[House Report 112-651]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


112th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     112-651

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



 
 MISSING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATIENT ALERT PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT 
                                OF 2012

                                _______
                                

 September 10, 2012.--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. 2800]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 2800) to amend the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994 to reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer's 
Disease Patient Alert Program, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that 
the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page

The Amendment....................................................     1
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     2
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Committee Votes..................................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     5
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................     5
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     5

                             The Amendment

    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient 
Alert Program Reauthorization Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE MISSING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATIENT 
                    ALERT PROGRAM.

  Section 240001 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 
of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14181) is amended--
          (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
  ``(a) Grant.--Subject to the availability of appropriations to carry 
out this section, the Attorney General, through the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance, shall award competitive grants to nonprofit organizations 
to assist such organizations in paying for the costs of planning, 
designing, establishing, and operating locally based, proactive 
programs to protect and locate missing patients with Alzheimer's 
disease and related dementias.'';
          (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ``competitive'' after 
        ``to receive a'';
          (3) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
  ``(c) Preference.--In awarding grants under subsection (a), the 
Attorney General shall give preference to national nonprofit 
organizations that have experience working with patients, and families 
of patients, with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.''; and
          (4) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
  ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $1,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2013 through 2017.''.

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 2800 reauthorizes the Department of Justice's Missing 
Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert program at $1 million a year 
for fiscal years 2013-2017.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    Alzheimer's disease is serious condition that affects 
approximately five million people in this country, or one in 
eight older Americans. A new person develops Alzheimer's every 
69 seconds.
    As many as 50 percent of people who suffer from Alzheimer's 
disease or other forms of dementia will become lost from their 
family or caretakers at some point. To address the problem of 
missing Alzheimer's patients, the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322) authorized the Missing 
Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert program. This program, 
administered by the Department of Justice, provides grants to 
organizations to protect and locate missing patients with 
Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. Funding for the 
program was authorized at $900,000 for fiscal years 1997 and 
1998. Congress has appropriated funding for the program from 
fiscal year 1996 through fiscal year 2012, even though the 
program has been unauthorized since 1998. Most recently, the 
Missing Alzheimer's program received $1 million in 
appropriations for fiscal year 2012.
    The Justice Department has issued grants to several 
entities through the Missing Alzheimer's program, including the 
Alzheimer's Association, which administers the Safe Return 
Program. The Safe Return Program is a nationwide emergency 
response service for individuals with Alzheimer's or a related 
dementia who wander or have a medical emergency. Enrollees 
receive a bracelet indicating that the individual is memory 
impaired and include a toll-free, 24-hour emergency response 
number to call if the person is found wandering or has a 
medical emergency.

                                Hearings

    The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R. 
2800.

                        Committee Consideration

    On August 1, 2012, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered the bill H.R. 2800 favorably reported with an 
amendment, 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. 2800.

                      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. 2800, 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, August 23, 2012.
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. 2800, the 
``Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program 
Reauthorization Act of 2012.''
    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. 2800--Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program 
                      Reauthorization Act of 2012.

      As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary 
                           on August 1, 2012.




                                SUMMARY

    H.R. 2800 would authorize the appropriation of $1 million 
annually over the 2013-2017 period for Department of Justice 
(DOJ) programs to locate missing persons with Alzheimer's 
disease or similar conditions. Under the legislation, DOJ would 
provide grants to nonprofit organizations to run those 
programs. Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO 
estimates that implementing H.R. 2800 would cost about $4 
million over the 2013-2017 period. Pay-as-you-go procedures do 
not apply to this legislation because it would not affect 
direct spending or revenues.
    H.R. 2800 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.

                ESTIMATED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

    The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 2800 is shown in the 
following table. CBO assumes that the authorized amounts will 
be appropriated near the start of each fiscal year and that 
outlays will follow the historical rate of spending for these 
activities. The costs of this legislation fall within budget 
function 750 (administration of justice).

                                     By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     2013   2014   2015   2016   2017  2013-2017
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Authorization Level                                                     1      1      1      1      1         5

Estimated Outlays                                                       0      1      1      1      1         4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                     PAY-AS-YOU-GO CONSIDERATIONS:

    None.

              INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND PRIVATE-SECTOR IMPACT

    H.R. 2800 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in UMRA and would not affect the budgets of 
state, local, or tribal governments.

                         ESTIMATE PREPARED BY:

Federal Costs: Mark Grabowicz
Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Melissa Merrell
Impact on the Private Sector: Marin Randall

                         ESTIMATE APPROVED BY:

Peter H. Fontaine
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. 
2800 reauthorizes the Department of Justice's Missing 
Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert program at $1 million a year 
for fiscal years 2013-2017.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, H.R. 2800 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 sets forth the short title 
of the bill as the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert 
Program Reauthorization of 2012.
    Sec. 2. Reauthorization of the Missing Alzheimer's Disease 
Patient Alert Program. Section 2 reauthorizes the Missing 
Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program at $1 million a year 
for fiscal years 2013-2017. The section also clarifies that 
this is a competitive grant program, and provides that the 
program should be administered by the Department of Justice's 
Bureau of Justice Assistance.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 1994

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                TITLE XXIV--PROTECTIONS FOR THE ELDERLY

SEC. 240001. MISSING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATIENT ALERT PROGRAM.

  [(a) Grant.--The Attorney General shall, subject to the 
availability of appropriations, award a grant to an eligible 
organization to assist the organization in paying for the costs 
of planning, designing, establishing, and operating a Missing 
Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program, which shall be a 
locally based, proactive program to protect and locate missing 
patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.]
  (a) Grant.--Subject to the availability of appropriations to 
carry out this section, the Attorney General, through the 
Bureau of Justice Assistance, shall award competitive grants to 
nonprofit organizations to assist such organizations in paying 
for the costs of planning, designing, establishing, and 
operating locally based, proactive programs to protect and 
locate missing patients with Alzheimer's disease and related 
dementias.
  (b) Application.--To be eligible to receive a competitive 
grant under subsection (a), an organization shall submit an 
application to the Attorney General at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Attorney General 
may require, including, at a minimum, an assurance that the 
organization will obtain and use assistance from private 
nonprofit organizations to support the program.
  [(c) Eligible Organization.--The Attorney General shall award 
the grant described in subsection (a) to a national voluntary 
organization that has a direct link to patients, and families 
of patients, with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
  [(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
to be appropriated to carry out this section--
          [(1) $900,000 for fiscal year 1996;
          [(2) $900,000 for fiscal year 1997; and
          [(3) $900,000 for fiscal year 1998.]
  (c) Preference.--In awarding grants under subsection (a), the 
Attorney General shall give preference to national nonprofit 
organizations that have experience working with patients, and 
families of patients, with Alzheimer's disease and related 
dementias.
  (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to 
be appropriated to carry out this section $1,000,000 for each 
of the fiscal years 2013 through 2017.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
