I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1415 

To improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2005 

Mrs. MCCARTHY (for herself and Mr. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check 

System, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘NICS Improvement Act of 2005’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—TRANSMITTAL OF RECORDS 
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Sec. 101. Enhancement of requirement that Federal departments and agencies 

provide relevant information to the National Instant Criminal 

Background Check System. 

Sec. 102. Requirements to obtain waiver. 

Sec. 103. Implementation assistance to States. 

Sec. 104. Penalties for noncompliance. 

TITLE II—FOCUSING FEDERAL ASSISTANCE ON THE 

IMPROVEMENT OF RELEVANT RECORDS 

Sec. 201. Continuing evaluations. 

TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATE COURT SYSTEMS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT IN AUTOMATION AND TRANSMITTAL OF DISPOSITION RECORDS 

Sec. 301. Disposition records automation and transmittal improvement grants. 

TITLE IV—GAO AUDIT 

Sec. 401. GAO audit. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Approximately 790,000 individuals were 

4 prohibited from purchasing a firearm for failing a 

5 background check between November 30, 1998, (the 

6 date the National Instant Criminal Background 

7 Check System (NICS) began operating) and Decem8 ber 31, 2003. 

9 (2) From November 30, 1998, through Decem10 ber 31, 2003, over 40,800,000 Brady background 

11 checks were processed through NICS. 

12 (3) Although most Brady background checks 

13 are processed through NICS in seconds, many back14 ground checks are delayed if the Federal Bureau of 

15 Investigation (FBI) does not have automated access 

16 to complete information from the States concerning 
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1 persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a 

2 firearm under Federal or State law. 

3 (4) Approximately 24,000,000 criminal records 

4 are either not automated or not accessible by NICS 

5 and another 16,000,000 criminal records that are 

6 automated and accessible are missing critical data, 

7 such as arrest dispositions. 

8 (5) The primary cause of delay in NICS back9 ground checks is the failure of the States to— 

10 (A) update and make available criminal 

11 disposition records; and 

12 (B) provide automated access to informa13 tion concerning persons prohibited from pos14 sessing or receiving a firearm because of mental 

15 illness, restraining orders, or misdemeanor con16 victions for domestic violence. 

17 (6) The failure of the States to provide auto18 mated access to this information is principally 

19 caused by the States’ failure to— 

20 (A) computerize information relating to 

21 criminal history, criminal dispositions, mental 

22 illness, restraining orders, and misdemeanor 

23 convictions for domestic violence; or 

24 (B) make such information available to 

25 NICS in a usable format. 
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1 (7) Helping States to automate these records 

2 will reduce delays for law-abiding gun purchasers. 

3 (8) Twenty-three States have failed to automate 

4 all of their felony criminal conviction records. 

5 (9) Only forty-five percent of the criminal his6 tory records in the Interstate Identification Index, 

7 maintained by the FBI and used by the NICS, have 

8 disposition information included. 

9 (10) Many States do not submit fingerprint10 based records of misdemeanor convictions that may 

11 disqualify a person from possessing or receiving a 

12 firearm under section 922(g)(9) of title 18, United 

13 States Code. 

14 (11) Forty States do not automate or make ac15 cessible disqualifying mental health records. 

16 (12) Only ten States have provided disquali17 fying mental health records to NICS. Of this group, 

18 8 States have provided less than 40 such records, 1 

19 State has provided approximately 1,600 such 

20 records, and only 1 State has provided close to com21 plete records by having submitted more than 50,000 

22 such records. 

23 (13) Five States and 4 territories do not auto24 mate or make accessible domestic violence restrain25 ing order records to NICS. 
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1 (14) Of the States that provide domestic vio2 lence restraining orders to NICS, records from 18 

3 States are not complete and accurate. 

4 (15) Fourteen States do not automate or make 

5 accessible domestic violence misdemeanor conviction 

6 records. 

7 (16) Of the States that provide domestic vio8 lence misdemeanor conviction records to NICS, 

9 records from 29 States are not complete or accurate. 

10 (17) On March 12, 2002, the senseless shoot11 ing, which took the lives of a priest and a parish12 ioner at the Our Lady of Peace Church in Lynbrook, 

13 New York, brought attention to the lack of informa14 tion sharing enabling Federal and State law enforce15 ment agencies to conduct a complete background 

16 check on a potential firearm purchaser. The man 

17 who committed this double murder had a prior dis18 qualifying mental health commitment and a restrain19 ing order against him, but passed a Brady back20 ground check because NICS did not have the nec21 essary information to determine that he was ineli22 gible to purchase a firearm under Federal or State 

23 law. 
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 As used in this Act, the following definitions shall 

3 apply: 

4 (1) COURT ORDER.—The term ‘‘court order’’ 

5 includes— 

6 (A) a court order (as described in section 

7 922(g)(8) of title 18, United States Code); and 

8 (B) a protection order (as defined in sec9 tion 2266(5) of title 18, United States Code). 

10 (2) MENTAL HEALTH TERMS.—The terms ‘‘ad11 judicated as a mental defective’’, ‘‘committed to a 

12 mental institution’’, and related terms have the 

13 meanings given those terms in regulations imple14 menting section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States 

15 Code, as in effect on the date of the enactment of 

16 this Act. 

17 (3) MISDEMEANOR CRIME OF DOMESTIC VIO18 LENCE.—The term ‘‘misdemeanor crime of domestic 

19 violence’’— 

20 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec21 tion 921(a)(33) of title 18, United States Code; 

22 (B) includes any Federal, State, or local 

23 offense that— 

24 (i) is a misdemeanor under Federal, 

25 State, local, or tribal law or, in a State 

26 that does not classify offenses as mis-
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1 demeanors, is an offense punishable by im2 prisonment for a term of 1 year or less or 

3 punishable only by a fine regardless of 

4 whether or not the State statute specifi5 cally defines the offense as a crime of do6 mestic violence; 

7 (ii) has, as an element of the offense, 

8 the use or attempted use of physical force, 

9 such as assault and battery, or the threat10 ened use of a deadly weapon; and 

11 (iii) was committed by a current or 

12 former spouse, parent, or guardian of the 

13 victim, by a person with whom the victim 

14 shares a child in common, by a person who 

15 is cohabiting with or has cohabited with 

16 the victim as a spouse, parent, or guard17 ian, or a person similarly situated to a 

18 spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim; 

19 and 

20 (C) does not include a crime described 

21 under subparagraph (A) if— 

22 (i) the person was not convicted by 

23 the jurisdiction in which the proceeding 

24 was held; 
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1 (ii) the person was not represented by 

2 counsel in the case and did not knowingly 

3 or intelligently waive the right to counsel 

4 in the case; 

5 (iii) in the case of a prosecution for 

6 which a person was entitled to a jury trial 

7 in the jurisdiction in which the case was 

8 tried— 

9 (I) the case was not tried by a 

10 jury; and 

11 (II) the person did not knowingly 

12 or intelligently waive the right to have 

13 the case tried by a jury, by guilty 

14 plea, or otherwise; or 

15 (iv) the conviction has been expunged 

16 or set aside, or is an offense for which the 

17 person has been pardoned or has had civil 

18 rights restored unless— 

19 (I) the pardon, expungement, or 

20 restoration of civil rights expressly 

21 provides that the person may not ship, 

22 transport, possess, or receive firearms; 

23 or 

24 (II) the person is otherwise pro25 hibited by the law of the jurisdiction 
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1 in which the proceedings were held 

2 from receiving or possessing any fire3 arms. 

4 TITLE I—TRANSMITTAL OF 

5 RECORDS 

6 SEC. 101. ENHANCEMENT OF REQUIREMENT THAT FED7 ERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES PRO8 VIDE RELEVANT INFORMATION TO THE NA9 TIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

10 CHECK SYSTEM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(e)(1) of the Brady 

12 Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and insert15 ing the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding’’; 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘On request’’ and inserting the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(B) REQUEST OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

20 On request’’; 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘furnish such information’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘furnish electronic versions of the informa23 tion described under subparagraph (A)’’; and 

24 (4) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(C) QUARTERLY SUBMISSION TO ATTOR2 NEY GENERAL.—If a department or agency 

3 under subparagraph (A) has any record of any 

4 person demonstrating that the person falls 

5 within one of the categories described in sub6 section (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 

7 United States Code, the head of such depart8 ment or agency shall, not less frequently than 

9 quarterly, provide the pertinent information 

10 contained in such record to the Attorney Gen11 eral. 

12 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION UPDATES.—The agen13 cy, on being made aware that the basis under 

14 which a record was made available under sub15 paragraph (A) does not apply, or no longer ap16 plies, shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) update, correct, modify, or re18 move the record from any database that 

19 the agency maintains and makes available 

20 to the Attorney General, in accordance 

21 with the rules pertaining to that database; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(ii) notify the Attorney General that 

24 such basis no longer applies so that the 
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1 National Instant Criminal Background 

2 Check System is kept up to date. 

3 ‘‘(E) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Attorney 

4 General shall submit an annual report to Con5 gress that describes the compliance of each de6 partment or agency with the provisions of this 

7 paragraph.’’. 

8 (b) PROVISION AND MAINTENANCE OF NICS 

9 RECORDS.— 

10 (1) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.— 

11 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall make 

12 available to the Attorney General— 

13 (A) records, updated not less than quar14 terly, which are relevant to a determination of 

15 whether a person is disqualified from possessing 

16 or receiving a firearm under subsection (g) or 

17 (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States 

18 Code, for use in background checks performed 

19 by the National Instant Criminal Background 

20 Check System; and 

21 (B) information regarding all the persons 

22 described in subparagraph (A) of this para23 graph who have changed their status to a cat24 egory not identified under section 922(g)(5) of 

25 title 18, United States Code, for removal, when 
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1 applicable, from the National Instant Criminal 

2 Background Check System. 

3 (2) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—The Attorney 

4 General shall— 

5 (A) ensure that any information submitted 

6 to, or maintained by, the Attorney General 

7 under this section is kept accurate and con8 fidential, as required by the laws, regulations, 

9 policies, or procedures governing the applicable 

10 record system; 

11 (B) provide for the timely removal and de12 struction of obsolete and erroneous names and 

13 information from the National Instant Criminal 

14 Background Check System; and 

15 (C) work with States to encourage the de16 velopment of computer systems, which would 

17 permit electronic notification to the Attorney 

18 General when— 

19 (i) a court order has been issued, lift20 ed, or otherwise removed by order of the 

21 court; or 

22 (ii) a person has been adjudicated as 

23 mentally defective or committed to a men24 tal institution. 
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1 SEC. 102. REQUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN WAIVER. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 3 years after the date 

3 of enactment of this Act, a State shall be eligible to receive 

4 a waiver of the 10 percent matching requirement for Na5 tional Criminal History Improvement Grants under the 

6 Crime Identification Technology Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 

7 14601) if the State provides at least 90 percent of the 

8 information described in subsection (c). The length of such 

9 a waiver shall not exceed 2 years. 

10 (b) STATE ESTIMATES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—To assist the Attorney Gen12 eral in making a determination under subsection (a) 

13 of this section, and under section 104, concerning 

14 the compliance of the States in providing informa15 tion to the Attorney General for the purpose of re16 ceiving a waiver under subsection (a) of this section, 

17 or facing a loss of funds under section 104, each 

18 State shall provide the Attorney General with a rea19 sonable estimate, as calculated by a method deter20 mined by the Attorney General, of the number of— 

21 (A) criminal history records for mis22 demeanors and felonies; 

23 (B) State criminal history records with dis24 position information; 

25 (C) active court orders in the State; and 
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1 (D) State records of persons adjudicated 

2 mentally defective or committed to a mental in3 stitution. 

4 (2) SCOPE.—The Attorney General, in deter5 mining the compliance of a State under this section 

6 or section 104 of this Act for the purpose of grant7 ing a waiver or imposing a loss of Federal funds, 

8 shall assess the total percentage of records provided 

9 by the State concerning any event occurring within 

10 the prior 30 years, which would disqualify a person 

11 from possessing a firearm under subsection (g) or 

12 (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code. 

13 (3) CLARIFICATION.—Notwithstanding para14 graph (2), States shall endeavor to provide the Na15 tional Instant Criminal Background Check System 

16 with all records concerning persons who are prohib17 ited from possessing or receiving a firearm under 

18 subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 

19 United States Code, regardless of the elapsed time 

20 since the disqualifying event. 

21 (c) ELIGIBILITY OF STATE RECORDS FOR SUBMIS22 SION TO THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACK23 GROUND CHECK SYSTEM.— 

24 (1) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—From information col2 lected by a State, the State shall make elec3 tronically available to the Attorney General 

4 records relevant to a determination of whether 

5 a person is disqualified from possessing or re6 ceiving a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of 

7 section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or 

8 applicable State law. 

9 (B) NICS UPDATES.—The State, on being 

10 made aware that the basis under which a record 

11 was made available under subparagraph (A) 

12 does not apply, or no longer applies, shall, as 

13 soon as practicable— 

14 (i) update, correct, modify, or remove 

15 the record from any database that the 

16 Federal or State government maintains 

17 and makes available to the National In18 stant Criminal Background Check System, 

19 consistent with the rules pertaining to that 

20 database; or 

21 (ii) notify the Attorney General that 

22 such basis no longer applies so that the 

23 record system in which the record is main24 tained is kept up to date. 
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1 (C) CERTIFICATION.—To remain eligible 

2 for a waiver under subsection (a), a State shall 

3 certify to the Attorney General, not less than 

4 once during each 2-year period, that at least 90 

5 percent of all information described in subpara6 graph (A) has been made electronically avail7 able to the Attorney General in accordance with 

8 subparagraph (A). 

9 (D) INCLUSION OF ALL RECORDS.—The 

10 State shall make every effort to identify and in11 clude all of the records described under sub12 paragraph (A) without regard to the age of the 

13 record. 

14 (2) APPLICATION TO PERSONS CONVICTED OF

15 MISDEMEANOR CRIMES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.— 

16 The State shall make available to the Attorney Gen17 eral, for use by the National Instant Criminal Back18 ground Check System, records relevant to a deter19 mination of whether a person has been convicted in 

20 any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic vio21 lence. With respect to records relating to such 

22 crimes, the State shall provide information specifi23 cally describing the offense and the specific section 

24 or subsection of the offense for which the defendant 
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1 has been convicted and the relationship of the de2 fendant to the victim in each case. 

3 (3) APPLICATION TO PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN

4 ADJUDICATED AS A MENTAL DEFECTIVE OR COM5 MITTED TO A MENTAL INSTITUTION.—The State 

6 shall make available to the Attorney General, for use 

7 by the National Instant Criminal Background Check 

8 System, the name and other relevant identifying in9 formation of persons adjudicated as mentally defec10 tive or those committed to mental institutions to as11 sist the Attorney General in enforcing section 

12 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 

13 (d) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—For any information 

14 provided to the Attorney General for use by the National 

15 Instant Criminal Background Check System, relating to 

16 persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm 

17 under section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code, 

18 the Attorney General shall work with States and local law 

19 enforcement and the mental health community to establish 

20 regulations and protocols for protecting the privacy of in21 formation provided to the system. The Attorney General 

22 shall make every effort to meet with any mental health 

23 group seeking to express its views concerning these regula24 tions and protocols and shall seek to develop regulations 

25 as expeditiously as practicable. 
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1 (e) ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT.—Not later than 

2 January 31 of each year, the Attorney General shall sub3 mit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

4 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep5 resentatives a report on the progress of States in auto6 mating the databases containing the information described 

7 in subsection (b) and in making that information elec8 tronically available to the Attorney General pursuant to 

9 the requirements of subsection (c). 

10 SEC. 103. IMPLEMENTATION ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail13 able to carry out this section, the Attorney General 

14 shall make grants to States and Indian tribal gov15 ernments, in a manner consistent with the National 

16 Criminal History Improvement Program, which shall 

17 be used by the States and Indian tribal govern18 ments, in conjunction with units of local government 

19 and State and local courts, to establish or upgrade 

20 information and identification technologies for fire21 arms eligibility determinations. 

22 (2) GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—Up to 5 per23 cent of the grant funding available under this sec24 tion may be reserved for Indian tribal governments, 

25 including tribal judicial systems. 
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1 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Grants awarded to 

2 States or Indian tribes under this section may only be 

3 used to— 

4 (1) create electronic systems, which provide ac5 curate and up-to-date information which is directly 

6 related to checks under the National Instant Crimi7 nal Background Check System (referred to in this 

8 section as ‘‘NICS’’), including court disposition and 

9 corrections records; 

10 (2) assist States in establishing or enhancing 

11 their own capacities to perform NICS background 

12 checks; 

13 (3) supply accurate and timely information to 

14 the Attorney General concerning final dispositions of 

15 criminal records to databases accessed by NICS; 

16 (4) supply accurate and timely information to 

17 the Attorney General concerning the identity of per18 sons who are prohibited from obtaining a firearm 

19 under section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States 

20 Code, to be used by the Federal Bureau of Inves21 tigation solely to conduct NICS background checks; 

22 (5) supply accurate and timely court orders and 

23 records of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence 

24 for inclusion in Federal and State law enforcement 
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1 databases used to conduct NICS background checks; 

2 and 

3 (6) collect and analyze data needed to dem4 onstrate levels of State compliance with this Act. 

5 (c) CONDITION.—As a condition of receiving a grant 

6 under this section, a State shall specify the projects for 

7 which grant amounts will be used, and shall use such 

8 amounts only as specified. A State that violates this sub9 section shall be liable to the Attorney General for the full 

10 amount of the grant received under this section. 

11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 $250,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 

14 2008. 

15 (e) USER FEE.—The Federal Bureau of Investiga16 tion shall not charge a user fee for background checks pur17 suant to section 922(t) of title 18, United States Code. 

18 SEC. 104. PENALTIES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE. 

19 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 31 

21 of each year, the Attorney General shall submit to 

22 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

23 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

24 Representatives a report on the progress of the 

25 States in automating the databases containing infor-
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1 mation described under sections 102 and 103, and 

2 in providing that information pursuant to the re3 quirements of sections 102 and 103. 

4 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De6 partment of Justice, such funds as may be necessary 

7 to carry out paragraph (1). 

8 (b) PENALTIES.— 

9 (1) DISCRETIONARY REDUCTION.—During the 

10 2-year period beginning 3 years after the date of en11 actment of this Act, the Attorney General may with12 hold not more than 3 percent of the amount that 

13 would otherwise be allocated to a State under sec14 tion 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

15 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3756) if the State 

16 provides less than 60 percent of the information re17 quired to be provided under sections 102 and 103. 

18 (2) MANDATORY REDUCTION.—After the expi19 ration of the period referred to in paragraph (1), the 

20 Attorney General shall withhold 5 percent of the 

21 amount that would otherwise be allocated to a State 

22 under section 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control 

23 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3756), if 

24 the State provides less than 90 percent of the infor-
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1 mation required to be provided under sections 102 

2 and 103. 

3 (3) WAIVER BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The At4 torney General may waive the applicability of para5 graph (2) to a State if the State provides substantial 

6 evidence, as determined by the Attorney General, 

7 that the State is making a reasonable effort to com8 ply with the requirements of sections 102 and 103. 

9 (c) REALLOCATION.—Any funds that are not allo10 cated to a State because of the failure of the State to com11 ply with the requirements of this title shall be reallocated 

12 to States that meet such requirements. 

13 TITLE II—FOCUSING FEDERAL 

14 ASSISTANCE ON THE IM15 PROVEMENT OF RELEVANT 

16 RECORDS 

17 SEC. 201. CONTINUING EVALUATIONS. 

18 (a) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Director of the 

19 Bureau of Justice Statistics (referred to in this section 

20 as the ‘‘Director’’) shall study and evaluate the operations 

21 of the National Instant Criminal Background Check Sys22 tem. Such study and evaluation shall include compilations 

23 and analyses of the operations and record systems of the 

24 agencies and organizations necessary to support such Sys25 tem. 
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1 (b) REPORT ON GRANTS.—Not later than January 

2 31 of each year, the Director shall submit to Congress 

3 a report containing the estimates submitted by the States 

4 under section 102(b). 

5 (c) REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 

6 January 31 of each year, the Director shall submit to Con7 gress, and to each State participating in the National 

8 Criminal History Improvement Program, a report of the 

9 practices of the States regarding the collection, mainte10 nance, automation, and transmittal of information rel11 evant to determining whether a person is prohibited from 

12 possessing or receiving a firearm by Federal or State law, 

13 by the State or any other agency, or any other records 

14 relevant to the National Instant Criminal Background 

15 Check System, that the Director considers to be best prac16 tices. 

17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

19 necessary for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2008 

20 to complete the studies, evaluations, and reports required 

21 under this section. 
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1 TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATE 

2 COURT SYSTEMS FOR THE IM3 PROVEMENT IN AUTOMATION 

4 AND TRANSMITTAL OF DIS5 POSITION RECORDS 

6 SEC. 301. DISPOSITION RECORDS AUTOMATION AND 

7 TRANSMITTAL IMPROVEMENT GRANTS. 

8 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From amounts made 

9 available to carry out this section, the Attorney General 

10 shall make grants to each State, consistent with State 

11 plans for the integration, automation, and accessibility of 

12 criminal history records, for use by the State court system 

13 to improve the automation and transmittal of criminal his14 tory dispositions, records relevant to determining whether 

15 a person has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of 

16 domestic violence, court orders, and mental health adju17 dications or commitments, to Federal and State record re18 positories in accordance with sections 102 and 103 and 

19 the National Criminal History Improvement Program. 

20 (b) GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—Up to 5 percent 

21 of the grant funding available under this section may be 

22 reserved for Indian tribal governments for use by Indian 

23 tribal judicial systems. 

24 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts granted under this 

25 section shall be used by the State court system only— 
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1 (1) to carry out, as necessary, assessments of 

2 the capabilities of the courts of the State for the au3 tomation and transmission of arrest and conviction 

4 records, court orders, and mental health adjudica5 tions or commitments to Federal and State record 

6 repositories; and 

7 (2) to implement policies, systems, and proce8 dures for the automation and transmission of arrest 

9 and conviction records, court orders, and mental 

10 health adjudications or commitments to Federal and 

11 State record repositories. 

12 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

14 to carry out this section $125,000,000 for each of the fis15 cal years 2006 through 2008. 

16 TITLE IV—GAO AUDIT 

17 SEC. 401. GAO AUDIT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

19 United States shall conduct an audit of the expenditure 

20 of all funds appropriated for criminal records improve21 ment pursuant to section 106(b) of the Brady Handgun 

22 Violence Prevention Act (Public Law 103–159) to deter23 mine if the funds were expended for the purposes author24 ized by the Act and how those funds were expended for 

25 those purposes or were otherwise expended. 
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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

3 submit a report to Congress describing the findings of the 

4 audit conducted pursuant to subsection (a). 

Æ