I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1714 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense 

to make certain limitations on the transfer of personal property to 

Federal and State agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2019 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GREEN of Texas, 

Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. OCASIOCORTEZ, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 

Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, 

Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Mr. BEYER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 

JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. WILSON of Florida, 

Ms. MOORE, Ms. OMAR, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. NADLER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. SERRANO, 

Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. AMASH, Ms. BASS, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. 

CLAY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. WATERS, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. TONKO, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. TLAIB, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense to make certain limitations on the 

transfer of personal property to Federal and State agencies, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Stop Militarizing Law 

5 Enforcement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Under section 2576a of title 10, United 

9 States Code, the Department of Defense is author10 ized to provide excess property to local law enforce11 ment agencies. The Defense Logistics Agency, ad12 ministers such section by operating the Law En13 forcement Support Office program. 

14 (2) New and used material, including mine-re15 sistant ambush-protected vehicles and weapons de16 termined by the Department of Defense to be ‘‘mili17 tary grade’’ are transferred to Federal, Tribal, 

18 State, and local law enforcement agencies through 

19 the program. 

20 (3) As a result local law enforcement agencies, 

21 including police and sheriff’s departments, are ac22 quiring this material for use in their normal oper23 ations. 

24 (4) As a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghani25 stan, military equipment purchased for, and used in, 


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1 those wars has become excess property and has been 

2 made available for transfer to local and Federal law 

3 enforcement agencies. 

4 (5) In Fiscal Year 2017, $504,000,000 worth 

5 of property was transferred to law enforcement 

6 agencies. 

7 (6) More than $6,800,000,000 worth of weap8 ons and equipment have been transferred to police 

9 organizations in all 50 States and four territories 

10 through the program. 

11 (7) In May 2012, the Defense Logistics Agency 

12 instituted a moratorium on weapons transfers 

13 through the program after reports of missing equip14 ment and inappropriate weapons transfers. 

15 (8) Though the moratorium was widely pub16 licized, it was lifted in October 2013 without ade17 quate safeguards. 

18 (9) On January 16, 2015, President Barack 

19 Obama issued Executive Order 13688 to better co20 ordinate and regulate the federal transfer of military 

21 weapons and equipment to State, local, and Tribal 

22 law enforcement agencies. 

23 (10) In July, 2017, the Government Account24 ability Office reported that the program’s internal 


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1 controls were inadequate to prevent fraudulent appli2 cants’ access to the program. 

3 (11) On August, 28, 2017, President Donald 

4 Trump rescinded Executive Order 13688 despite a 

5 July 2017 Government Accountability Office report 

6 finding deficiencies with the administration of the 

7 1033 program. 

8 (12) As a result, Federal, State, and local law 

9 enforcement departments across the country are eli10 gible again to acquire free ‘‘military-grade’’ weapons 

11 and equipment that could be used inappropriately 

12 during policing efforts in which people and taxpayers 

13 could be harmed. 

14 (13) The Department of Defense categorizes 

15 equipment eligible for transfer under the 1033 pro16 gram as ‘‘controlled’’ and ‘‘un-controlled’’ equip17 ment. ‘‘Controlled equipment’’ includes weapons, ex18 plosives such as flash-bang grenades, mine-resistant 

19 ambush-protected vehicles, long-range acoustic de20 vices, aircraft capable of being modified to carry ar21 mament that are combat coded, and silencers, 

22 among other military grade items. 


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1 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TRANS2 FER OF PERSONAL PROPERTY TO LOCAL LAW 

3 ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2576a of title 10, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking 

8 ‘‘counterdrug, counterterrorism, and border se9 curity activities’’ and inserting ‘‘counterter10 rorism’’; and 

11 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘, the 

12 Director of National Drug Control Policy,’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (b)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

15 the end; 

16 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe17 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraphs: 

20 ‘‘(7) the recipient submits to the Department of 

21 Defense a description of how the recipient expects to 

22 use the property; 

23 ‘‘(8) the recipient certifies to the Department of 

24 Defense that if the recipient determines that the 

25 property is surplus to the needs of the recipient, the 


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1 recipient will return the property to the Department 

2 of Defense; 

3 ‘‘(9) with respect to a recipient that is not a 

4 Federal agency, the recipient certifies to the Depart5 ment of Defense that the recipient notified the local 

6 community of the request for personal property 

7 under this section by— 

8 ‘‘(A) publishing a notice of such request on 

9 a publicly accessible Internet website; 

10 ‘‘(B) posting such notice at several promi11 nent locations in the jurisdiction of the recipi12 ent; and 

13 ‘‘(C) ensuring that such notices were avail14 able to the local community for a period of not 

15 less than 30 days; and 

16 ‘‘(10) the recipient has received the approval of 

17 the city council or other local governing body to ac18 quire the personal property sought under this sec19 tion.’’; 

20 (3) by striking subsection (d); 

21 (4) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

22 subsections (o) and (p), respectively; and 

23 (5) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol24 lowing new subsections: 


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1 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION ACCOUNTING FOR

2 TRANSFERRED PROPERTY.—(1) For each fiscal year, the 

3 Secretary shall submit to Congress certification in writing 

4 that each Federal or State agency to which the Secretary 

5 has transferred property under this section— 

6 ‘‘(A) has provided to the Secretary documenta7 tion accounting for all controlled property, including 

8 arms and ammunition, that the Secretary has trans9 ferred to the agency, including any item described in 

10 subsection (f) so transferred before the date of the 

11 enactment of the Stop Militarizing Law Enforce12 ment Act; and 

13 ‘‘(B) with respect to a non-Federal agency, car14 ried out each of paragraphs (5) through (8) of sub15 section (b). 

16 ‘‘(2) If the Secretary cannot provide a certification 

17 under paragraph (1) for a Federal or State agency, the 

18 Secretary may not transfer additional property to that 

19 agency under this section. 

20 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT ON EXCESS PROPERTY.—Be21 fore making any property available for transfer under this 

22 section, the Secretary shall annually submit to Congress 

23 a description of the property to be transferred together 

24 with a certification that the transfer of the property would 

25 not violate this section or any other provision of law. 


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1 ‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFERS.—(1) The Sec2 retary may not transfer to Federal, Tribal, State, or local 

3 law enforcement agencies the following under this section: 

4 ‘‘(A) Controlled firearms, ammunition, bayo5 nets, grenade launchers, grenades (including stun 

6 and flash-bang) and explosives. 

7 ‘‘(B) Controlled vehicles, highly mobile multi8 wheeled vehicles, mine-resistant ambush-protected 

9 vehicles, trucks, truck dump, truck utility, and truck 

10 carryall. 

11 ‘‘(C) Drones that are armored, weaponized, or 

12 both. 

13 ‘‘(D) Controlled aircraft that— 

14 ‘‘(i) are combat configured or combat 

15 coded; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) have no established commercial flight 

17 application. 

18 ‘‘(E) Silencers. 

19 ‘‘(F) Long-range acoustic devices. 

20 ‘‘(G) Items in the Federal Supply Class of 

21 banned items. 

22 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not require, as a condition 

23 of a transfer under this section, that a Federal or State 

24 agency demonstrate the use of any small arms or ammuni25 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The limitations under this subsection shall also 

2 apply with respect to the transfer of previously transferred 

3 property of the Department of Defense from one Federal 

4 or State agency to another such agency. 

5 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary may waive the applicability of 

6 paragraph (1) to a vehicle described in subparagraph (B) 

7 of such paragraph (other than a mine-resistant ambush8 protected vehicle), if the Secretary determines that such 

9 a waiver is necessary for disaster or rescue purposes or 

10 for another purpose where life and public safety are at 

11 risk, as demonstrated by the proposed recipient of the ve12 hicle. 

13 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary issues a waiver under subpara14 graph (A), the Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) submit to Congress notice of the waiver, 

16 and post such notice on a public Internet website of 

17 the Department, by not later than 30 days after the 

18 date on which the waiver is issued; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) require, as a condition of the waiver, that 

20 the recipient of the vehicle for which the waiver is 

21 issued provides public notice of the waiver and the 

22 transfer, including the type of vehicle and the pur23 pose for which it is transferred, in the jurisdiction 

24 where the recipient is located by not later than 30 

25 days after the date on which the waiver is issued. 


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1 ‘‘(5) The Secretary may provide for an exemption to 

2 the limitation under subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) 

3 in the case of parts for aircraft described in such subpara4 graph that are transferred as part of regular maintenance 

5 of aircraft in an existing fleet. 

6 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall require, as a condition of 

7 any transfer of property under this section, that the Fed8 eral or State agency that receives the property shall return 

9 the property to the Secretary if the agency— 

10 ‘‘(A) is investigated by the Department of Jus11 tice for any violation of civil liberties; or 

12 ‘‘(B) is otherwise found to have engaged in 

13 widespread abuses of civil liberties. 

14 ‘‘(g) CONDITIONS FOR EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.— 

15 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts au16 thorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available 

17 for any fiscal year may not be obligated or expended to 

18 carry out this section unless the Secretary submits to Con19 gress certification that for the preceding fiscal year that— 

20 ‘‘(1) each Federal or State agency that has re21 ceived controlled property transferred under this sec22 tion has— 

23 ‘‘(A) demonstrated 100 percent account24 ability for all such property, in accordance with 

25 paragraph (2) or (3), as applicable; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) been suspended from the program 

2 pursuant to paragraph (4); 

3 ‘‘(2) with respect to each non-Federal agency 

4 that has received controlled property under this sec5 tion, the State coordinator responsible for each such 

6 agency has verified that the coordinator or an agent 

7 of the coordinator has conducted an in-person inven8 tory of the property transferred to the agency and 

9 that 100 percent of such property was accounted for 

10 during the inventory or that the agency has been 

11 suspended from the program pursuant to paragraph 

12 (4); 

13 ‘‘(3) with respect to each Federal agency that 

14 has received controlled property under this section, 

15 the Secretary of Defense or an agent of the Sec16 retary has conducted an in-person inventory of the 

17 property transferred to the agency and that 100 per18 cent of such property was accounted for during the 

19 inventory or that the agency has been suspended 

20 from the program pursuant to paragraph (4); 

21 ‘‘(4) the eligibility of any agency that has re22 ceived controlled property under this section for 

23 which 100 percent of the property was not ac24 counted for during an inventory described in para25 graph (1) or (2), as applicable, to receive any propVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714

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1 erty transferred under this section has been sus2 pended; and 

3 ‘‘(5) each State coordinator has certified, for 

4 each non-Federal agency located in the State for 

5 which the State coordinator is responsible that— 

6 ‘‘(A) the agency has complied with all re7 quirements under this section; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the eligibility of the agency to receive 

9 property transferred under this section has been 

10 suspended; and 

11 ‘‘(6) the Secretary of Defense has certified, for 

12 each Federal agency that has received property 

13 under this section that— 

14 ‘‘(A) the agency has complied with all re15 quirements under this section; or 

16 ‘‘(B) the eligibility of the agency to receive 

17 property transferred under this section has been 

18 suspended. 

19 ‘‘(h) PROHIBITION ON OWNERSHIP OF CONTROLLED

20 PROPERTY.—A Federal or State agency that receives con21 trolled property under this section may never take owner22 ship of the property. 

23 ‘‘(i) NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF PROPERTY DOWN24 GRADES.—Not later than 30 days before downgrading the 

25 classification of any item of personal property from conVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714

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1 trolled or Federal Supply Class, the Secretary shall submit 

2 to Congress notice of the proposed downgrade. 

3 ‘‘(j) NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF PROPERTY CANNIBAL4 IZATION.—Before the Defense Logistics Agency author5 izes the recipient of property transferred under this sec6 tion to cannibalize the property, the Secretary shall submit 

7 to Congress notice of such authorization, including the 

8 name of the recipient requesting the authorization, the 

9 purpose of the proposed cannibalization, and the type of 

10 property proposed to be cannibalized. 

11 ‘‘(k) QUARTERLY REPORTS ON USE OF CONTROLLED

12 EQUIPMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the last day 

13 of a fiscal quarter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

14 a report on any uses of controlled property transferred 

15 under this section during that fiscal quarter. 

16 ‘‘(l) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 

17 days after the last day of a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

18 submit to Congress a report on the following for the pre19 ceding fiscal year: 

20 ‘‘(1) The percentage of equipment lost by re21 cipients of property transferred under this section, 

22 including specific information about the type of 

23 property lost, the monetary value of such property, 

24 and the recipient that lost the property. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The transfer of any new (condition code 

2 A) property transferred under this section, including 

3 specific information about the type of property, the 

4 recipient of the property, the monetary value of each 

5 item of the property, and the total monetary value 

6 of all such property transferred during the fiscal 

7 year.’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any transfer of 

10 property made after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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