To prohibit the Secretary of Education from making any funds available to a State under any program administered by the Department of Education unless the Secretary determines that the State has in place a criminal information sharing system.

June 26, 2003

Mr. PORTER (for himself, Mr. CARTER, and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from making any funds available to a State under any program administered by the Department of Education unless the Secretary determines that the State has in place a criminal information sharing system.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Schools Safely Acquiring Faculty Excellence Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds as follows:

(1) It is necessary to be sure that individuals who interact closely with children in the Nation's schools do not have a criminal history in any State or pose any threat to any child.

(2) To meet the needs of growing communities, many school districts rely on recruitment of teachers from other States.

(3) To ensure the safety of students, many school districts require prospective personnel who will work with students to be fingerprinted for background checks through the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

(4) Unfortunately, not all States submit their criminal records to the Federal Bureau of Investigations for non-criminal justice purposes.

(5) The National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, enacted in 1998, governs the use of the Interstate Identification Index System for non-criminal justice purposes.

(6) As of 2003, only 16 States have ratified the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL EDUCATIONAL FUNDING FOR STATES WITHOUT A CRIMINAL INFORMATION SHARING SYSTEM.

(a) PROHIBITION- Beginning on the date described in subsection (b)(1), the Secretary of Education (in this section referred to as the `Secretary') shall not make any funds available to a State under any program administered by the Department of Education unless the Secretary determines under subsection (b) that the State has in place a criminal information sharing system.

(b) CRIMINAL INFORMATION SHARING SYSTEM-

(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall determine whether each State has in place a criminal information sharing system under which the State shares with the Federal Government information (including for non-criminal justice purposes) on each arrest, charge, or conviction (including any no contest plea) in such State for any offense described in paragraph (2), including--

(A) the identity of each individual so arrested, charged, or convicted; and

(B) the identity of each individual under suspicion for such an offense.

(2) OFFENSES- An offense described in this paragraph is any offense that--

(A) is a felony or involves violence, a controlled substance, child abuse, statutory rape, rape, molestation, or sexual abuse; and

(B) occurs on or after the date that is 15 years before the date of the enactment of this Act.

(3) REVISION- The Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General, may revise a determination made under paragraph (1) as the Secretary determines appropriate.

(4) STATE DEFINED- For purposes of this section, the term `State' includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States.

(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

END