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section (a) make reasonable efforts to complete re-
search in whatever State and local recordkeeping
systems are available and in the national criminal
background check system and respond to the quali-
fied entity within 15 business days;
(D) that the response of an authorized agency
to an inquiry pursuant to subsection (a) informs the
qualified entity that the background check pursuant
to this section—
(i) may not reflect all indictments or con-
victions for a background check crime;
(ii) is not certain to include arrest infor-
mation; and
(iii) should not be the sole basis for deter-
mining the fitness of a provider;
(E) that the response of an authorized agency
to an inquiry pursuant to subsection (a)—
(i) at a minimum, states whether the back-
ground check information set forth in the iden-
tification document required under subpara-
graph (A) is complete and accurate; and
(ii) be limited to the information reason-
ably required to accomplish the purposes of this
subtitle;
287
(F) that no qualified entity may take action ad-
verse to a provider, except that the qualified entity
may choose to deny the provider unsupervised access
to a child to whom the qualified entity provides child
care, on the basis of a background check under sub-
section (a) until the provider has obtained a deter-
mination as to the validity of any challenge under
subparagraph (B) or waived the right to make such
challenge;
(G) that each State establish procedures to en-
sure that any background check under subsection
(a) and the results thereof shall be requested by and
provided only to—
(i) qualified entities identified by States;
(ii) authorized representatives of a quali-
fied entity who have a need to know such infor-
mation;
(iii) the providers;
(iv) law enforcement authorities; or
(v) pursuant to the direction of a court of
law;
(H) that background check information con-
veyed to a qualified entity pursuant to subsection (a)
shall not be conveyed to any person except as pro-
vided under subparagraph (G);
288
(I) that an authorized agency shall not be liable
in an action at law for damages for failure to pre-
vent a qualified entity from taking action adverse to
a provider on the basis of a background check; and
(J) that a State employee or a political subdivi-
sion of a State or employee thereof responsible for
providing information to the national criminal back-
ground check system shall not be liable in an action
at law for damages for failure to prevent a qualified
entity from taking action adverse to a provider on
the basis of a background check.
(c) EQUIVALENT PROCEDURES.—(1) Notwithstand-
ing anything to the contrary in this section, the Attorney
General may certify that a State licensing or certification
procedure that differs from the procedures described in
subsections (a) and (b) shall be deemed to be the equiva-
lent of such procedures for purposes of this subtitle, but
the procedures described in subsections (a) and (b) shall
continue to apply to those qualified entities, providers, and
background check crimes that are not governed by or in-
cluded within the State licensing or certification proce-
dure.
(2) The Attorney General shall by regulation estab-
lish criteria for certifications under this subsection. Such
criteria shall include a finding by the Attorney General
289
that the State licensing or certification procedure accom-
plishes the purposes of this subtitle and incorporates a na-
tionwide review of State and Federal records of back-
ground check offenses through the national criminal back-
ground check system.
(d) RECORDS EXCHANGE.—The Attorney General
may exchange Federal Bureau of Investigation identifica-
tion records with authorized agencies for purposes of back-
ground checks under subsection (a) and may by regulation
authorize further dissemination of such records by author-
ized agencies for such purposes.
(e) REGULATIONS.—(1) The Attorney General shall
by regulation prescribe such other measures as may be
required to carry out the purposes of this subtitle, includ-
ing measures relating to the security, confidentiality, accu-
racy, use, misuse, and dissemination of information, and
audits and recordkeeping.
(2) The Attorney General shall, to the maximum ex-
tent possible, encourage the use of the best technology
available in conducting background checks.
SEC. 886. FUNDING FOR IMPROVEMENT OF CHILD ABUSE
CRIME INFORMATION.
(a) USE OF FORMULA GRANTS FOR IMPROVEMENTS
IN STATE RECORDS AND SYSTEMS.—Section 509(b) of
title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
290
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3759(b)), as amended by section
524(a) of this Act, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘and’’ after
the semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (4) by striking the period and
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(5) the improvement of State record systems
and the sharing of all of the records described in
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection and
the records required by the Attorney General under
section 884 of the National Child Protection Act of
1993 with the Attorney General for the purpose of
implementing the National Child Protection Act of
1993.’’.
(b) ADDITIONAL FUNDING GRANTS FOR THE IM-
PROVEMENT OF CHILD ABUSE CRIME INFORMATION.—
(1) The Attorney General shall, subject to appropriations
and with preference to States that as of the date of enact-
ment of this Act have the lowest percent currency of case
dispositions in computerized criminal history files, make
a grant to each State to be used—
(A) for the computerization of criminal history
files for the purposes of this subtitle;
291
(B) for the improvement of existing computer-
ized criminal history files for the purposes of this
subtitle;
(C) to improve accessibility to the national
criminal background check system for the purposes
of this subtitle; and
(D) to assist the State in the transmittal of
criminal records to, or the indexing of criminal his-
tory records in, the national criminal background
check system for the purposes of this subtitle.
(2) There are authorized to be appropriated for
grants under paragraph (1) a total of $20,000,000 for fis-
cal years 1994, 1995, and 1996.
(c) WITHHOLDING STATE FUNDS.—Effective 1 year
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen-
eral may reduce by up to 10 percent the allocation to a
State for a fiscal year under title I of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 of a State that is
not in compliance with the timetable established for that
State under section 884.
292
Subtitle 
D—Jacob 
Wetterling
Crimes Against Children Reg-
istration Act
SEC. 891. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Jacob Wetterling
Crimes Against Children Registration Act’’.
SEC. 892. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) STATE GUIDELINES.—The Attorney General
shall establish guidelines for State programs requir-
ing any person who is convicted of a criminal offense
against a victim who is a minor to register a current
address with a designated State law enforcement
agency for 10 years after release from prison, being
placed on parole, or being placed on supervised re-
lease.
(2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub-
section, ‘‘criminal offense against a victim who is a
minor’’ includes—
(A) kidnapping of a minor, except by a
noncustodial parent;
(B) false imprisonment of a minor, except
by a noncustodial parent;
(C) criminal sexual conduct toward a
minor;