II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1621

To provide that certain Federal property shall be made available to States

for State use before being made available to other entities, and for

other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 10, 1998

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

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To provide that certain Federal property shall be made available to States for State use before being made available

to other entities, 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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Surplus Prop5 erty Improvement Act of 1998’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PRIORITY TO STATES FOR THE TRANSFER OF NON2 LETHAL EXCESS SUPPLIES OF THE DEPART3 MENT OF DEFENSE.

4 Section 2547 of title 10, United States Code, is

5 amended—

6 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The Sec7 retary of Defense’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to sub8 section (d), the Secretary of Defense’’;

9 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub10 section (e); and

11 (3) by inserting after subsection (c), the follow12 ing:

13 ‘‘(d) Nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of

14 Defense shall be made available to a State, a local govern15 ment of a State, or a possession, upon the request of the

16 State, local government, or possession pursuant to author17 ity provided in another provision of law, before such sup18 plies are made available for humanitarian relief purposes

19 under this section. The President may make such supplies

20 available for humanitarian purposes before such supplies

21 are made available to a State, local government, or posses22 sion under this subsection in order to respond to an emer23 gency precipitated by a natural disaster.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. TRANSFERS OF PROPERTY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL

2 PROTECTION IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

3 Section 607 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

4 (22 U.S.C. 2357(d)) is amended—

5 (1) in subsection (d)—

6 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2),

7 and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), respec8 tively;

9 (B) by striking ‘‘(d) The’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (3),

11 the’’; and

12 (C) by adding at the end of the following:

13 ‘‘(2) No property may be transferred under para14 graph (1) unless the Administrator of General Services de15 termines that there is no Federal or State use require16 ments for the property under any other provision of law.’’;

17 and

18 (2) by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(e) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the transfer

20 of confiscated property to foreign countries.’’.

21 SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO SMALL BUSINESS ACT

22 Section 7(j)(13)(F) of the Small Business Act (15

23 U.S.C. 636(j)(13)(F) is amended—

24 (1) by striking the third sentence; and

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘This

26 subparagraph shall be carried out with the oversight
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1 of the Administrator of General Services in consulta2 tion with State agencies responsible for the distribu3 tion of surplus property.’’.

4 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SCIENCE EDUCATION EN5 HANCEMENT ACT AMENDMENT.

6 Section 3166(b) of the Department of Energy

7 Science Education Enhancement Act (42 U.S.C. 7381c

8 (b)) is amended—

9 (1) by striking paragraph (2); and

10 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through

11 (6) as paragraphs (2) through (5), respectively.

12 SEC. 6. REPORT ON DISPOSAL AND DONATION SURPLUS

13 PERSONAL PROPERTY.

14 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment

15 of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall

16 review all statutes relating to the disposal and donation

17 of surplus personal property and submit to Congress a re18 port on such statutes including—

19 (1) the effectiveness of programs administered

20 under such statutes (except for any program that

21 grants access to personal property by local commu22 nities impacted by the closure of a military base),

23 and the amount and type of property administered

24 under each such program during fiscal years 1997

25 and 1998; and
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1 (2) legislative recommendations to integrate

2 and consolidate all such programs to be adminis3 tered by a single Federal authority working with

4 State agencies while accomplishing the purposes of

5 such programs.

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