I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4467 To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants to State, Tribal, and local governments to establish and maintain witness protection and assistance programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 Mr. CUMMINGS (for himself, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. KELLY of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants to State, Tribal, and local governments to establish and maintain witness protection and assistance programs. 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 ‘‘Witness Security and 4 Protection Grant Program Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. WITNESS PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4467.IH H4467 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4467 IH (1) the term ‘‘applicant’’ means a State, Tribal, 1 or local government that applies for a grant under 2 this section; and 3 (2) the terms ‘‘serious drug offense’’ and ‘‘seri- 4 ous violent felony’’ have the meaning given those 5 terms in section 3559(c)(2) of title 18, United 6 States Code. 7 (b) GRANTS REQUIRED.—Subject to subsection (j), 8 the Attorney General shall make competitive grants to 9 State, Tribal, and local governments to establish or main- 10 tain programs that provide protection or assistance to wit- 11 nesses in court proceedings involving— 12 (1) a homicide, serious violent felony, or serious 13 drug offense; or 14 (2) gangs or organized crime. 15 (c) CRITERIA.—In making grants under this section, 16 the Attorney General shall evaluate applicants based upon 17 the following: 18 (1) The extent to which the applicant lacks in- 19 frastructure to support programs that provide pro- 20 tection or assistance to witnesses. 21 (2) The prevalence of witness intimidation in 22 the jurisdiction of the applicant. 23 (3) The percentage of cases not prosecuted by 24 the applicant due to witness intimidation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4467.IH H4467 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4467 IH (4) The number of homicides per capita com- 1 mitted in the jurisdiction of the applicant. 2 (5) The number of serious violent felonies or se- 3 rious drug offenses per capita committed in the ju- 4 risdiction of the applicant. 5 (6) The extent to which organized crime is 6 present in the jurisdiction of the applicant. 7 (7) Any other criteria that the Attorney Gen- 8 eral determines appropriate. 9 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—From amounts made 10 available under subsection (j) to carry out this section, the 11 Attorney General, upon request of a recipient of a grant 12 under this section, shall direct the appropriate offices 13 within the Department of Justice to provide technical as- 14 sistance to the recipient to the extent the Attorney General 15 determines technical assistance is needed to establish or 16 maintain a program that provides protection or assistance 17 to witnesses. 18 (e) BEST PRACTICES.— 19 (1) REPORT.—A recipient of a grant under this 20 section shall submit to the Attorney General a re- 21 port, in such form and manner and containing such 22 information as specified by the Attorney General, 23 that evaluates each program established or main- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4467.IH H4467 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4467 IH tained pursuant to the grant, including policies and 1 procedures under the program. 2 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES.— 3 Based on the reports submitted under paragraph 4 (1), the Attorney General shall develop best practice 5 models to assist State, Tribal, and local governments 6 in addressing— 7 (A) witness safety; 8 (B) short-term and permanent witness re- 9 location; 10 (C) financial and housing assistance; and 11 (D) any other services related to witness 12 protection or assistance that the Attorney Gen- 13 eral determines necessary. 14 (3) DISSEMINATION TO STATES.—Not later 15 than 1 year after developing best practice models 16 under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall dis- 17 seminate the models to State, Tribal, and local gov- 18 ernments. 19 (4) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 20 Congress that State, Tribal, and local governments 21 should use the best practice models developed and 22 disseminated under this subsection to evaluate, im- 23 prove, and develop witness protection or witness as- 24 sistance programs as appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4467.IH H4467 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4467 IH (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO 1 SENSITIVE INFORMATION.—Nothing in this section 2 shall be construed to require the dissemination of 3 any information that the Attorney General deter- 4 mines— 5 (A) is law enforcement sensitive and 6 should only be disclosed within the law enforce- 7 ment community; or 8 (B) poses a threat to national security. 9 (f) FEDERAL SHARE.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 11 cost of a program carried out using a grant made 12 under this section shall be not more than 75 per- 13 cent. 14 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 16 graph (B), the non-Federal share for a program 17 carried out using a grant made under this sec- 18 tion may be in the form of in-kind contributions 19 that are directly related to the purpose for 20 which the grant was made. 21 (B) MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE.—Not more 22 than 50 percent of the non-Federal share for a 23 program carried out using a grant made under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4467.IH H4467 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4467 IH this section may be in the form of in-kind con- 1 tributions. 2 (g) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of amounts made 3 available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the 4 Attorney General may use not more than 5 percent for 5 administrative costs. 6 (h) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In making grants 7 under this section, the Attorney General shall— 8 (1) to the extent reasonable and practical, en- 9 sure an equitable geographical distribution through- 10 out the United States of programs that provide pro- 11 tection or assistance to witnesses; and 12 (2) give due consideration to applicants from 13 both urban and rural areas. 14 (i) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Attorney General 15 shall submit a report to Congress— 16 (1) not later than December 31, 2020, on the 17 implementation of this section, including any infor- 18 mation on programs funded by grants made under 19 this section; and 20 (2) not later than December 31, 2025, on the 21 programs funded by grants made under this section, 22 including on best practice models developed under 23 subsection (e)(2). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4467.IH H4467 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4467 IH (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 1 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4467.IH H4467 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS