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Union Calendar No. 139

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1007

[Report No. 107–193, Part I]

To limit access to body armor by violent felons and to facilitate the donation

of Federal surplus body armor to State and local law enforcement agencies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 13, 2001

Mr. STUPAK (for himself, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. SCOTT, Mrs. MALONEY of

New York, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mrs.

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FRANK, Mr. KELLER, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. WALSH, Ms. RIVERS, Mr.

MCHUGH, Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. OXLEY, Ms.

MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. SOUDER,

Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. GORDON, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SHERMAN,

Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon,

Mrs. MORELLA, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. REYES,

Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mrs. THURMAN, and Mr. VISCLOSKY) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, 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

AUGUST 2, 2001

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

AUGUST 2, 2001

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform extended for a period

ending not later than September 21, 2001

SEPTEMBER 21, 2001

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform extended for a period

ending not later than September 28, 2001
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SEPTEMBER 28, 2001

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform extended for a period

ending not later than October 5, 2001

OCTOBER 5, 2001

Additional sponsors: Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. WOLF, Mr.

BLUMENAUER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. LANTOS, Mr.

BOEHLERT, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Ms.

LOFGREN, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. HORN, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY,

Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. RUSH, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. WEINER, Mr. CALVERT, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, and Mr. LEVIN

OCTOBER 5, 2001

The Committee on Government Reform discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be

printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 13, 2001]

A BILL

To limit access to body armor by violent felons and to

facilitate the donation of Federal surplus body armor

to State and local law enforcement agencies.

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 ‘‘James Guelff and Chris

5 McCurley Body Armor Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) nationally, police officers and ordinary citi9 zens are facing increased danger as criminals use
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1 more deadly weaponry, body armor, and other sophis2 ticated assault gear;

3 (2) crime at the local level is exacerbated by the

4 interstate movement of body armor and other assault

5 gear;

6 (3) there is a traffic in body armor moving in

7 or otherwise affecting interstate commerce, and exist8 ing Federal controls over such traffic do not ade9 quately enable the States to control this traffic within

10 their own borders through the exercise of their police

11 power;

12 (4) recent incidents, such as the murder of San

13 Francisco Police Officer James Guelff by an assailant

14 wearing 2 layers of body armor, a 1997 bank shoot

15 out in north Hollywood, California, between police

16 and 2 heavily armed suspects outfitted in body

17 armor, and the 1997 murder of Captain Chris

18 McCurley of the Etowah County, Alabama Drug Task

19 Force by a drug dealer shielded by protective body

20 armor, demonstrate the serious threat to community

21 safety posed by criminals who wear body armor dur22 ing the commission of a violent crime;

23 (5) of the approximately 1,200 officers killed in

24 the line of duty since 1980, more than 30 percent

25 could have been saved by body armor, and the risk of
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1 dying from gunfire is 14 times higher for an officer

2 without a bulletproof vest;

3 (6) the Department of Justice has estimated that

4 25 percent of State and local police are not issued

5 body armor;

6 (7) the Federal Government is well-equipped to

7 grant local police departments access to body armor

8 that is no longer needed by Federal agencies; and

9 (8) Congress has the power, under the interstate

10 commerce clause and other provisions of the Constitu11 tion of the United States, to enact legislation to regu12 late interstate commerce that affects the integrity and

13 safety of our communities.

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

15 In this Act:

16 (1) BODY ARMOR.—The term ‘‘body armor’’

17 means any product sold or offered for sale, in inter18 state or foreign commerce, as personal protective body

19 covering intended to protect against gunfire, regard20 less of whether the product is to be worn alone or is

21 sold as a complement to another product or garment.

22 (2) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term

23 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means an agency of the

24 United States, a State, or a political subdivision of

25 a State, authorized by law or by a government agency
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1 to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, in2 vestigation, or prosecution of any violation of crimi3 nal law.

4 (3) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term

5 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means any officer, agent, or

6 employee of the United States, a State, or a political

7 subdivision of a State, authorized by law or by a gov8 ernment agency to engage in or supervise the preven9 tion, detection, investigation, or prosecution of any

10 violation of criminal law. Federal sentencing guide11 lines and the policy statements of the Commission,

12 as appropriate, to provide an appropriate sentencing

13 enhancement for any crime of violence (as defined in

14 section 16 of title 18, United States Code) or drug

15 trafficking crime (as defined in section 924(c) of title

16 18, United States Code) (including a crime of vio17 lence or drug trafficking crime that provides for an

18 enhanced punishment if committed by the use of a

19 deadly or dangerous weapon or device) in which the

20 defendant used body armor.

21 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress

22 that any sentencing enhancement under this section should

23 be at least 2 levels.
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1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF PURCHASE, USE, OR POSSESSION

2 OF BODY ARMOR BY VIOLENT FELONS.

3 (a) DEFINITION OF BODY ARMOR.—Section 921(a) of

4 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the

5 end the following:

6 ‘‘(35) The term ‘body armor’ means any product sold

7 or offered for sale, in interstate or foreign commerce, as per8 sonal protective body covering intended to protect against

9 gunfire, regardless of whether the product is to be worn

10 alone or is sold as a complement to another product or gar11 ment.’’.

12 (b) PROHIBITION.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United

14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing:

16 ‘‘§ 931. Prohibition on purchase, ownership, or posses17 sion of body armor by violent felons

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

19 (b), it shall be unlawful for a person to purchase, own, or

20 possess body armor, if that person has been convicted of a

21 felony that is—

22 ‘‘(1) a crime of violence (as defined in section

23 16); or

24 ‘‘(2) an offense under State law that would con25 stitute a crime of violence under paragraph (1) if it
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1 occurred within the special maritime and territorial

2 jurisdiction of the United States.

3 ‘‘(b) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an affirmative de5 fense under this section that—

6 ‘‘(A) the defendant obtained prior written

7 certification from his or her employer that the

8 defendant’s purchase, use, or possession of body

9 armor was necessary for the safe performance of

10 lawful business activity; and

11 ‘‘(B) the use and possession by the defend12 ant were limited to the course of such perform13 ance.

14 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER.—In this subsection, the term

15 ‘employer’ means any other individual employed by

16 the defendant’s business that supervises defendant’s

17 activity. If that defendant has no supervisor, prior

18 written certification is acceptable from any other em19 ployee of the business.’’.

20 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

21 chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended

22 by adding at the end the following:

‘‘931. Prohibition on purchase, ownership, or possession of body armor by violent

felons.’’.

23 (c) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of title 18, United

24 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(7) Whoever knowingly violates section 931 shall be

2 fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 3 years,

3 or both.’’.

4 SEC. 6. DONATION OF FEDERAL SURPLUS BODY ARMOR TO

5 STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN6 CIES.

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘Federal

8 agency’’ and ‘‘surplus property’’ have the meanings given

9 such terms under section 3 of the Federal Property and Ad10 ministrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 472).

11 (b) DONATION OF BODY ARMOR.—Notwithstanding

12 section 203 of the Federal Property and Administrative

13 Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 484), the head of a Federal

14 agency may donate body armor directly to any State or

15 local law enforcement agency, if such body armor—

16 (1) is in serviceable condition;

17 (2) is surplus property; and

18 (3) meets or exceeds the requirements of National

19 Institute of Justice Standard 0101.03 (as in effect on

20 the date of enactment of this Act).

21 (c) NOTICE TO ADMINISTRATOR.—The head of a Fed22 eral agency who donates body armor under this section shall

23 submit to the Administrator of General Services a written

24 notice identifying the amount of body armor donated and
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1 each State or local law enforcement agency that received

2 the body armor.

3 (d) DONATION BY CERTAIN OFFICERS.—

4 (1) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—In the adminis5 tration of this section with respect to the Department

6 of Justice, in addition to any other officer of the De7 partment of Justice designated by the Attorney Gen8 eral, the following officers may act as the head of a

9 Federal agency:

10 (A) The Administrator of the Drug Enforce11 ment Administration.

12 (B) The Director of the Federal Bureau of

13 Investigation.

14 (C) The Commissioner of the Immigration

15 and Naturalization Service.

16 (D) The Director of the United States Mar17 shals Service.

18 (2) DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.—In the

19 administration of this section with respect to the De20 partment of the Treasury, in addition to any other of21 ficer of the Department of the Treasury designated by

22 the Secretary of the Treasury, the following officers

23 may act as the head of a Federal agency:

24 (A) The Director of the Bureau of Alcohol,

25 Tobacco, and Firearms.
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1 (B) The Commissioner of Customs.

2 (C) The Director of the United States Secret

3 Service.

4 (e) NO LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law, the United States shall not be liable for any

6 harm occurring in connection with the use or misuse of any

7 body armor donated under this section.

Union Calendar No. 139

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1007

[Report No. 107–193, Part I]

A BILL

To limit access to body armor by violent felons and

to facilitate the donation of Federal surplus bodyarmor to State and local law enforcement agencies.

AUGUST 2, 2001

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform extended for a period ending not later than September

21, 2001

SEPTEMBER 21, 2001

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform extended for a period ending not later than September

28, 2001

SEPTEMBER 28, 2001

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform extended for a period ending not later than October 5,

2001

OCTOBER 5, 2001

The Committee on Government Reform discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed