II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 732 

To amend the PROTECT Act to expand the national AMBER Alert system 

to territories of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2019 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the PROTECT Act to expand the national 

AMBER Alert system to territories of the United States, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AMBER Alert Nation5 wide Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COOPERATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

7 SECURITY. 

8 Subtitle A of title III of the PROTECT Act (34 

9 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended— 

10 (1) in section 301— 


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1 (A) in subsection (b)— 

2 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting 

3 ‘‘(including airports, maritime ports, bor4 der crossing areas and checkpoints, and 

5 ports of exit from the United States)’’ 

6 after ‘‘gaps in areas of interstate travel’’; 

7 and 

8 (ii) in paragraphs (2) and (3), by in9 serting ‘‘, territories of the United States, 

10 and tribal governments’’ after ‘‘States’’; 

11 and 

12 (B) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, the 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security,’’ after ‘‘Sec14 retary of Transportation’’; and 

15 (2) in section 302— 

16 (A) in subsection (b), in paragraphs (2), 

17 (3), and (4) by inserting ‘‘, territorial, tribal,’’ 

18 after ‘‘State’’; and 

19 (B) in subsection (c)— 

20 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, 

21 the Secretary of Homeland Security,’’ after 

22 ‘‘Secretary of Transportation’’; and 

23 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, 

24 territorial, tribal,’’ after ‘‘State’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AMBER ALERTS ALONG MAJOR TRANSPORTATION 

2 ROUTES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the PROTECT 

4 Act (34 U.S.C. 20503) is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

6 MAJOR TRANSPORTATION ROUTES’’ after 

7 ‘‘ALONG HIGHWAYS’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘(referred to in this sec10 tion as the ‘Secretary’)’’ after ‘‘Secretary of 

11 Transportation’’; and 

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘and at airports, mari13 time ports, border crossing areas and check14 points, and ports of exit from the United 

15 States’’ after ‘‘along highways’’; 

16 (3) in subsection (b)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘other motorist infor19 mation systems to notify motorists’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘other information systems to no21 tify motorists, aircraft passengers, ship 

22 passengers, and travelers’’; and 

23 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, aircraft passengers, 

24 ship passengers, and travelers’’ after ‘‘nec25 essary to notify motorists’’; and 

26 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘other motorist information systems to no3 tify motorists’’ and inserting ‘‘other infor4 mation systems to notify motorists, air5 craft passengers, ship passengers, and 

6 travelers’’; 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 

8 ‘‘, aircraft passengers, ship passengers, 

9 and travelers’’ after ‘‘support the notifica10 tion of motorists’’; 

11 (iii) in subparagraph (E), by inserting 

12 ‘‘, aircraft passengers, ship passengers, 

13 and travelers’’ after ‘‘motorists’’, each 

14 place it appears; 

15 (iv) in subparagraph (F), by inserting 

16 ‘‘, aircraft passengers, ship passengers, 

17 and travelers’’ after ‘‘motorists’’; and 

18 (v) in subparagraph (G), by inserting 

19 ‘‘, aircraft passengers, ship passengers, 

20 and travelers’’ after ‘‘motorists’’; 

21 (4) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘other motor22 ist information systems to notify motorists’’, each 

23 place it appears, and inserting ‘‘other information 

24 systems to notify motorists, aircraft passengers, ship 

25 passengers, and travelers’’; 


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1 (5) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para5 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of any ac6 tivities funded by a grant under this section may not 

7 exceed 80 percent. 

8 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—If the Secretary determines 

9 that American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana 

10 Islands, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands of the 

11 United States is unable to comply with the require12 ment under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall waive 

13 such requirement.’’; 

14 (6) in subsection (g)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘In this section’’ and in16 serting ‘‘In this subtitle’’; and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘or Puerto Rico’’ and in18 serting ‘‘American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, 

19 the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Is20 lands of the United States, and any other terri21 tory of the United States’’; and 

22 (7) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 

23 2004’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2019 

24 through 2023’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

2 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the PROTECT 

3 Act (Public Law 108–21) is amended by striking the item 

4 relating to section 303 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 303. Grant program for notification and communications systems along 

highways and major transportation routes for recovery of abducted children.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. AMBER ALERT COMMUNICATION PLANS IN THE 

6 TERRITORIES. 

7 Section 304 of the PROTECT Act (34 U.S.C. 20504) 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)(4), by inserting ‘‘a terri10 torial government or’’ after ‘‘with’’; 

11 (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of any ac16 tivities funded by a grant under this section may not 

17 exceed 50 percent. 

18 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—If the Attorney General deter19 mines that American Samoa, Guam, the Northern 

20 Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of 

21 the United States, or an Indian tribe is unable to 

22 comply with the requirement under paragraph (1), 

23 the Attorney General shall waive such require24 ment.’’; and 


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1 (3) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, including 

2 territories of the United States’’ before the period at 

3 the end. 

4 SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

7 shall conduct a study assessing— 

8 (1) the implementation of the amendments 

9 made by this Act; 

10 (2) any challenges related to integrating the 

11 territories of the United States into the AMBER 

12 Alert system; 

13 (3) the readiness, educational, technological, 

14 and training needs of territorial law enforcement 

15 agencies in responding to cases involving missing, 

16 abducted, or exploited children; and 

17 (4) any other related matters the Attorney Gen18 eral or the Secretary of Transportation determines 

19 appropriate. 

20 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General 

21 shall submit a report on the findings of the study required 

22 under subsection (a) to— 

23 (1) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 

24 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

25 Senate; 


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1 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 

2 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

3 the House of Representatives; and 

4 (3) each of the delegates or resident commis5 sioner to the House of Representatives from Amer6 ican Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, 

7 Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands of the United 

8 States. 

9 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Comptroller Gen10 eral shall make the report required under subsection (b) 

11 available on a public Government website. 

12 (d) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 

14 may secure information necessary to conduct the 

15 study under subsection (a) directly from any Federal 

16 agency and from any territorial government receiv17 ing grant funding under the PROTECT Act. Upon 

18 request of the Comptroller General, the head of a 

19 Federal agency or territorial government shall fur20 nish the requested information to the Comptroller 

21 General. 

22 (2) AGENCY RECORDS.—Notwithstanding para23 graph (1), nothing in this subsection shall require a 

24 Federal agency or any territorial government to 

25 produce records subject to a common law evidentiary 


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1 privilege. Records and information shared with the 

2 Comptroller General shall continue to be subject to 

3 withholding under sections 552 and 552a of title 5, 

4 United States Code. The Comptroller General is ob5 ligated to give the information the same level of con6 fidentiality and protection required of the Federal 

7 agency or territorial government. The Comptroller 

8 General may be requested to sign a nondisclosure or 

9 other agreement as a condition of gaining access to 

10 sensitive or proprietary data to which the Comp11 troller General is entitled. 

12 (3) PRIVACY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.— 

13 The Comptroller General, and any Federal agency 

14 and any territorial government that provides infor15 mation to the Comptroller General, shall take such 

16 actions as are necessary to ensure the protection of 

17 the personal information of a minor. 

Æ 


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