I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 54
To establish a grant program that provides incentives for States to enact 
mandatory minimum sentences for certain firearms offenses, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2003
Mr. CRENSHAW (for himself, Mr. MICA, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. 
FORBES, and Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish a grant program that provides incentives for 
States to enact mandatory minimum sentences for cer-
tain firearms offenses, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Project Exile Safe 
Streets and Neighborhoods Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FIREARMS SENTENCING INCENTIVE GRANTS. 
(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Title II of the Violent 
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is 
amended—
(1) by redesignating subtitle D as subtitle E; 
and 
(2) by inserting after subtitle C the following 
new subtitle: 
‘‘Subtitle D—Firearms Sentencing 
Incentive Grants 
‘‘SEC. 20351. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘For purposes of this subtitle: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘violent crime’ means murder 
and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, rob-
bery, and aggravated assault, or a crime in a reason-
ably comparable class of serious violent crimes as 
approved by the Attorney General. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘serious drug trafficking crime’ 
means an offense under State law for the manufac-
ture or distribution of a controlled substance, for 
which State law authorizes to be imposed a sentence 
to a term of imprisonment of 10 years or more. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘part 1 violent crime’ means 
murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible 
rape, robbery, and aggravated assault as reported to 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes of 
the Uniform Crime Reports. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘State’ means a State of the 
United States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 
Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern 
Mariana Islands. 
‘‘SEC. 20352. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 
carry out this subtitle, the Attorney General shall provide 
Firearms Sentencing Incentive grants under section 
20353 to eligible States. 
‘‘(b) ALLOWABLE USES.—Such grants may be used 
by a State only for the following purposes: 
‘‘(1) To support—
‘‘(A) law enforcement agencies; 
‘‘(B) prosecutors; 
‘‘(C) courts; 
‘‘(D) probation officers; 
‘‘(E) correctional officers; 
‘‘(F) the juvenile justice system; 
‘‘(G) the expansion, improvement, and co-
ordination of criminal history records; or 
‘‘(H) case management programs involving 
the sharing of information about serious offend-
ers. 
‘‘(2) To carry out a public awareness and com-
munity support program described in section 
20353(a)(2).
‘‘(3) To build or expand correctional facilities. 
‘‘(c) SUBGRANTS.—A State may use such grants di-
rectly or by making subgrants to units of local government 
within that State. 
‘‘SEC. 20353. FIREARMS SENTENCING INCENTIVE GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), to be eligible to receive a grant award under this sec-
tion, a State shall submit an application to the Attorney 
General that complies with the following: 
‘‘(1) The application shall demonstrate that 
such State has implemented firearms sentencing 
laws requiring 1 or more of the following: 
‘‘(A) Any person who, during and in rela-
tion to any violent crime or serious drug traf-
ficking crime, uses or carries a firearm, shall, 
in addition to the punishment provided for such 
crime of violence or serious drug trafficking 
crime, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment 
of not less than 5 years (without the possibility 
of parole during that term). 
‘‘(B) Any person who, having at least 1 
prior conviction for a violent crime, possesses a 
firearm, shall, for such possession, be sentenced 
to a term of imprisonment of not less than 5
years (without the possibility of parole during 
that term). 
‘‘(2) The application shall demonstrate that 
such State has implemented, or will implement not 
later than 6 months after receiving a grant under 
this subtitle, a public awareness and community sup-
port program that seeks to build support for, and 
warns potential violators of, the firearms sentencing 
laws implemented under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) The application shall provide assurances 
that such State—
‘‘(A) will coordinate with Federal prosecu-
tors and Federal law enforcement agencies 
whose jurisdictions include such State, so as to 
promote Federal involvement and cooperation in 
the enforcement of laws within that State; and 
‘‘(B) will allocate its resources in a manner 
calculated to reduce crime in the high-crime 
areas of the State.
‘‘(b) ALTERNATE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that is unable to 
demonstrate in its application that such State meets 
the requirement of subsection (a)(1) shall be eligible 
to receive a grant award under this section notwith-
standing that inability if that State, in such applica-
tion, provides assurances that such State has in ef-
fect an equivalent Federal prosecution agreement. 
‘‘(2) 
EQUIVALENT
FEDERAL
PROSECUTION 
AGREEMENT.—For purposes of paragraph (1), an 
equivalent Federal prosecution agreement is an 
agreement with appropriate Federal authorities that 
ensures 1 or more of the following: 
‘‘(A) If a person engages in the conduct 
specified in subsection (a)(1)(A), but the con-
viction of that person under State law for that 
conduct is not certain to result in the imposi-
tion of an additional sentence as specified in 
that subsection, that person is referred for 
prosecution for such conduct under Federal 
law. 
‘‘(B) If a person engages in the conduct 
specified in subsection (a)(1)(B), but the con-
viction of that person under State law for that 
conduct is not certain to result in the imposi-
tion of a sentence as specified in that sub-
section, that person is referred for prosecution 
for such conduct under Federal law. 
‘‘SEC. 20354. FORMULA FOR GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The amount available for grants 
under section 20353 for any fiscal year shall be allocated
to each eligible State, in the ratio that the number of part 
1 violent crimes reported by such State to the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation for the 3 years preceding the year 
in which the determination is made, bears to the average 
annual number of part 1 violent crimes reported by all 
eligible States to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 
the 3 years preceding the year in which the determination 
is made. 
‘‘(b) UNAVAILABLE DATA.—If data regarding part 1 
violent crimes in any State is substantially inaccurate or 
is unavailable for the 3 years preceding the year in which 
the determination is made, the Attorney General shall uti-
lize the best available comparable data regarding the num-
ber of violent crimes for the previous year for the State 
for the purposes of allocation of funds under this subtitle. 
‘‘SEC. 20355. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATIONS.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this subtitle—
‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; 
‘‘(2) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 
‘‘(3) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 
‘‘(4) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and 
‘‘(5) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available 
pursuant to this subtitle shall be used only to carry 
out the purposes described in section 20352(b). 
‘‘(2) NONSUPPLANTING REQUIREMENT.—Funds 
made available pursuant to this section shall not be 
used to supplant State funds, but shall be used to 
increase the amount of funds that would, in the ab-
sence of Federal funds, be made available from 
State sources. 
‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 
3 percent of the funds made available pursuant to 
this section shall be available to the Attorney Gen-
eral for purposes of administration, research and 
evaluation, technical assistance, and data collection. 
‘‘(4) CARRYOVER OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Funds 
appropriated pursuant to this section during any fis-
cal year shall remain available until expended. 
‘‘(5) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Federal share of 
a grant received under this subtitle may not exceed 
90 percent of the costs of a proposal as described in 
an application approved under this subtitle. 
‘‘SEC. 20356. REPORT BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. 
‘‘Beginning on October 1, 2003, and each subsequent 
July 1 thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa-
tives a report on the implementation of this subtitle. The 
report shall include information regarding the eligibility 
of States under section 20353 and the distribution and 
use of funds under this subtitle.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 2 of that Act is amended—
(1) by redesignating the item relating to sub-
title D of title II as subtitle E of such title; and 
(2) by inserting after subtitle C of such title the 
following:
‘‘Subtitle D—Firearms Sentencing Incentive Grants 
‘‘Sec. 20351. Definitions. 
‘‘Sec. 20352. Authorization of grants. 
‘‘Sec. 20353. Firearms sentencing incentive grants. 
‘‘Sec. 20354. Formula for grants. 
‘‘Sec. 20355. Authorization of appropriations. 
‘‘Sec. 20356. Report by the Attorney General.’’.
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