II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1605

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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 4, 1998

Mr. CAMPBELL (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. HATCH, Mr. D’AMATO, Mr.

FAIRCLOTH, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. REID,

Mr. TORRICELLI, and Mr. DODD) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the number of law enforcement officers who

2 are killed in the line of duty would significantly de3 crease if every law enforcement officer in the United

4 States had the protection of an armor vest while

5 performing their hazardous duties;

6 (2) the Federal Bureau of Investigation esti7 mates that more than 30 percent of the almost

8 1,182 law enforcement officers killed by a firearm in

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

10 been wearing body armor;

11 (3) the Federal Bureau of Investigation esti12 mates that the risk of fatality to law enforcement of13 ficers while not wearing an armor vest is 14 times

14 higher than for officers wearing an armor vest;

15 (4) the Department of Justice estimates that

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

17 enforcement officers, nearly 25 percent, are not

18 issued body armor;

19 (5) the Executive Committee for Indian Coun20 try Law Enforcement Improvements reports that

21 violent crime in Indian country has risen sharply,

22 despite decreases in the national crime rate, and has

23 concluded that there is a ‘‘public safety crisis in In24 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 grant15 ee.

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 State, together with

12 grantees within the State (other than Indian tribes), may

13 not receive more than 5 percent of the total amount appro14 priated in each fiscal year for grants under this section.

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

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

17 exceed 50 percent, unless the Director determines a case

18 of fiscal hardship and waives, wholly or in part, the re19 quirement under this subsection of a non-Federal con20 tribution to the costs of a program.

21 (h) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Not less than 50 per22 cent of the funds awarded under this section in each fiscal

23 year shall be allocated to units of local government, or In24 dian tribes, having jurisdiction over areas with populations

25 of 100,000 or less.
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1 (i) REIMBURSEMENT.—Grants under this section

2 may be used to reimburse law enforcement officers who

3 have previously purchased body armor with personal funds

4 during a period in which body armor was not provided

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

6 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS.

7 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment

8 of this Act, the Director shall promulgate regulations to

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

10 that must be included in each application under section

11 4(b) and the requirements that States, units of local gov12 ernment, and Indian tribes must meet in order to receive

13 a grant under section 4.

14 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION OF PRISON INMATE LABOR.

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

16 that receives financial assistance provided using funds ap17 propriated or otherwise made available by this Act may

18 not purchase equipment or products manufactured using

19 prison inmate labor.

20 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

21 In the case of any equipment or product authorized

22 to be purchased with financial assistance provided using

23 funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this

24 Act, it is the sense of Congress that entities receiving the
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1 assistance should, in expending the assistance, purchase

2 only American-made equipment and products.

3 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS.

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

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

6 this Act.

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