II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1431

To establish a Commission on Crime and Violence.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 6 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. DECONCINI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

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. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION ON CRIME

4 AND VIOLENCE.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com6 mission to be known as the ‘‘National Commission on

7 Crime and Violence in America’’ (referred to as the ‘‘Com8 mission’’).

9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

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

11 composed of 22 members, of whom—

12 (A) 6 shall be appointed by the President;
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1 (B) 8 shall be appointed by the Speaker of

2 the House of Representatives, of whom 2 shall

3 be appointed on the recommendation of the mi4 nority leader; and

5 (C) 8 shall be appointed by the President

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

7 appointed on the recommendation of the major8 ity leader and 2 shall be appointed on the rec9 ommendation of the minority leader.

10 (2) GOALS IN MAKING APPOINTMENTS.—In ap11 pointing members of the Commission, the President,

12 Speaker, President pro tempore, and the majority

13 and minority leaders shall seek to ensure that—

14 (A) the membership of the Commission re15 flects the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of

16 the United States; and

17 (B) members are specially qualified to

18 serve on the Commission by reason of their edu19 cation, training, expertise, or experience in—

20 (i) sociology;

21 (ii) psychology;

22 (iii) law;

23 (iv) law enforcement;

24 (v) social work; and
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1 (vi) ethnography and urban poverty,

2 including health care, housing, education,

3 and employment.

4 (3) DEADLINE.—Members of the Commission

5 shall be appointed within 60 days after the date of

6 enactment of this Act.

7 (4) TERM.—Members shall serve on the Com8 mission through the date of its termination under

9 section 7.

10 (5) MEETINGS.—The Commission—

11 (A) shall have its headquarters in the Dis12 trict of Columbia; and

13 (B) shall meet at least once each month

14 for a business session.

15 (6) QUORUM.—Twelve members of the Commis16 sion shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number

17 may hold hearings.

18 (7) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—

19 Not later than 15 days after the members of the

20 Commission are appointed, the members shall des21 ignate a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the

22 Commission.

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

24 shall be filled not later than 30 days after the Com-
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1 mission is informed of the vacancy in the manner in

2 which the original appointment was made.

3 (9) COMPENSATION.—

4 (A) NO PAY, ALLOWANCE, OR BENEFIT.—

5 Members of the Commission shall receive no

6 pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of their

7 service on the Commission.

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

9 Commission shall receive travel expenses, in10 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, in ac11 cordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title

12 5, United States Code.

13 SEC. 2. DUTIES.

14 The Commission shall—

15 (1) review the effectiveness of traditional crimi16 nal justice approaches in preventing and controlling

17 crime and violence;

18 (2) examine the impact that changes to Federal

19 and State law have had in controlling crime and vio20 lence;

21 (3) examine the impact of changes in Federal

22 immigration laws and policies and increased develop23 ment and growth along United States international

24 borders on crime and violence in the United States,

25 particularly among our Nation’s youth;
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1 (4) examine the problem of youth gangs and

2 provide recommendations on how to reduce youth in3 volvement in violent crime;

4 (5) examine the extent to which assault weap5 ons and high power firearms have contributed to vio6 lence and murder in the United States;

7 (6) convene hearings in various parts of the

8 country to receive testimony from a cross section of

9 criminal justice professionals, business leaders, elect10 ed officials, medical doctors, and other citizens that

11 wish to participate;

12 (7) review all segments of the criminal justice

13 system, including the law enforcement, prosecution,

14 defense, judicial, corrections components, in develop15 ing the crime control and antiviolence plan;

16 (8) develop a comprehensive and effective crime

17 control and antiviolence plan that will serve as a

18 blueprint for action in the 1990’s;

19 (9) bring attention to successful models and

20 programs in crime prevention, crime control, and

21 antiviolence;

22 (10) reach out beyond the traditional criminal

23 justice community for ideas when developing the

24 comprehensive crime control and antiviolence plan;
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1 (11) recommend improvements in the coordina2 tion of Federal, State, local, and international bor3 der crime control efforts;

4 (12) make a comprehensive study of the eco5 nomic and social factors leading to or contributing

6 to crime and violence and specific proposals for leg7 islative and administrative actions to reduce crime

8 and violence and the elements that contribute to

9 crime and violence; and

10 (13) recommend means of allocating finite cor11 rectional facility space and resources to the most se12 rious and violent offenders, with the goal of achiev13 ing the most cost-effective crime control and protec14 tion of the community and public safety, after—

15 (A) examining the issue of disproportionate

16 incarceration rates among black males and any

17 other minority group disproportionately rep18 resented in Federal and State correctional pop19 ulations; and

20 (B) considering increased use of alter21 natives to incarceration that offer a reasonable

22 prospect of equal or better crime control at

23 equal or less cost than incarceration.

24 SEC. 4. STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES.

25 (a) DIRECTOR.—
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1 (1) APPOINTMENT.—After consultation with the

2 members of the Commission, the Chairperson shall

3 appoint a director of the Commission (referred to as

4 the ‘‘Director’’).

5 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be

6 paid the rate of basic pay for level V of the Execu7 tive Schedule.

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

9 the Director may appoint such personnel as the Director

10 considers to be appropriate.

11 (c) CIVIL SERVICE LAWS.—The staff of the Commis12 sion shall be appointed without regard to the provisions

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

14 the competitive service and shall be paid without regard

15 to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chap16 ter 53 of that title relating to classification and General

17 Schedule pay rates.

18 (d) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—With the ap19 proval of the Commission, the Director may procure tem20 porary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of

21 title 5, United States Code.

22 (e) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the re23 quest of the Commission, the head of any Federal agency

24 may detail, on a reimbursable basis, personnel of that
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1 agency to the Commission to assist in carrying out its

2 duties.

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

4 General Services Administration shall provide suitable of5 fice space for the operation of the Commission. The facili6 ties shall serve as the headquarters of the Commission and

7 shall include all necessary equipment and incidentals re8 quired for proper functioning.

9 SEC. 5. POWERS.

10 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may conduct pub11 lic hearings or forums at its discretion, at any time and

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

13 purpose of carrying out its duties.

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

15 agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the Com16 mission, take any action that the Commission is author17 ized to take by this section.

18 (c) INFORMATION.—The Commission may secure

19 from any Federal agency or entity in the executive or leg20 islative branch such materials, resources, statistical data,

21 and other information as is necessary to enable it to carry

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

23 Chairperson of the Commission, the head of a Federal

24 agency or entity shall furnish the information to the Com25 mission to the extent permitted by law.
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1 (d) GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND DEVISES.—The Commis2 sion may accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or

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

4 the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Com5 mission. Gifts, bequests, or devises of money and proceeds

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

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

8 available for disbursement upon order of the Commission.

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

10 States mails in the same manner and under the same con11 ditions as other Federal agencies.

12 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

13 (a) MONTHLY REPORTS.—The Commission shall

14 submit monthly activity reports to the President and the

15 Congress.

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

17 the date of its termination, the Commission shall submit

18 an interim report to the President and the Congress con19 taining—

20 (1) a detailed statement of the findings and

21 conclusions of the Commission;

22 (2) recommendations for legislative and admin23 istrative action based on the Commission’s activities

24 to date;
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1 (3) an estimation of the costs of implementing

2 the recommendations made by the Commission; and

3 (3) a strategy for disseminating the report to

4 Federal, State, and local authorities.

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

6 termination, the Commission shall submit to the Congress

7 and the President a final report with a detailed statement

8 of final findings, conclusions, recommendations, and esti9 mation of costs and an assessment of the extent to which

10 recommendations included in the interim report under

11 subsection (b) have been implemented.

12 (d) PRINTING AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION.—Upon

13 receipt of each report of the Commission under this sec14 tion, the President shall—

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

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

17 SEC. 7. TERMINATION.

18 The Commission shall terminate on the date that is

19 2 years after the date on which members of the Commis20 sion have met and designated a Chairperson and Vice

21 Chairperson.

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