[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 18027]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP GRANT ACT OF 2003

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 193, S. 764.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 764) to extend the authorization of the 
     Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate is taking up 
and passing the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2003, S. 764, 
a bill to reauthorize an existing matching grant program to help State, 
tribal, and local jurisdictions purchase armor vests for use by law 
enforcement officers.
  This bill marks the third time that I have had the privilege of 
teaming with my friend and colleague Senator Campbell to work on this 
legislation. We authored the Bulletproof Vest Grant Partnership Act of 
1998 in response to the tragic Carl Drega shootout in 1997 on the 
Vermont-New Hampshire border, in which two State troopers who did not 
have bulletproof vests were killed. The Federal officers who responded 
to the scenes of the shooting spree were equipped with lifesaving body 
armor, but the State and local law enforcement officers lacked 
protective vests because of the cost.
  Two years later, we successfully passed the Bulletproof Vest 
Partnership Grant Act of 2000, and I hope we will go three-for-three 
this time around. Senator Campbell brings to our effort invaluable 
experience in this area and during his time in the Senate he has been a 
leader in the area of law enforcement. As a former deputy sheriff, he 
knows the dangers law enforcement officers face when out on patrol. I 
am pleased that we have been joined in this effort by Judiciary 
Chairman Hatch, Judiciary Committee Senators Biden, Schumer, Kohl and 
Feingold, as well as five other Senate cosponsors.
  Our bipartisan legislation will save the lives of law enforcement 
officers across the country by providing more help to State and local 
law enforcement agencies to purchase body armor. Since its inception in 
1999, this highly successful Department of Justice program has provided 
law enforcement officers in 16,000 jurisdictions nationwide with nearly 
350,000 new bulletproof vests. In Vermont, 148 municipalities have been 
fortunate to receive funding for the purchase of almost 1200 vests. 
Without the federal funding given by this program, I daresay that there 
would be close to that number of police officers without vests in 
Vermont today.
  The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2003 will further the 
success of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program by re-
authorizing the program through fiscal year 2007. Our legislation would 
continue the Federal-State partnership by authorizing up to $50 million 
per year for matching grants to State and local law enforcement 
agencies and Indian tribes at the Department of Justice to buy body 
armor.
  Not only should we reauthorize this program, but also we should work 
to see that it is fully funded. While the Bulletproof Vest Partnership 
Program funding has been consistently authorized at $50 million per 
year, that amount gets whacked in half during the appropriations 
process. Law enforcement agencies, however, clearly need our help to 
purchase vests--for the current fiscal year, the Bulletproof Vest 
Partnership office received funding requests from small jurisdictions, 
with populations under 100,000, totaling $59 million--more than double 
the funds appropriated. The authorizing legislation requires that 
smaller jurisdictions receive priority funding through this program. 
Those requests consumed the entire amount of funds available and for 
the first time ever awards could only be made to small jurisdictions.
  We know that body armor saves lives, but the cost has put these vests 
out of the reach of many of the officers who need them. This program 
makes it more affordable for police departments of all sizes. Few 
things mean more to me than when I meet Vermont police officers and 
they tell me that the protective vests they wear were made possible 
because of this program. This is the least we should do for the 
officers on the front lines who put themselves in danger for us every 
day. I want to make sure that every police officer who needs a 
bulletproof vest gets one.
  I look forward to Senate passage today of the bipartisan Bulletproof 
Vest Partnership Grant Act, and I hope the House and the President will 
promptly act on this lifesaving legislation to help better to protect 
our law enforcement officers.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements 
relating to this measure be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 764) was read the third time and passed, as follows:

                                 S. 764

       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 ``Bulletproof Vest Partnership 
     Grant Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       Section 1001(a)(23) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
     and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)(23)) is 
     amended by striking ``2004'' and inserting ``2007''.

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