II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 339 

To provide financial aid to local law enforcement officials along the Nation’s 

borders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 28, 2009 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mrs. HUTCHISON) introduced the following 

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

A BILL 

To provide financial aid to local law enforcement officials 

along the Nation’s borders, 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 ‘‘Border Law Enforce5 ment Relief Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BORDER RELIEF GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is au9 thorized to award grants to an eligible law enforce10 ment agency to provide assistance to such agency to 


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1 address border-related criminal activity that occurs 

2 in the jurisdiction of such agency. 

3 (2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The Attorney Gen4 eral shall award grants under this section on a com5 petitive basis. 

6 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this sec7 tion may only be used to provide additional resources for 

8 an eligible law enforcement agency, including resources 

9 to— 

10 (1) obtain equipment; 

11 (2) hire additional personnel; 

12 (3) upgrade and maintain law enforcement 

13 technology; 

14 (4) cover the operational costs, including over15 time and transportation costs; and 

16 (5) assist that agency in responding to border17 related criminal activity. 

18 (c) APPLICATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible law enforce20 ment agency seeking a grant under this section shall 

21 submit an application to the Attorney General at 

22 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 

23 such information as the Attorney General may rea24 sonably require. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

2 under paragraph (1) shall— 

3 (A) describe the activities for which assist4 ance under this section is sought; and 

5 (B) provide such additional assurances as 

6 the Attorney General determines to be essential 

7 to ensure compliance with the requirements 

8 under this section. 

9 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) ELIGIBLE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.— 

11 The term ‘‘eligible law enforcement agency’’ means 

12 a tribal, State, or local law enforcement agency lo13 cated or performing duties in— 

14 (A) a county that is not more than 100 

15 miles from a United States border with— 

16 (i) Canada; or 

17 (ii) Mexico; or 

18 (B) a county that is more than 100 miles 

19 from each of the borders described in subpara20 graph (A), if such county has been designated 

21 by the Attorney General as a High Impact 

22 Area. 

23 (2) HIGH IMPACT AREA.—The term ‘‘High Im24 pact Area’’ means any county designated by the AtVerDate Nov 24 2008 07:21 Jan 29, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339

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1 torney General as a High Impact Area, taking into 

2 consideration— 

3 (A) whether an eligible law enforcement 

4 agency in that county has the resources to pro5 tect the lives, property, safety, or welfare of the 

6 residents of that county; 

7 (B) whether the county has been des8 ignated as a ‘‘High Intensity Drug Trafficking 

9 Area’’ by the National Drug Control Program 

10 under section 707 of the Office of National 

11 Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 

12 1998 (21 U.S.C. 1706); 

13 (C) the relationship between any lack of 

14 security along the United States border and the 

15 rise, if any, of criminal activity in that county; 

16 and 

17 (D) any other unique challenges that eligi18 ble law enforcement agencies face due to a lack 

19 of security along the United States border. 

20 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

22 appropriated $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal 

23 years 2010 through 2014 to carry out the provisions 

24 of this section. 


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1 (2) ALLOCATION OF AUTHORIZED FUNDS.—Of 

2 the amounts appropriated pursuant to paragraph 

3 (1), 33 percent shall be set aside for counties des4 ignated by the Attorney General as High Impact 

5 Areas. 

6 (f) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts appro7 priated for grants under this section shall be used to sup8 plement and not to supplant other tribal, State, and local 

9 public funds obligated for the purposes provided under 

10 this Act. 

11 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAW. 

12 Nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize 

13 tribal, State, or local law enforcement agencies or officers 

14 of such agencies to exercise Federal immigration law en15 forcement authority. 

Æ 


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