I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 54

To establish a grant program that provides incentives for States to enact 

mandatory minimum sentences for certain firearms offenses, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2003

Mr. CRENSHAW (for himself, Mr. MICA, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. 

FORBES, and Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To establish a grant program that provides incentives for 

States to enact mandatory minimum sentences for certain firearms offenses, 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 ‘‘Project Exile Safe 

5 Streets and Neighborhoods Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FIREARMS SENTENCING INCENTIVE GRANTS. 

7 (a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Title II of the Violent 

8 Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is 

9 amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating subtitle D as subtitle E; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after subtitle C the following 

4 new subtitle: 

5 ‘‘Subtitle D—Firearms Sentencing 

6 Incentive Grants 

7 ‘‘SEC. 20351. DEFINITIONS. 

8 ‘‘For purposes of this subtitle: 

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘violent crime’ means murder 

10 and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, rob11 bery, and aggravated assault, or a crime in a reason12 ably comparable class of serious violent crimes as 

13 approved by the Attorney General. 

14 ‘‘(2) The term ‘serious drug trafficking crime’ 

15 means an offense under State law for the manufac16 ture or distribution of a controlled substance, for 

17 which State law authorizes to be imposed a sentence 

18 to a term of imprisonment of 10 years or more. 

19 ‘‘(3) The term ‘part 1 violent crime’ means 

20 murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible 

21 rape, robbery, and aggravated assault as reported to 

22 the Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes of 

23 the Uniform Crime Reports. 

24 ‘‘(4) The term ‘State’ means a State of the 

25 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
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1 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

2 Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern 

3 Mariana Islands. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 20352. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 

6 carry out this subtitle, the Attorney General shall provide 

7 Firearms Sentencing Incentive grants under section 

8 20353 to eligible States. 

9 ‘‘(b) ALLOWABLE USES.—Such grants may be used 

10 by a State only for the following purposes: 

11 ‘‘(1) To support—

12 ‘‘(A) law enforcement agencies; 

13 ‘‘(B) prosecutors; 

14 ‘‘(C) courts; 

15 ‘‘(D) probation officers; 

16 ‘‘(E) correctional officers; 

17 ‘‘(F) the juvenile justice system; 

18 ‘‘(G) the expansion, improvement, and co19 ordination of criminal history records; or 

20 ‘‘(H) case management programs involving 

21 the sharing of information about serious offend22 ers. 

23 ‘‘(2) To carry out a public awareness and com24 munity support program described in section 

25 20353(a)(2). 
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1 ‘‘(3) To build or expand correctional facilities. 

2 ‘‘(c) SUBGRANTS.—A State may use such grants di3 rectly or by making subgrants to units of local government 

4 within that State. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 20353. FIREARMS SENTENCING INCENTIVE GRANTS. 

6 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), to be eligible to receive a grant award under this sec8 tion, a State shall submit an application to the Attorney 

9 General that complies with the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) The application shall demonstrate that 

11 such State has implemented firearms sentencing 

12 laws requiring 1 or more of the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) Any person who, during and in rela14 tion to any violent crime or serious drug traf15 ficking crime, uses or carries a firearm, shall, 

16 in addition to the punishment provided for such 

17 crime of violence or serious drug trafficking 

18 crime, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment 

19 of not less than 5 years (without the possibility 

20 of parole during that term). 

21 ‘‘(B) Any person who, having at least 1 

22 prior conviction for a violent crime, possesses a 

23 firearm, shall, for such possession, be sentenced 

24 to a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 
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1 years (without the possibility of parole during 

2 that term). 

3 ‘‘(2) The application shall demonstrate that 

4 such State has implemented, or will implement not 

5 later than 6 months after receiving a grant under 

6 this subtitle, a public awareness and community sup7 port program that seeks to build support for, and 

8 warns potential violators of, the firearms sentencing 

9 laws implemented under paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(3) The application shall provide assurances 

11 that such State—

12 ‘‘(A) will coordinate with Federal prosecu13 tors and Federal law enforcement agencies 

14 whose jurisdictions include such State, so as to 

15 promote Federal involvement and cooperation in 

16 the enforcement of laws within that State; and 

17 ‘‘(B) will allocate its resources in a manner 

18 calculated to reduce crime in the high-crime 

19 areas of the State.

20 ‘‘(b) ALTERNATE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that is unable to 

22 demonstrate in its application that such State meets 

23 the requirement of subsection (a)(1) shall be eligible 

24 to receive a grant award under this section notwith25 standing that inability if that State, in such applica-
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1 tion, provides assurances that such State has in ef2 fect an equivalent Federal prosecution agreement. 

3 ‘‘(2) EQUIVALENT FEDERAL PROSECUTION

4 AGREEMENT.—For purposes of paragraph (1), an 

5 equivalent Federal prosecution agreement is an 

6 agreement with appropriate Federal authorities that 

7 ensures 1 or more of the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) If a person engages in the conduct 

9 specified in subsection (a)(1)(A), but the con10 viction of that person under State law for that 

11 conduct is not certain to result in the imposi12 tion of an additional sentence as specified in 

13 that subsection, that person is referred for 

14 prosecution for such conduct under Federal 

15 law. 

16 ‘‘(B) If a person engages in the conduct 

17 specified in subsection (a)(1)(B), but the con18 viction of that person under State law for that 

19 conduct is not certain to result in the imposi20 tion of a sentence as specified in that sub21 section, that person is referred for prosecution 

22 for such conduct under Federal law. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 20354. FORMULA FOR GRANTS. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The amount available for grants 

25 under section 20353 for any fiscal year shall be allocated 
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1 to each eligible State, in the ratio that the number of part 

2 1 violent crimes reported by such State to the Federal Bu3 reau of Investigation for the 3 years preceding the year 

4 in which the determination is made, bears to the average 

5 annual number of part 1 violent crimes reported by all 

6 eligible States to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 

7 the 3 years preceding the year in which the determination 

8 is made. 

9 ‘‘(b) UNAVAILABLE DATA.—If data regarding part 1 

10 violent crimes in any State is substantially inaccurate or 

11 is unavailable for the 3 years preceding the year in which 

12 the determination is made, the Attorney General shall uti13 lize the best available comparable data regarding the num14 ber of violent crimes for the previous year for the State 

15 for the purposes of allocation of funds under this subtitle. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 20355. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATIONS.—There are authorized to be 

18 appropriated to carry out this subtitle—

19 ‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; 

20 ‘‘(2) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 

21 ‘‘(3) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

22 ‘‘(4) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and 

23 ‘‘(5) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. 

24 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON FUNDS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available 

2 pursuant to this subtitle shall be used only to carry 

3 out the purposes described in section 20352(b). 

4 ‘‘(2) NONSUPPLANTING REQUIREMENT.—Funds 

5 made available pursuant to this section shall not be 

6 used to supplant State funds, but shall be used to 

7 increase the amount of funds that would, in the ab8 sence of Federal funds, be made available from 

9 State sources. 

10 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 

11 3 percent of the funds made available pursuant to 

12 this section shall be available to the Attorney Gen13 eral for purposes of administration, research and 

14 evaluation, technical assistance, and data collection. 

15 ‘‘(4) CARRYOVER OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Funds 

16 appropriated pursuant to this section during any fis17 cal year shall remain available until expended. 

18 ‘‘(5) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Federal share of 

19 a grant received under this subtitle may not exceed 

20 90 percent of the costs of a proposal as described in 

21 an application approved under this subtitle. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 20356. REPORT BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

23 ‘‘Beginning on October 1, 2003, and each subsequent 

24 July 1 thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to 

25 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 
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1 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa2 tives a report on the implementation of this subtitle. The 

3 report shall include information regarding the eligibility 

4 of States under section 20353 and the distribution and 

5 use of funds under this subtitle.’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

7 in section 2 of that Act is amended—

8 (1) by redesignating the item relating to sub9 title D of title II as subtitle E of such title; and 

10 (2) by inserting after subtitle C of such title the 

11 following:

‘‘Subtitle D—Firearms Sentencing Incentive Grants 

‘‘Sec. 20351. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 20352. Authorization of grants. 

‘‘Sec. 20353. Firearms sentencing incentive grants. 

‘‘Sec. 20354. Formula for grants. 

‘‘Sec. 20355. Authorization of appropriations. 

‘‘Sec. 20356. Report by the Attorney General.’’.

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