Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1714 To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense to make certain limitations on the transfer of personal property to Federal and State agencies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 13, 2019 Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. OCASIO- CORTEZ, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. BEYER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. MOORE, Ms. OMAR, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. SERRANO, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. AMASH, Ms. BASS, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. CLAY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. WATERS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. TONKO, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Ms. CLARKE of New York, and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Sec- retary of Defense to make certain limitations on the transfer of personal property to Federal and State agen- cies, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1714 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Militarizing Law 4 Enforcement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) Under section 2576a of title 10, United 8 States Code, the Department of Defense is author- 9 ized to provide excess property to local law enforce- 10 ment agencies. The Defense Logistics Agency, ad- 11 ministers such section by operating the Law En- 12 forcement Support Office program. 13 (2) New and used material, including mine-re- 14 sistant ambush-protected vehicles and weapons de- 15 termined by the Department of Defense to be ‘‘mili- 16 tary grade’’ are transferred to Federal, Tribal, 17 State, and local law enforcement agencies through 18 the program. 19 (3) As a result local law enforcement agencies, 20 including police and sheriff’s departments, are ac- 21 quiring this material for use in their normal oper- 22 ations. 23 (4) As a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghani- 24 stan, military equipment purchased for, and used in, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1714 IH those wars has become excess property and has been 1 made available for transfer to local and Federal law 2 enforcement agencies. 3 (5) In Fiscal Year 2017, $504,000,000 worth 4 of property was transferred to law enforcement 5 agencies. 6 (6) More than $6,800,000,000 worth of weap- 7 ons and equipment have been transferred to police 8 organizations in all 50 States and four territories 9 through the program. 10 (7) In May 2012, the Defense Logistics Agency 11 instituted a moratorium on weapons transfers 12 through the program after reports of missing equip- 13 ment and inappropriate weapons transfers. 14 (8) Though the moratorium was widely pub- 15 licized, it was lifted in October 2013 without ade- 16 quate safeguards. 17 (9) On January 16, 2015, President Barack 18 Obama issued Executive Order 13688 to better co- 19 ordinate and regulate the federal transfer of military 20 weapons and equipment to State, local, and Tribal 21 law enforcement agencies. 22 (10) In July, 2017, the Government Account- 23 ability Office reported that the program’s internal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1714 IH controls were inadequate to prevent fraudulent appli- 1 cants’ access to the program. 2 (11) On August, 28, 2017, President Donald 3 Trump rescinded Executive Order 13688 despite a 4 July 2017 Government Accountability Office report 5 finding deficiencies with the administration of the 6 1033 program. 7 (12) As a result, Federal, State, and local law 8 enforcement departments across the country are eli- 9 gible again to acquire free ‘‘military-grade’’ weapons 10 and equipment that could be used inappropriately 11 during policing efforts in which people and taxpayers 12 could be harmed. 13 (13) The Department of Defense categorizes 14 equipment eligible for transfer under the 1033 pro- 15 gram as ‘‘controlled’’ and ‘‘un-controlled’’ equip- 16 ment. ‘‘Controlled equipment’’ includes weapons, ex- 17 plosives such as flash-bang grenades, mine-resistant 18 ambush-protected vehicles, long-range acoustic de- 19 vices, aircraft capable of being modified to carry ar- 20 mament that are combat coded, and silencers, 21 among other military grade items. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1714 IH SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TRANS- 1 FER OF PERSONAL PROPERTY TO LOCAL LAW 2 ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2576a of title 10, United 4 States Code, is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (a)— 6 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking 7 ‘‘counterdrug, counterterrorism, and border se- 8 curity activities’’ and inserting ‘‘counterter- 9 rorism’’; and 10 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘, the 11 Director of National Drug Control Policy,’’; 12 (2) in subsection (b)— 13 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 14 the end; 15 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe- 16 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 17 (C) by adding at the end the following new 18 paragraphs: 19 ‘‘(7) the recipient submits to the Department of 20 Defense a description of how the recipient expects to 21 use the property; 22 ‘‘(8) the recipient certifies to the Department of 23 Defense that if the recipient determines that the 24 property is surplus to the needs of the recipient, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1714 IH recipient will return the property to the Department 1 of Defense; 2 ‘‘(9) with respect to a recipient that is not a 3 Federal agency, the recipient certifies to the Depart- 4 ment of Defense that the recipient notified the local 5 community of the request for personal property 6 under this section by— 7 ‘‘(A) publishing a notice of such request on 8 a publicly accessible Internet website; 9 ‘‘(B) posting such notice at several promi- 10 nent locations in the jurisdiction of the recipi- 11 ent; and 12 ‘‘(C) ensuring that such notices were avail- 13 able to the local community for a period of not 14 less than 30 days; and 15 ‘‘(10) the recipient has received the approval of 16 the city council or other local governing body to ac- 17 quire the personal property sought under this sec- 18 tion.’’; 19 (3) by striking subsection (d); 20 (4) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 21 subsections (o) and (p), respectively; and 22 (5) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol- 23 lowing new subsections: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1714 IH ‘‘(d) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION ACCOUNTING FOR 1 TRANSFERRED PROPERTY.—(1) For each fiscal year, the 2 Secretary shall submit to Congress certification in writing 3 that each Federal or State agency to which the Secretary 4 has transferred property under this section— 5 ‘‘(A) has provided to the Secretary documenta- 6 tion accounting for all controlled property, including 7 arms and ammunition, that the Secretary has trans- 8 ferred to the agency, including any item described in 9 subsection (f) so transferred before the date of the 10 enactment of the Stop Militarizing Law Enforce- 11 ment Act; and 12 ‘‘(B) with respect to a non-Federal agency, car- 13 ried out each of paragraphs (5) through (8) of sub- 14 section (b). 15 ‘‘(2) If the Secretary cannot provide a certification 16 under paragraph (1) for a Federal or State agency, the 17 Secretary may not transfer additional property to that 18 agency under this section. 19 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT ON EXCESS PROPERTY.—Be- 20 fore making any property available for transfer under this 21 section, the Secretary shall annually submit to Congress 22 a description of the property to be transferred together 23 with a certification that the transfer of the property would 24 not violate this section or any other provision of law. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1714 IH ‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFERS.—(1) The Sec- 1 retary may not transfer to Federal, Tribal, State, or local 2 law enforcement agencies the following under this section: 3 ‘‘(A) Controlled firearms, ammunition, bayo- 4 nets, grenade launchers, grenades (including stun 5 and flash-bang) and explosives. 6 ‘‘(B) Controlled vehicles, highly mobile multi- 7 wheeled vehicles, mine-resistant ambush-protected 8 vehicles, trucks, truck dump, truck utility, and truck 9 carryall. 10 ‘‘(C) Drones that are armored, weaponized, or 11 both. 12 ‘‘(D) Controlled aircraft that— 13 ‘‘(i) are combat configured or combat 14 coded; or 15 ‘‘(ii) have no established commercial flight 16 application. 17 ‘‘(E) Silencers. 18 ‘‘(F) Long-range acoustic devices. 19 ‘‘(G) Items in the Federal Supply Class of 20 banned items. 21 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not require, as a condition 22 of a transfer under this section, that a Federal or State 23 agency demonstrate the use of any small arms or ammuni- 24 tion. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1714 IH ‘‘(3) The limitations under this subsection shall also 1 apply with respect to the transfer of previously transferred 2 property of the Department of Defense from one Federal 3 or State agency to another such agency. 4 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary may waive the applicability of 5 paragraph (1) to a vehicle described in subparagraph (B) 6 of such paragraph (other than a mine-resistant ambush- 7 protected vehicle), if the Secretary determines that such 8 a waiver is necessary for disaster or rescue purposes or 9 for another purpose where life and public safety are at 10 risk, as demonstrated by the proposed recipient of the ve- 11 hicle. 12 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary issues a waiver under subpara- 13 graph (A), the Secretary shall— 14 ‘‘(i) submit to Congress notice of the waiver, 15 and post such notice on a public Internet website of 16 the Department, by not later than 30 days after the 17 date on which the waiver is issued; and 18 ‘‘(ii) require, as a condition of the waiver, that 19 the recipient of the vehicle for which the waiver is 20 issued provides public notice of the waiver and the 21 transfer, including the type of vehicle and the pur- 22 pose for which it is transferred, in the jurisdiction 23 where the recipient is located by not later than 30 24 days after the date on which the waiver is issued. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1714 IH ‘‘(5) The Secretary may provide for an exemption to 1 the limitation under subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) 2 in the case of parts for aircraft described in such subpara- 3 graph that are transferred as part of regular maintenance 4 of aircraft in an existing fleet. 5 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall require, as a condition of 6 any transfer of property under this section, that the Fed- 7 eral or State agency that receives the property shall return 8 the property to the Secretary if the agency— 9 ‘‘(A) is investigated by the Department of Jus- 10 tice for any violation of civil liberties; or 11 ‘‘(B) is otherwise found to have engaged in 12 widespread abuses of civil liberties. 13 ‘‘(g) CONDITIONS FOR EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.— 14 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts au- 15 thorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available 16 for any fiscal year may not be obligated or expended to 17 carry out this section unless the Secretary submits to Con- 18 gress certification that for the preceding fiscal year that— 19 ‘‘(1) each Federal or State agency that has re- 20 ceived controlled property transferred under this sec- 21 tion has— 22 ‘‘(A) demonstrated 100 percent account- 23 ability for all such property, in accordance with 24 paragraph (2) or (3), as applicable; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714.IH H1714 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1714 IH ‘‘(B) been suspended from the program 1 pursuant to paragraph (4); 2 ‘‘(2) with respect to each non-Federal agency 3 that has received controlled property under this sec- 4 tion, the State coordinator responsible for each such 5 agency has verified that the coordinator or an agent 6 of the coordinator has conducted an in-person inven- 7 tory of the property transferred to the agency and 8 that 100 percent of such property was accounted for 9 during the inventory or that the agency has been 10 suspended from the program pursuant to paragraph 11 (4); 12 ‘‘(3) with respect to each Federal agency that 13 has received controlled property under this section, 14 the Secretary of Defense or an agent of the Sec- 15 retary has conducted an in-person inventory of the 16 property transferred to the agency and that 100 per- 17 cent of such property was accounted for during the 18 inventory or that the agency has been suspended 19 from the program pursuant to paragraph (4); 20 ‘‘(4) the eligibility of any agency that has re- 21 ceived controlled property under this section for 22 which 100 percent of the property was not ac- 23 counted for during an inventory described in para- 24 graph (1) or (2), as applicable, to receive any prop- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1714. 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