II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2868 

To enhance the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program to assist law 

enforcement agencies in protecting law enforcement officers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2018 

Mr. GARDNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To enhance the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program to 

assist law enforcement agencies in protecting law enforcement officers. 

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 ‘‘Law Enforcement Pro5 tection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE BULLETPROOF VEST 

7 PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 

8 (a) USES OF FUNDS.—Section 2501(b) of title I of 

9 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

10 (34 U.S.C. 10531(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

2 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and adjust3 ing the margins accordingly; 

4 (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

5 as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘Grants awarded 

6 under this section’’ and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), grants awarded under this part’’; 

9 (3) in paragraph (1)(B), as so redesignated, by 

10 inserting ‘‘subject to paragraph (2),’’ before ‘‘used 

11 for’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(2) TYPE III BODY ARMOR GRANTS.—A type 

14 III body armor grant shall be— 

15 ‘‘(A) distributed in accordance with para16 graph (1)(A); and 

17 ‘‘(B) used for the purchase of body armor 

18 that meets the standards for type III body 

19 armor, as determined by the National Institute 

20 of Justice, in an amount that is proportionate 

21 to the number of sworn law enforcement offi22 cers employed by the grantee on the date of the 

23 application submitted by the grantee under sec24 tion 2502.’’. 


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1 (b) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Section 2501(d) of title I 

2 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

3 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10531(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘Un4 less’’ and inserting ‘‘With respect to grants awarded under 

5 this part that are not type III body armor grants, unless’’. 

6 (c) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—Section 2501(e) of title I 

7 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

8 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10531(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘A 

9 qualifying’’ and inserting ‘‘With respect to grants awarded 

10 under this part that are not type III body armor grants, 

11 a qualifying’’. 

12 (d) MATCHING FUNDS.—Section 2501(f) of title I of 

13 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

14 (34 U.S.C. 10531(f)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 

16 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘The portion’’ and in17 serting ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this sub18 section, the portion’’; and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(5) TYPE III BODY ARMOR GRANTS.—A type 

21 III body armor grant shall not be subject to the 

22 matching requirement under paragraph (1).’’. 

23 (e) EXPIRATION OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.—Sec24 tion 2501(h) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 


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1 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10531(h)) is amend2 ed— 

3 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

6 ‘appropriated funds’— 

7 ‘‘(A) means any amount appropriated for 

8 any of fiscal years 2016 through 2023; and 

9 ‘‘(B) does not include any amount appro10 priated to the Bulletproof Vest Partnership 

11 Program Type III Body Armor Fund.’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘2022’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘2025’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘2023’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘2026’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(3) FUNDS APPROPRIATED TO THE BULLET19 PROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM TYPE III BODY

20 ARMOR FUND.—All funds that are appropriated to 

21 the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program Type III 

22 Body Armor Fund shall remain available until ex23 pended.’’. 

24 (f) BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

25 TYPE III BODY ARMOR FUND.—Section 2501 of title I 


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1 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

2 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10531) is amended by adding at the end 

3 the following: 

4 ‘‘(i) BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

5 TYPE III BODY ARMOR FUND.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

7 the Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘Bulletproof 

8 Vest Partnership Program Type III Body Armor 

9 Fund’. 

10 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—The Attorney General 

11 may, without further appropriation, use amounts in 

12 the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program Type III 

13 Body Armor Fund to award type III body armor 

14 grants under this part.’’. 

15 (g) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2503 of the Omnibus 

16 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

17 10533) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking the semicolon 

19 and inserting a period; 

20 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

21 end; 

22 (3) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 

23 inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (4) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para2 graph (9) and moving paragraph (9), as so redesig3 nated, to follow paragraph (6); 

4 (5) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(7) the term ‘sworn law enforcement officer’ 

7 means a law enforcement officer who is formally au8 thorized to make arrests while acting within the 

9 scope of explicit legal authority; 

10 ‘‘(8) the term ‘type III body armor grant’ 

11 means a grant that is— 

12 ‘‘(A) awarded under this part using funds 

13 from the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program 

14 Type III Body Armor Fund; and 

15 ‘‘(B) to be used in accordance with section 

16 2501(b)(2); and’’; 

17 (6) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 

18 paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; 

19 (7) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para20 graph (6) and moving paragraph (6), as so redesig21 nated, to follow paragraph (5), as so redesignated; 

22 and 

23 (8) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Bulletproof Vest Partnership 

2 Program Type III Body Armor Fund’ means the 

3 fund established under section 2501(i);’’. 

4 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

5 1001(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

6 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (23), by striking 

8 ‘‘$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 

9 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘$50,000,000 for each of fiscal 

10 years 2019 through 2023, of which $3,000,000 shall 

11 be made available each fiscal year to the National 

12 Institute of Standards and Technology for research 

13 and development of body armor, as defined in sec14 tion 2503 of that part.’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(28) There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

17 Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program Type III Body 

18 Armor Fund established under section 2501(i) of part Y 

19 $1,100,000,000.’’. 

Æ 


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