[105th Congress Public Law 181]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


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[DOCID: f:publ181.105]


[[Page 511]]

             BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP GRANT ACT OF 1998

[[Page 112 STAT. 512]]

Public Law 105-181
105th Congress

                                 An Act


 
     To establish a matching grant program to help State and local 
     jurisdictions purchase armor vests for use by law enforcement 
           departments. <<NOTE: June 16, 1998 -  [S. 1605]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Bulletproof Vest 
Partnership Grant Act of 1998.>> 

SECTION 1. SHORT <<NOTE: 42 USC 3711 note.>> TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant 
Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; <<NOTE: 42 USC 3796ll note.>> PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the number of law enforcement officers who are killed in 
        the line of duty would significantly decrease if every law 
        enforcement officer in the United States had the protection of 
        an armor vest;
            (2) according to studies, between 1985 and 1994, 709 law 
        enforcement officers in the United States were feloniously 
        killed in the line of duty;
            (3) the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that the 
        risk of fatality to law enforcement officers while not wearing 
        an armor vest is 14 times higher than for officers wearing an 
        armor vest;
            (4) the Department of Justice estimates that approximately 
        150,000 State, local, and tribal law enforcement officers, 
        nearly 25 percent, are not issued body armor;
            (5) according to studies, between 1985 and 1994, bullet-
        resistant materials helped save the lives of more than 2,000 law 
        enforcement officers in the United States; and
            (6) the Executive Committee for Indian Country Law 
        Enforcement Improvements reports that violent crime in Indian 
        country has risen sharply, despite a decrease in the national 
        crime rate, and has concluded that there is a ``public safety 
        crisis in Indian country''.

    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to save lives of law 
enforcement officers by helping State, local, and tribal law enforcement 
agencies provide officers with armor vests.

SEC. 3. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ARMOR VESTS.

    (a) In General.--Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating part Y as part Z;
            (2) by redesignating section 2501 <<NOTE: 42 USC 3797.>> as 
        section 2601; and
            (3) by inserting after part X the following new part:

[[Page 112 STAT. 513]]

    ``PART Y--MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ARMOR VESTS

``SEC. 2501. PROGRAM <<NOTE: 42 USC 3796ll.>> AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance 
is authorized to make grants to States, units of local government, and 
Indian tribes to purchase armor vests for use by State, local, and 
tribal law enforcement officers.
    ``(b) Uses of Funds.--Grants awarded under this section shall be--
            ``(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of local 
        government, or Indian tribe; and
            ``(2) used for the purchase of armor vests for law 
        enforcement officers in the jurisdiction of the grantee.

    ``(c) Preferential Consideration.--In awarding grants under this 
part, the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance may give 
preferential consideration, if feasible, to an application from a 
jurisdiction that--
            ``(1) has the greatest need for armor vests based on the 
        percentage of law enforcement officers in the department who do 
        not have access to a vest;
            ``(2) has, or will institute, a mandatory wear policy that 
        requires on-duty law enforcement officers to wear armor vests 
        whenever feasible; and
            ``(3) has a violent crime rate at or above the national 
        average as determined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; or
            ``(4) has not received a block grant under the Local Law 
        Enforcement Block Grant program described under the heading 
        `Violent Crime Reduction Programs, State and Local Law 
        Enforcement Assistance' of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 
        and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations 
        Act, 1998 (Public Law 105-119).

    ``(d) Minimum Amount.--Unless all eligible applications submitted by 
any State or unit of local government within such State for a grant 
under this section have been funded, such State, together with grantees 
within the State (other than Indian tribes), shall be allocated in each 
fiscal year under this section not less than 0.50 percent of the total 
amount appropriated in the fiscal year for grants pursuant to this 
section, except that the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 
Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands shall each be allocated .25 
percent.
    ``(e) Maximum Amount.--A qualifying State, unit of local government, 
or Indian tribe may not receive more than 5 percent of the total amount 
appropriated in each fiscal year for grants under this section, except 
that a State, together with the grantees within the State may not 
receive more than 20 percent of the total amount appropriated in each 
fiscal year for grants under this section.
    ``(f) Matching Funds.--The portion of the costs of a program 
provided by a grant under subsection (a) may not exceed 50 percent. Any 
funds appropriated by Congress for the activities of any agency of an 
Indian tribal government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing law 
enforcement functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the 
non-Federal share of a matching requirement funded under this 
subsection.

[[Page 112 STAT. 514]]

    ``(g) Allocation of Funds.--At least half of the funds available 
under this part shall be awarded to units of local government with fewer 
than 100,000 residents.

``SEC. 2502. <<NOTE: 42 USC 3796ll-1.>> APPLICATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--To request a grant under this part, the chief 
executive of a State, unit of local government, or Indian tribe shall 
submit an application to the Director of the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance in such form and containing such information as the Director 
may reasonably require.
    ``(b) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this part, the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance 
shall promulgate regulations to implement this section (including the 
information that must be included and the requirements that the States, 
units of local government, and Indian tribes must meet) in submitting 
the applications required under this section.
    ``(c) Eligibility.--A unit of local government that receives funding 
under the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program (described under the 
heading `Violent Crime Reduction Programs, State and Local Law 
Enforcement Assistance' of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and 
State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 
(Public Law 105-119)) during a fiscal year in which it submits an 
application under this part shall not be eligible for a grant under this 
part unless the chief executive officer of such unit of local government 
certifies and provides an explanation to the Director that the unit of 
local government considered or will consider using funding received 
under the block grant program for any or all of the costs relating to 
the purchase of armor vests, but did not, or does not expect to use such 
funds for such purpose.

``SEC. 2503. <<NOTE: 42 USC 3796ll-2.>> DEFINITIONS.

    ``For purposes of this part--
            ``(1) the term `armor vest' means body armor, no less than 
        Type I, which has been tested through the voluntary compliance 
        testing program operated by the National Law Enforcement and 
        Corrections Technology Center of the National Institute of 
        Justice (NIJ), and found to meet or exceed the requirements of 
        NIJ Standard 0101.03, or any subsequent revision of such 
        standard;
            ``(2) the term `body armor' means any product sold or 
        offered for sale as personal protective body covering intended 
        to protect against gunfire, stabbing, or other physical harm;
            ``(3) the term `State' means each of the 50 States, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
        Northern Mariana Islands;
            ``(4) the term `unit of local government' means a county, 
        municipality, town, township, village, parish, borough, or other 
        unit of general government below the State level;
            ``(5) the term `Indian tribe' has the same meaning as in 
        section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
        Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)); and
            ``(6) the term `law enforcement officer' means any officer, 
        agent, or employee of a State, unit of local government, or 
        Indian tribe authorized by law or by a government agency

[[Page 112 STAT. 515]]

        to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or 
        investigation of any violation of criminal law, or authorized by 
        law to supervise sentenced criminal offenders.''.

    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1001(a) of the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(23) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out part Y, 
$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2001.''.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    In the case of any equipment or products that may be authorized to 
be purchased with financial assistance provided using funds appropriated 
or otherwise made available by this Act, it is the sense of the Congress 
that entities receiving the assistance should, in expending the 
assistance, purchase only American-made equipment and products.

    Approved June 16, 1998.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1605 (H.R. 2829):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 144 (1998):
            Mar. 11, considered and passed Senate.
            May 12, considered and passed House, amended, in lieu of 
                H.R. 2829.
            May 15, Senate concurred in House amendments.
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 34 (1998):
            June 16, Presidential remarks.

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