[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 20, 2000]
A BILL
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 to clarify the procedures and conditions
for the award of matching grants for the purchase of
armor vests.
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 ‘‘Bulletproof Vest Part-
nership Grant Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) 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 the protection of an armor vest;
(2) according to studies, between 1985 and 1994,
709 law enforcement officers in the United States
were feloniously killed in the line of duty;
(3) the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates
that the risk of fatality to law enforcement officers
while not wearing an armor vest is 14 times higher
than for officers wearing an armor vest;
(4) according to studies, between 1985 and 1994,
bullet-resistant materials helped save the lives of more
than 2,000 law enforcement officers in the United
States; and
(5) the Executive Committee for Indian Country
Law Enforcement Improvements reports that violent
crime in Indian country has risen sharply, despite a
decrease in the national crime rate, and has con-
cluded that there is a ‘‘public safety crisis in Indian
country’’.
SEC. 3. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCE-
MENT ARMOR VESTS.
(a) MATCHING FUNDS.—Section 2501(f) (42 U.S.C.
3796ll(f)) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘The portion’’ and inserting the
following:
‘‘(1) The portion’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and all that fol-
lows through the period at the end of the first sentence
and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)—
‘‘(A) may not exceed 50 percent; and
‘‘(B) shall equal 50 percent, if—
‘‘(i) such grant is to a unit of local
government with fewer than 100,000 resi-
dents;
‘‘(ii) the Director of the Bureau of Jus-
tice Assistance determines that the quantity
of vests to be purchased with such grant is
reasonable; and
‘‘(iii) such portion does not cause such
grant to violate the requirements of sub-
section (e).’’; and
(3) by striking ‘‘Any funds’’ and inserting the
following:
‘‘(2) Any funds’’.
(b) ALLOCATION
OF FUNDS.—Section 2501(g) (42
U.S.C. 3796ll(g)) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(g) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Funds available under
this part shall be awarded, without regard to subsection (c),
to each qualifying unit of local government with fewer than
100,000 residents. Any remaining funds available under
this part shall be awarded to other qualifying applicants.’’.
(c) APPLICATIONS.—Section 2502 (42 U.S.C. 3796ll–
1) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of
1968 is amended by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing new subsection:
‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS
IN CONJUNCTION WITH PUR-
CHASES.—If an application under this section is submitted
in conjunction with a transaction for the purchase of armor
vests, grant amounts under this section may not be used
to fund any portion of that purchase unless, before the ap-
plication is submitted, the applicant—
‘‘(1) receives clear and conspicuous notice that
receipt of the grant amounts requested in the applica-
tion is uncertain; and
‘‘(2) expressly assumes the obligation to carry
out the transaction regardless of whether such
amounts are received.’’.
(d) DEFINITION OF ARMOR VEST.—Paragraph (1) of
section 2503 (42 U.S.C. 3796ll–2) of such Act is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘means body armor’’ and insert-
ing the following: ‘‘means—
‘‘(A) body armor’’; and
(2) by inserting after the semicolon at the end
the following: ‘‘or
‘‘(B) body armor which has been tested
through such voluntary compliance testing pro-
gram, and found to meet or exceed the require-
ments of NIJ Standard 0115.00, or any subse-
quent revision of such standard;’’.
(e) INTERIM DEFINITION OF ARMOR VEST.—For pur-
poses of part Y of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control
and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended by this Act, the
meaning of the term ‘‘armor vest’’ (as defined in section
2503 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 37966ll–2)) shall, until the date
on which a final NIJ Standard 0115.00 is first fully ap-
proved and implemented, also include body armor which
has been found to meet or exceed the requirements for pro-
tection against stabbing established by the State in which
the grantee is located.
(f) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section
1001(a)(23) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)(23)) is amended by striking
the period at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2004.’’.
Union Calendar No. 442
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4033
[Report No. 106–776]
A BILL
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 to clarify the procedures and
conditions for the award of matching grants for
the purchase of armor vests.
JULY 20, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
and ordered to be printed