[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 106 (Tuesday, July 23, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5842-S5843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. 
        Blumenthal, Mr. Levin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Murphy):
  S. 1337. A bill to promote the tracing of firearms used in crimes, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1337

       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 ``Crime Gun Tracing Act of 
     2013''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITION.

       Section 1709 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
     Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-8) is amended by--
       (1) redesignating paragraphs (1) through (4) as paragraphs 
     (2) through (5), respectively; and
       (2) inserting before paragraph (2), as redesignated, the 
     following:
       ``(1) `Bureau' means the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
     Firearms, and Explosives.''.

     SEC. 3. INCENTIVES FOR TRACING FIREARMS USED IN CRIMES.

       Section 1701 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
     Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd) is amended by striking 
     subsection (c) and inserting the following:
       ``(c) Preferential Consideration of Applications for 
     Certain Grants.--In awarding grants under this part, the 
     Attorney General, where feasible--
       ``(1) may give preferential consideration to an application 
     for hiring and rehiring additional career law enforcement 
     officers that involves a non-Federal contribution exceeding 
     the 25 percent minimum under subsection (g); and
       ``(2) shall give preferential consideration to an 
     application submitted by an applicant that has reported all 
     firearms recovered during the previous 12 months by the 
     applicant at a crime scene or during the course of a criminal 
     investigation to the Bureau for the purpose of tracing, or to 
     a State agency that reports such firearms to the Bureau for 
     the purpose of tracing.''.

     SEC. 4. REPORTING OF FIREARM TRACING BY APPLICANTS FOR 
                   COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING SERVICES GRANTS.

       Section 1702(c) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
     Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-1(c)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in paragraph (11), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(12) specify--
       ``(A) whether the applicant recovered any firearms at a 
     crime scene or during the course of a criminal investigation 
     during the 12 months before the submission of the 
     application;
       ``(B) the number of firearms described in subparagraph (A);
       ``(C) the number of firearms described in subparagraph (A) 
     that were reported to the Bureau for tracing, or to a State 
     agency that reports such firearms to the Bureau for tracing; 
     and
       ``(D) the reason why any firearms described under 
     subparagraph (A) were not reported to the Bureau for tracing, 
     or to a State agency that reports such firearms to the Bureau 
     for tracing.''.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. Donnelly):
  S. 1343. A bill to protect the information of livestock producers, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Donnelly in 
introducing legislation that will prevent the EPA from distributing the 
personal information of farmers. This legislation comes in direct 
response to

[[Page S5843]]

the EPA releasing personal information on over 80,000 farmers 
nationwide and over 9,000 farmers in Iowa. After the initial data 
release, I wrote a letter that was signed by 23 of my colleagues to the 
EPA asking them to explain their rationale for releasing the addresses, 
emails and phone numbers of so many producers. Their response was 
unsatisfactory to me so I am introducing this bill to stop the EPA from 
doing this again.
  The EPA's interpretation of the information which can be provided 
under a Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, request is simply too broad. 
Our Nation's farmers operate unique businesses in that their homes are 
often at the same location as their farming operation. When the EPA 
released this data, activist groups attained contact information and 
addresses for farm families whose way of life they oppose. This is 
unacceptable.
  I would also like to point out that this bill does not prevent the 
EPA from collecting the information about where farmers' operations are 
located. It also does not prevent EPA from disclosing information in 
the aggregate. The legislation simply prevents them from releasing 
personal information to the public. Furthermore, I am pleased to have 
support for this bill from 16 agriculture groups who agree that we 
should not enable activist groups with personal information. If we want 
people to trust our government, agencies like the EPA must quit taking 
actions that shake the confidence of our citizens. I urge my colleagues 
to join us in supporting this commonsense bill.

                          ____________________