I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4141

To amend section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide

rental assistance to obtain new residences for families residing in dwelling

units assisted under such section or in public housing, who provide

information regarding criminal activity to law enforcement agencies and

are subject to violence because of providing such information.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 24, 1994

Mr. LAZIO (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. PENNY, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana,

Mr. FLAKE, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. BLUTE, Mr.

EWING, Mr. MCCANDLESS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. FISH, Mr.

GUNDERSON, Mr. CALVERT, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. FROST, and Mrs.

ROUKEMA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To amend section 8 of the United States Housing Act of

1937 to provide rental assistance to obtain new residences for families residing in dwelling units assisted

under such section or in public housing, who provide

information regarding criminal activity to law enforcement agencies and are subject to violence because of

providing such information.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Neighborhood Crime

3 Fighters Housing Assistance Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. SECTION 8 ASSISTANCE FOR PROTECTION OF

5 NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME FIGHTERS.

6 Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937

7 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) is amended by adding at the end the

8 following new subsection:

9 ‘‘(z) NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME FIGHTERS ASSIST10 ANCE.—

11 ‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE.—To the extent amounts for

12 assistance under this section are reserved under sec13 tion 213(d)(4)(A) of the Housing and Community

14 Development Act of 1974 for use under this sub15 section, the Secretary may provide such amounts to

16 any public housing agency approved under para17 graph (3) to make assistance payments under this

18 subsection on behalf of any family described under

19 paragraph (2) for the rental of a dwelling unit for

20 the family that, in the determination of the public

21 housing agency (after consultation with law enforce22 ment agency concerned) provides for the protection

23 of the family.

24 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—A family referred to

25 in paragraph (1) shall be any family that—
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1 ‘‘(A) contains a member that has provided

2 information to any Federal, State, or local law

3 enforcement agency that such law enforcement

4 agency determines substantially contributes to

5 the arrest, criminal prosecution, or conviction of

6 any person for any criminal activity in or near

7 the area or neighborhood in which the person

8 providing the information resides;

9 ‘‘(B) is likely, in the determination of such

10 law enforcement agency, to be subject to a

11 crime of violence directed at the family on ac12 count of providing the information referred to

13 in subparagraph (A);

14 ‘‘(C) is legally residing, at the time such

15 information is provided to the law enforcement

16 agency, in a dwelling unit in a public housing

17 project administered by a public housing agency

18 meeting the requirements of paragraph (3) or

19 in a dwelling unit assisted under this section by

20 such a public housing agency; and

21 ‘‘(D) is not protected or assisted, or to be

22 protected or assisted, under chapter 224 of title

23 18, United States Code.

24 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PHA’S.—The Secretary may pro25 vide amounts reserved for use under this subsection
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1 only to public housing agencies approved by the Sec2 retary under this paragraph. The Secretary may ap3 prove only agencies that the Secretary determines

4 have—

5 ‘‘(A) established sufficient cooperation with

6 local law enforcement agencies to make deter7 minations to provide assistance under this sub8 section; and

9 ‘‘(B) coordinated with local law enforce10 ment agencies to promptly inform the public

11 housing agency and the Secretary of any deter12 mination that assistance under this subsection

13 is appropriate for a family, except that such co14 ordination shall be subject to the procedures es15 tablished under paragraph (6)(C) to ensure

16 confidentiality.

17 ‘‘(4) GUIDELINES.—

18 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF NEED AND CO19 ORDINATION.—The Secretary shall establish

20 guidelines jointly with the Attorney General

21 that—

22 ‘‘(i) describe the types of situations

23 under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para24 graph (2) in which assistance may be pro25 vided under this subsection, which shall in-
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1 clude situations in which the information

2 referred to in paragraph (2)(A) is informa3 tion regarding any crime that is detrimen4 tal to the health, safety, peace, or security

5 of the area or neighborhood in which the

6 family providing the information resides;

7 and

8 ‘‘(ii) describe elements of sufficient

9 cooperation between public housing agen10 cies and law enforcement agencies for pur11 poses of paragraph (3)(A).

12 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall

13 establish procedures for public housing agencies

14 approved under paragraph (3)—

15 ‘‘(i) to apply for, obtain, and admin16 ister amounts reserved for providing assist17 ance under this subsection on behalf of

18 families eligible under paragraph (2); and

19 ‘‘(ii) to provide for the termination of

20 the tenancy of any family assisted under

21 this subsection from the dwelling unit in

22 which the family is residing so that such

23 assistance may be utilized.
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1 ‘‘(5) PHA ACTIONS.—Each public housing agen2 cy approved by the Secretary under paragraph (3)

3 shall—

4 ‘‘(A) periodically notify Federal, State, and

5 local law enforcement agencies in the area of

6 jurisdiction of the public housing agency of the

7 availability of assistance under this subsection;

8 ‘‘(B) take such actions as may be appro9 priate to inform residents of public housing

10 projects administered by the agency and dwell11 ing units assisted under this section by the

12 agency of the availability of such assistance;

13 and

14 ‘‘(C) coordinate with such law enforcement

15 agencies to promptly inform the public housing

16 agency and the Secretary of any determination

17 that assistance under this subsection is appro18 priate for a family, except that such coordina19 tion shall be subject to the procedures estab20 lished under paragraph (6)(C) to ensure con21 fidentiality.

22 ‘‘(6) NOTICE AND CONFIDENTIALITY.—The

23 Secretary shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) periodically notify public housing

2 agencies of the availability of assistance under

3 this subsection;

4 ‘‘(B) encourage public housing agencies to

5 cooperate and coordinate with law enforcement

6 agencies to encourage residents of public hous7 ing projects and dwelling units assisted under

8 this section to provide information to law en9 forcement agencies regarding criminal activity;

10 and

11 ‘‘(C) develop and implement procedures to

12 ensure the confidentiality of the identity and

13 new location of any family assisted under this

14 subsection.

15 ‘‘(7) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—A public housing

16 agency that provides assistance under paragraph (1)

17 for a family and the law enforcement agency in18 volved shall ensure that the family is provided access

19 to other assistance and services appropriate to en20 sure that the relocation of the family to the dwelling

21 unit assisted under paragraph (1) and the neighbor22 hood of such dwelling unit occurs with the minimum

23 possible amount of disruption to the life of the

24 family.
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1 ‘‘(8) LIABILITY.—The United States, and its

2 officers and employees, shall not be subject to any

3 civil liability on account of any decision to provide

4 or not to provide protection under this subsection.’’.

5 SEC. 3. SET ASIDE OF SECTION 8 ASSISTANCE AMOUNTS

6 FOR NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME FIGHTERS AS7 SISTANCE.

8 Section 213(d)(4)(A) of the Housing and Community

9 Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 1439(d)(4)(A)) is

10 amended—

11 (1) by inserting after the period at the end of

12 the first sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘In

13 addition to any financial assistance for the rental

14 housing assistance program under section 8 of the

15 United States Housing Act of 1937 that is reserved

16 pursuant to the preceding sentence, the Secretary

17 shall reserve an additional $15,000,000 of any fi18 nancial assistance that becomes available under such

19 program during each of fiscal years 1995 and 1996

20 and such additional amounts may be used only for

21 the purpose under clause (v) of this subparagraph.’’;

22 (2) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;

23 (3) in clause (iv), by striking the period at the

24 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
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1 (4) by adding at the end the following new

2 clause:

3 ‘‘(v) in the case of financial assistance under

4 the rental housing assistance program under section

5 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, provid6 ing assistance pursuant to section 8(z)(1) of such

7 Act.’’.

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