I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2649

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from making any funds available 

to a State under any program administered by the Department of Education unless the Secretary determines that the State has in place a 

criminal information sharing system. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2003

Mr. PORTER (for himself, Mr. CARTER, and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from making any 

funds available to a State under any program administered by the Department of Education unless the Secretary determines that the State has in place a criminal 

information sharing system.

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 ‘‘Schools Safely Acquir5 ing Faculty Excellence Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) It is necessary to be sure that individuals 

2 who interact closely with children in the Nation’s 

3 schools do not have a criminal history in any State 

4 or pose any threat to any child. 

5 (2) To meet the needs of growing communities, 

6 many school districts rely on recruitment of teachers 

7 from other States. 

8 (3) To ensure the safety of students, many 

9 school districts require prospective personnel who 

10 will work with students to be fingerprinted for back11 ground checks through the Federal Bureau of Inves12 tigations. 

13 (4) Unfortunately, not all States submit their 

14 criminal records to the Federal Bureau of Investiga15 tions for non-criminal justice purposes. 

16 (5) The National Crime Prevention and Privacy 

17 Compact, enacted in 1998, governs the use of the 

18 Interstate Identification Index System for non-crimi19 nal justice purposes. 

20 (6) As of 2003, only 16 States have ratified the 

21 National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact. 
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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL EDUCATIONAL 

2 FUNDING FOR STATES WITHOUT A CRIMINAL 

3 INFORMATION SHARING SYSTEM. 

4 (a) PROHIBITION.—Beginning on the date described 

5 in subsection (b)(1), the Secretary of Education (in this 

6 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall not make any 

7 funds available to a State under any program adminis8 tered by the Department of Education unless the Sec9 retary determines under subsection (b) that the State has 

10 in place a criminal information sharing system. 

11 (b) CRIMINAL INFORMATION SHARING SYSTEM.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, 

14 in consultation with the Attorney General, shall de15 termine whether each State has in place a criminal 

16 information sharing system under which the State 

17 shares with the Federal Government information 

18 (including for non-criminal justice purposes) on each 

19 arrest, charge, or conviction (including any no con20 test plea) in such State for any offense described in 

21 paragraph (2), including—

22 (A) the identity of each individual so ar23 rested, charged, or convicted; and 

24 (B) the identity of each individual under 

25 suspicion for such an offense. 
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1 (2) OFFENSES.—An offense described in this 

2 paragraph is any offense that—

3 (A) is a felony or involves violence, a con4 trolled substance, child abuse, statutory rape, 

5 rape, molestation, or sexual abuse; and 

6 (B) occurs on or after the date that is 15 

7 years before the date of the enactment of this 

8 Act. 

9 (3) REVISION.—The Secretary, in consultation 

10 with the Attorney General, may revise a determina11 tion made under paragraph (1) as the Secretary de12 termines appropriate. 

13 (4) STATE DEFINED.—For purposes of this sec14 tion, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the several States, 

15 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

16 Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

17 Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the 

18 United States Virgin Islands, and any other terri19 tory or possession of the United States. 

20 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

22 necessary to carry out this section.

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