II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1591

Entitled the ‘‘Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 1998’’.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 29, 1998

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

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

Entitled the ‘‘Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of

1998’’.

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 ‘‘Bulletproof Vest Part5 nership Grant Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) too many law enforcement officers die, while

9 protecting the public, as a result of gunshot wounds;
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1 (2) according to studies, between 1985 and

2 1994, 709 law enforcement officers in the United

3 States were feloniously killed in the line of duty;

4 (3) more than 92 percent of such law enforce5 ment officers were killed by firearms;

6 (4) the number of law enforcement officers who

7 die as a result of gunshot wounds has declined sig8 nificantly since the introduction of modern bullet9 proof material;

10 (5) according to studies, between 1985 and

11 1994, bullet resistant materials helped save the lives

12 of more than 2,000 law enforcement officers in the

13 United States;

14 (6) the number of law enforcement officers who

15 are killed in the line of duty would significantly de16 crease if every law enforcement officer in the United

17 States had access to an armor vest; and

18 (7) the Executive Committee for Indian Coun19 try Law Enforcement Improvements reports that

20 violent crime in Indian country has risen sharply,

21 despite decreases in the national crime rate, and has

22 concluded that there is a ‘‘public safety crisis in In23 dian country’’.

24 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to save

25 lives of law enforcement officers by helping State and local
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1 law enforcement departments provide officers with armor

2 vests.

3 SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

4 (a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Director of the

5 Bureau of Justice Assistance is authorized to make grants

6 to States, units of local government, and Indian tribes to

7 purchase armor vests for use by law enforcement officers.

8 (b) USES OF FUNDS.—Awards shall be distributed

9 directly to the State, unit of local government, or Indian

10 tribe and shall be used for the purchase of not more than

11 1 armor vest for each police officer in a jurisdiction.

12 (c) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding

13 grants under this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Jus14 tice Assistance may give preferential consideration, where

15 feasible, to applications from jurisdictions that—

16 (1) have the greatest need for armor vests

17 based on the percentage of officers in the depart18 ment who do not have access to a vest;

19 (2) have a mandatory wear policy that requires

20 on-duty officers to wear armor vests whenever fea21 sible; and

22 (3) have a violent crime rate at or above the na23 tional average as determined by the Federal Bureau

24 of Investigation.
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1 (d) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Unless all applications sub2 mitted by any State or unit of local government pursuant

3 to subsection (a) have been funded, each qualifying State

4 or unit of local government shall be allocated in each fiscal

5 year pursuant to subsection (a) not less than 0.25 percent

6 of the total amount appropriated in the fiscal year for

7 grants pursuant to that subsection.

8 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A qualifying State or unit

9 of local government may not receive more than 5 percent

10 of the total amount appropriated in each fiscal year for

11 grants pursuant to subsection (a).

12 (f) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of

13 a program provided by a grant under subsection (a) may

14 not exceed 50 percent, unless the Director of the Bureau

15 of Justice Assistance determines a case of fiscal hardship

16 and waives, wholly or in part, the requirement under this

17 subsection of a non-Federal contribution to the costs of

18 a program.

19 (g) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—At least half of the

20 funds awarded under this program shall be allocated to

21 units of local government or Indian tribes with fewer than

22 100,000 residents.

23 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS.

24 (a) STATE AND TRIBAL APPLICATIONS.—To request

25 a grant under this Act, the chief executive of a State shall
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1 submit an application to the Director of the Bureau of

2 Justice Assistance, signed by the Attorney General of the

3 State requesting the grant, or Indian tribe shall submit

4 an application to the Director, in such form and contain5 ing such information as the Director may reasonably re6 quire.

7 (b) LOCAL APPLICATIONS.—To request a grant

8 under this Act, the chief executive of a unit of local gov9 ernment shall submit an application to the Director of the

10 Bureau of Justice Assistance, signed by the chief law en11 forcement officer of the unit of local government request12 ing the grant, in such form and containing such informa13 tion as the Director may reasonably require.

14 (c) RENEWAL.—A State, unit of local government, or

15 Indian tribe is eligible to receive a grant under this Act

16 every 3 years.

17 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau

19 of Justice Assistance shall promulgate regulations to im20 plement this section (including the information that must

21 be included and the requirements that the States and

22 units of local government must meet) in submitting the

23 applications required under this Section.
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1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF PRISON INMATE LABOR.

2 Any State, unit of local government, or Indian tribe

3 that receives financial assistance provided using funds ap4 propriated or otherwise made available by this Act may

5 not purchase equipment or products manufactured using

6 prison inmate labor.

7 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

8 For purposes of this Act—

9 (1) The term ‘‘armor vest’’ means—

10 (A) body armor which has been tested

11 through the voluntary compliance testing pro12 gram operated by the National Law Enforce13 ment and Corrections Technology Center of the

14 National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and found

15 to comply with the requirements of NIJ Stand16 ard 0101.03, or any subsequent revision of such

17 standard; or

18 (B) body armor which exceeds the speci19 fications stated in subparagraph (A), and which

20 the law enforcement officer’s agency or depart21 ment permits the officer to wear on duty.

22 (2) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50

23 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the

24 United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and

25 the Northern Mariana Islands.
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1 (3) The term ‘‘qualifying State or unit of local

2 government’’ means any State or unit of local gov3 ernment which has submitted an application for a

4 grant, or in which an eligible entity has submitted

5 an application for a grant, which meets the require6 ments prescribed by the Director of the Bureau of

7 Justice Assistance and the conditions set out in sec8 tion 3.

9 (4) The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has the same

10 meaning as in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Deter11 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C.

12 450b(e)).

13 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS.

14 There are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000

15 for each fiscal year to carry out this program.

16 SEC. 8. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

17 In the case of any equipment or products that may

18 be authorized to be purchased with financial assistance

19 provided using funds appropriated or otherwise made

20 available by this Act, it is the sense of the Congress that

21 entities receiving the assistance should, in expending the

22 assistance, purchase only American-made equipment and

23 products.

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