To establish a grant program that provides incentives for States to enact mandatory minimum sentences for certain firearms offenses, and for other purposes.

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

To establish a grant program that provides incentives for States to enact mandatory minimum sentences for certain firearms offenses, and for other purposes.

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 `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, robbery, and aggravated assault, or a crime in a reasonably 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 manufacture 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 Commonwealth 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 coordination of criminal history records; or

`(H) case management programs involving the sharing of information about serious offenders.

`(2) To carry out a public awareness and community support program described in section 20353(a)(2).

`(3) To build or expand correctional facilities.

`(c) SUBGRANTS- A State may use such grants directly 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 section, 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 relation to any violent crime or serious drug trafficking 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 support 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 prosecutors 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 notwithstanding that inability if that State, in such application, provides assurances that such State has in effect 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 conviction of that person under State law for that conduct is not certain to result in the imposition 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 conviction of that person under State law for that conduct is not certain to result in the imposition of a sentence as specified in that subsection, 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 Bureau 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 utilize the best available comparable data regarding the number 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 absence 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 General for purposes of administration, research and evaluation, technical assistance, and data collection.

`(4) CARRYOVER OF APPROPRIATIONS- Funds appropriated pursuant to this section during any fiscal 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 Representatives 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 subtitle 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.'.

END