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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 186

To ensure the safety of witnesses and to promote notification of the interstate

relocation of witnesses by States and localities engaging in that relocation, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. MCCOLLUM (for himself, Mr. CABOT, Mr. HUTCHINSON, and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To ensure the safety of witnesses and to promote notification

of the interstate relocation of witnesses by States and

localities engaging in that relocation, 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 ‘‘Witness Protection and

5 Interstate Relocation Act of 1999’’.
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1 TITLE I—GANG-RELATED WIT2 NESS INTIMIDATION AND RE3 TALIATION

4 SEC. 101. INTERSTATE TRAVEL TO ENGAGE IN WITNESS IN5 TIMIDATION OR OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE.

6 Section 1952 of title 18, United States Code, is

7 amended—

8 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as

9 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow11 ing:

12 ‘‘(b) Whoever travels in interstate or foreign com13 merce with intent by bribery, force, intimidation, or

14 threat, directed against any person, to delay or influence

15 the testimony of or prevent from testifying a witness in

16 a State criminal proceeding or by any such means to cause

17 any person to destroy, alter, or conceal a record, docu18 ment, or other object, with intent to impair the object’s

19 integrity or availability for use in such a proceeding, and

20 thereafter engages or endeavors to engage in such con21 duct, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more

22 than 10 years, or both; and if serious bodily injury (as

23 defined in section 1365 of this title) results, shall be so

24 fined or imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both;

25 and if death results, shall be so fined and imprisoned for
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1 any term of years or for life, or both, and may be sen2 tenced to death.’’.

3 SEC. 102. CONSPIRACY PENALTY FOR OBSTRUCTION OF

4 JUSTICE OFFENSES INVOLVING VICTIMS,

5 WITNESSES, AND INFORMANTS.

6 Section 1512 of title 18, United States Code, is

7 amended by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(j) Whoever conspires to commit any offense defined

9 in this section or section 1513 of this title shall be subject

10 to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense

11 the commission of which was the object of the conspir12 acy.’’.

13 TITLE II—WITNESS RELOCATION

14 AND SAFETY

15 SEC. 201. WITNESS RELOCATION SURVEY AND TRAINING

16 PROGRAM.

17 (a) SURVEY.—The Attorney General shall survey all

18 State and selected local witness protection and relocation

19 programs to determine the extent and nature of such pro20 grams and the training needs of those programs. Not later

21 than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this sec22 tion, the Attorney General shall report the results of this

23 survey to Congress.

24 (b) TRAINING.—Based on the results of such survey,

25 the Attorney General shall make available to State and
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1 local law enforcement agencies training to assist those law

2 enforcement agencies in developing and managing witness

3 protection and relocation programs.

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

5 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsections

6 (a) and (b) for fiscal year 1999 not to exceed $500,000.

7 SEC. 202. FEDERAL-STATE COORDINATION AND COOPERA8 TION REGARDING NOTIFICATION OF INTER9 STATE WITNESS RELOCATION.

10 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL TO PROMOTE INTERSTATE

11 COORDINATION.—The Attorney General shall engage in

12 activities, including the establishment of a model Memo13 randum of Understanding under subsection (b), which

14 promote coordination among State and local witness inter15 state relocation programs.

16 (b) MODEL MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—

17 The Attorney General shall establish a model Memoran18 dum of Understanding for States and localities that en19 gage in interstate witness relocation. Such a model Memo20 randum of Understanding shall include a requirement that

21 notice be provided to the jurisdiction to which the reloca22 tion has been made by the State or local law enforcement

23 agency that relocates a witness to another State who has

24 been arrested for or convicted of a crime of violence as

25 described in section 16 of title 18, United States Code.
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1 (c) BYRNE GRANT ASSISTANCE.—The Attorney Gen2 eral is authorized to expend up to 10 percent of the total

3 amount appropriated under section 511 of subpart 2 of

4 part E of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets

5 Act of 1968 for purposes of making grants pursuant to

6 section 510 of that Act to those jurisdictions that have

7 interstate witness relocation programs and that have sub8 stantially followed the model Memorandum of Under9 standing.

10 (d) GUIDELINES AND DETERMINATION OF ELIGI11 BILITY.—The Attorney General shall establish guidelines

12 relating to the implementation of subsection (c) and shall

13 determine, consistent with such guidelines, which jurisdic14 tions are eligible for grants under subsection (c).

15 SEC. 203. BYRNE GRANTS.

16 Section 501(b) of the Omnibus Crime Control and

17 Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended—

18 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

19 (25);

20 (2) by striking the period at the end paragraph

21 (26) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

22 (3) by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(27) developing and maintaining witness secu24 rity and relocation programs, including providing
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1 training of personnel in the effective management of

2 such programs.’’.

3 SEC. 204. DEFINITION.

4 As used in this title, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the

5 District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any other common6 wealth, territory, or possession of the United States.

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