II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1706

To improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 2, 2003

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. HATCH, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. 

MCCAIN, Mr. CHAFEE, Mrs. LINCOLN, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL

To improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check 

System, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘NICS Improvement Act of 2003’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions.
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TITLE I—TRANSMITTAL OF RECORDS 

Sec. 101. Enhancement of requirement that Federal departments and agencies 

provide relevant information to the National Instant Criminal 

Background Check System. 

Sec. 102. Requirements to obtain waiver. 

Sec. 103. Implementation assistance to States. 

Sec. 104. Penalties for noncompliance. 

TITLE II—FOCUSING FEDERAL ASSISTANCE ON THE 

IMPROVEMENT OF RELEVANT RECORDS 

Sec. 201. Continuing evaluations. 

TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATE COURT SYSTEMS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT IN AUTOMATION AND TRANSMITTAL OF DISPOSITION RECORDS 

Sec. 301. Disposition records automation and transmittal improvement grants. 

TITLE IV—GAO AUDIT 

Sec. 401. GAO audit.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Approximately 632,000 individuals were 

4 prohibited from purchasing a firearm for failing a 

5 background check between November 30, 1998 (the 

6 date the National Instant Criminal Background 

7 Check System (NICS) began operating) and August 

8 31, 2003. 

9 (2) From November 30, 1998, through August 

10 31, 2003, over 41,000,000 Brady background checks 

11 were processed through NICS. 

12 (3) Although most Brady background checks 

13 are processed through NICS in seconds, many back14 ground checks are delayed if the Federal Bureau of 

15 Investigation (FBI) does not have automated access 
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1 to complete information from the States concerning 

2 persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a 

3 firearm under Federal or State law. 

4 (4) Approximately 23,000,000 criminal records 

5 are either not automated or not accessible by NICS 

6 and another 15,000,000 criminal records that are 

7 automated and accessible are missing critical data, 

8 such as arrest dispositions. 

9 (5) The primary cause of delay in NICS back10 ground checks is the failure of the States to—

11 (A) update and make available criminal 

12 disposition records; and 

13 (B) provide automated access to informa14 tion concerning persons prohibited from pos15 sessing or receiving a firearm because of mental 

16 illness, restraining orders, or misdemeanor con17 victions for domestic violence. 

18 (6) The failure of the States to provide auto19 mated access to this information is principally 

20 caused by the States’ failure to—

21 (A) computerize information relating to 

22 criminal history, criminal dispositions, mental 

23 illness, restraining orders, and misdemeanor 

24 convictions for domestic violence; or 
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1 (B) make such information available to 

2 NICS in a usable format. 

3 (7) Helping States to automate these records 

4 will reduce delays for law-abiding gun purchasers. 

5 (8) Twenty States have failed to automate all 

6 of their felony criminal conviction records. 

7 (9) Only forty-five percent of the criminal his8 tory records in the Interstate Identification Index, 

9 maintained by the FBI and used by the NICS, have 

10 disposition information included. 

11 (10) Many States do not submit fingerprint12 based records of misdemeanor convictions that may 

13 disqualify a person from possessing or receiving a 

14 firearm under section 922(g)(9) of title 18, United 

15 States Code. 

16 (11) Forty States do not automate or make ac17 cessible disqualifying mental health records to NICS. 

18 (12) Only ten States have provided disquali19 fying mental health records to NICS. Of this group, 

20 eight States have provided less than forty such 

21 records, one State has provided approximately 1,600 

22 such records, and only one State has provided close 

23 to complete records by having submitted more than 

24 50,000 such records. 
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1 (13) Eight States and four territories do not 

2 automate or make accessible domestic violence re3 straining order records to NICS. 

4 (14) Fourteen States do not automate or make 

5 accessible domestic violence misdemeanor conviction 

6 records to NICS. 

7 (15) On March 12, 2002, the senseless shoot8 ing, which took the lives of a priest and a parish9 ioner at the Our Lady of Peace Church in Lynbrook, 

10 New York, brought attention to the lack of informa11 tion sharing enabling Federal and State law enforce12 ment agencies to conduct a complete background 

13 check on a potential firearm purchaser. The man 

14 who committed this double murder had a prior dis15 qualifying mental health commitment and a restrain16 ing order against him, but passed a Brady back17 ground check because NICS did not have the nec18 essary information to determine that he was ineli19 gible to purchase a firearm under Federal or State 

20 law. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 As used in this Act, the following definitions shall 

23 apply: 

24 (1) COURT ORDER.—The term ‘‘court order’’ 

25 includes—
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1 (A) a court order (as described under sec2 tion 922(g)(8) of title 18, United States Code; 

3 and 

4 (B) a protection order (as defined under 

5 section 2266(5) of title 18, United States Code. 

6 (2) MENTAL HEALTH TERMS.—The terms ‘‘ad7 judicated as a mental defective’’, ‘‘committed to a 

8 mental institution’’, and related terms have the 

9 meanings given those terms in regulations imple10 menting section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States 

11 Code, as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

12 Act. 

13 (3) MISDEMEANOR CRIME OF DOMESTIC VIO14 LENCE.—The term ‘‘misdemeanor crime of domestic 

15 violence’’—

16 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec17 tion 921(a)(33) of title 18, United States Code; 

18 (B) includes any Federal, State, or local 

19 offense that—

20 (i) is a misdemeanor under Federal, 

21 State, local, or tribal law or, in a State 

22 that does not classify offenses as mis23 demeanors, is an offense punishable by im24 prisonment for a term of 1 year or less or 

25 punishable only by a fine regardless of 
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1 whether or not the State statute specifi2 cally defines the offense as a crime of do3 mestic violence; 

4 (ii) has, as an element of the offense, 

5 the use or attempted use of physical force, 

6 such as assault and battery, or the threat7 ened use of a deadly weapon; and 

8 (iii) was committed by a current or 

9 former spouse, parent, or guardian of the 

10 victim, by a person with whom the victim 

11 shares a child in common, by a person who 

12 is cohabiting with or has cohabited with 

13 the victim as a spouse, parent, or guard14 ian, or a person similarly situated to a 

15 spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim; 

16 and 

17 (C) does not include a crime described 

18 under subparagraph (A) if—

19 (i) the person was not convicted by 

20 the jurisdiction in which the proceeding 

21 was held; 

22 (ii) the person was not represented by 

23 counsel in the case and did not knowingly 

24 or intelligently waive the right to counsel 

25 in the case; 
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1 (iii) in the case of a prosecution for 

2 which a person was entitled to a jury trial 

3 in the jurisdiction in which the case was 

4 tried—

5 (I) the case was not tried by a 

6 jury; and 

7 (II) the person did not knowingly 

8 or intelligently waive the right to have 

9 the case tried by a jury, by guilty 

10 plea, or otherwise; or 

11 (iv) the conviction has been expunged 

12 or set aside, or is an offense for which the 

13 person has been pardoned or has had civil 

14 rights restored unless—

15 (I) the pardon, expungement, or 

16 restoration of civil rights expressly 

17 provides that the person may not ship, 

18 transport, possess, or receive firearms; 

19 or 

20 (II) the person is otherwise pro21 hibited by the law of the jurisdiction 

22 in which the proceedings were held 

23 from receiving or possessing any fire24 arms. 
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•S 1706 IS 

1 TITLE I—TRANSMITTAL OF 

2 RECORDS 

3 SEC. 101. ENHANCEMENT OF REQUIREMENT THAT FED4 ERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES PRO5 VIDE RELEVANT INFORMATION TO THE NA6 TIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

7 CHECK SYSTEM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(e)(1) of the Brady 

9 Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note) 

10 is amended—

11 (1) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and insert12 ing the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding’’; 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘On request’’ and inserting the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(B) REQUEST OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.—

17 On request’’; 

18 (3) by striking ‘‘furnish such information’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘furnish electronic versions of the informa20 tion described under subparagraph (A)’’; and 

21 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) QUARTERLY SUBMISSION TO ATTOR23 NEY GENERAL.—If a department or agency 

24 under subparagraph (A) has any record of any 

25 person demonstrating that the person falls
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1 within one of the categories described in sub2 section (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 

3 United States Code, the head of such depart4 ment or agency shall, not less frequently than 

5 quarterly, provide the pertinent information 

6 contained in such record to the Attorney Gen7 eral. 

8 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION UPDATES.—The agen9 cy, on being made aware that the basis under 

10 which a record was made available under sub11 paragraph (A) does not apply, or no longer ap12 plies, shall—

13 ‘‘(i) update, correct, modify, or re14 move the record from any database that 

15 the agency maintains and makes available 

16 to the Attorney General, in accordance 

17 with the rules pertaining to that database; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(ii) notify the Attorney General that 

20 such basis no longer applies so that the 

21 National Instant Criminal Background 

22 Check System is kept up to date. 

23 ‘‘(E) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Attorney 

24 General shall submit an annual report to Con25 gress that describes the compliance of each de-
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1 partment or agency with the provisions of this 

2 paragraph.’’. 

3 (b) PROVISION AND MAINTENANCE OF NICS 

4 RECORDS.—

5 (1) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—

6 The Department of Homeland Security shall make 

7 available to the Attorney General—

8 (A) records, updated not less than quar9 terly, which are relevant to a determination of 

10 whether a person is disqualified from possessing 

11 or receiving a firearm under subsection (g) or 

12 (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States 

13 Code, for use in NICS background checks; and 

14 (B) information regarding all the persons 

15 described under paragraph (1)(A) who have 

16 changed their status to a category not identified 

17 under section 922(g)(5) of title 18, United 

18 States Code, for removal, when applicable, from 

19 the National Instant Criminal Background 

20 Check System. 

21 (2) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—The Attorney 

22 General shall—

23 (A) ensure that any information submitted 

24 to, or maintained by, the Attorney General 

25 under this section is kept accurate and con-
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1 fidential, as required by the laws, regulations, 

2 policies, or procedures governing the applicable 

3 record system; 

4 (B) provide for the timely removal and de5 struction of obsolete and erroneous names and 

6 information from the National Instant Criminal 

7 Background Check System; and 

8 (C) work with States to encourage the de9 velopment of computer systems, which would 

10 permit electronic notification to the Attorney 

11 General when—

12 (i) a court order has been issued, lift13 ed, or otherwise removed by order of the 

14 court; or 

15 (ii) a person has been adjudicated as 

16 mentally defective or committed to a men17 tal institution. 

18 SEC. 102. REQUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN WAIVER. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 3 years after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, a State shall be eligible to receive 

21 a waiver of the 10 percent matching requirement for Na22 tional Criminal History Improvement Grants under the 

23 Crime Identification Technology Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 

24 14601) if the State provides at least 90 percent of the 
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1 information described in subsection (c). The length of such 

2 a waiver shall not exceed 2 years. 

3 (b) STATE ESTIMATES.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—To assist the Attorney Gen5 eral in making a determination under subsection (a), 

6 and under section 104, concerning the compliance of 

7 the States in providing information to the Attorney 

8 General for the purpose of receiving a waiver under 

9 subsection (a), or facing a loss of funds under sec10 tion 104, each State shall provide the Attorney Gen11 eral with a reasonable estimate, as calculated by a 

12 method determined by the Attorney General, of the 

13 number of—

14 (A) criminal history records for mis15 demeanors and felonies; 

16 (B) State criminal history records with dis17 position information; 

18 (C) active court orders in the State; and 

19 (D) State records of persons adjudicated 

20 mentally defective or committed to a mental in21 stitution. 

22 (2) SCOPE.—The Attorney General, in deter23 mining the compliance of a State under this section 

24 or section 104 for the purpose of granting a waiver 

25 or imposing a loss of Federal funds, shall assess the 
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1 total percentage of records provided by the State 

2 concerning any event occurring within the prior 30 

3 years, which would disqualify a person from pos4 sessing a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of sec5 tion 922 of title 18, United States Code. 

6 (3) CLARIFICATION.—Notwithstanding para7 graph (2), States shall endeavor to provide NICS 

8 with all records concerning persons who are prohib9 ited from possessing or receiving a firearm under 

10 subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 

11 United States Code, regardless of the elapsed time 

12 since the disqualifying event. 

13 (c) ELIGIBILITY OF STATE RECORDS FOR SUBMIS14 SION TO THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACK15 GROUND CHECK SYSTEM.—

16 (1) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.—

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—From information col18 lected by a State, the State shall make elec19 tronically available to the Attorney General 

20 records relevant to a determination of whether 

21 a person is disqualified from possessing or re22 ceiving a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of 

23 section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or 

24 applicable State law. 
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1 (B) NICS UPDATES.—The State, on being 

2 made aware that the basis under which a record 

3 was made available under subparagraph (A) 

4 does not apply, or no longer applies, shall, as 

5 soon as practicable—

6 (i) update, correct, modify, or remove 

7 the record from any database that the 

8 Federal or State government maintains 

9 and makes available to the National In10 stant Criminal Background Check System, 

11 consistent with the rules pertaining to that 

12 database; or 

13 (ii) notify the Attorney General that 

14 such basis no longer applies so that the 

15 record system in which the record is main16 tained is kept up to date. 

17 (C) CERTIFICATION.—To remain eligible 

18 for a waiver under subsection (a), a State shall 

19 certify to the Attorney General, not less than 

20 once during each 2-year period, that at least 90 

21 percent of all information described in subpara22 graph (A) has been made electronically avail23 able to the Attorney General in accordance with 

24 subparagraph (A).
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1 (D) INCLUSION OF ALL RECORDS.—The 

2 State shall make every effort to identify and in3 clude all of the records described under sub4 paragraph (A) without regard to the age of the 

5 record. 

6 (2) APPLICATION TO PERSONS CONVICTED OF

7 MISDEMEANOR CRIMES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—

8 The State shall make available to the Attorney Gen9 eral, for use by the National Instant Criminal Back10 ground Check System, records relevant to a deter11 mination of whether a person has been convicted in 

12 any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic vio13 lence. With respect to records relating to such 

14 crimes, the State shall provide information specifi15 cally describing the offense and the specific section 

16 or subsection of the offense for which the defendant 

17 has been convicted and the relationship of the de18 fendant to the victim in each case. 

19 (3) APPLICATION TO PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN

20 ADJUDICATED AS A MENTAL DEFECTIVE OR COM21 MITTED TO A MENTAL INSTITUTION.—The State 

22 shall make available to the Attorney General, for use 

23 by the National Instant Criminal Background Check 

24 System, the name and other relevant identifying in25 formation of persons adjudicated as mentally defec-
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1 tive or those committed to mental institutions to as2 sist the Attorney General in enforcing section 

3 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 

4 (d) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—For any information 

5 provided to the Attorney General for use by the National 

6 Instant Criminal Background Check System, relating to 

7 persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm 

8 under section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code, 

9 the Attorney General shall work with States and local law 

10 enforcement and the mental health community to establish 

11 regulations and protocols for protecting the privacy of in12 formation provided to the system. The Attorney General 

13 shall make every effort to meet with any mental health 

14 group seeking to express its views concerning these regula15 tions and protocols and shall seek to develop regulations 

16 as expeditiously as practicable. 

17 (e) ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT.—Not later than 

18 January 31 of each year, the Attorney General shall sub19 mit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

20 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep21 resentatives a report on the progress of States in auto22 mating the databases containing the information described 

23 in subsection (b) and in making that information elec24 tronically available to the Attorney General pursuant to 

25 the requirements of subsection (c). 
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1 SEC. 103. IMPLEMENTATION ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail4 able to carry out this section, the Attorney General 

5 shall make grants to States and Indian tribal gov6 ernments, in a manner consistent with the National 

7 Criminal History Improvement Program, which shall 

8 be used by the States and Indian tribal govern9 ments, in conjunction with units of local government 

10 and State and local courts, to establish or upgrade 

11 information and identification technologies for fire12 arms eligibility determinations. 

13 (2) GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—Up to 5 per14 cent of the grant funding available under this sec15 tion may be reserved for Indian tribal governments, 

16 including tribal judicial systems. 

17 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Grants awarded to 

18 States or Indian tribes under this section may only be 

19 used to—

20 (1) create electronic systems, which provide ac21 curate and up-to-date information which is directly 

22 related to checks under the National Instant Crimi23 nal Background Check System (referred to in this 

24 section as ‘‘NICS’’), including court disposition and 

25 corrections records; 
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1 (2) assist States in establishing or enhancing 

2 their own capacities to perform NICS background 

3 checks; 

4 (3) supply accurate and timely information to 

5 the Attorney General concerning final dispositions of 

6 criminal records to databases accessed by NICS; 

7 (4) supply accurate and timely information to 

8 the Attorney General concerning the identity of per9 sons who are prohibited from obtaining a firearm 

10 under section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States 

11 Code, to be used by the Federal Bureau of Inves12 tigation solely to conduct NICS background checks; 

13 (5) supply accurate and timely court orders and 

14 records of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence 

15 for inclusion in Federal and State law enforcement 

16 databases used to conduct NICS background checks; 

17 and 

18 (6) collect and analyze data needed to dem19 onstrate levels of State compliance with this Act. 

20 (c) CONDITION.—As a condition of receiving a grant 

21 under this section, a State shall specify the projects for 

22 which grant amounts will be used, and shall use such 

23 amounts only as specified. A State that violates this sub24 section shall be liable to the Attorney General for the full 

25 amount of the grant received under this section.
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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $250,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 

4 2007. 

5 (e) USER FEE.—The Federal Bureau of Investiga6 tion shall not charge a user fee for background checks pur7 suant to section 922(t) of title 18, United States Code. 

8 SEC. 104. PENALTIES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE. 

9 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 31 

11 of each year, the Attorney General shall submit to 

12 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

13 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

14 Representatives a report on the progress of the 

15 States in automating the databases containing infor16 mation described under sections 102 and 103, and 

17 in providing that information pursuant to the re18 quirements of sections 102 and 103. 

19 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De21 partment of Justice, such funds as may be necessary 

22 to carry out paragraph (1). 

23 (b) PENALTIES.—

24 (1) DISCRETIONARY REDUCTION.—During the 

25 2-year period beginning 3 years after the date of en-
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1 actment of this Act, the Attorney General may with2 hold not more than 3 percent of the amount that 

3 would otherwise be allocated to a State under sec4 tion 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

5 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3756) if the State 

6 provides less than 60 percent of the information re7 quired to be provided under sections 102 and 103. 

8 (2) MANDATORY REDUCTION.—After the expi9 ration of the period referred to in paragraph (1), the 

10 Attorney General shall withhold 5 percent of the 

11 amount that would otherwise be allocated to a State 

12 under section 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control 

13 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3756), if 

14 the State provides less than 90 percent of the infor15 mation required to be provided under sections 102 

16 and 103. 

17 (3) WAIVER BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The At18 torney General may waive the applicability of para19 graph (2) to a State if the State provides substantial 

20 evidence, as determined by the Attorney General, 

21 that the State is making a reasonable effort to com22 ply with the requirements of sections 102 and 103. 

23 (c) REALLOCATION.—Any funds that are not allo24 cated to a State because of the failure of the State to com-
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1 ply with the requirements of this title shall be reallocated 

2 to States that meet such requirements. 

3 TITLE II—FOCUSING FEDERAL 

4 ASSISTANCE ON THE IM5 PROVEMENT OF RELEVANT 

6 RECORDS 

7 SEC. 201. CONTINUING EVALUATIONS. 

8 (a) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Director of the 

9 Bureau of Justice Statistics (referred to in this section 

10 as the ‘‘Director’’) shall study and evaluate the operations 

11 of the National Instant Criminal Background Check Sys12 tem. Such study and evaluation shall include compilations 

13 and analyses of the operations and record systems of the 

14 agencies and organizations necessary to support such Sys15 tem. 

16 (b) REPORT ON GRANTS.—Not later than January 

17 31 of each year, the Director shall submit to Congress 

18 a report containing the estimates submitted by the States 

19 under section 102(b). 

20 (c) REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 

21 January 31 of each year, the Director shall submit to Con22 gress, and to each State participating in the National 

23 Criminal History Improvement Program, a report of the 

24 practices of the States regarding the collection, mainte25 nance, automation, and transmittal of information rel-
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1 evant to determining whether a person is prohibited from 

2 possessing or receiving a firearm by Federal or State law, 

3 by the State or any other agency, or any other records 

4 relevant to the National Instant Criminal Background 

5 Check System, that the Director considers to be best prac6 tices. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

9 necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2007 

10 to complete the studies, evaluations, and reports required 

11 under this section. 

12 TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATE 

13 COURT SYSTEMS FOR THE IM14 PROVEMENT IN AUTOMATION 

15 AND TRANSMITTAL OF DIS16 POSITION RECORDS 

17 SEC. 301. DISPOSITION RECORDS AUTOMATION AND 

18 TRANSMITTAL IMPROVEMENT GRANTS. 

19 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From amounts made 

20 available to carry out this section, the Attorney General 

21 shall make grants to each State, consistent with State 

22 plans for the integration, automation, and accessibility of 

23 criminal history records, for use by the State court system 

24 to improve the automation and transmittal of criminal his25 tory dispositions, records relevant to determining whether 
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1 a person has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of 

2 domestic violence, court orders, and mental health adju3 dications or commitments, to Federal and State record re4 positories in accordance with sections 102 and 103 and 

5 the National Criminal History Improvement Program. 

6 (b) GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—Up to 5 percent 

7 of the grant funding available under this section may be 

8 reserved for Indian tribal governments for use by Indian 

9 tribal judicial systems. 

10 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts granted under this 

11 section shall be used by the State court system only—

12 (1) to carry out, as necessary, assessments of 

13 the capabilities of the courts of the State for the au14 tomation and transmission of arrest and conviction 

15 records, court orders, and mental health adjudica16 tions or commitments to Federal and State record 

17 repositories; and 

18 (2) to implement policies, systems, and proce19 dures for the automation and transmission of arrest 

20 and conviction records, court orders, and mental 

21 health adjudications or commitments to Federal and 

22 State record repositories. 

23 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 
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1 to carry out this section $125,000,000 for each of the fis2 cal years 2005 through 2007. 

3 TITLE IV—GAO AUDIT 

4 SEC. 401. GAO AUDIT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

6 United States shall conduct an audit of the expenditure 

7 of all funds appropriated for criminal records improve8 ment pursuant to section 106(b) of the Brady Handgun 

9 Violence Prevention Act (Public Law 103–159) to deter10 mine if the funds were expended for the purposes author11 ized by the Act and how those funds were expended for 

12 those purposes or were otherwise expended. 

13 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

14 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

15 submit a report to Congress describing the findings of the 

16 audit conducted pursuant to subsection (a).

Æ