I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3237

To improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 2, 2003

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. TOM DAVIS of 

Virginia, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. 

FERGUSON, Mr. FORD, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 

SHAW, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. FOLEY, 

Mr. SOUDER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. 

FROST, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. WATT, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, 

Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. WEINER, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. SCHIFF, and Mr. 

CASE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check 

System, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘NICS Improvement Act of 2003’’. 
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—TRANSMITTAL OF RECORDS 

Sec. 101. Enhancement of requirement that Federal departments and agencies 

provide relevant information to the National Instant Criminal 

Background Check System. 

Sec. 102. Requirements to obtain waiver. 

Sec. 103. Implementation assistance to States. 

Sec. 104. Penalties for noncompliance. 

TITLE II—FOCUSING FEDERAL ASSISTANCE ON THE 

IMPROVEMENT OF RELEVANT RECORDS 

Sec. 201. Continuing evaluations. 

TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATE COURT SYSTEMS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT IN AUTOMATION AND TRANSMITTAL OF DISPOSITION RECORDS 

Sec. 301. Disposition records automation and transmittal improvement grants. 

TITLE IV—GAO AUDIT 

Sec. 401. GAO audit.

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Approximately 632,000 individuals were 

6 prohibited from purchasing a firearm for failing a 

7 background check between November 30, 1998 (the 

8 date the National Instant Criminal Background 

9 Check System (NICS) began operating) and August 

10 31, 2003. 

11 (2) From November 30, 1998, through August 

12 31, 2003, over 41,000,000 Brady background checks 

13 were processed through NICS. 
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1 (3) Although most Brady background checks 

2 are processed through NICS in seconds, many back3 ground checks are delayed if the Federal Bureau of 

4 Investigation (FBI) does not have automated access 

5 to complete information from the States concerning 

6 persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a 

7 firearm under Federal or State law. 

8 (4) Approximately 23,000,000 criminal records 

9 are either not automated or not accessible by NICS 

10 and another 15,000,000 criminal records that are 

11 automated and accessible are missing critical data, 

12 such as arrest dispositions. 

13 (5) The primary cause of delay in NICS back14 ground checks is the failure of the States to—

15 (A) update and make available criminal 

16 disposition records; and 

17 (B) provide automated access to informa18 tion concerning persons prohibited from pos19 sessing or receiving a firearm because of mental 

20 illness, restraining orders, or misdemeanor con21 victions for domestic violence. 

22 (6) The failure of the States to provide auto23 mated access to this information is principally 

24 caused by the States’ failure to—
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1 (A) computerize information relating to 

2 criminal history, criminal dispositions, mental 

3 illness, restraining orders, and misdemeanor 

4 convictions for domestic violence; or 

5 (B) make such information available to 

6 NICS in a usable format. 

7 (7) Helping States to automate these records 

8 will reduce delays for law-abiding gun purchasers. 

9 (8) Twenty States have failed to automate all 

10 of their felony criminal conviction records. 

11 (9) Only forty-five percent of the criminal his12 tory records in the Interstate Identification Index, 

13 maintained by the FBI and used by the NICS, have 

14 disposition information included. 

15 (10) Many States do not submit fingerprint16 based records of misdemeanor convictions that may 

17 disqualify a person from possessing or receiving a 

18 firearm under section 922(g)(9) of title 18, United 

19 States Code. 

20 (11) Forty States do not automate or make ac21 cessible disqualifying mental health records to NICS. 

22 (12) Only ten States have provided disquali23 fying mental health records to NICS. Of this group, 

24 eight States have provided less than forty such 

25 records, one State has provided approximately 1,600 
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1 such records, and only one State has provided close 

2 to complete records by having submitted more than 

3 50,000 such records. 

4 (13) Eight States and four territories do not 

5 automate or make accessible domestic violence re6 straining order records to NICS. 

7 (14) Fourteen States do not automate or make 

8 accessible domestic violence misdemeanor conviction 

9 records to NICS. 

10 (15) On March 12, 2002, the senseless shoot11 ing, which took the lives of a priest and a parish12 ioner at the Our Lady of Peace Church in Lynbrook, 

13 New York, brought attention to the lack of informa14 tion sharing enabling Federal and State law enforce15 ment agencies to conduct a complete background 

16 check on a potential firearm purchaser. The man 

17 who committed this double murder had a prior dis18 qualifying mental health commitment and a restrain19 ing order against him, but passed a Brady back20 ground check because NICS did not have the nec21 essary information to determine that he was ineli22 gible to purchase a firearm under Federal or State 

23 law.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 As used in this Act, the following definitions shall 

3 apply: 

4 (1) COURT ORDER.—The term ‘‘court order’’ 

5 includes—

6 (A) a court order (as described under sec7 tion 922(g)(8) of title 18, United States Code; 

8 and 

9 (B) a protection order (as defined under 

10 section 2266(5) of title 18, United States Code. 

11 (2) MENTAL HEALTH TERMS.—The terms ‘‘ad12 judicated as a mental defective’’, ‘‘committed to a 

13 mental institution’’, and related terms have the 

14 meanings given those terms in regulations imple15 menting section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States 

16 Code, as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

17 Act. 

18 (3) MISDEMEANOR CRIME OF DOMESTIC VIO19 LENCE.—The term ‘‘misdemeanor crime of domestic 

20 violence’’—

21 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec22 tion 921(a)(33) of title 18, United States Code; 

23 (B) includes any Federal, State, or local 

24 offense that—

25 (i) is a misdemeanor under Federal, 

26 State, local, or tribal law or, in a State 
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1 that does not classify offenses as mis2 demeanors, is an offense punishable by im3 prisonment for a term of 1 year or less or 

4 punishable only by a fine regardless of 

5 whether or not the State statute specifi6 cally defines the offense as a crime of do7 mestic violence; 

8 (ii) has, as an element of the offense, 

9 the use or attempted use of physical force, 

10 such as assault and battery, or the threat11 ened use of a deadly weapon; and 

12 (iii) was committed by a current or 

13 former spouse, parent, or guardian of the 

14 victim, by a person with whom the victim 

15 shares a child in common, by a person who 

16 is cohabiting with or has cohabited with 

17 the victim as a spouse, parent, or guard18 ian, or a person similarly situated to a 

19 spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim; 

20 and 

21 (C) does not include a crime described 

22 under subparagraph (A) if—

23 (i) the person was not convicted by 

24 the jurisdiction in which the proceeding 

25 was held; 
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1 (ii) the person was not represented by 

2 counsel in the case and did not knowingly 

3 or intelligently waive the right to counsel 

4 in the case; 

5 (iii) in the case of a prosecution for 

6 which a person was entitled to a jury trial 

7 in the jurisdiction in which the case was 

8 tried—

9 (I) the case was not tried by a 

10 jury; and 

11 (II) the person did not knowingly 

12 or intelligently waive the right to have 

13 the case tried by a jury, by guilty 

14 plea, or otherwise; or 

15 (iv) the conviction has been expunged 

16 or set aside, or is an offense for which the 

17 person has been pardoned or has had civil 

18 rights restored unless—

19 (I) the pardon, expungement, or 

20 restoration of civil rights expressly 

21 provides that the person may not ship, 

22 transport, possess, or receive firearms; 

23 or 

24 (II) the person is otherwise pro25 hibited by the law of the jurisdiction 
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1 in which the proceedings were held 

2 from receiving or possessing any fire3 arms. 

4 TITLE I—TRANSMITTAL OF 

5 RECORDS 

6 SEC. 101. ENHANCEMENT OF REQUIREMENT THAT FED7 ERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES PRO8 VIDE RELEVANT INFORMATION TO THE NA9 TIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

10 CHECK SYSTEM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(e)(1) of the Brady 

12 Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note) 

13 is amended—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and insert15 ing the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding’’; 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘On request’’ and inserting the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(B) REQUEST OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.—

20 On request’’; 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘furnish such information’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘furnish electronic versions of the informa23 tion described under subparagraph (A)’’; and 

24 (4) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(C) QUARTERLY SUBMISSION TO ATTOR2 NEY GENERAL.—If a department or agency 

3 under subparagraph (A) has any record of any 

4 person demonstrating that the person falls 

5 within one of the categories described in sub6 section (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 

7 United States Code, the head of such depart8 ment or agency shall, not less frequently than 

9 quarterly, provide the pertinent information 

10 contained in such record to the Attorney Gen11 eral. 

12 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION UPDATES.—The agen13 cy, on being made aware that the basis under 

14 which a record was made available under sub15 paragraph (A) does not apply, or no longer ap16 plies, shall—

17 ‘‘(i) update, correct, modify, or re18 move the record from any database that 

19 the agency maintains and makes available 

20 to the Attorney General, in accordance 

21 with the rules pertaining to that database; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(ii) notify the Attorney General that 

24 such basis no longer applies so that the
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1 National Instant Criminal Background 

2 Check System is kept up to date. 

3 ‘‘(E) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Attorney 

4 General shall submit an annual report to Con5 gress that describes the compliance of each de6 partment or agency with the provisions of this 

7 paragraph.’’. 

8 (b) PROVISION AND MAINTENANCE OF NICS 

9 RECORDS.—

10 (1) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—

11 The Department of Homeland Security shall make 

12 available to the Attorney General—

13 (A) records, updated not less than quar14 terly, which are relevant to a determination of 

15 whether a person is disqualified from possessing 

16 or receiving a firearm under subsection (g) or 

17 (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States 

18 Code, for use in NICS background checks; and 

19 (B) information regarding all the persons 

20 described under paragraph (1)(A) who have 

21 changed their status to a category not identified 

22 under section 922(g)(5) of title 18, United 

23 States Code, for removal, when applicable, from 

24 the National Instant Criminal Background 

25 Check System. 
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1 (2) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—The Attorney 

2 General shall—

3 (A) ensure that any information submitted 

4 to, or maintained by, the Attorney General 

5 under this section is kept accurate and con6 fidential, as required by the laws, regulations, 

7 policies, or procedures governing the applicable 

8 record system; 

9 (B) provide for the timely removal and de10 struction of obsolete and erroneous names and 

11 information from the National Instant Criminal 

12 Background Check System; and 

13 (C) work with States to encourage the de14 velopment of computer systems, which would 

15 permit electronic notification to the Attorney 

16 General when—

17 (i) a court order has been issued, lift18 ed, or otherwise removed by order of the 

19 court; or 

20 (ii) a person has been adjudicated as 

21 mentally defective or committed to a men22 tal institution. 

23 SEC. 102. REQUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN WAIVER. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 3 years after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, a State shall be eligible to receive 
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1 a waiver of the 10 percent matching requirement for Na2 tional Criminal History Improvement Grants under the 

3 Crime Identification Technology Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 

4 14601) if the State provides at least 90 percent of the 

5 information described in subsection (c). The length of such 

6 a waiver shall not exceed 2 years. 

7 (b) STATE ESTIMATES.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—To assist the Attorney Gen9 eral in making a determination under subsection (a), 

10 and under section 104, concerning the compliance of 

11 the States in providing information to the Attorney 

12 General for the purpose of receiving a waiver under 

13 subsection (a), or facing a loss of funds under sec14 tion 104, each State shall provide the Attorney Gen15 eral with a reasonable estimate, as calculated by a 

16 method determined by the Attorney General, of the 

17 number of—

18 (A) criminal history records for mis19 demeanors and felonies; 

20 (B) State criminal history records with dis21 position information; 

22 (C) active court orders in the State; and 

23 (D) State records of persons adjudicated 

24 mentally defective or committed to a mental in25 stitution. 
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1 (2) SCOPE.—The Attorney General, in deter2 mining the compliance of a State under this section 

3 or section 104 for the purpose of granting a waiver 

4 or imposing a loss of Federal funds, shall assess the 

5 total percentage of records provided by the State 

6 concerning any event occurring within the prior 30 

7 years, which would disqualify a person from pos8 sessing a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of sec9 tion 922 of title 18, United States Code. 

10 (3) CLARIFICATION.—Notwithstanding para11 graph (2), States shall endeavor to provide NICS 

12 with all records concerning persons who are prohib13 ited from possessing or receiving a firearm under 

14 subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 

15 United States Code, regardless of the elapsed time 

16 since the disqualifying event. 

17 (c) ELIGIBILITY OF STATE RECORDS FOR SUBMIS18 SION TO THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACK19 GROUND CHECK SYSTEM.—

20 (1) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—From information col22 lected by a State, the State shall make elec23 tronically available to the Attorney General 

24 records relevant to a determination of whether 

25 a person is disqualified from possessing or re-
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1 ceiving a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of 

2 section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or 

3 applicable State law. 

4 (B) NICS UPDATES.—The State, on being 

5 made aware that the basis under which a record 

6 was made available under subparagraph (A) 

7 does not apply, or no longer applies, shall, as 

8 soon as practicable—

9 (i) update, correct, modify, or remove 

10 the record from any database that the 

11 Federal or State government maintains 

12 and makes available to the National In13 stant Criminal Background Check System, 

14 consistent with the rules pertaining to that 

15 database; or 

16 (ii) notify the Attorney General that 

17 such basis no longer applies so that the 

18 record system in which the record is main19 tained is kept up to date. 

20 (C) CERTIFICATION.—To remain eligible 

21 for a waiver under subsection (a), a State shall 

22 certify to the Attorney General, not less than 

23 once during each 2-year period, that at least 90 

24 percent of all information described in subpara25 graph (A) has been made electronically avail-
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1 able to the Attorney General in accordance with 

2 subparagraph (A). 

3 (D) INCLUSION OF ALL RECORDS.—The 

4 State shall make every effort to identify and in5 clude all of the records described under sub6 paragraph (A) without regard to the age of the 

7 record. 

8 (2) APPLICATION TO PERSONS CONVICTED OF

9 MISDEMEANOR CRIMES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—

10 The State shall make available to the Attorney Gen11 eral, for use by the National Instant Criminal Back12 ground Check System, records relevant to a deter13 mination of whether a person has been convicted in 

14 any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic vio15 lence. With respect to records relating to such 

16 crimes, the State shall provide information specifi17 cally describing the offense and the specific section 

18 or subsection of the offense for which the defendant 

19 has been convicted and the relationship of the de20 fendant to the victim in each case. 

21 (3) APPLICATION TO PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN

22 ADJUDICATED AS A MENTAL DEFECTIVE OR COM23 MITTED TO A MENTAL INSTITUTION.—The State 

24 shall make available to the Attorney General, for use 

25 by the National Instant Criminal Background Check
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1 System, the name and other relevant identifying in2 formation of persons adjudicated as mentally defec3 tive or those committed to mental institutions to as4 sist the Attorney General in enforcing section 

5 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 

6 (d) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—For any information 

7 provided to the Attorney General for use by the National 

8 Instant Criminal Background Check System, relating to 

9 persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm 

10 under section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code, 

11 the Attorney General shall work with States and local law 

12 enforcement and the mental health community to establish 

13 regulations and protocols for protecting the privacy of in14 formation provided to the system. The Attorney General 

15 shall make every effort to meet with any mental health 

16 group seeking to express its views concerning these regula17 tions and protocols and shall seek to develop regulations 

18 as expeditiously as practicable. 

19 (e) ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT.—Not later than 

20 January 31 of each year, the Attorney General shall sub21 mit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

22 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep23 resentatives a report on the progress of States in auto24 mating the databases containing the information described 

25 in subsection (b) and in making that information elec-
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1 tronically available to the Attorney General pursuant to 

2 the requirements of subsection (c). 

3 SEC. 103. IMPLEMENTATION ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

4 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail6 able to carry out this section, the Attorney General 

7 shall make grants to States and Indian tribal gov8 ernments, in a manner consistent with the National 

9 Criminal History Improvement Program, which shall 

10 be used by the States and Indian tribal govern11 ments, in conjunction with units of local government 

12 and State and local courts, to establish or upgrade 

13 information and identification technologies for fire14 arms eligibility determinations. 

15 (2) GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—Up to 5 per16 cent of the grant funding available under this sec17 tion may be reserved for Indian tribal governments, 

18 including tribal judicial systems. 

19 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Grants awarded to 

20 States or Indian tribes under this section may only be 

21 used to—

22 (1) create electronic systems, which provide ac23 curate and up-to-date information which is directly 

24 related to checks under the National Instant Crimi25 nal Background Check System (referred to in this 
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1 section as ‘‘NICS’’), including court disposition and 

2 corrections records; 

3 (2) assist States in establishing or enhancing 

4 their own capacities to perform NICS background 

5 checks; 

6 (3) supply accurate and timely information to 

7 the Attorney General concerning final dispositions of 

8 criminal records to databases accessed by NICS; 

9 (4) supply accurate and timely information to 

10 the Attorney General concerning the identity of per11 sons who are prohibited from obtaining a firearm 

12 under section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States 

13 Code, to be used by the Federal Bureau of Inves14 tigation solely to conduct NICS background checks; 

15 (5) supply accurate and timely court orders and 

16 records of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence 

17 for inclusion in Federal and State law enforcement 

18 databases used to conduct NICS background checks; 

19 and 

20 (6) collect and analyze data needed to dem21 onstrate levels of State compliance with this Act. 

22 (c) CONDITION.—As a condition of receiving a grant 

23 under this section, a State shall specify the projects for 

24 which grant amounts will be used, and shall use such 

25 amounts only as specified. A State that violates this sub-
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1 section shall be liable to the Attorney General for the full 

2 amount of the grant received under this section. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $250,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 

6 2007. 

7 (e) USER FEE.—The Federal Bureau of Investiga8 tion shall not charge a user fee for background checks pur9 suant to section 922(t) of title 18, United States Code. 

10 SEC. 104. PENALTIES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE. 

11 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 31 

13 of each year, the Attorney General shall submit to 

14 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

15 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

16 Representatives a report on the progress of the 

17 States in automating the databases containing infor18 mation described under sections 102 and 103, and 

19 in providing that information pursuant to the re20 quirements of sections 102 and 103. 

21 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De23 partment of Justice, such funds as may be necessary 

24 to carry out paragraph (1). 

25 (b) PENALTIES.—
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1 (1) DISCRETIONARY REDUCTION.—During the 

2 2-year period beginning 3 years after the date of en3 actment of this Act, the Attorney General may with4 hold not more than 3 percent of the amount that 

5 would otherwise be allocated to a State under sec6 tion 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

7 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3756) if the State 

8 provides less than 60 percent of the information re9 quired to be provided under sections 102 and 103. 

10 (2) MANDATORY REDUCTION.—After the expi11 ration of the period referred to in paragraph (1), the 

12 Attorney General shall withhold 5 percent of the 

13 amount that would otherwise be allocated to a State 

14 under section 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control 

15 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3756), if 

16 the State provides less than 90 percent of the infor17 mation required to be provided under sections 102 

18 and 103. 

19 (3) WAIVER BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The At20 torney General may waive the applicability of para21 graph (2) to a State if the State provides substantial 

22 evidence, as determined by the Attorney General, 

23 that the State is making a reasonable effort to com24 ply with the requirements of sections 102 and 103.
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1 (c) REALLOCATION.—Any funds that are not allo2 cated to a State because of the failure of the State to com3 ply with the requirements of this title shall be reallocated 

4 to States that meet such requirements. 

5 TITLE II—FOCUSING FEDERAL 

6 ASSISTANCE ON THE IM7 PROVEMENT OF RELEVANT 

8 RECORDS 

9 SEC. 201. CONTINUING EVALUATIONS. 

10 (a) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Director of the 

11 Bureau of Justice Statistics (referred to in this section 

12 as the ‘‘Director’’) shall study and evaluate the operations 

13 of the National Instant Criminal Background Check Sys14 tem. Such study and evaluation shall include compilations 

15 and analyses of the operations and record systems of the 

16 agencies and organizations necessary to support such Sys17 tem. 

18 (b) REPORT ON GRANTS.—Not later than January 

19 31 of each year, the Director shall submit to Congress 

20 a report containing the estimates submitted by the States 

21 under section 102(b). 

22 (c) REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 

23 January 31 of each year, the Director shall submit to Con24 gress, and to each State participating in the National 

25 Criminal History Improvement Program, a report of the 
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1 practices of the States regarding the collection, mainte2 nance, automation, and transmittal of information rel3 evant to determining whether a person is prohibited from 

4 possessing or receiving a firearm by Federal or State law, 

5 by the State or any other agency, or any other records 

6 relevant to the National Instant Criminal Background 

7 Check System, that the Director considers to be best prac8 tices. 

9 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

11 necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2007 

12 to complete the studies, evaluations, and reports required 

13 under this section. 

14 TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATE 

15 COURT SYSTEMS FOR THE IM16 PROVEMENT IN AUTOMATION 

17 AND TRANSMITTAL OF DIS18 POSITION RECORDS 

19 SEC. 301. DISPOSITION RECORDS AUTOMATION AND 

20 TRANSMITTAL IMPROVEMENT GRANTS. 

21 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From amounts made 

22 available to carry out this section, the Attorney General 

23 shall make grants to each State, consistent with State 

24 plans for the integration, automation, and accessibility of 

25 criminal history records, for use by the State court system 
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1 to improve the automation and transmittal of criminal his2 tory dispositions, records relevant to determining whether 

3 a person has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of 

4 domestic violence, court orders, and mental health adju5 dications or commitments, to Federal and State record re6 positories in accordance with sections 102 and 103 and 

7 the National Criminal History Improvement Program. 

8 (b) GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—Up to 5 percent 

9 of the grant funding available under this section may be 

10 reserved for Indian tribal governments for use by Indian 

11 tribal judicial systems. 

12 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts granted under this 

13 section shall be used by the State court system only—

14 (1) to carry out, as necessary, assessments of 

15 the capabilities of the courts of the State for the au16 tomation and transmission of arrest and conviction 

17 records, court orders, and mental health adjudica18 tions or commitments to Federal and State record 

19 repositories; and 

20 (2) to implement policies, systems, and proce21 dures for the automation and transmission of arrest 

22 and conviction records, court orders, and mental 

23 health adjudications or commitments to Federal and 

24 State record repositories. 
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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

3 to carry out this section $125,000,000 for each of the fis4 cal years 2005 through 2007. 

5 TITLE IV—GAO AUDIT 

6 SEC. 401. GAO AUDIT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

8 United States shall conduct an audit of the expenditure 

9 of all funds appropriated for criminal records improve10 ment pursuant to section 106(b) of the Brady Handgun 

11 Violence Prevention Act (Public Law 103–159) to deter12 mine if the funds were expended for the purposes author13 ized by the Act and how those funds were expended for 

14 those purposes or were otherwise expended. 

15 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

17 submit a report to Congress describing the findings of the 

18 audit conducted pursuant to subsection (a).

Æ