I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1556 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense 

to make certain limitations on the transfer of personal property to 

Federal and State agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2017 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SPEIER, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. EVANS, Ms. 

MOORE, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. AMASH, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, and Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense to make certain limitations on the 

transfer of personal property to Federal and State agencies, 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 ‘‘Stop Militarizing Law 

5 Enforcement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Under section 2576a of title 10, United 

4 States Code, the Department of Defense is author5 ized to provide excess property to local law enforce6 ment agencies. The Defense Logistics Agency, ad7 ministers such section by operating the Law En8 forcement Support Office program. 

9 (2) New and used material, including mine-re10 sistant ambush-protected vehicles and weapons de11 termined by the Department of Defense to be ‘‘mili12 tary grade’’ are transferred to local and Federal law 

13 enforcement agencies through the program. 

14 (3) As a result local law enforcement agencies, 

15 including police and sheriff’s departments, are ac16 quiring this material for use in their normal oper17 ations. 

18 (4) As a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghani19 stan, military equipment purchased for, and used in, 

20 those wars has become excess property and has been 

21 made available for transfer to local and Federal law 

22 enforcement agencies. 

23 (5) According to public reports, approximately 

24 12,000 police organizations across the country were 

25 able to procure nearly $500,000,000 worth of excess 

26 military merchandise including firearms, computers, 


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1 helicopters, clothing, and other products, at no 

2 charge during fiscal year 2011 alone. 

3 (6) More than $4,000,000,000 worth of weap4 ons and equipment have been transferred to police 

5 organizations in all 50 states and four territories 

6 through the program. 

7 (7) In May 2012, the Defense Logistics Agency 

8 instituted a moratorium on weapons transfers 

9 through the program after reports of missing equip10 ment and inappropriate weapons transfers. 

11 (8) Though the moratorium was widely pub12 licized, it was lifted in October 2013 without ade13 quate safeguards. 

14 (9) As a result, Federal, State, and local law 

15 enforcement departments across the country are eli16 gible again to acquire free ‘‘military-grade’’ weapons 

17 and equipment that could be used inappropriately 

18 during policing efforts in which citizens and tax19 payers could be harmed. 

20 (10) Pursuant to section III(J) of a Defense 

21 Logistics Agency memorandum of understanding, 

22 property obtained through the program must be 

23 placed into use within one year of receipt, possibly 

24 providing an incentive for the unnecessary and poVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Mar 21, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1556.IH H1556

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1 tentially dangerous use of ‘‘military grade’’ equip2 ment by local law enforcement. 

3 (11) The Department of Defense categorizes 

4 equipment eligible for transfer under the 1033 pro5 gram as ‘‘controlled’’ and ‘‘un-controlled’’ equip6 ment. ‘‘Controlled equipment’’ includes weapons, ex7 plosives such as flash-bang grenades, mine resistant 

8 ambush protected vehicles, long range acoustic de9 vices, aircraft capable of being modified to carry ar10 mament that are combat coded, and silencers, 

11 among other military grade items. 

12 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TRANS13 FER OF PERSONAL PROPERTY TO LOCAL LAW 

14 ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2576a of title 10, United 

16 States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking 

19 ‘‘counterdrug, counterterrorism,’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘counterterrorism’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘, the 

22 Director of National Drug Control Policy,’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (b)— 

24 (A) in each of paragraphs (4) and (5), by 

25 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe2 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

4 paragraphs: 

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

6 Defense that it has the personnel and technical ca7 pacity, including training, to operate the property; 

8 ‘‘(8) the recipient submits to the Department of 

9 Defense a description of how the recipient expects to 

10 use the property; 

11 ‘‘(9) the recipient certifies to the Department of 

12 Defense that if the recipient determines that the 

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

14 recipient will return the property to the Department 

15 of Defense; and 

16 ‘‘(10) with respect to a recipient that is not a 

17 Federal agency, the recipient certifies to the Depart18 ment of Defense that the recipient notified the local 

19 community of the request for personal property 

20 under this section by— 

21 ‘‘(A) publishing a notice of such request on 

22 a publicly accessible Internet website; 

23 ‘‘(B) posting such notice at several promi24 nent locations in the jurisdiction of the recipi25 ent; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) ensuring that such notices were avail2 able to the local community for a period of not 

3 less than 30 days.’’; 

4 (3) by striking subsection (d); 

5 (4) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

6 subsections (m) and (n), respectively; and 

7 (5) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol8 lowing new subsections: 

9 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION ACCOUNTING FOR

10 TRANSFERRED PROPERTY.—(1) For each fiscal year, the 

11 Secretary shall submit to Congress certification in writing 

12 that each Federal or State agency to which the Secretary 

13 has transferred property under this section— 

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

16 arms and ammunition, that the Secretary has trans17 ferred to the agency, including any item described in 

18 subsection (f) so transferred before the date of the 

19 enactment of the Stop Militarizing Law Enforce20 ment Act; and 

21 ‘‘(B) with respect to a non-Federal agency, car22 ried out each of paragraphs (5) through (8) of sub23 section (b). 

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

25 under paragraph (1) for a Federal or State agency, the 


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1 Secretary may not transfer additional property to that 

2 agency under this section. 

3 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT ON EXCESS PROPERTY.—Be4 fore making any property available for transfer under this 

5 section, the Secretary shall annually submit to Congress 

6 a description of the property to be transferred together 

7 with a certification that the transfer of the property would 

8 not violate this section or any other provision of law. 

9 ‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFERS.—(1) The Sec10 retary may not transfer the following personal property 

11 of the Department of Defense under this section: 

12 ‘‘(A) Controlled firearms, ammunition, grenades 

13 (including stun and flash-bang) and explosives. 

14 ‘‘(B) Controlled vehicles, highly mobile multi15 wheeled vehicles, mine-resistant ambush-protected 

16 vehicles, trucks, truck dump, truck utility, and truck 

17 carryall. 

18 ‘‘(C) Drones that are armored, weaponized, or 

19 both. 

20 ‘‘(D) Controlled aircraft that— 

21 ‘‘(i) are combat configured or combat 

22 coded; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) have no established commercial flight 

24 application. 

25 ‘‘(E) Silencers. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Long-range acoustic devices. 

2 ‘‘(G) Items in the Federal Supply Class of 

3 banned items. 

4 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not require, as a condition 

5 of a transfer under this section, that a Federal or State 

6 agency demonstrate the use of any small arms or ammuni7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(3) The limitations under this subsection shall also 

9 apply with respect to the transfer of previously transferred 

10 property of the Department of Defense from one Federal 

11 or State agency to another such agency. 

12 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary may waive the applicability of 

13 paragraph (1) to a vehicle described in subparagraph (B) 

14 of such paragraph (other than a mine-resistant ambush15 protected vehicle), if the Secretary determines that such 

16 a waiver is necessary for disaster or rescue purposes or 

17 for another purpose where life and public safety are at 

18 risk, as demonstrated by the proposed recipient of the ve19 hicle. 

20 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary issues a waiver under subpara21 graph (A), the Secretary shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) submit to Congress notice of the waiver, 

23 and post such notice on a public Internet website of 

24 the Department, by not later than 30 days after the 

25 date on which the waiver is issued; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) require, as a condition of the waiver, that 

2 the recipient of the vehicle for which the waiver is 

3 issued provides public notice of the waiver and the 

4 transfer, including the type of vehicle and the pur5 pose for which it is transferred, in the jurisdiction 

6 where the recipient is located by not later than 30 

7 days after the date on which the waiver is issued. 

8 ‘‘(5) The Secretary may provide for an exemption to 

9 the limitation under subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) 

10 in the case of parts for aircraft described in such subpara11 graph that are transferred as part of regular maintenance 

12 of aircraft in an existing fleet. 

13 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall require, as a condition of 

14 any transfer of property under this section, that the Fed15 eral or State agency that receives the property shall return 

16 the property to the Secretary if the agency— 

17 ‘‘(A) is investigated by the Department of Jus18 tice for any violation of civil liberties; or 

19 ‘‘(B) is otherwise found to have engaged in 

20 widespread abuses of civil liberties. 

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

22 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts au23 thorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available 

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


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1 carry out this section unless the Secretary submits to Con2 gress certification that for the preceding fiscal year that— 

3 ‘‘(1) each Federal or State agency that has re4 ceived controlled property transferred under this sec5 tion has— 

6 ‘‘(A) demonstrated 100 percent account7 ability for all such property, in accordance with 

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

9 ‘‘(B) been suspended from the program 

10 pursuant to paragraph (4); 

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

12 that has received controlled property under this sec13 tion, the State coordinator responsible for each such 

14 agency has verified that the coordinator or an agent 

15 of the coordinator has conducted an in-person inven16 tory of the property transferred to the agency and 

17 that 100 percent of such property was accounted for 

18 during the inventory or that the agency has been 

19 suspended from the program pursuant to paragraph 

20 (4); 

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

22 has received controlled property under this section, 

23 the Secretary of Defense or an agent of the Sec24 retary has conducted an in-person inventory of the 

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1 cent of such property was accounted for during the 

2 inventory or that the agency has been suspended 

3 from the program pursuant to paragraph (4); 

4 ‘‘(4) the eligibility of any agency that has re5 ceived controlled property under this section for 

6 which 100 percent of the property was not ac7 counted for during an inventory described in para8 graph (1) or (2), as applicable, to receive any prop9 erty transferred under this section has been sus10 pended; and 

11 ‘‘(5) each State coordinator has certified, for 

12 each non-Federal agency located in the State for 

13 which the State coordinator is responsible that— 

14 ‘‘(A) the agency has complied with all re15 quirements under this section; or 

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

17 property transferred under this section has been 

18 suspended; and 

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

20 each Federal agency that has received property 

21 under this section that— 

22 ‘‘(A) the agency has complied with all re23 quirements under this section; or 


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

2 property transferred under this section has been 

3 suspended. 

4 ‘‘(h) PROHIBITION ON OWNERSHIP OF CONTROLLED

5 PROPERTY.—A Federal or State agency that receives con6 trolled property under this section may never take owner7 ship of the property. 

8 ‘‘(i) NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF PROPERTY DOWN9 GRADES.—Not later than 30 days before downgrading the 

10 classification of any item of personal property from con11 trolled or Federal Supply Class, the Secretary shall submit 

12 to Congress notice of the proposed downgrade. 

13 ‘‘(j) NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF PROPERTY CANNIBAL14 IZATION.—Before the Defense Logistics Agency author15 izes the recipient of property transferred under this sec16 tion to cannibalize the property, the Secretary shall submit 

17 to Congress notice of such authorization, including the 

18 name of the recipient requesting the authorization, the 

19 purpose of the proposed cannibalization, and the type of 

20 property proposed to be cannibalized. 

21 ‘‘(k) QUARTERLY REPORTS ON USE OF CONTROLLED

22 EQUIPMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the last day 

23 of a fiscal quarter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

24 a report on any uses of controlled property transferred 

25 under this section during that fiscal quarter. 


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1 ‘‘(l) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 

2 days after the last day of a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

3 submit to Congress a report on the following for the pre4 ceding fiscal year: 

5 ‘‘(1) The percentage of equipment lost by re6 cipients of property transferred under this section, 

7 including specific information about the type of 

8 property lost, the monetary value of such property, 

9 and the recipient that lost the property. 

10 ‘‘(2) The transfer of any new (condition code 

11 A) property transferred under this section, including 

12 specific information about the type of property, the 

13 recipient of the property, the monetary value of each 

14 item of the property, and the total monetary value 

15 of all such property transferred during the fiscal 

16 year.’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any transfer of 

19 property made after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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