[House Report 112-293]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


112th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    112-293

======================================================================



 
     FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION ACT OF 2011

                                _______
                                

 November 22, 2011.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Smith of Texas, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1550]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 1550) to establish programs in the Department of Justice 
and in the Department of Homeland Security to help States that 
have high rates of homicide and other violent crime, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill as amended 
do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
The Amendments...................................................     2
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     3
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Committee Votes..................................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     4
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     5
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................     5
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     5

                             The Amendments

  The amendments are as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Law Enforcement Recruitment 
and Retention Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PROGRAM.

  (a) Creation of Program.--The Attorney General shall establish a 
program within the Department of Justice to address the need to 
recruit, assign, and retain Federal law enforcement officers in States 
and jurisdictions with a high rate of homicide or other violent crime 
as reported pursuant to the Uniform Federal Crime Reporting Act of 1988 
(28 U.S.C. 534 note).
  (b) Federal Coordinator.--The Attorney General shall designate an 
official within the Department of Justice to be the Federal coordinator 
of the program established under this section.
  (c) Duties of Coordinator.--The Federal coordinator appointed under 
this section shall--
          (1) consult with the States and units of local government 
        with a high rate of homicide or other violent crime to 
        determine how additional Federal law enforcement officers may 
        assist those States and units of local government; and
          (2) coordinate the implementation of the program established 
        under this section.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

   The Attorney General shall establish the program described in 
section 2 not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

   The Attorney General shall provide a report annually on the 
implementation of the program described in section 2 as part of the 
report on program performance prepared pursuant to section 4(b) of the 
Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, as amended (31 U.S.C. 
1116). The report required by this section shall describe--
          (1) the actions taken by the Attorney General to improve the 
        recruitment, assignment, and retention of Federal law 
        enforcement officers in States and jurisdictions with a high 
        rate of homicide or other violent crime;
          (2) any recommendations for additional authorities in law to 
        improve recruitment and retention of Federal law enforcement 
        officers; and
          (3) the results of the actions described in paragraph (1).

SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF ``STATE''.

  In this Act, the term ``State'' means any State of the United States, 
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 
Islands, American Samoa, Guam, or the Northern Mariana Islands.

  Amend the title so as to read:

      A bill to establish a program in the Department of 
Justice to improve recruitment, assignment, and retention of 
Federal law enforcement officers in States, territories, and 
jurisdictions that have a high rate of homicide or other 
violent crime.

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 1550, as amended, addresses the problem of high crime 
areas of the country by directing the Department of Justice to 
establish a program within the Department to consider, in 
consultation with State and local governments, the need to 
recruit, assign, and retain Federal law enforcement officers in 
jurisdictions that experience a high rate of homicides and 
other violent crimes. This legislation also provides the 
Department of Justice 120 days to implement this program and 
directs the Department to report to Congress any actions the 
Department has taken to improve the recruitment, assignment, 
and retention in high-crime areas, the result of such actions, 
and any other recommendations the Department may have. H.R. 
1550 does not authorize any additional spending, but instead 
directs the Department to consider how its current resources 
can be used to address the problem of high crime areas.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    Violent crime is continuing a decades-long decline in the 
United States. However, there are areas of the country where 
homicides and other violent crimes remain a serious problem 
and, in some cases, are even on the rise. For example, Puerto 
Rico had a homicide rate of 22.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 
2009, as compared to the national average of 5 homicides per 
100,000 inhabitants. The crime in these areas of the United 
States is often further compounded by the fact that many 
Federal law enforcement positions remain unfilled in high-crime 
jurisdictions. In 2000, a representative of the Drug 
Enforcement Administration testified before the House 
Government Reform Committee that ``few personnel from the 
Continental United States are willing to accept a transfer to 
Puerto Rico.''

                                Hearings

    The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R. 
1550.

                        Committee Consideration

    On July 20, 2011, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered the bill H.R. 1550 favorably reported with an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute, by voice vote, a quorum being 
present.

                            Committee Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there 
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of 
H.R. 1550. The Committee approved by voice vote an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute offered by Mr. Pierluisi. The 
substitute amendment struck the requirement that a similar 
program be established in the Department of Homeland Security, 
provided that the Department of Justice has 120 days to 
implement the program, and directed the Department of Justice 
to report to Congress on its efforts to address the 
recruitment, assignment, and retention of law enforcement in 
areas with high rates of violent crime.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does 
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax 
expenditures.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with 
respect to the bill, H.R. 1550, the following estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, November 14, 2011.
Hon. Lamar Smith, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1550, the 
``Federal Law Enforcement Recruitment and Retention Act of 
2011.''
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark 
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
            Sincerely,
                                      Douglas W. Elmendorf,
                                                  Director.

Enclosure

cc:
        Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
        Ranking Member
H.R. 1550--Federal Law Enforcement Recruitment and Retention Act of 
        2011.



As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on 
                         July 20, 2011




    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1550 would cost about 
$1 million annually from appropriated funds. Enacting the bill 
would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-
as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    H.R. 1550 would direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to 
establish a program to improve the recruiting and retention of 
Federal law enforcement officers in States with high rates of 
violent crime. Based on information from DOJ, we expect the 
department would hire a small number of additional staff to 
carry out the program. Implementation costs would include 
salaries, benefits, and travel expenses.
    CBO anticipates that H.R. 1550 would be implemented so as 
to increase the number of Federal law enforcement officers 
working in States with high rates of violent crime, and that 
any increase in the cost to deploy additional law enforcement 
officers would be insignificant. If DOJ sought appropriated 
funds to increase the overall number of law enforcement 
officers, the cost to implement this legislation could be 
considerably greater.
    H.R. 1550 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on State, local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. 
1550 establishes a program within the Department of Justice to 
address the need to recruit, assign, and retain Federal law 
enforcement officers is jurisdictions that experience a high 
rate of homicides and other violent crimes.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, H.R. 1550 does not contain any 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following discussion describes the bill as reported by 
the Committee.
Sec. 1: Short Title
    Section 1 provides that the short title of H.R. 1550 is the 
``Federal Law Enforcement and Recruitment Act of 2011.''
Sec. 2: Department of Justice Program
    Section 2 directs the Attorney General to establish, within 
the Department of Justice, a program to address the need to 
recruit, assign, and retain Federal law enforcement officers in 
States and other jurisdictions with a high rate of homicide or 
other violent crime (``Program''). This section also directs 
the coordinator of the Program to consult with the States and 
units of local government on how additional Federal law 
enforcement officers could be used.
Sec. 3: Establishment of Program
    Section 3 directs the Attorney General to establish the 
Program no later than 120 days after enactment.
Sec. 4: Reporting Requirement
    Section 4 directs the Department of Justice to report to 
Congress on the actions taken under the Program, the results of 
such actions, and any additional recommendations for how to 
improve the recruitment and retention of Federal law 
enforcement officers.
Sec. 5: Definition of ``State''
    Section 5 defines the term ``State'' to include any state 
of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 
the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, or the Northern 
Mariana Islands.

                                  
