I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1605

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 12, 1998

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

AN ACT

To establish a matching grant program to help States, units

of local government, and Indian tribes to purchase armor

vests for use by law enforcement officers.

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 Act of 1998’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) the number of law enforcement officers who

4 are killed in the line of duty would significantly de5 crease if every law enforcement officer in the United

6 States had the protection of an armor vest while

7 performing their hazardous duties;

8 (2) the Federal Bureau of Investigation esti9 mates that more than 30 percent of the almost

10 1,182 law enforcement officers killed by a firearm in

11 the line of duty could have been saved if they had

12 been wearing body armor;

13 (3) the Federal Bureau of Investigation esti14 mates that the risk of fatality to law enforcement of15 ficers while not wearing an armor vest is 14 times

16 higher than for officers wearing an armor vest;

17 (4) the Department of Justice estimates that

18 approximately 150,000 State, local, and tribal law

19 enforcement officers, nearly 25 percent, are not

20 issued body armor;

21 (5) the Executive Committee for Indian Coun22 try Law Enforcement Improvements reports that

23 violent crime in Indian country has risen sharply,

24 despite decreases in the national crime rate, and has

25 concluded that there is a ‘‘public safety crisis in In26 dian country’’; and
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1 (6) many State, local, and tribal law enforce2 ment agencies, especially those in smaller commu3 nities and rural jurisdictions, need assistance in

4 order to provide body armor for their officers.

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

6 lives of law enforcement officers by helping State, local,

7 and tribal law enforcement agencies provide those officers

8 with armor vests.

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

10 In this Act:

11 (1) ARMOR VEST.—The term ‘‘armor vest’’

12 means body armor that has been tested through the

13 voluntary compliance testing program operated by

14 the National Law Enforcement and Corrections

15 Technology Center of the National Institute of Jus16 tice (NIJ), and found to comply with the require17 ments of NIJ Standard 0101.03, or any subsequent

18 revision of that standard.

19 (2) BODY ARMOR.—The term ‘‘body armor’’

20 means any product sold or offered for sale as per21 sonal protective body covering intended to protect

22 against gunfire, stabbing, or other physical harm.

23 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means

24 the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance of

25 the Department of Justice.
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1 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

2 has the same meaning as in section 4(e) of the In3 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance

4 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).

5 (5) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term

6 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means any officer, agent,

7 or employee of a State, unit of local government, or

8 Indian tribe authorized by law or by a government

9 agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, de10 tection, or investigation of any violation of criminal

11 law, or authorized by law to supervise sentenced

12 criminal offenders.

13 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

14 the several States of the United States, the District

15 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the

16 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the

17 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

18 (7) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term

19 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means a county, munici20 pality, town, township, village, parish, borough, or

21 other unit of general government below the State

22 level.

23 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

24 (a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Director may

25 make grants to States, units of local government, and In-
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1 dian tribes in accordance with this Act to purchase armor

2 vests for use by State, local, and tribal law enforcement

3 officers.

4 (b) APPLICATIONS.—Each State, unit of local govern5 ment, or Indian tribe seeking to receive a grant under this

6 section shall submit to the Director an application, in such

7 form and containing such information as the Director may

8 reasonably require.

9 (c) USES OF FUNDS.—Grant awards under this sec10 tion shall be—

11 (1) distributed directly to the State, unit of

12 local government, or Indian tribe; and

13 (2) used for the purchase of armor vests for law

14 enforcement officers in the jurisdiction of the

15 grantee.

16 (d) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding

17 grants under this section, the Director may give pref18 erential consideration, where feasible, to applications from

19 jurisdictions that—

20 (1) have a violent crime rate at or above the na21 tional average, as determined by the Federal Bureau

22 of Investigation; and

23 (2) have not been providing each law enforce24 ment officer assigned to patrol or other hazardous

25 duties with body armor.
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1 (e) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Unless all applications sub2 mitted by any State, unit of local government, or Indian

3 tribe for a grant under this section have been funded, each

4 State, together with grantees within the State (other than

5 Indian tribes), shall be allocated in each fiscal year under

6 this section not less than 0.75 percent of the total amount

7 appropriated in the fiscal year for grants pursuant to this

8 section, except that the United States Virgin Islands,

9 American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Is10 lands shall each be allocated 0.25 percent.

11 (f) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A qualifying State, unit of

12 local government, or Indian tribe may not receive more

13 than 5 percent of the total amount appropriated in each

14 fiscal year for grants under this section, except that a

15 State, together with the grantees within the State may not

16 receive more than 20 percent of the total amount appro17 priated in each fiscal year for grants under this section.

18 (g) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of

19 a program provided by a grant under this section may not

20 exceed 50 percent, unless the Director determines a case

21 of fiscal hardship and waives, wholly or in part, the re22 quirement under this subsection of a non-Federal con23 tribution to the costs of a program.

24 (h) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Not less than 50 per25 cent of the funds awarded under this section in each fiscal
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1 year shall be allocated to units of local government, or In2 dian tribes, having jurisdiction over areas with populations

3 of 100,000 or less.

4 (i) REIMBURSEMENT.—Grants under this section

5 may be used to reimburse law enforcement officers who

6 have previously purchased body armor with personal funds

7 during a period in which body armor was not provided

8 by the State, unit of local government, or Indian tribe.

9 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS.

10 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment

11 of this Act, the Director shall promulgate regulations to

12 carry out this Act, which shall set forth the information

13 that must be included in each application under section

14 4(b) and the requirements that States, units of local gov15 ernment, and Indian tribes must meet in order to receive

16 a grant under section 4.

17 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION OF PRISON INMATE LABOR.

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

19 that receives financial assistance provided using funds ap20 propriated or otherwise made available by this Act may

21 not purchase equipment or products manufactured using

22 prison inmate labor.

23 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

24 In the case of any equipment or product authorized

25 to be purchased with financial assistance provided using
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1 funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this

2 Act, it is the sense of Congress that entities receiving the

3 assistance should, in expending the assistance, purchase

4 only American-made equipment and products.

5 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS.

6 There is authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000

7 for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2003 to carry out

8 this Act.

Passed the Senate March 11, 1998.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.