I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3521

To establish a Commission on Crime and Violence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 16, 1993

Mr. WHEAT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary

A BILL

To establish a Commission on Crime and Violence.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—

5 (1) there is no more important responsibility of

6 government than the protection of the lives and

7 property of its citizens;

8 (2) a violent crime occurs every 22 seconds in

9 America;

10 (3) the Nation’s law enforcement personnel and

11 criminal justice system lack the resources they need

12 to fully maintain law and order;
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1 (4) the proliferation of drugs and guns in the

2 last 3 decades has dramatically changed the nature

3 of crime;

4 (5) it has been 27 years since the Brown Com5 mission redefined the Federal Government’s re6 sponse to crime in America; and

7 (6) the Nation must commit itself to an ener8 getic, innovative assault on the epidemic of crime in

9 our society, including—

10 (A) alternative forms of sentencing to

11 guarantee swift and sure punishment of crimi12 nals, including the Nation’s growing number of

13 youth offenders;

14 (B) initiatives by the public and private

15 sectors designed to identify and alleviate the

16 causes of criminal behavior; and

17 (C) an examination of current laws and

18 law enforcement practices to determine where

19 and how resources may be best utilized to fight

20 crime, reduce burdens on courts and jails, and

21 stop recidivism.

22 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION ON CRIME AND

23 VIOLENCE.

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com25 mission to be known as the ‘‘National Commission on
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1 Crime and Violence in America’’ (referred to as the ‘‘Com2 mission’’).

3 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be

5 composed of 22 members, of whom—

6 (A) 6 shall be appointed by the President;

7 (B) 8 shall be appointed by the Speaker of

8 the House of Representatives, of whom 2 shall

9 be appointed on the recommendation of the mi10 nority leader; and

11 (C) 8 shall be appointed by the President

12 pro tempore of the Senate, of whom 6 shall be

13 appointed on the recommendation of the major14 ity leader and 2 shall be appointed on the rec15 ommendation of the minority leader.

16 (2) GOALS IN MAKING APPOINTMENTS.—In ap17 pointing members of the Commission, the President,

18 Speaker, President pro tempore, and the majority

19 and minority leaders shall seek to ensure that—

20 (A) the membership of the Commission re21 flects the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of

22 the United States; and

23 (B) members are specially qualified to

24 serve on the Commission by reason of their edu25 cation, training, expertise, or experience in—
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1 (i) sociology;

2 (ii) psychology;

3 (iii) law;

4 (iv) law enforcement;

5 (v) social work; and

6 (vi) ethnography and urban poverty,

7 including health care, housing, education,

8 and employment.

9 (3) DEADLINE.—Members of the Commission

10 shall be appointed within 60 days after the date of

11 enactment of this Act.

12 (4) TERM.—Members shall serve on the Com13 mission through the date of its termination under

14 section 8.

15 (5) MEETINGS.—The Commission—

16 (A) shall have its headquarters in the Dis17 trict of Columbia; and

18 (B) shall meet at least once each month

19 for a business session.

20 (6) QUORUM.—Twelve members of the Commis21 sion shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number

22 may hold hearings.

23 (7) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—

24 Not later than 15 days after the members of the

25 Commission are appointed, the members shall des-
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1 ignate a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the

2 Commission.

3 (8) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission

4 shall be filled not later than 30 days after the Com5 mission is informed of the vacancy in the manner in

6 which the original appointment was made.

7 (9) COMPENSATION.—

8 (A) NO PAY, ALLOWANCE, OR BENEFIT.—

9 Members of the Commission shall receive no

10 pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of their

11 service on the Commission.

12 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the

13 Commission shall receive travel expenses, in14 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, in ac15 cordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title

16 5, United States Code.

17 SEC. 3. DUTIES.

18 The Commission shall—

19 (1) review the effectiveness of traditional crimi20 nal justice approaches in preventing and controlling

21 crime and violence;

22 (2) examine the impact that changes to Federal

23 and State law have had in controlling crime and vio24 lence;
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1 (3) examine the impact of changes in Federal

2 immigration laws and policies and increased develop3 ment and growth along United States international

4 borders on crime and violence in the United States,

5 particularly among our Nation’s youth;

6 (4) examine the problem of youth gangs and

7 provide recommendations on how to reduce youth in8 volvement in violent crime;

9 (5) examine the extent to which assault weap10 ons and high power firearms have contributed to vio11 lence and murder in the United States;

12 (6) convene hearings in various parts of the

13 country to receive testimony from a cross section of

14 criminal justice professionals, business leaders, elect15 ed officials, medical doctors, and other citizens that

16 wish to participate;

17 (7) review all segments of the criminal justice

18 system, including the law enforcement, prosecution,

19 defense, judicial, corrections components, in develop20 ing the crime control and antiviolence plan;

21 (8) develop a comprehensive and effective crime

22 control and antiviolence plan that will serve as a

23 blueprint for action in the 1990’s;
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1 (9) bring attention to successful models and

2 programs in crime prevention, crime control, and

3 antiviolence;

4 (10) reach out beyond the traditional criminal

5 justice community for ideas when developing the

6 comprehensive crime control and antiviolence plan;

7 (11) recommend improvements in the coordina8 tion of Federal, State, local, and international bor9 der crime control efforts;

10 (12) make a comprehensive study of the eco11 nomic and social factors leading to or contributing

12 to crime and violence and specific proposals for leg13 islative and administrative actions to reduce crime

14 and violence and the elements that contribute to

15 crime and violence; and

16 (13) recommend means of allocating finite cor17 rectional facility space and resources to the most se18 rious and violent offenders, with the goal of achiev19 ing the most cost-effective crime control and protec20 tion of the community and public safety, after—

21 (A) examining the issue of disproportionate

22 incarceration rates among black males and any

23 other miniority group disproportionately rep24 resented in Federal and State correctional pop25 ulations; and
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1 (B) considering increased use of alter2 natives to incarceration that offer a reasonable

3 prospect of equal or better crime control at

4 equal or less cost than incarceration.

5 SEC. 4. STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES.

6 (a) DIRECTOR.—

7 (1) APPOINTMENT.—After consultation with the

8 members of the Commission, the Chairperson shall

9 appoint a director of the Commission (referred to as

10 the ‘‘Director’’).

11 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be

12 paid the rate of basic pay for level V of the Execu13 tive Schedule.

14 (b) STAFF.—With the approval of the Commission,

15 the Director may appoint such personnel as the Director

16 considers to be appropriate.

17 (c) CIVIL SERVICE LAWS.—The staff of the Commis18 sion shall be appointed without regard to the provisions

19 of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in

20 the competitive service and shall be paid without regard

21 to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chap22 ter 53 of that title relating to classification and General

23 Schedule pay rates.

24 (d) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—With the ap25 proval of the Commission, the Director may procure tem-
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1 porary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of

2 title 5, United States Code.

3 (e) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the re4 quest of the Commission, the head of any Federal agency

5 may detail, on a reimbursable basis, personnel of that

6 agency to the Commission to assist in carrying out its du7 ties.

8 (f) PHYSICAL FACILITIES.—The Administrator of the

9 General Services Administration shall provide suitable of10 fice space for the operation of the Commission. The facili11 ties shall serve as the headquarters of the Commission and

12 shall include all necessary equipment and incidentals re13 quired for proper functioning.

14 SEC. 5. POWERS.

15 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may conduct pub16 lic hearings or forums at its discretion, at any time and

17 place it is able to secure facilities and witnesses, for the

18 purpose of carrying out its duties.

19 (b) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Any member or

20 agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the Com21 mission, take any action that the Commission is author22 ized to take by this section.

23 (c) INFORMATION.—The Commission may secure

24 from any Federal agency or entity in the executive or leg25 islative branch such materials, resources, statistical data,
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1 and other information as is necessary to enable it to carry

2 out this Act. Upon request of the Chairperson or Vice

3 Chairperson of the Commission, the head of a Federal

4 agency or entity shall furnish the information to the Com5 mission to the extent permitted by law.

6 (d) GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND DEVISES.—The Commis7 sion may accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or

8 devises of services or property, both real and personal, for

9 the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Com10 mission. Gifts, bequests, or devises of money and proceeds

11 from sales of other property received as gifts, bequests,

12 or devises shall be deposited in the Treasury and shall be

13 available for disbursement upon order of the Commission.

14 (e) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United

15 States mails in the same manner and under the same con16 ditions as other Federal agencies.

17 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

18 (a) MONTHLY REPORTS.—The Commission shall

19 submit monthly activity reports to the President and the

20 Congress.

21 (b) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 1 year before

22 the date of its termination, the Commission shall submit

23 an interim report to the President and the Congress con24 taining—
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1 (1) a detailed statement of the findings and

2 conclusions of the Commission;

3 (2) recommendations for legislative and admin4 istrative action based on the Commission’s activities

5 to date;

6 (3) an estimation of the costs of implementing

7 the recommendations made by the Commission; and

8 (4) a strategy for disseminating the report to

9 Federal, State, and local authorities.

10 (c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the date of its

11 termination, the Commission shall submit to the Congress

12 and the President a final report with a detailed statement

13 of final findings, conclusions, recommendations, and esti14 mation of costs and an assessment of the extent to which

15 recommendations included in the interim report under

16 subsection (b) have been implemented.

17 (d) PRINTING AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION.—Upon

18 receipt of each report of the Commission under this sec19 tion, the President shall—

20 (1) order the report to be printed; and

21 (2) make the report available to the public.

22 SEC. 7. TERMINATION.

23 The Commission shall terminate on the date that is

24 2 years after the date on which members of the Commis-
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1 sion have met and designated a Chairperson and Vice

2 Chairperson.

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