jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2015-06-18 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on September 28, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Border Jobs for Veterans Act of 2015

(Sec. 3) Directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to consider the expedited hiring of qualified candidates who have the ability to perform the essential functions of the position of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer and who are eligible for a veterans recruitment appointment.

(Sec. 4) Requires DHS to enhance DHS efforts to recruit members of the Armed Forces who are separating from military service to serve as CBP officers. Requires such enhanced recruiting efforts to:

 include CBP officer opportunities in relevant job assistance efforts under the Transition Assistance Program; place CBP officials or other relevant DHS officials at recruiting events and jobs fairs involving separating members of the Armed Forces; provide opportunities for local CBP field offices to partner with military bases in the region; include outreach efforts to educate members of the Armed Forces with qualifications that are transferable to CBP officer requirements; identify shared activities and opportunities for reciprocity related to steps in hiring CBP officers with the goal of minimizing the time required to hire qualified applicants; ensure the streamlined interagency transfer of relevant background investigations and security clearances; and include other elements to ensure that separating members of the Armed Forces are aware of opportunities to fill vacant CBP officer positions. (Sec. 5) Directs DHS to report to Congress on DHS efforts to hire members of the Armed Forces who are separating from military service as CBP officers.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2015-06-24 00:00:00

Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2015

This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to analyze existing law enforcement accreditation standards, recommend additional areas for the development of national standards, recommend the adoption of additional standards, and adopt policies and procedures to encourage accreditation of law enforcement agencies. It authorizes DOJ to make grants to federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to obtain accreditation from certified organizations.

The legislation authorizes DOJ to make grants to state, local, or tribal governments, public and private entities, or consortia to study law enforcement agency management and operations standards and to develop pilot programs to address law enforcement misconduct.

DOJ must study the prevalence and effect of any law, rule, or procedure that allows a law enforcement officer to delay the investigation and prosecution of law enforcement misconduct.

The legislation establishes the Task Force on Law Enforcement Oversight within DOJ to coordinate the detection and referral of complaints of alleged law enforcement misconduct.

Law enforcement agencies must report data regarding practices on traffic violation stops, pedestrian stops, frisk and body searches, and use of deadly force. Data must include the number of incidents of each practice broken down by race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the officers, employees, and members of the public involved in the practice.

DOJ must create a medallion for distribution to survivors of each law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty and memorialized on the wall of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2015-07-07 00:00:00

Right to Counsel and Taxpayer Protection Act 

This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to make the provision that prohibits law enforcement agencies from engaging in patterns or practices of conduct that violate constitutional rights related to the administration of juvenile justice applicable to adults as well as juveniles.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2015-07-08 00:00:00

Confidential Informant Accountability Act of 2015

 Directs the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Treasury to report biannually to Congress on: (1) all serious crimes, authorized and unauthorized, committed by informants maintained by their respective law enforcement agencies (i.e., the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives); and (2) the amounts expended by each of such agencies on payments to such informants.

Defines a "serious crime" as any serious violent felony or drug offense or any offense of racketeering, bribery, child pornography, obstruction of justice, or perjury that an agent or employee of the relevant law enforcement agency has reasonable grounds to believe an informant has committed.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2015-07-29 00:00:00

Ensuring Congressional Oversight of Immigration Act

This bill terminates the authority exercised by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) two years after enactment of this Act, unless extended by legislation.

No funds, fees, or resources available to USCIS may be used to implement specified immigration-related memoranda from the President, DHS, USCIS, or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2015-09-18 00:00:00

Border Enforcement Accountability, Oversight, and Community Engagement Act of 2015

Establishes: (1) the Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Commission, and (2) a northern border subcommittee and a southern border subcommittee within the Commission.

Requires the Commission and the subcommittees to: (1) recommend border enforcement policy improvements; (2) evaluate policies of federal agencies operating along the borders to protect due process and human rights of border residents and visitors, protect land owner private property rights, and reduce the number of migrant deaths; (3) recommend safety improvements for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel; and (4) evaluate training and the extent to which CBP supervisory and management personnel practices encourage workforce development and promote field safety.

Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to rename the position of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the Ombudsman for Border and Immigration Related Concerns. Revises related function and administrative provisions, including requiring the Ombudsman to establish a Border Community Liaison Office in each Border Patrol sector on the northern and southern borders.

Sets forth specified training and continuing education requirements for CBP personnel.

Directs DHS to submit to Congress an assessment of current guidelines for managing ports of entry under DHS control.

 Directs: (1) CBP to report to Congress regarding deaths occurring along the U.S.-Mexico border, and (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review such report.

Directs: (1) GAO to examine the extent to which CBP has clarified use of force policies, and (2) DHS to require CBP to implement any recommendations contained in such examination.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-09-25 00:00:00

This bill provides $135 million in FY2016 emergency appropriations for the construction of a new courthouse for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The bill designates the funds as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from limits on discretionary spending and other budget enforcement rules.

The construction of the courthouse must include a real property exchange between the city of San Antonio, Texas, and the General Services Administration (GSA) involving: (1) federally owned land including the Wood Courthouse and Spears Judicial Training Center, and (2) city-owned land commonly known as the San Antonio Police Headquarters Site.

Within six months of enactment of this bill, the GSA must provide a progress report to Congress.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2015-10-23 00:00:00

Help Ensure Legal Detainers Act or the HELD Act

This bill prohibits the use of federal funds by a state or local subdivision that has in effect a law, policy or procedure that prevents or impedes: (1) a timely response to a request by the Department of Homeland Security for information about an alien in custody, including the alien's estimated release date; or (2) compliance with a detainer request.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2015-11-05 00:00:00

Protecting Individuals From Mass Aerial Surveillance Act of 2015

This bill prohibits a federal entity from using unmanned aircraft or other mobile aerial-view devices (MAVDs) to: (1) surveil property, persons, or their effects; or (2) gather evidence pertaining to known or suspected criminal conduct, or conduct that violates a law or regulation.

Exceptions allow MAVDs to be used by federal entities to:

 surveil national borders or national waters to prevent or deter illegal entry of persons or illegal substances; prevent imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to a specific individual, counter an imminent risk of a terrorist attack by a specific individual or organization, prevent imminent destruction of evidence, or counter an imminent or actual escape of a criminal or terrorist suspect; monitor or research environmental, geologic, or weather-related damage and events, including forest fires, erosion, floods, wildlife, habitats, or illegal vegetation on public lands; or acquire information about an individual who consents to the use of an MAVD. Law enforcement officials or agencies may use an MAVD to surveil specific property, persons, or their effects pursuant to a search and seizure warrant.

The bill: (1) prohibits a federal entity actor from making an intentional effort to identify an individual from, or associate an individual with, the information collected under certain exceptions to the prohibition on the use of MAVDs; and (2) bars disclosure of collected information except to another federal entity or state, tribal, or local government agency that agrees to be bound by the restrictions in this Act. Such identification and disclosure restrictions shall not apply if there is probable cause that the information collected is evidence of specific criminal activity and a warrant is obtained.

Federal entities are prohibited from: (1) soliciting or awarding contracts to surveil by MAVD for a federal entity, unless the federal entity has existing authority for such surveillance; or (2) purchasing information obtained from MAVD surveillance by a nonfederal entity if such information contains personal information, except with the consent of the affected persons.

This Act shall not be construed to preempt any state law regarding the use of MAVDs exclusively within the borders of that state.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2015-11-17 00:00:00

Secure Fence Restoration Act of 2015

This bill amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 with respect to construction of border fencing and road improvements to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to complete the required 700-mile southwest border fencing and priority-area fencing by December 31, 2017.

The Secure Fence Act of 2006 is amended to direct DHS, in consultation with state and local officials along the U.S.-Mexico border, to achieve operational control over U.S. international land and maritime borders by December 31, 2017.

National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act

Neither the Department of the Interior nor the Department of Agriculture may prohibit or restrict U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) activities on federal land under their respective jurisdictions within 100 miles of an international land border to:

 execute search and rescue operations; and prevent unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband through such border. CBP shall have access to such lands to conduct: (1) road and barrier construction and maintenance, (2) vehicular patrols, (3) surveillance activities, and (4) deployment of temporary tactical infrastructure.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2015-12-09 00:00:00

Witness Security and Protection Grant Program Act of 2015

 This bill directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to award competitive matching grants to state, local, and tribal governments to establish or maintain witness protection programs in cases related to: (1) a homicide, serious violent felony, or serious drug offense; or (2) gangs or organized crime.

DOJ must evaluate grant applications based on certain criteria, including the prevalence of witness intimidation, the presence of organized crime, and the per capita number of homicides, violent felonies, or serious drug offenses.

 The bill also requires DOJ to: (1) consider urban and rural applicants and ensure equitable geographic distribution of grant awards; and (2) develop and disseminate best practice models to help state, local, and tribal governments address witness protection and assistance issues.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-01-11 00:00:00

End of Debtor's Prison Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to prohibit the Department of Justice from allocating Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program funding to a state or local government that has a contract with a person (e.g., a private probation company) who: (1) collects unpaid debt (i.e., state- or court-imposed fines or fees) from an individual placed on probation for failing to pay such debt; and (2) charges separate fees (e.g., monthly fees) to the probationer with respect to the collection.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-02-02 00:00:00

This bill directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reimburse state and local law enforcement agencies for costs associated with the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon.

DOJ may file a civil action against an armed occupation participant to recover reimbursement costs.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-03-01 00:00:00

Promoting Travel, Commerce, and National Security Act of 2016

This bill amends the federal criminal code to allow the United States to prosecute certain U.S. employees who engage in conduct in Canada that would constitute a federal criminal offense if the conduct had occurred in the United States. This bill applies to employees, contractors, and grantees of a U.S. department or agency other than the Department of Defense who are stationed in Canada pursuant to a border security initiative.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-03-17 00:00:00

Stop Swatting in Our Schools Act of 2016

This bill directs the Federal Bureau of Investigation to create a task force to combat swatting.

It defines swatting as an activity that uses the mail, telephone, or another instrument of interstate or foreign commerce to willfully make a threat or maliciously and knowingly convey false information with the intent to trigger an emergency law enforcement response.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-05-17 00:00:00

DUI Reporting Act of 2016

This bill requires a state or local government that receives funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program to enact a law or policy to ensure that law enforcement agencies report arrests involving driving under the influence to the National Crime Information Center. The Department of Justice (DOJ) must reduce by up to 20% the JAG allocation of a state or local government that fails to comply.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-07-06 00:00:00

Counterterrorism Enhancement Act of 2016

This bill authorizes additional FY2017 appropriations to the Department of Justice for:

 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for personnel, training, and equipment to counter terrorism; the Bureau of Justice Programs, for a Violence Against Law Enforcement Officer Resilience and Survivability (i.e., VALOR) initiative; the Civil Rights Division; and the Community Relations Service. Additionally, this bill amends the federal criminal code to revise the prohibition on transferring a firearm knowing that the firearm will be used to commit a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. Specifically, it broadens the scope of the prohibition to bar the transfer or receipt of a firearm knowing or reasonably believing that the firearm will be used to commit a crime of violence, a drug trafficking crime, or a federal crime of terrorism. It increases from 10 to 15 years the maximum prison term for a violator.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Forensic Science and Standards Act of 2016

 This bill establishes a National Forensic Science Research Initiative to improve, expand, and coordinate federal research in forensic sciences.

The bill establishes a National Forensic Science Coordinating Office to coordinate with relevant federal agencies in the development of: (1) a unified federal research strategy; and (2) any necessary programs, policies, and budgets to support implementation of the research strategy.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) shall contract with the National Research Council to develop a report: (1) identifying the most critical challenges in forensic science that require further research, and (2) making recommendations for research to address those challenges.

The bill states that all external forensic science research grants awarded by federal agencies under this bill shall be subject to a competitive, merit-review process.

 The NSF shall:

 award forensic science basic research grants to improve the foundation and practice of forensic science; establish one or more multidisciplinary forensic research centers led by public-private partnerships between universities, industry, state or local entities, and federal agencies; and conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the NSF's full portfolio of forensic science research and education grants every four years. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shall establish: (1) a competitively selected Center of Excellence focusing on measurement sciences, technology, and standards in forensic science; and (2) scientific area committees to identify gaps in and opportunities for standards development in the forensic sciences.

 NIST and the Department of Justice (DOJ) shall establish a National Commission on Forensic Science to advise the agencies participating in the unified federal research strategy and review recommendations on standards development in forensic science.

DOJ shall:

 encourage the broad adoption of forensic science standards, requiring each DOJ laboratory, and encouraging other federal forensic laboratories, to adopt these standards; promote accreditation and certification based on forensic science standards; and promote recommendations made by the National Commission on Forensic Science.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Protect Our Southwestern States Enforcement Act or the POSSE Act

This bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to: (1) ensure that specified Border Patrol sectors in Texas, California, and Arizona are fully staffed, including by hiring additional CBP and Border Patrol personnel as needed; and (2) maintain the number of Border Patrol stations in each such sector at current levels.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 is amended to direct the Department of Homeland Security to construct double-layered fencing along the entire southwest border by December 31, 2019. (Current law provides for reinforced fencing along at least 700 miles of such border.)
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2016-09-20 00:00:00

IDENT Fingerprint Digitization Completion Act of 2016

This bill requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, within 90 days after this bill's enactment, to complete the digitization of all remaining paper-based fingerprint records for inclusion in the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) of the Department of Homeland Security.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-09-28 00:00:00

Preservation of Public Evidence Act of 2016

This bill requires a state that receives funds under a Department of Justice (DOJ) grant program for law enforcement activities to require state and local law enforcement agencies to submit investigation records pertaining to an individual's injury or death by a law enforcement officer or while in the custody of a law enforcement agency.

DOJ must reduce by 10% the allocation of grant funds for a state or local government that fails to comply.

The bill appropriates additional FY2017 funds for Community Oriented Policing Services grants to acquire body-worn cameras.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-12-02 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Promoting Travel, Commerce, and National Security Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the federal criminal code to allow the United States to prosecute certain U.S. employees who engage in conduct in Canada that would constitute a federal criminal offense if the conduct had occurred in the United States. This bill applies to a Department of Homeland Security or Department of Justice employee, contractor, or employee of a contractor who is stationed in Canada pursuant to a border security initiative.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-12-07 00:00:00

End the Backlog Act

This bill requires that if the total amount appropriated for the Executive Office for Immigration Review does not exceed $485.3 million for FY2017, the total amount authorized to be appropriated for FY2018 and each of the three succeeding fiscal years for: (1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection is $13,219,051; and (2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is $6,151,579.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-12-12 00:00:00

States Against Drunk Driving Act of 2016 or the SADD Act of 2016

This bill authorizes supplemental funds under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program for states that: (1) report at least 90% of DUI convictions, and (2) have in effect a law or policy that requires a DUI conviction to be taken into account for purposes of an enhanced criminal sentence under state law.

The term "DUI conviction" means a criminal conviction for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of a drug or alcohol.
Topic: Law and Crime — Agencies
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-03-02 00:00:00

Inspector General Access Act of 2015

Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to eliminate a provision of such Act that requires referral of allegations of misconduct involving Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys, investigators, or law enforcement personnel to the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility (thus allowing the DOJ Inspector General to investigate such allegations).