 
     under this section not less than 0.50 percent of the total 
     amount appropriated in the fiscal year for grants pursuant to 
     this section except that the United States Virgin Islands, 
     American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands shall 
     each be allocated 0.25 percent.
       ``(e) Maximum Amount.--A qualifying State, unit of local 
     government, or Indian tribe may not receive more than 5 
     percent of the total amount appropriated in each fiscal year 
     for grants under this section, except that a State, together 
     with the grantees within the State may not receive more than 
     20 percent of the total amount appropriated in each fiscal 
     year for grants under this section.
       ``(f) Matching Funds.--The portion of the costs of a 
     program provided by a grant under subsection (a) may not 
     exceed 50 percent. Any funds appropriated by Congress for the 
     activities of any agency of an Indian tribal government or 
     the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing law enforcement 
     functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non-
     Federal share of a matching requirement funded under this 
     subsection.
       ``(g) Allocation of Funds.--At least half of the funds 
     available under this subpart shall be awarded to units of 
     local government with fewer than 100,000 residents.

     ``SEC. 2512. APPLICATIONS.

       ``(a) In General.--To request a grant under this subpart, 
     the chief executive of a State, unit of local government, or 
     Indian tribe shall submit an application to the Director of 
     the Bureau of Justice Assistance in such form and containing 
     such information as the Director may reasonably require.
       ``(b) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
     of enactment of this subpart, the Director of the Bureau of 
     Justice Assistance shall promulgate regulations to implement 
     this section (including the information that must be included 
     and the requirements that the States, units of local 
     government, and Indian tribes must meet) in submitting the 
     applications required under this section.
       ``(c) Eligibility.--A unit of local government that 
     receives funding under the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant 
     program, described under the heading `State and Local Law 
     Enforcement Assistance' of the Departments of Commerce, 
     Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies 
     Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-553), during a 
     fiscal year in which it submits an application under this 
     subpart shall not be eligible for a grant under this subpart 
     unless the chief executive officer of such unit of local 
     government certifies and provides an explanation to the 
     Director that the unit of local government considered or will 
     consider using funding received under the block grant program 
     for any or all of the costs relating to the purchase of 
     bullet-resistant equipment, but did not, or does not expect 
     to use such funds for such purpose.

     ``SEC. 2513. DEFINITIONS.

       ``In this subpart--

[[Page S6264]]

       ``(1) the term `equipment' means windshield glass, car 
     panels, shields, and protective gear;
       ``(2) the term `State' means each of the 50 States, the 
     District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
     United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
     Northern Mariana Islands;
       ``(3) the term `unit of local government' means a county, 
     municipality, town, township, village, parish, borough, or 
     other unit of general government below the State level;
       ``(4) the term `Indian tribe' has the same meaning as in 
     section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
     Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)); and
       ``(5) the term `law enforcement officer' means any officer, 
     agent, or employee of a State, unit of local government, or 
     Indian tribe authorized by law or by a government agency to 
     engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or 
     investigation of any violation of criminal law, or authorized 
     by law to supervise sentenced criminal offenders.''.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1001(a) of 
     the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
     U.S.C. 3793(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (23) and 
     inserting the following:
       ``(23) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
     part Y--
       ``(A) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 
     2006 for grants under subpart A of that part; and
       ``(B) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 
     2006 for grants under subpart B of that part.''.

     SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       In the case of any equipment or products that may be 
     authorized to be purchased with financial assistance provided 
     using funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this 
     Act, it is the sense of Congress that entities receiving the 
     assistance should, in expending the assistance, purchase only 
     American-made equipment and products.

     SEC. 5. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.

       Section 202 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
     Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3722) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(e) Bullet-Resistant Technology Development.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Institute is authorized to--
       ``(A) conduct research and otherwise work to develop new 
     bullet-resistant technologies (i.e., acrylic, polymers, 
     aluminized material, and transparent ceramics) for use in 
     police equipment (including windshield glass, car panels, 
     shields, and protective gear);
       ``(B) inventory bullet-resistant technologies used in the 
     private sector, in surplus military property, and by foreign 
     countries; and
       ``(C) promulgate relevant standards for, and conduct 
     technical and operational testing and evaluation of, bullet-
     resistant technology and equipment, and otherwise facilitate 
     the use of that technology in police equipment.
       ``(2) Priority.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
     Institute shall give priority in testing and engineering 
     surveys to law enforcement partnerships developed in 
     coordination with high-intensity drug trafficking areas.
       ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $3,000,000 
     for fiscal years 2004 through 2006.''.

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