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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5478 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5478

   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

                           September 16, 2014

   Mr. Johnson of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Labrador, Mr. Amash, Mr. 
McClintock, Mr. Moran, and Mr. Conyers) 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Under section 2576a of title 10, United States Code, 
        the Department of Defense is authorized to provide excess 
        property to local law enforcement agencies. The Defense 
        Logistics Agency, administers such section by operating the Law 
        Enforcement Support Office program.
            (2) New and used material, including mine-resistant ambush-
        protected vehicles and weapons determined by the Department of 
        Defense to be ``military grade'' are transferred to local law 
        enforcement agencies through the program.
            (3) As a result local law enforcement agencies, including 
        police and sheriff's departments, are acquiring this material 
        for use in their normal operations.
            (4) The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to an 
        increase in the transfer of military equipment to local law 
        enforcement agencies.
            (5) According to public reports, approximately 12,000 
        police organizations across the country were able to procure 
        nearly $500,000,000 worth of excess military merchandise 
        including firearms, computers, helicopters, clothing, and other 
        products, at no charge during fiscal year 2011 alone.
            (6) More than $4,000,000,000 worth of weapons and equipment 
        have been transferred to police organizations in all 50 states 
        and four territories through the program.
            (7) In May 2012, the Defense Logistics Agency instituted a 
        moratorium on weapons transfers through the program after 
        reports of missing equipment and inappropriate weapons 
        transfers.
            (8) Though the moratorium was widely publicized, it was 
        lifted in October 2013 without adequate safeguards.
            (9) As a result, Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
        departments across the country are eligible again to acquire 
        free ``military-grade'' weapons and equipment that could be 
        used inappropriately during policing efforts in which citizens 
        and taxpayers could be harmed.
            (10) Pursuant to section III(J) of a Defense Logistics 
        Agency memorandum of understanding, property obtained through 
        the program must be placed into use within one year of receipt, 
        possibly providing an incentive for the unnecessary and 
        potentially dangerous use of ``military grade'' equipment by 
        local law enforcement.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TRANSFER OF PERSONAL 
              PROPERTY TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 2576a of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``counter-drug 
                and''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and the 
                Director of National Drug Control Policy'';
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and 
                inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraphs:
            ``(5) the recipient certifies to the Department of Defense 
        that it has the personnel and technical capacity, including 
        training, to operate the property;
            ``(6) the recipient submits to the Department of Defense a 
        description of how the recipient expects to use the property;
            ``(7) the recipient certifies to the Department of Defense 
        that if the recipient determines that the property is surplus 
        to the needs of the recipient, the recipient will return the 
        property to the Department of Defense; and
            ``(8) with respect to a recipient that is not a Federal 
        agency, the recipient certifies to the Department of Defense 
        that the recipient notified the local community of the request 
        for personal property under this section by--
                    ``(A) publishing a notice of such request on a 
                publicly accessible Internet website;
                    ``(B) posting such notice at several prominent 
                locations in the jurisdiction of the recipient; and
                    ``(C) ensuring that such notices were available to 
                the local community for a period of not less than 30 
                days.'';
            (3) by striking subsection (d); and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(d) Annual Certification Accounting for Transferred Property.--
(1) For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 
certification in writing that each Federal or State agency to which the 
Secretary has transferred property under this section--
            ``(A) has provided to the Secretary documentation 
        accounting for all personal property, including arms and 
        ammunition, that the Secretary has transferred to the agency, 
        including any item described in subsection (f) so transferred 
        before the date of the enactment of the Stop Militarizing Law 
        Enforcement Act; and
            ``(B) with respect to a non-Federal agency, carried out 
        each of paragraphs (5) through (8) of subsection (b).
    ``(2) If the Secretary cannot provide a certification under 
paragraph (1) for a Federal or State agency, the Secretary may not 
transfer additional property to that agency under this section.
    ``(e) Annual Report on Excess Property.--Before making any property 
available for transfer under this section, the Secretary shall annually 
submit to Congress a description of the property to be transferred 
together with a certification that the transfer of the property would 
not violate this section or any other provision of law.
    ``(f) Limitations on Transfers.--(1) The Secretary may not transfer 
the following personal property of the Department of Defense under this 
section:
            ``(A) Automatic weapons not generally recognized as 
        particularly suitable for law enforcement purposes.
            ``(B) Any weapons that are .50 caliber or greater.
            ``(C) Tactical vehicles, including highly mobile multi-
        wheeled vehicles, armored vehicles, and mine-resistant ambush-
        protected vehicles.
            ``(D) Drones that are armored, weaponized, or both.
            ``(E) Aircraft that--
                    ``(i) are combat configured or combat coded; or
                    ``(ii) have no established commercial flight 
                application.
            ``(F) Grenades and similar explosives, including flash-bang 
        grenades and stun grenades, and grenade launchers.
            ``(G) Silencers.
            ``(H) Long range acoustic devices.
    ``(2) The Secretary may not require, as a condition of a transfer 
under this section, that a Federal or State agency demonstrate the use 
of any small arms or ammunition.
    ``(3) The Secretary shall take such steps as may be necessary to 
ensure that no item referred to in paragraph (1) is transferred under 
this section from one Federal or State agency to another such agency.
    ``(g) Conditions for Extension of Program.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, amounts authorized to be appropriated or 
otherwise made available for any fiscal year may not be obligated or 
expended to carry out this section unless the Secretary submits to 
Congress certification that for the preceding fiscal year that--
            ``(1) each Federal or State agency that has received 
        property under this section has--
                    ``(A) demonstrated 100 percent accountability for 
                all such property, in accordance with paragraph (2) or 
                (3), as applicable; or
                    ``(B) been suspended from the program pursuant to 
                paragraph (4);
            ``(2) with respect to each non-Federal agency that has 
        received property under this section, the State coordinator 
        responsible for each such agency has verified that the 
        coordinator or an agent of the coordinator has conducted an in-
        person inventory of the property transferred to the agency and 
        that 100 percent of such property was accounted for during the 
        inventory or that the agency has been suspended from the 
        program pursuant to paragraph (4);
            ``(3) with respect to each Federal agency that has received 
        property under this section, the Secretary of Defense or an 
        agent of the Secretary has conducted an in-person inventory of 
        the property transferred to the agency and that 100 percent of 
        such property was accounted for during the inventory or that 
        the agency has been suspended from the program pursuant to 
        paragraph (4);
            ``(4) the eligibility of any agency that has received 
        property under this section for which 100 percent of the 
        equipment was not accounted for during an inventory described 
        in paragraph (2) or (3), as applicable, to receive property 
        transferred under this section has been suspended;
            ``(5) each State coordinator has certified, for each non-
        Federal agency located in the State for which the State 
        coordinator is responsible that--
                    ``(A) the agency has complied with all requirements 
                under this section; or
                    ``(B) the eligibility of the agency to receive 
                property transferred under this section has been 
                suspended; and
            ``(6) the Secretary of Defense has certified, for each 
        Federal agency that has received property under this section 
        that--
                    ``(A) the agency has complied with all requirements 
                under this section; or
                    ``(B) the eligibility of the agency to receive 
                property transferred under this section has been 
                suspended.
    ``(h) Website.--The Defense Logistics Agency shall maintain an 
Internet website on which the following information shall be made 
publicly available:
            ``(1) A description of each transfer made under this 
        section, including transfers made before and after the date of 
        the enactment of the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act, 
        broken down by State, county, and recipient.
            ``(2) During the 30-day period preceding the date on which 
        any property is transferred under this section, a description 
        of the property to be transferred and the recipient of the 
        transferred items.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to any transfer of property made after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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