[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 114 (Wednesday, July 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4416-S4417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2177. Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. Grassley) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 4638, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2025 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle H of title X, add the following:

     SEC. 1095. INVEST TO PROTECT ACT OF 2024.

       (a) Short Title.--
       This section may be cited as the ``Invest to Protect Act of 
     2024''.
       (b) Grant Program.--
       (1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
       (A) De-escalation training.--The term ``de-escalation 
     training'' means training relating to taking action or 
     communicating verbally or non-verbally during a potential 
     force encounter in an attempt to stabilize the situation and 
     reduce the immediacy of the threat so that more time, 
     options, and resources can be called upon to resolve the 
     situation without the use of force or with a reduction in the 
     force necessary.
       (B) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
     the Office.
       (C) Eligible local government.--The term ``eligible local 
     government'' means--
       (i) a county, municipality, town, township, village, 
     parish, borough, or other unit of general government below 
     the State level that employs fewer than 175 law enforcement 
     officers; and
       (ii) a Tribal government that employs fewer than 175 law 
     enforcement officers.
       (D) Law enforcement officer.--The term ``law enforcement 
     officer'' has the meaning given the term ``career law 
     enforcement officer'' in section 1709 of title I the Omnibus 
     Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10389).
       (E) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of 
     Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department of 
     Justice.
       (2) Establishment.--There is established within the Office 
     a grant program to--
       (A) provide training and access to mental health resources 
     to local law enforcement officers; and
       (B) improve the recruitment and retention of local law 
     enforcement officers.
       (3) Authority.--
       (A) In general.--As provided in advance in appropriations 
     Acts, the Director shall award grants to eligible local 
     governments as a part of the grant program established under 
     paragraph (2).
       (B) Limitation.--Any sums provided in advance in 
     appropriations Acts to carry out the grant program 
     established under paragraph (2) shall not exceed $50,000,000 
     each fiscal year.
       (4) Applications.--
       (A) Barriers.--The Attorney General shall determine what 
     barriers exist to establishing a streamlined application 
     process for grants under this subsection.
       (B) Report.--
       (i) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the

[[Page S4417]]

     Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report that 
     includes a plan to execute a streamlined application process 
     for grants under this subsection under which an eligible 
     local government seeking a grant under this subsection can 
     reasonably complete the application in not more than 2 hours.
       (ii) Contents of plan.--The plan required under clause (i) 
     may include a plan for--

       (I) proactively providing eligible local governments 
     seeking a grant under this subsection with information on the 
     data eligible local governments will need to prepare before 
     beginning the grant application; and
       (II) ensuring technical assistance is available for 
     eligible local governments seeking a grant under this 
     subsection before and during the grant application process, 
     including through dedicated liaisons within the Office.

       (C) Applications.--In selecting eligible local governments 
     to receive grants under this subsection, the Director shall 
     use the streamlined application process described in 
     subparagraph (B)(i).
       (5) Eligible activities.--An eligible local government that 
     receives a grant under this subsection may use amounts from 
     the grant only for--
       (A) de-escalation training for law enforcement officers;
       (B) victim-centered training for law enforcement officers 
     in handling situations of domestic violence;
       (C) evidence-based law enforcement safety training for--
       (i) active shooter situations;
       (ii) the safe handling of illicit drugs and precursor 
     chemicals;
       (iii) rescue situations;
       (iv) recognizing and countering ambush attacks; or
       (v) response to calls for service involving--

       (I) persons with mental health needs;
       (II) persons with substance use disorders;
       (III) veterans;
       (IV) persons with disabilities;
       (V) vulnerable youth;
       (VI) persons who are victims of domestic violence, sexual 
     assault, or trafficking; or
       (VII) persons experiencing homelessness or living in 
     poverty;

       (D) the offsetting of overtime costs associated with 
     scheduling issues relating to the participation of a law 
     enforcement officer in the training described in 
     subparagraphs (A) through (C), (I), and (J);
       (E) a signing bonus for a law enforcement officer in an 
     amount determined by the eligible local government;
       (F) a retention bonus for a law enforcement officer--
       (i) in an amount determined by the eligible local 
     government that does not exceed 20 percent of the salary of 
     the law enforcement officer; and
       (ii) who--

       (I) has been employed at the law enforcement agency for not 
     fewer than 5 years;
       (II) has not been found by an internal investigation to 
     have engaged in serious misconduct; and
       (III) commits to remain employed by the law enforcement 
     agency for not less than 3 years after the date of receipt of 
     the bonus;

       (G) a stipend for the graduate education of law enforcement 
     officers in the area of mental health, public health, or 
     social work, which shall not exceed the lesser of--
       (i) $10,000; or
       (ii) the amount the law enforcement officer pays towards 
     such graduate education;
       (H) providing access to patient-centered behavioral health 
     services for law enforcement officers, which may include 
     resources for risk assessments, evidence-based, trauma-
     informed care to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or 
     acute stress disorder, peer support and counselor services 
     and family supports, and the promotion of improved access to 
     high quality mental health care through telehealth;
       (I) the implementation of evidence-based best practices and 
     training on the use of lethal and nonlethal force;
       (J) the implementation of evidence-based best practices and 
     training on the duty of care and the duty to intervene; and
       (K) data collection for police practices relating to 
     officer and community safety.
       (6) Reporting requirements for grant recipients.--
       (A) In general.--The Director shall establish reasonable 
     reporting requirements specifically relating to a grant 
     awarded under this subsection for eligible local governments 
     that receive such a grant in order to assist with the 
     evaluation by the Office of the program established under 
     this subsection.
       (B) Considerations.--In establishing requirements under 
     subparagraph (A), the Director shall consider the capacity of 
     law enforcement agencies with fewer than 175 officers to 
     collect and report information.
       (7) Disclosure of officer recruitment and retention 
     bonuses.--
       (A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date on 
     which an eligible local government that receives a grant 
     under this subsection awards a signing or retention bonus 
     described in subparagraph (E) or (F) of paragraph (5), the 
     eligible local government shall disclose to the Director and 
     make publicly available on a website of the eligible local 
     government the amount of the bonus.
       (B) Report.--The Attorney General shall submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees an annual report that 
     includes each signing or retention bonus disclosed under 
     subparagraph (A) during the preceding year.
       (8) Grant accountability.--
       (A) In general.--All grants awarded by the Director under 
     this subsection shall be subject to the accountability 
     provisions described in this paragraph.
       (B) Audit requirement.--
       (i) Definition.--In this subparagraph, the term 
     ``unresolved audit finding'' means a finding in the final 
     audit report of the Inspector General of the Department of 
     Justice that the audited grantee has used grant funds for an 
     unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that 
     is not closed or resolved within 12 months from the date when 
     the final audit report is issued.
       (ii) Audits.--Beginning in the first fiscal year beginning 
     after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and in each 
     fiscal year thereafter, the Inspector General of the 
     Department of Justice shall conduct audits of recipients of 
     grants under this subsection to prevent waste, fraud, and 
     abuse of funds by grantees. The Inspector General of the 
     Department of Justice shall determine the appropriate number 
     of grantees to be audited each year.
       (iii) Mandatory exclusion.--A recipient of grant funds 
     under this subsection that is found to have an unresolved 
     audit finding shall not be eligible to receive grant funds 
     under this subsection during the first 3 fiscal years 
     beginning after the end of the 12-month period described in 
     clause (i).
       (iv) Reimbursement.--If an eligible local government is 
     awarded grant funds under this subsection during the 3-
     fiscal-year period during which the eligible local government 
     is barred from receiving grants under clause (iii), the 
     Attorney General shall--

       (I) deposit an amount equal to the amount of the grant 
     funds that were improperly awarded to the grantee into the 
     General Fund of the Treasury; and
       (II) seek to recoup the costs of the repayment to the fund 
     from the grant recipient that was erroneously awarded grant 
     funds.

       (C) Annual certification.--Beginning in the fiscal year 
     during which audits commence under subparagraph (B)(ii), the 
     Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the 
     Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate 
     and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives an annual 
     certification--
       (i) indicating whether--

       (I) all audits issued by the Office of the Inspector 
     General of the Department of Justice under subparagraph (B) 
     have been completed and reviewed by the appropriate Assistant 
     Attorney General or Director;
       (II) all mandatory exclusions required under subparagraph 
     (B)(iii) have been issued; and
       (III) all reimbursements required under subparagraph 
     (B)(iv) have been made; and

       (ii) that includes a list of any grant recipients excluded 
     under subparagraph (B) from the previous year.
       (9) Program evaluation.--Not less frequently than annually, 
     the Attorney General shall analyze the information provided 
     by eligible local governments pursuant to the reporting 
     requirements established under paragraph (6)(A) to evaluate 
     the efficacy of programs funded by the grant program under 
     this subsection.
       (10) Preventing duplicative grants.--
       (A) In general.--Before the Director awards a grant to an 
     eligible local government under this subsection, the Attorney 
     General shall compare potential grant awards with other 
     grants awarded by the Attorney General to determine if grant 
     awards are or have been awarded for a similar purpose.
       (B) Report.--If the Attorney General awards grants to the 
     same applicant for a similar purpose, whether through the 
     grant program under this subsection or another grant program 
     administered by the Department of Justice, the Attorney 
     General shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
     Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
     Representatives a report that includes--
       (i) a list of all such grants awarded, including the total 
     dollar amount of any such grants awarded; and
       (ii) the reason the Attorney General awarded multiple 
     grants to the same applicant for a similar purpose.
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