I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4614 

To amend the PROTECT Act to expand the national AMBER Alert system 

to territories of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 4, 2019 

Mr. SABLAN (for himself and Mrs. RADEWAGEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the PROTECT Act to expand the national 

AMBER Alert system to territories of the United States, 

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 ‘‘AMBER Alert Nation5 wide Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COOPERATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

2 SECURITY. 

3 Subtitle A of title III of the PROTECT Act (34 

4 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) in section 301— 

6 (A) in subsection (b)— 

7 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting 

8 ‘‘(including airports, maritime ports, bor9 der crossing areas and checkpoints, and 

10 ports of exit from the United States)’’ 

11 after ‘‘gaps in areas of interstate travel’’; 

12 and 

13 (ii) in paragraphs (2) and (3), by in14 serting ‘‘, territories of the United States, 

15 and tribal governments’’ after ‘‘States’’; 

16 and 

17 (B) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, the 

18 Secretary of Homeland Security,’’ after ‘‘Sec19 retary of Transportation’’; and 

20 (2) in section 302— 

21 (A) in subsection (b), in paragraphs (2), 

22 (3), and (4) by inserting ‘‘, territorial, tribal,’’ 

23 after ‘‘State’’; and 

24 (B) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, 

2 the Secretary of Homeland Security,’’ after 

3 ‘‘Secretary of Transportation’’; and 

4 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, 

5 territorial, tribal,’’ after ‘‘State’’. 

6 SEC. 3. AMBER ALERTS ALONG MAJOR TRANSPORTATION 

7 ROUTES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the PROTECT 

9 Act (34 U.S.C. 20503) is amended— 

10 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

11 MAJOR TRANSPORTATION ROUTES’’ after 

12 ‘‘ALONG HIGHWAYS’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (a)— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(referred to in this sec15 tion as the ‘Secretary’)’’ after ‘‘Secretary of 

16 Transportation’’; and 

17 (B) by inserting ‘‘and at airports, mari18 time ports, border crossing areas and check19 points, and ports of exit from the United 

20 States’’ after ‘‘along highways’’; 

21 (3) in subsection (b)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘other motorist infor24 mation systems to notify motorists’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘other information systems to noVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4614.IH H4614

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1 tify motorists, aircraft passengers, ship 

2 passengers, and travelers’’; and 

3 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, aircraft passengers, 

4 ship passengers, and travelers’’ after ‘‘nec5 essary to notify motorists’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

8 ‘‘other motorist information systems to no9 tify motorists’’ and inserting ‘‘other infor10 mation systems to notify motorists, air11 craft passengers, ship passengers, and 

12 travelers’’; 

13 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 

14 ‘‘, aircraft passengers, ship passengers, 

15 and travelers’’ after ‘‘support the notifica16 tion of motorists’’; 

17 (iii) in subparagraph (E), by inserting 

18 ‘‘, aircraft passengers, ship passengers, 

19 and travelers’’ after ‘‘motorists’’, each 

20 place it appears; 

21 (iv) in subparagraph (F), by inserting 

22 ‘‘, aircraft passengers, ship passengers, 

23 and travelers’’ after ‘‘motorists’’; and 


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1 (v) in subparagraph (G), by inserting 

2 ‘‘, aircraft passengers, ship passengers, 

3 and travelers’’ after ‘‘motorists’’; 

4 (4) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘other motor5 ist information systems to notify motorists’’, each 

6 place it appears, and inserting ‘‘other information 

7 systems to notify motorists, aircraft passengers, ship 

8 passengers, and travelers’’; 

9 (5) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of any ac14 tivities funded by a grant under this section may not 

15 exceed 80 percent. 

16 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—If the Secretary determines 

17 that American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana 

18 Islands, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands of the 

19 United States is unable to comply with the require20 ment under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall waive 

21 such requirement.’’; 

22 (6) in subsection (g)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘In this section’’ and in24 serting ‘‘In this subtitle’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘or Puerto Rico’’ and in2 serting ‘‘American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, 

3 the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Is4 lands of the United States, and any other terri5 tory of the United States’’; and 

6 (7) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 

7 2004’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2019 

8 through 2023’’. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

10 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the PROTECT 

11 Act (Public Law 108–21) is amended by striking the item 

12 relating to section 303 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 303. Grant program for notification and communications systems along 

highways and major transportation routes for recovery of abducted children.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. AMBER ALERT COMMUNICATION PLANS IN THE 

14 TERRITORIES. 

15 Section 304 of the PROTECT Act (34 U.S.C. 20504) 

16 is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (b)(4), by inserting ‘‘a terri18 torial government or’’ after ‘‘with’’; 

19 (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol20 lows: 

21 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of any acVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4614.IH H4614

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1 tivities funded by a grant under this section may not 

2 exceed 50 percent. 

3 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—If the Attorney General deter4 mines that American Samoa, Guam, the Northern 

5 Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of 

6 the United States, or an Indian tribe is unable to 

7 comply with the requirement under paragraph (1), 

8 the Attorney General shall waive such require9 ment.’’; and 

10 (3) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, including 

11 territories of the United States’’ before the period at 

12 the end. 

13 SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

16 shall conduct a study assessing— 

17 (1) the implementation of the amendments 

18 made by this Act; 

19 (2) any challenges related to integrating the 

20 territories of the United States into the AMBER 

21 Alert system; 

22 (3) the readiness, educational, technological, 

23 and training needs of territorial law enforcement 

24 agencies in responding to cases involving missing, 

25 abducted, or exploited children; and 


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1 (4) any other related matters the Attorney Gen2 eral or the Secretary of Transportation determines 

3 appropriate. 

4 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General 

5 shall submit a report on the findings of the study required 

6 under subsection (a) to— 

7 (1) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 

8 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

9 Senate; 

10 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 

11 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

12 the House of Representatives; and 

13 (3) each of the delegates or resident commis14 sioner to the House of Representatives from Amer15 ican Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, 

16 Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands of the United 

17 States. 

18 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Comptroller Gen19 eral shall make the report required under subsection (b) 

20 available on a public Government website. 

21 (d) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 

23 may secure information necessary to conduct the 

24 study under subsection (a) directly from any Federal 

25 agency and from any territorial government receivVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4614.IH H4614

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1 ing grant funding under the PROTECT Act. Upon 

2 request of the Comptroller General, the head of a 

3 Federal agency or territorial government shall fur4 nish the requested information to the Comptroller 

5 General. 

6 (2) AGENCY RECORDS.—Notwithstanding para7 graph (1), nothing in this subsection shall require a 

8 Federal agency or any territorial government to 

9 produce records subject to a common law evidentiary 

10 privilege. Records and information shared with the 

11 Comptroller General shall continue to be subject to 

12 withholding under sections 552 and 552a of title 5, 

13 United States Code. The Comptroller General is ob14 ligated to give the information the same level of con15 fidentiality and protection required of the Federal 

16 agency or territorial government. The Comptroller 

17 General may be requested to sign a nondisclosure or 

18 other agreement as a condition of gaining access to 

19 sensitive or proprietary data to which the Comp20 troller General is entitled. 

21 (3) PRIVACY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.— 

22 The Comptroller General, and any Federal agency 

23 and any territorial government that provides infor24 mation to the Comptroller General, shall take such 


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1 actions as are necessary to ensure the protection of 

2 the personal information of a minor. 

Æ 


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