I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 738

To provide that certain Federal property shall be made available to State

and local governments before being made available to other entities,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 1999

Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform, and in addition to the

Committees on Armed Services, and International Relations, for a period

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee

concerned

A BILL

To provide that certain Federal property shall be made available to State and local governments before being made

available to other entities, 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 ‘‘Taxpayer Oversight

5 of Surplus Property Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) The provisions in Public Law 94–519 estab2 lished a system to ensure the fair and equitable allo3 cation of Federal surplus personal property to eligi4 ble recipients, including law enforcement agencies,

5 school systems, medical institutions, libraries, home6 less assistance providers, and units of local govern7 ment;

8 (2) the benefits of the Federal personal prop9 erty utilization and donation program are measured

10 in terms of United States dollars which are not

11 spent by the donees on new and expensive property;

12 (3) Members of Congress and State and local

13 officials have an obligation to oversee the fair and

14 equitable distribution of Government property, there15 by ensuring accountability to the taxpayers of the

16 United States;

17 (4) the owners of surplus Federal property are

18 the people of the United States, and the Federal

19 Government is merely its public custodian;

20 (5) the efforts of the State agencies in distrib21 uting surplus property have enabled thousands of

22 United States taxpayers to acquire items such as of23 fice equipment, clothing, furniture, motor vehicles,

24 forklifts, aircraft, boats, and generators which have
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1 been declared surplus to the needs of the Federal

2 Government;

3 (6) the effectiveness of the current system for

4 donation of surplus Federal personal property has

5 been undermined by programs that mandate that

6 property be made available on a priority basis to for7 eign entities before the safety, health, education, and

8 training needs of taxpayers of the United States are

9 met; and

10 (7) new legislation is needed to move the prior11 ity of property transfers through foreign assistance

12 programs to a level below that of domestic use trans13 fers of excess personal property to Federal agencies.

14 SEC. 3. PRIORITY TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

15 FOR THE TRANSFER OF NONLETHAL EXCESS

16 SUPPLIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DE17 FENSE.

18 Section 2547 of title 10, United States Code, is

19 amended—

20 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The Sec21 retary of Defense’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

22 ‘‘Subject to subsection (d), the Secretary of De23 fense’’;

24 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub25 section (e); and
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1 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the follow2 ing:

3 ‘‘(d) Nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of

4 Defense shall be made available to a State, a local govern5 ment of a State, a territory, or a possession, upon the re6 quest of the State, local government, territory, or posses7 sion pursuant to authority provided in another provision

8 of law before such supplies are made available for humani9 tarian relief purposes under this section. The President

10 may make such supplies available for humanitarian pur11 poses before such supplies are made available to a State,

12 local government, territory, or possession under this sub13 section in order to respond to an emergency precipitated

14 by a natural disaster.’’.

15 SEC. 4. TRANSFERS OF PROPERTY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL

16 PROTECTION IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

17 Section 607 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

18 (22 U.S.C. 2357(d)) is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (d)—

20 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2),

21 and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re22 spectively;

23 ((B) by striking ‘‘(d) The’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (3),

25 the’’; and
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1 (C) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(2) No property may be transferred under para3 graph (1) unless the Administrator of General Services de4 termines that there is no Federal or State use requirement

5 for the property under any other provision of law.’’; and

6 (2) by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(e) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the transfer

8 of confiscated property to foreign countries.’’.

9 SEC. 5. REPORT ON DISPOSAL AND DONATION OF SURPLUS

10 PERSONAL PROPERTY.

11 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment

12 of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall

13 review all statutes relating to the disposal and donation

14 of surplus personal property and submit to Congress a re15 port on such statutes including—

16 (1) the effectiveness of programs administered

17 under such statutes (except for any program that

18 grants access to personal property by local commu19 nities impacted by the closure of a military base),

20 and the amount and type of property administered

21 under each such program during the 2 most recent

22 fiscal years; and

23 (2) legislative recommendations to integrate

24 and consolidate all such programs to be adminis25 tered by a single Federal authority working with
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1 State agencies while accomplishing the purposes of

2 such programs.

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