I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1232 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense 
to make certain limitations on the transfer of personal property to 
Federal and State agencies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 4, 2015 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SCOTT 
of Virginia, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CHU of California, Ms. 
SPEIER, Mr. CLAY, Mr. NADLER, Ms. LEE, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. VAN 
HOLLEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 
AMASH, Mr. FARR, Mr. TONKO, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. 
CA´RDENAS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. JACKSON LEE, 
Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HAS-
TINGS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
HONDA, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DANNY K. 
DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. POCAN, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. 
MCCLINTOCK, Mr. GRAYSON, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Sec-
retary of Defense to make certain limitations on the 
transfer of personal property to Federal and State agen-
cies, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Militarizing Law 
Enforcement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Under section 2576a of title 10, United 
States Code, the Department of Defense is author-
ized to provide excess property to local law enforce-
ment agencies. The Defense Logistics Agency, ad-
ministers such section by operating the Law En-
forcement Support Office program. 
(2) New and used material, including mine-re-
sistant ambush-protected vehicles and weapons de-
termined by the Department of Defense to be ‘‘mili-
tary grade’’ are transferred to local and Federal law 
enforcement agencies through the program. 
(3) As a result local law enforcement agencies, 
including police and sheriff’s departments, are ac-
quiring this material for use in their normal oper-
ations. 
(4) As a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghani-
stan, military equipment purchased for, and used in, 
those wars has become excess property and has been 
made available for transfer to local and Federal law 
enforcement agencies. 
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(5) According to public reports, approximately 
12,000 police organizations across the country were 
able to procure nearly $500,000,000 worth of excess 
military merchandise including firearms, computers, 
helicopters, clothing, and other products, at no 
charge during fiscal year 2011 alone. 
(6) More than $4,000,000,000 worth of weap-
ons and equipment have been transferred to police 
organizations in all 50 states and four territories 
through the program. 
(7) In May 2012, the Defense Logistics Agency 
instituted a moratorium on weapons transfers 
through the program after reports of missing equip-
ment and inappropriate weapons transfers. 
(8) Though the moratorium was widely pub-
licized, it was lifted in October 2013 without ade-
quate safeguards. 
(9) As a result, Federal, State, and local law 
enforcement departments across the country are eli-
gible again to acquire free ‘‘military-grade’’ weapons 
and equipment that could be used inappropriately 
during policing efforts in which citizens and tax-
payers could be harmed. 
(10) Pursuant to section III(J) of a Defense 
Logistics Agency memorandum of understanding, 
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property obtained through the program must be 
placed into use within one year of receipt, possibly 
providing an incentive for the unnecessary and po-
tentially dangerous use of ‘‘military grade’’ equip-
ment by local law enforcement. 
(11) The Department of Defense categorizes 
equipment eligible for transfer under the 1033 pro-
gram as ‘‘controlled’’ and ‘‘un-controlled’’ equip-
ment. ‘‘Controlled equipment’’ includes weapons, ex-
plosives such as flash-bang grenades, mine resistant 
ambush protected vehicles, long range acoustic de-
vices, aircraft capable of being modified to carry ar-
mament that are combat coded, and silencers, 
among other military grade items. 
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TRANS-
FER OF PERSONAL PROPERTY TO LOCAL LAW 
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2576a of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking 
‘‘counter-drug and’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and the 
Director of National Drug Control Policy’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
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(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe-
riod and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(5) the recipient certifies to the Department of 
Defense that it has the personnel and technical ca-
pacity, including training, to operate the property; 
‘‘(6) the recipient submits to the Department of 
Defense a description of how the recipient expects to 
use the property; 
‘‘(7) the recipient certifies to the Department of 
Defense that if the recipient determines that the 
property is surplus to the needs of the recipient, the 
recipient will return the property to the Department 
of Defense; and 
‘‘(8) with respect to a recipient that is not a 
Federal agency, the recipient certifies to the Depart-
ment of Defense that the recipient notified the local 
community of the request for personal property 
under this section by— 
‘‘(A) publishing a notice of such request on 
a publicly accessible Internet website; 
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‘‘(B) posting such notice at several promi-
nent locations in the jurisdiction of the recipi-
ent; and 
‘‘(C) ensuring that such notices were avail-
able to the local community for a period of not 
less than 30 days.’’; 
(3) by striking subsection (d); and 
(4) by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(d) ANNUAL
CERTIFICATION
ACCOUNTING
FOR 
TRANSFERRED PROPERTY.—(1) For each fiscal year, the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress certification in writing 
that each Federal or State agency to which the Secretary 
has transferred property under this section— 
‘‘(A) has provided to the Secretary documenta-
tion accounting for all controlled personal property, 
including arms and ammunition, that the Secretary 
has transferred to the agency, including any item de-
scribed in subsection (f) so transferred before the 
date of the enactment of the Stop Militarizing Law 
Enforcement Act; and 
‘‘(B) with respect to a non-Federal agency, car-
ried out each of paragraphs (5) through (8) of sub-
section (b). 
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‘‘(2) If the Secretary cannot provide a certification 
under paragraph (1) for a Federal or State agency, the 
Secretary may not transfer additional property to that 
agency under this section. 
‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT ON EXCESS PROPERTY.—Be-
fore making any property available for transfer under this 
section, the Secretary shall annually submit to Congress 
a description of the property to be transferred together 
with a certification that the transfer of the property would 
not violate this section or any other provision of law. 
‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFERS.—(1) The Sec-
retary may not transfer the following personal property 
of the Department of Defense under this section: 
‘‘(A) Controlled firearms, ammunition, grenades 
(including stun and flash-bang) and explosives. 
‘‘(B) Controlled vehicles, highly mobile multi- 
wheeled vehicles, mine-resistant ambush-protected 
vehicles, trucks, truck dump, truck utility, and truck 
carryall. 
‘‘(C) Drones that are armored, weaponized, or 
both. 
‘‘(D) Controlled aircraft that— 
‘‘(i) are combat configured or combat 
coded; or 
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‘‘(ii) have no established commercial flight 
application. 
‘‘(E) Silencers. 
‘‘(F) Long range acoustic devices. 
‘‘(G) Items in the Federal Supply Class of 
banned items. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary may not require, as a condition 
of a transfer under this section, that a Federal or State 
agency demonstrate the use of any small arms or ammuni-
tion. 
‘‘(3) The limitations under this subsection shall also 
apply with respect to the transfer of previously transferred 
property of the Department of Defense from one Federal 
or State agency to another such agency. 
‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary may waive the applicability of 
paragraph (1) to a vehicle described in subparagraph (B) 
of such paragraph (other than a mine-resistant ambush- 
protected vehicle), if the Secretary determines that such 
a waiver is necessary for disaster or rescue purposes or 
for another purpose where life and public safety are at 
risk, as demonstrated by the proposed recipient of the ve-
hicle. 
‘‘(B) If the Secretary issues a waiver under subpara-
graph (A), the Secretary shall— 
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‘‘(i) submit to Congress notice of the waiver, 
and post such notice on a public Internet website of 
the Department, by not later than 30 days after the 
date on which the waiver is issued; and 
‘‘(ii) require, as a condition of the waiver, that 
the recipient of the vehicle for which the waiver is 
issued provides public notice of the waiver and the 
transfer, including the type of vehicle and the pur-
pose for which it is transferred, in the jurisdiction 
where the recipient is located by not later than 30 
days after the date on which the waiver is issued. 
‘‘(5) The Secretary may provide for an exemption to 
the limitation under subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) 
in the case of parts for aircraft described in such subpara-
graph that are transferred as part of regular maintenance 
of aircraft in an existing fleet. 
‘‘(g) CONDITIONS FOR EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts 
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available 
for any fiscal year may not be obligated or expended to 
carry out this section unless the Secretary submits to Con-
gress certification that for the preceding fiscal year that— 
‘‘(A) each Federal or State agency that has re-
ceived covered property transferred under this sec-
tion has— 
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‘‘(i) demonstrated 100 percent account-
ability for all such property, in accordance with 
subparagraph (B) or (C), as applicable; or 
‘‘(ii) been suspended from the program 
pursuant to subparagraph (D); 
‘‘(B) with respect to each non-Federal agency 
that has received covered property under this sec-
tion, the State coordinator responsible for each such 
agency has verified that the coordinator or an agent 
of the coordinator has conducted an in-person inven-
tory of the property transferred to the agency and 
that 100 percent of such property was accounted for 
during the inventory or that the agency has been 
suspended from the program pursuant to subpara-
graph (D); 
‘‘(C) with respect to each Federal agency that 
has received covered property under this section, the 
Secretary of Defense or an agent of the Secretary 
has conducted an in-person inventory of the property 
transferred to the agency and that 100 percent of 
such property was accounted for during the inven-
tory or that the agency has been suspended from the 
program pursuant to subparagraph (D); 
‘‘(D) the eligibility of any agency that has re-
ceived covered property under this section for which 
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100 percent of the property was not accounted for 
during an inventory described in subparagraph (A) 
or (B), as applicable, to receive any property trans-
ferred under this section has been suspended; and 
‘‘(E) each State coordinator has certified, for 
each non-Federal agency located in the State for 
which the State coordinator is responsible that— 
‘‘(i) the agency has complied with all re-
quirements under this section; or 
‘‘(ii) the eligibility of the agency to receive 
property transferred under this section has been 
suspended; and 
‘‘(F) the Secretary of Defense has certified, for 
each Federal agency that has received property 
under this section that— 
‘‘(i) the agency has complied with all re-
quirements under this section; or 
‘‘(ii) the eligibility of the agency to receive 
property transferred under this section has been 
suspended. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘covered property’ 
means property classified as controlled equipment. 
‘‘(h) PROHIBITION ON OWNERSHIP.—A Federal or 
State agency that receives property classified as controlled 
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equipment under this section may never take ownership 
of the property. 
‘‘(i) WEBSITE.—The Defense Logistics Agency shall 
maintain an Internet website on which the following infor-
mation shall be made publicly available: 
‘‘(1) A description of each transfer made under 
this section, including transfers made before and 
after the date of the enactment of the Stop Milita-
rizing Law Enforcement Act, broken down by State, 
county, and recipient. 
‘‘(2) During the 30-day period preceding the 
date on which any property is transferred under this 
section, a description of the property to be trans-
ferred and the recipient of the transferred items. 
‘‘(3) Notice of any use of controlled equipment 
by the recipient of property transferred under this 
section as provided under subsection (l). 
‘‘(j) NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF PROPERTY DOWN-
GRADES.—Not later than 30 days before downgrading the 
classification of any item of personal property from con-
trolled or Federal Supply Class, the Secretary shall submit 
to Congress notice of the proposed downgrade. 
‘‘(k) NOTICE
TO CONGRESS
OF PROPERTY CAN-
NIBALIZATION.—Before the Defense Logistics Agency au-
thorizes the recipient of property transferred under this 
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section to cannibalize the property, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress notice of such authorization, including 
the name of the recipient requesting the authorization, the 
purpose of the proposed cannibalization, and the type of 
property proposed to be cannibalized. 
‘‘(l) QUARTERLY REPORTS ON USE OF CONTROLLED 
EQUIPMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the last day 
of a fiscal quarter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 
a report on any uses of controlled equipment transferred 
under this section during that fiscal quarter. 
‘‘(m) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 
days after the last day of a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress a report on the following for the pre-
ceding fiscal year: 
‘‘(1) The percentage of equipment lost by re-
cipients of property transferred under this section, 
including specific information about the type of 
property lost, the monetary value of such property, 
and the recipient that lost the property. 
‘‘(2) The transfer of any new (condition code 
A) property transferred under this section, including 
specific information about the type of property, the 
recipient of the property, the monetary value of each 
item of the property, and the total monetary value 
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of all such property transferred during the fiscal 
year.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any transfer of 
property made after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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