I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1807
To establish a matching grant program to help State and local jurisdictions
purchase bullet resistant equipment for use by law enforcement departments.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 13, 1999
Mr. MCINNIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To establish a matching grant program to help State and
local jurisdictions purchase bullet resistant equipment
for use by law enforcement departments.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Officer Dale Claxton
Bullet Resistant Police Protective Equipment Act of
1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) Officer Dale Claxton of the Cortez, Colo-
rado, Police Department was shot and killed by bul-
lets that passed through the windshield of his police
car after he stopped a stolen truck, and his life may
have been saved if his police car had been equipped
with bullet resistant equipment;
(2) the number of law enforcement officers who
are killed in the line of duty would significantly de-
crease if every law enforcement officer in the United
States had access to additional bullet resistant
equipment;
(3) between 1985 and 1994, 709 law enforce-
ment officers in the United States were killed by a
felon in the line of duty;
(4) the Federal Bureau of Investigation esti-
mates that the risk of fatality to a law enforcement
officer who is not wearing bullet resistant equip-
ment, such as an armor vest, is 14 times higher
than for an officer wearing an armor vest;
(5) between 1985 and 1994, bullet-resistant
materials helped save the lives of more than 2,000
law enforcement officers in the United States;
(6) the Executive Committee for Indian Coun-
try Law Enforcement Improvements reports that
violent crime in Indian country has risen sharply de-
spite a decrease in the national crime rate, and has
concluded that there is a ‘‘public safety crisis in In-
dian country’’.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to save
lives of law enforcement officers by helping State, local,
and tribal law enforcement agencies provide officers with
bullet resistant equipment and video cameras.
SEC. 3. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCE-
MENT BULLET RESISTANT EQUIPMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part Y of title I of the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended—
(1) by striking the part designation and part
heading and inserting the following:
‘‘PART Y—MATCHING GRANT PROGRAMS
FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
‘‘Subpart A—Grant Program For Armor
Vests’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘this part’’ each place that term
appears and inserting ‘‘this subpart’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘Subpart B—Grant Program For Bullet
Resistant Equipment
‘‘SEC. 2511. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of
Justice Assistance is authorized to make grants to
States, units of local government, and Indian tribes to
purchase bullet resistant equipment for use by State,
local, and tribal law enforcement officers.
‘‘(b) USES OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this
section shall be—
‘‘(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of
local government, or Indian tribe; and
‘‘(2) used for the purchase of bullet resistant
equipment for law enforcement officers in the juris-
diction of the grantee.
‘‘(c) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding
grants under this subpart, the Director of the Bureau of
Justice Assistance may give preferential consideration, if
feasible, to an application from a jurisdiction that—
‘‘(1) has the greatest need for bullet resistant
equipment based on the percentage of law enforce-
ment officers in the department who do not have ac-
cess to a vest;
‘‘(2) has a violent crime rate at or above the
national average as determined by the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation; or
‘‘(3) has not received a block grant under the
Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program de-
scribed under the heading ‘Violent Crime Reduction
Programs, State and Local Law Enforcement As-
sistance’ of the Departments of Commerce, Justice,
and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Ap-
propriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105–119).
‘‘(d) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Unless all eligible applica-
tions submitted by any State or unit of local government
within such State for a grant under this section have been
funded, such State, together with grantees within the
State (other than Indian tribes), shall be allocated in each
fiscal year under this section not less than 0.50 percent
of the total amount appropriated in the fiscal year for
grants pursuant to this section except that the United
States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the
Northern Mariana Islands shall each be allocated .25 per-
cent.
‘‘(e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A qualifying State, unit of
local government, or Indian tribe may not receive more
than 5 percent of the total amount appropriated in each
fiscal year for grants under this section, except that a
State, together with the grantees within the State may not
receive more than 20 percent of the total amount appro-
priated in each fiscal year for grants under this section.
‘‘(f) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of
a program provided by a grant under subsection (a) may
not exceed 50 percent. Any funds appropriated by Con-
gress for the activities of any agency of an Indian tribal
government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing
law enforcement functions on any Indian lands may be
used to provide the non-Federal share of a matching re-
quirement funded under this subsection.
‘‘(g) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—At least half of the
funds available under this subpart shall be awarded to
units of local government with fewer than 100,000 resi-
dents.
‘‘SEC. 2512. APPLICATIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To request a grant under this
subpart, the chief executive of a State, unit of local gov-
ernment, or Indian tribe shall submit an application to
the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance in such
form and containing such information as the Director may
reasonably require.
‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after
the date of the enactment of this subpart, the Director
of the Bureau of Justice Assistance shall promulgate regu-
lations to implement this section (including the informa-
tion that must be included and the requirements that the
States, units of local government, and Indian tribes must
meet) in submitting the applications required under this
section.
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—A unit of local government that
receives funding under the Local Law Enforcement Block
Grant program (described under the heading ‘Violent
Crime Reduction Programs, State and Local Law En-
forcement Assistance’ of the Departments of Commerce,
Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 104–119)) during
a fiscal year in which it submits an application under this
subpart shall not be eligible for a grant under this subpart
unless the chief executive officer of such unit of local gov-
ernment certifies and provides an explanation to the Di-
rector that the unit of local government considered or will
consider using funding received under the block grant pro-
gram for any or all of the costs relating to the purchase
of bullet resistant equipment, but did not, or does not ex-
pect to use such funds for such purpose.
‘‘SEC. 2513. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this subpart—
‘‘(1) the term ‘bullet resistant equipment’
means windshield glass, car panels, shields, and pro-
tective gear;
‘‘(2) the term ‘State’ means each of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,
American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana
Islands;
‘‘(3) the term ‘unit of local government’ means
a county, municipality, town, township, village, par-
ish, borough, or other unit of general government
below the State level;
(4) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the same mean-
ing as in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determina-
tion and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C.
450b(e)); and
‘‘(5) the term ‘law enforcement officer’ means
any officer, agent, or employee of a State, unit of
local government, or Indian tribe authorized by law
or by a government agency to engage in or supervise
the prevention, detection, or investigation of any vio-
lation of criminal law, or authorized by law to super-
vise sentenced criminal offenders.
‘‘Subpart C—Grant Program For Video Cameras
‘‘SEC. 2521. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of
Justice Assistance is authorized to make grants to States,
units of local government, and Indian tribes to purchase
video cameras for use by State, local, and tribal law en-
forcement agencies in law enforcement vehicles.
‘‘(b) USES OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this
section shall be—
‘‘(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of
local government, or Indian tribe; and
‘‘(2) used for the purchase of video cameras for
law enforcement vehicles in the jurisdiction of the
grantee.
‘‘(c) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding
grants under this subpart, the Director of the Bureau of
Justice Assistance may give preferential consideration, if
feasible, to an application from a jurisdiction that—
‘‘(1) has the greatest need for video cameras,
based on the percentage of law enforcement officers
in the department do not have access to a law en-
forcement vehicle equipped with a video camera;
‘‘(2) has a violent crime rate at or above the
national average as determined by the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation; or
‘‘(3) has not received a block grant under the
Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program de-
scribed under the heading ‘Violent Crime Reduction
Programs, State and Local Law Enforcement As-
sistance’ of the Departments of Commerce, Justice,
and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Ap-
propriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105–119).
‘‘(d) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Unless all eligible applica-
tions submitted by any State or unit of local government
within such State for a grant under this section have been
funded, such State, together with grantees within the
State (other than Indian tribes), shall be allocated in each
fiscal year under this section not less than 0.50 percent
of the total amount appropriated in the fiscal year for
grants pursuant to this section, except that the United
States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the
Northern Mariana Islands shall each be allocated 0.25
percent.
‘‘(e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A qualifying State, unit of
local government, or Indian tribe may not receive more
than 5 percent of the total amount appropriated in each
fiscal year for grants under this section, except that a
State, together with the grantees within the State may not
receive more than 20 percent of the total amount appro-
priated in each fiscal year for grants under this section.
‘‘(f) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of
a program provided by a grant under subsection (a) may
not exceed 50 percent. Any funds appropriated by Con-
gress for the activities of any agency of an Indian tribal
government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing
law enforcement functions on any Indian lands may be
used to provide the non-Federal share of a matching re-
quirement funded under this subsection.
‘‘(g) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—At least half of the
funds available under this subpart shall be awarded to
units of local government with fewer than 100,000 resi-
dents.
‘‘SEC. 2522. APPLICATIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To request a grant under this
subpart, the chief executive of a State, unit of local gov-
ernment, or Indian tribe shall submit an application to
the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance in such
form and containing such information as the Director may
reasonably require.
‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after
the date of the enactment of this subpart, the Director
of the Bureau of Justice Assistance shall promulgate regu-
lations to implement this section (including the informa-
tion that must be included and the requirements that the
States, units of local government, and Indian tribes must
meet) in submitting the applications required under this
section.
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—A unit of local government that
receives funding under the Local Law Enforcement Block
Grant program (described under the heading ‘Violent
Crime Reduction Programs, State and Local Law En-
forcement Assistance’ of the Departments of Commerce,
Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105–119)) during
a fiscal year in which it submits an application under this
subpart shall not be eligible for a grant under this subpart
unless the chief executive officer of such unit of local gov-
ernment certifies and provides an explanation to the Di-
rector that the unit of local government considered or will
consider using funding received under the block grant pro-
gram for any or all of the costs relating to the purchase
of video cameras, but did not, or does not expect to use
such funds for such purpose.
‘‘SEC. 2523. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this subpart—
‘‘(1) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the same mean-
ing as in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determina-
tion and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C.
450b(e));
‘‘(2) the term ‘law enforcement officer’ means
any officer, agent, or employee of a State, unit of
local government, or Indian tribe authorized by law
or by a government agency to engage in or supervise
the prevention, detection, or investigation of any vio-
lation of criminal law, or authorized by law to super-
vise sentenced criminal offenders;
‘‘(3) the term ‘State’ means each of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,
American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana
Islands; and
‘‘(4) the term ‘unit of local government’ means
a county, municipality, town, township, village, par-
ish, borough, or other unit of general government
below the State level.’’.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section
1001(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)) is amended by striking
paragraph (23) and inserting the following:
‘‘(23) There are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out part Y—
‘‘(A) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000
through 2002 for grants under subpart A;
‘‘(B) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000
through 2002 for grants under subpart B; and
‘‘(C) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000
through 2002 for grants under subpart C.’’.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
In the case of any equipment or products that may
be authorized to be purchased with financial assistance
provided using funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act, it is the sense of the Congress that
entities receiving the assistance should, in expending the