Calendar No. 315

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1605

A BILL

To establish a matching grant program to help

forcement officers.tribes to purchase armor vests for use by law enStates, units of local government, and Indian

FEBRUARY 26, 1998

Reported with an amendment
II

Calendar No. 315

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, Mr. DODD, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr.

REED, Mr. KOHL, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

FEBRUARY 26, 1998

Reported by Mr. HATCH, with an amendment

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

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,
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S 1605 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bulletproof Vest Part3 nership Act of 1998’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

6 (1) the number of law enforcement officers who

7 are killed in the line of duty would significantly de8 crease if every law enforcement officer in the United

9 States had the protection of an armor vest while

10 performing their hazardous duties;

11 (2) the Federal Bureau of Investigation esti12 mates that more than 30 percent of the almost

13 1,182 law enforcement officers killed by a firearm in

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

15 been wearing body armor;

16 (3) the Federal Bureau of Investigation esti17 mates that the risk of fatality to law enforcement of18 ficers while not wearing an armor vest is 14 times

19 higher than for officers wearing an armor vest;

20 (4) the Department of Justice estimates that

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

22 enforcement officers, nearly 25 percent, are not

23 issued body armor;

24 (5) the Executive Committee for Indian Coun25 try Law Enforcement Improvements reports that

26 violent crime in Indian country has risen sharply,
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S 1605 RS

1 despite decreases in the national crime rate, and has

2 concluded that there is a ‘‘public safety crisis in In3 dian country’’; and

4 (6) many State, local, and tribal law enforce5 ment agencies, especially those in smaller commu6 nities and rural jurisdictions, need assistance in

7 order to provide body armor for their officers.

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

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

10 and tribal law enforcement agencies provide those officers

11 with armor vests.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 In this Act:

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

15 means body armor that has been tested through the

16 voluntary compliance testing program operated by

17 the National Law Enforcement and Corrections

18 Technology Center of the National Institute of Jus19 tice (NIJ), and found to comply with the require20 ments of NIJ Standard 0101.03, or any subsequent

21 revision of that standard.

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

23 means any product sold or offered for sale as per24 sonal protective body covering intended to protect

25 against gunfire, stabbing, or other physical harm.
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1 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means

2 the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance of

3 the Department of Justice.

4 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

5 has the same meaning as in section 4(e) of the In6 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance

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

8 (5) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term

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

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

11 Indian tribe authorized by law or by a government

12 agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, de13 tection, or investigation of any violation of criminal

14 law, or authorized by law to supervise sentenced

15 criminal offenders.

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

17 the several States of the United States, the District

18 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the

19 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the

20 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

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

22 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means a county, munici23 pality, town, township, village, parish, borough, or

24 other unit of general government below the State

25 level.
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1 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

2 (a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Director may

3 make grants to States, units of local government, and In4 dian tribes in accordance with this Act to purchase armor

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

6 officers.

7 (b) APPLICATIONS.—Each State, unit of local govern8 ment, or Indian tribe seeking to receive a grant under this

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

10 form and containing such information as the Director may

11 reasonably require.

12 (c) USES OF FUNDS.—Grant awards under this sec13 tion shall be—

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

15 local government, or Indian tribe; and

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

17 enforcement officers in the jurisdiction of the

18 grantee.

19 (d) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding

20 grants under this section, the Director may give pref21 erential consideration, where feasible, to applications from

22 jurisdictions that—

23 (1) have a violent crime rate at or above the na24 tional average, as determined by the Federal Bureau

25 of Investigation; and
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1 (2) have not been providing each law enforce2 ment officer assigned to patrol or other hazardous

3 duties with body armor.

4 (e) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Unless all applications sub5 mitted by any State, unit of local government, or Indian

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

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

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

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

10 appropriated in the fiscal year for grants pursuant to this

11 section, except that the United States Virgin Islands,

12 American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Is13 lands shall each be allocated 0.25 percent.

14 (f) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A State, together with

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

16 not receive more than 5 percent of the total amount appro17 priated in each fiscal year for grants under this section.

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

19 local government, or Indian tribe may not receive more

20 than 5 percent of the total amount appropriated in each

21 fiscal year for grants under this section, except that a State,

22 together with the grantees within the State may not receive

23 more than 20 percent of the total amount appropriated in

24 each fiscal year for grants under this section.
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1 (g) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of

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

3 exceed 50 percent, unless the Director determines a case

4 of fiscal hardship and waives, wholly or in part, the re5 quirement under this subsection of a non-Federal con6 tribution to the costs of a program.

7 (h) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Not less than 50 per8 cent of the funds awarded under this section in each fiscal

9 year shall be allocated to units of local government, or In10 dian tribes, having jurisdiction over areas with populations

11 of 100,000 or less.

12 (i) REIMBURSEMENT.—Grants under this section

13 may be used to reimburse law enforcement officers who

14 have previously purchased body armor with personal funds

15 during a period in which body armor was not provided

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

17 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS.

18 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment

19 of this Act, the Director shall promulgate regulations to

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

21 that must be included in each application under section

22 4(b) and the requirements that States, units of local gov23 ernment, and Indian tribes must meet in order to receive

24 a grant under section 4.
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1 SEC. 6. 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. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

8 In the case of any equipment or product authorized

9 to be purchased with financial assistance provided using

10 funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this

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

12 assistance should, in expending the assistance, purchase

13 only American-made equipment and products.

14 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS.

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

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

17 this Act.