II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1856 

To prevent the militarization of Federal, State, and local law enforcement 

by Federal excess property transfers and grant programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2017 

Mr. PAUL (for himself, Mr. SCHATZ, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Armed Services 

A BILL 

To prevent the militarization of Federal, State, and local 

law enforcement by Federal excess property transfers 

and grant programs. 

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 ‘‘Stop Militarizing Law 

5 Enforcement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFER OF DE2 PARTMENT OF DEFENSE PERSONAL PROP3 ERTY TO FEDERAL AND STATE LAW EN4 FORCEMENT AGENCIES. 

5 (a) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2576a of title 10, 

7 United States Code, is amended— 

8 (A) in subsection (a)— 

9 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (I) in the matter preceding sub11 paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub12 section (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘the provi13 sions of this section’’; and 

14 (II) in subparagraph (A), by 

15 striking ‘‘, including counter-drug and 

16 counterterrorism activities’’; and 

17 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and 

18 the Director of National Drug Control Pol19 icy’’; 

20 (B) in subsection (b)— 

21 (i) in paragraph (3), by striking 

22 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

23 (ii) in paragraph (4), by striking the 

24 period and inserting a semicolon; and 

25 (iii) by adding at the end the fol26 lowing new paragraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(5) the recipient certifies to the Department of 

2 Defense that it has the personnel and technical ca3 pacity, including training, to operate the property; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(6) the recipient certifies to the Department of 

6 Defense that if the recipient determines that the 

7 property is surplus to the needs of the recipient, the 

8 recipient will return the property to the Department 

9 of Defense.’’; 

10 (C) by striking subsection (d); and 

11 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

12 subsections: 

13 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFERS.—The Secretary 

14 of Defense may not transfer under this section any prop15 erty as follows: 

16 ‘‘(1) Weapons, weapon parts, and weapon com17 ponents, including camouflage and deception equip18 ment, and optical sights. 

19 ‘‘(2) Weapon system specific vehicular acces20 sories. 

21 ‘‘(3) Demolition materials. 

22 ‘‘(4) Explosive ordinance. 

23 ‘‘(5) Night vision equipment. 


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1 ‘‘(6) Tactical clothing, including uniform cloth2 ing and footwear items, special purpose clothing 

3 items, and specialized flight clothing and accessories. 

4 ‘‘(7) Drones. 

5 ‘‘(8) Combat, assault, and tactical vehicles, in6 cluding Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) 

7 vehicles. 

8 ‘‘(9) Training aids and devices. 

9 ‘‘(10) Firearms of .50 caliber or higher, ammu10 nition of .50 caliber or higher, grenade launchers, 

11 flash grenades, and bayonets. 

12 ‘‘(e) APPROVAL BY LAW REQUIRED FOR TRANSFER

13 OF PROPERTY NOT PREVIOUSLY TRANSFERRABLE.—(1) 

14 In the event the Secretary of Defense proposes to make 

15 available for transfer under this section any property of 

16 the Department of Defense not previously made available 

17 for transfer under this section, the Secretary shall submit 

18 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report setting 

19 forth the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) A description of the property proposed to 

21 be made available for transfer. 

22 ‘‘(B) A description of the conditions, if any, to 

23 be imposed on use of the property after transfer. 


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1 ‘‘(C) A certification that transfer of the prop2 erty would not violate a provision of this section or 

3 any other provision of law. 

4 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not transfer any property 

5 covered by a report under this subsection unless author6 ized by a law enacted by Congress after the date of the 

7 receipt of the report by Congress. 

8 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION ACCOUNTING FOR

9 TRANSFERRED PROPERTY.—(1) The Secretary of Defense 

10 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

11 each year a certification in writing that each recipient to 

12 which the Secretary has transferred property under this 

13 section during the preceding fiscal year— 

14 ‘‘(A) has provided to the Secretary documenta15 tion accounting for all property the Secretary has 

16 previously transferred to such recipient under this 

17 section; and 

18 ‘‘(B) has complied with paragraphs (5) and (6) 

19 of subsection (b) with respect to the property so 

20 transferred during such fiscal year. 

21 ‘‘(2) If the Secretary cannot provide a certification 

22 under paragraph (1) for a recipient, the Secretary may 

23 not transfer additional property to such recipient under 

24 this section, effective as of the date on which the Secretary 

25 would otherwise make the certification under this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 27, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1856.IS S1856

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1 section, and such recipient shall be suspended or termi2 nated from further receipt of property under this section. 

3 ‘‘(g) CONDITIONS FOR EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.— 

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts au5 thorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available 

6 for any fiscal year may not be obligated or expended to 

7 carry out this section unless the Secretary submits to the 

8 appropriate committees of Congress a certification that for 

9 the preceding fiscal year that— 

10 ‘‘(1) each recipient agency that has received 

11 property under this section has— 

12 ‘‘(A) demonstrated 100 percent account13 ability for all such property, in accordance with 

14 paragraph (2) or (3), as applicable; or 

15 ‘‘(B) been suspended or terminated from 

16 the program pursuant to paragraph (4); 

17 ‘‘(2) with respect to each non-Federal agency 

18 that has received property under this section, the 

19 State Coordinator responsible for each such agency 

20 has verified that the State Coordinator or an agent 

21 of the State Coordinator has conducted an in-person 

22 inventory of the property transferred to the agency 

23 and that 100 percent of such property was ac24 counted for during the inventory or that the agency 


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1 has been suspended or terminated from the program 

2 pursuant to paragraph (4); 

3 ‘‘(3) with respect to each Federal agency that 

4 has received property under this section, the Sec5 retary of Defense or an agent of the Secretary has 

6 conducted an in-person inventory of the property 

7 transferred to the agency and that 100 percent of 

8 such property was accounted for during the inven9 tory or that the agency has been suspended or ter10 minated from the program pursuant to paragraph 

11 (4); 

12 ‘‘(4) the eligibility of any agency that has re13 ceived property under this section for which 100 per14 cent of the equipment was not accounted for during 

15 an inventory described in paragraph (2) or (3), as 

16 applicable, to receive property transferred under this 

17 section has been suspended or terminated; 

18 ‘‘(5) each State Coordinator has certified, for 

19 each non-Federal agency located in the State for 

20 which the State Coordinator is responsible that— 

21 ‘‘(A) the agency has complied with all re22 quirements under this section; or 

23 ‘‘(B) the eligibility of the agency to receive 

24 property transferred under this section has been 

25 suspended or terminated; and 


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1 ‘‘(6) the Secretary of Defense has certified, for 

2 each Federal agency that has received property 

3 under this section that— 

4 ‘‘(A) the agency has complied with all re5 quirements under this section; or 

6 ‘‘(B) the eligibility of the agency to receive 

7 property transferred under this section has been 

8 suspended or terminated. 

9 ‘‘(h) WEBSITE.—The Defense Logistics Agency shall 

10 maintain, and update on a quarterly basis, an Internet 

11 website on which the following information shall be made 

12 publicly available in a searchable format: 

13 ‘‘(1) A description of each transfer made under 

14 this section, including transfers made before the 

15 date of the enactment of the Stop Militarizing Law 

16 Enforcement Act, set forth by State, county, and re17 cipient agency, and including item name, item type, 

18 item model, and quantity. 

19 ‘‘(2) A list of all property transferred under 

20 this section that is not accounted for by the Defense 

21 Logistics Agency, including— 

22 ‘‘(A) the name of the State, county, and 

23 recipient agency; 

24 ‘‘(B) the item name, item type, and item 

25 model; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the date on which such property be2 came unaccounted for by the Defense Logistics 

3 Agency; and 

4 ‘‘(D) the current status of such item. 

5 ‘‘(3) A list of each agency suspended or termi6 nated from further receipt of property under this 

7 section, including State, county, and agency, and the 

8 reason for and duration of such suspension or termi9 nation. 

10 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) The term ‘appropriate committees of Con12 gress’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Armed Services 

14 and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

15 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Armed Services 

17 and the Committee on Oversight and Govern18 ment Reform of the House of Representatives. 

19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘agent of a State Coordinator’ 

20 means any individual to whom a State Coordinator 

21 formally delegates responsibilities for the duties of 

22 the State Coordinator to conduct inventories de23 scribed in subsection (g)(2). 

24 ‘‘(3) The term ‘State Coordinator’, with respect 

25 to a State, means the individual appointed by the 


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1 governor of the State to maintain property account2 ability records and oversee property use by the 

3 State.’’. 

4 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

5 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of the 

6 enactment of this Act. 

7 (b) RETURN OF PROPERTY TO DEPARTMENT OF DE8 FENSE.—Not later than one year after the date of the en9 actment of this Act, each Federal or State agency to which 

10 property described by subsection (d) of section 2576a of 

11 title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection 

12 (a)(1) of this section), was transferred before the date of 

13 the enactment of this Act shall return such property to 

14 the Defense Logistics Agency on behalf of the Department 

15 of Defense. 

16 SEC. 3. USE OF DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

17 PREPAREDNESS GRANT FUNDS. 

18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

19 (1) the term ‘‘Agency’’ means the Federal 

20 Emergency Management Agency; and 

21 (2) the term ‘‘preparedness grant program’’ in22 cludes— 

23 (A) the Urban Area Security Initiative au24 thorized under section 2003 of the Homeland 

25 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 604); 


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1 (B) the State Homeland Security Grant 

2 Program authorized under section 2004 of the 

3 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 605); 

4 (C) the Port Security Grant Program au5 thorized under section 70107 of title 46, United 

6 States Code; and 

7 (D) any other non-disaster preparedness 

8 grant program of the Agency. 

9 (b) LIMITATION.—The Agency may not permit 

10 awards under a preparedness grant program— 

11 (1) to be used to buy, maintain, or alter— 

12 (A) explosive entry equipment; 

13 (B) head and face protection equipment, 

14 other than those to be used by certified bomb 

15 technicians; 

16 (C) canines (other than bomb-sniffing ca17 nines for agencies with certified bomb techni18 cians or for use in search and rescue oper19 ations); 

20 (D) tactical or armored vehicles; 

21 (E) long-range hailing and warning de22 vices; 

23 (F) tactical entry equipment (other than 

24 for use by specialized teams such as Accredited 


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1 Bomb Squads, Tactical Entry, or Special Weap2 ons and Tactics (SWAT) Teams); or 

3 (G) firearms of .50 caliber or higher, am4 munition of .50 caliber or higher, grenade 

5 launchers, flash grenades, or bayonets; or 

6 (2) to be used to buy, maintain, or alter body 

7 armor or ballistic helmets and shields unless the 

8 grantee certifies to the Agency that the equipment 

9 will not be used for riot suppression. 

10 (c) REVIEW OF PRIOR RECEIPT OF PROPERTY BE11 FORE AWARD.—In making an award under a prepared12 ness grant program, the Agency shall— 

13 (1) determine whether the awardee has already 

14 received, and still retains, property from the Depart15 ment of Defense pursuant to section 2576a of title 

16 10, United States Code, including through review of 

17 the website maintained by the Defense Logistics 

18 Agency pursuant to subsection (h) of such section 

19 (as added by section 2(a)(1) of this Act); 

20 (2) require that the award may not be used by 

21 the awardee to procure or obtain property deter22 mined to be retained by the awardee pursuant to 

23 paragraph (1); and 

24 (3) require that the award only be used to pro25 cure or obtain property in accordance with use reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 27, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1856.IS S1856

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1 strictions contained within the Agency’s State and 

2 Local Preparedness Grant Programs’ Authorized 

3 Equipment List. 

4 (d) USE OF GRANT PROGRAM FUNDS FOR REQUIRED

5 RETURN OF PROPERTY TO DOD.—Notwithstanding any 

6 other provision of law, the use of funds by a State or local 

7 agency to return to the Department of Defense property 

8 transferred to such State or local agency pursuant to sec9 tion 2676a of title 10, United States Code, as such return 

10 is required by section 2(b) of this Act, shall be an allow11 able use of preparedness grant program funds by such 

12 agency. 

13 (e) ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES.— 

14 (1) AUDIT OF USE OF PREPAREDNESS GRANT

15 FUNDS.—Not later than one year after the date of 

16 the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

17 of the United States shall conduct an audit covering 

18 the period of fiscal year 2010 through the current 

19 fiscal year on the use of preparedness grant program 

20 funds. The audit shall assess how funds have been 

21 used to procure equipment, how the equipment has 

22 been used, and whether the grant awards have 

23 furthered the Agency’s goal of improving the pre24 paredness of State and local communities. 


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1 (2) ANNUAL ACCOUNTING OF USE OF AWARD

2 FUNDS.—Not later than one year after the date of 

3 the enactment of this Act, the Agency shall develop 

4 and implement a system of accounting on an annual 

5 basis how preparedness grant program funds have 

6 been used to procure equipment, how the equipment 

7 has been used, whether grantees have complied with 

8 restrictions on the use of equipment contained with 

9 the Authorized Equipment List, and whether the 

10 awards have furthered the Agency’s goal of enhanc11 ing the capabilities of State agencies to prevent, 

12 deter, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, 

13 major disasters, and other emergencies. 

14 SEC. 4. USE OF EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE AS15 SISTANCE GRANT FUNDS. 

16 (a) LIMITATION.—Section 501(d) of title I of the 

17 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

18 U.S.C. 3751(d)) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(3) The purchase, maintenance, alteration, or 

21 operation of— 

22 ‘‘(A) lethal weapons; or 

23 ‘‘(B) less-lethal weapons.’’. 

24 (b) USE OF GRANT FUNDS FOR REQUIRED RETURN

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1 vision of law, the use of funds by a State agency or unit 

2 of local government to return to the Department of De3 fense property transferred to such agency or unit of local 

4 government pursuant to section 2676a of title 10, United 

5 States Code, as such return is required by section 2(b) 

6 of this Act, shall be an allowable use of grant amounts 

7 under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

8 Grant Program. 

9 SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

12 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

13 to Congress a report on Federal agencies, including offices 

14 of Inspector General for Federal agencies, that have spe15 cialized units that receive special tactical or military-style 

16 training or use hard-plated body armor, shields, or hel17 mets and that respond to high-risk situations that fall out18 side the capabilities of regular law enforcement officers, 

19 including any special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team, 

20 tactical response teams, special events teams, special re21 sponse teams, or active shooter teams. 

22 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under sub23 section (a) shall include the following elements: 

24 (1) A description of each specialized unit de25 scribed under such subsection. 


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1 (2) A description of the training and weapons 

2 of each such unit. 

3 (3) The criteria for activating each such unit 

4 and how often each such unit was activated for each 

5 year of the previous ten years. 

6 (4) An estimate of the annual cost of equipping 

7 and operating each such unit. 

8 (5) Any other information that is relevant to 

9 understanding the usefulness and justification for 

10 the units. 

Æ 


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