| 1 | 1 | | I |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 475 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants to State, Tribal, |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | and local governments to establish and maintain witness protection and |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | assistance programs. |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | JANUARY24, 2023 |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | Mr. M |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | FUME(for himself, Mr. BACON, Ms. NORTON, Ms. KELLYof Illinois, |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | Mr. E |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | VANS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. DAVIDSCOTTof Georgia, Mr. BISHOPof |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | Georgia, Ms. T |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | ITUS, Mr. SCOTTof Virginia, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | Ms. J |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | ACKSONLEE, Mr. TRONE, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | K |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | EATING, Mr. COHEN, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, and Mr. RUPPERSBERGER) |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | Judiciary |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | to State, Tribal, and local governments to establish and |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | maintain witness protection and assistance programs. |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Witness Security and 4 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | Protection Grant Program Act of 2023’’. 5 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | SEC. 2. WITNESS PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM. 6 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | (a) D |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section— 7 |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H475.IH H475 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | •HR 475 IH |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | (1) the term ‘‘applicant’’ means a State, Tribal, 1 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | or local government that applies for a grant under 2 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | this section; and 3 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | (2) the terms ‘‘serious drug offense’’ and ‘‘seri-4 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | ous violent felony’’ have the meaning given those 5 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | terms in section 3559(c)(2) of title 18, United 6 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | States Code. 7 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | (b) G |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | RANTSREQUIRED.—Subject to subsection (j), 8 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | the Attorney General shall make competitive grants to 9 |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | State, Tribal, and local governments to establish or main-10 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | tain programs that provide protection or assistance to wit-11 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | nesses in court proceedings involving— 12 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | (1) a homicide, serious violent felony, or serious 13 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | drug offense; or 14 |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | (2) gangs or organized crime. 15 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | (c) C |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | RITERIA.—In making grants under this section, 16 |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | the Attorney General shall evaluate applicants based upon 17 |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | the following: 18 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | (1) The extent to which the applicant lacks in-19 |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | frastructure to support programs that provide pro-20 |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | tection or assistance to witnesses. 21 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | (2) The prevalence of witness intimidation in 22 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | the jurisdiction of the applicant. 23 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | (3) The percentage of cases not prosecuted by 24 |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | the applicant due to witness intimidation. 25 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H475.IH H475 |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | •HR 475 IH |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | (4) The number of homicides per capita com-1 |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | mitted in the jurisdiction of the applicant. 2 |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | (5) The number of serious violent felonies or se-3 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | rious drug offenses per capita committed in the ju-4 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | risdiction of the applicant. 5 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | (6) The extent to which organized crime is 6 |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | present in the jurisdiction of the applicant. 7 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | (7) Any other criteria that the Attorney Gen-8 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | eral determines appropriate. 9 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | (d) T |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | ECHNICALASSISTANCE.—From amounts made 10 |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | available under subsection (j) to carry out this section, the 11 |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | Attorney General, upon request of a recipient of a grant 12 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | under this section, shall direct the appropriate offices 13 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | within the Department of Justice to provide technical as-14 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | sistance to the recipient to the extent the Attorney General 15 |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | determines technical assistance is needed to establish or 16 |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | maintain a program that provides protection or assistance 17 |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | to witnesses. 18 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | (e) B |
|---|
| 87 | 87 | | ESTPRACTICES.— 19 |
|---|
| 88 | 88 | | (1) R |
|---|
| 89 | 89 | | EPORT.—A recipient of a grant under this 20 |
|---|
| 90 | 90 | | section shall submit to the Attorney General a re-21 |
|---|
| 91 | 91 | | port, in such form and manner and containing such 22 |
|---|
| 92 | 92 | | information as specified by the Attorney General, 23 |
|---|
| 93 | 93 | | that evaluates each program established or main-24 |
|---|
| 94 | 94 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H475.IH H475 |
|---|
| 95 | 95 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 |
|---|
| 96 | 96 | | •HR 475 IH |
|---|
| 97 | 97 | | tained pursuant to the grant, including policies and 1 |
|---|
| 98 | 98 | | procedures under the program. 2 |
|---|
| 99 | 99 | | (2) D |
|---|
| 100 | 100 | | EVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES .— 3 |
|---|
| 101 | 101 | | Based on the reports submitted under paragraph 4 |
|---|
| 102 | 102 | | (1), the Attorney General shall develop best practice 5 |
|---|
| 103 | 103 | | models to assist State, Tribal, and local governments 6 |
|---|
| 104 | 104 | | in addressing— 7 |
|---|
| 105 | 105 | | (A) witness safety; 8 |
|---|
| 106 | 106 | | (B) short-term and permanent witness re-9 |
|---|
| 107 | 107 | | location; 10 |
|---|
| 108 | 108 | | (C) financial and housing assistance; and 11 |
|---|
| 109 | 109 | | (D) any other services related to witness 12 |
|---|
| 110 | 110 | | protection or assistance that the Attorney Gen-13 |
|---|
| 111 | 111 | | eral determines necessary. 14 |
|---|
| 112 | 112 | | (3) D |
|---|
| 113 | 113 | | ISSEMINATION TO STATES .—Not later 15 |
|---|
| 114 | 114 | | than 1 year after developing best practice models 16 |
|---|
| 115 | 115 | | under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall dis-17 |
|---|
| 116 | 116 | | seminate the models to State, Tribal, and local gov-18 |
|---|
| 117 | 117 | | ernments. 19 |
|---|
| 118 | 118 | | (4) S |
|---|
| 119 | 119 | | ENSE OF CONGRESS .—It is the sense of 20 |
|---|
| 120 | 120 | | Congress that State, Tribal, and local governments 21 |
|---|
| 121 | 121 | | should use the best practice models developed and 22 |
|---|
| 122 | 122 | | disseminated under this subsection to evaluate, im-23 |
|---|
| 123 | 123 | | prove, and develop witness protection or witness as-24 |
|---|
| 124 | 124 | | sistance programs as appropriate. 25 |
|---|
| 125 | 125 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H475.IH H475 |
|---|
| 126 | 126 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 |
|---|
| 127 | 127 | | •HR 475 IH |
|---|
| 128 | 128 | | (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO 1 |
|---|
| 129 | 129 | | SENSITIVE INFORMATION .—Nothing in this section 2 |
|---|
| 130 | 130 | | shall be construed to require the dissemination of 3 |
|---|
| 131 | 131 | | any information that the Attorney General deter-4 |
|---|
| 132 | 132 | | mines— 5 |
|---|
| 133 | 133 | | (A) is law enforcement sensitive and 6 |
|---|
| 134 | 134 | | should only be disclosed within the law enforce-7 |
|---|
| 135 | 135 | | ment community; or 8 |
|---|
| 136 | 136 | | (B) poses a threat to national security. 9 |
|---|
| 137 | 137 | | (f) F |
|---|
| 138 | 138 | | EDERALSHARE.— 10 |
|---|
| 139 | 139 | | (1) I |
|---|
| 140 | 140 | | N GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 11 |
|---|
| 141 | 141 | | cost of a program carried out using a grant made 12 |
|---|
| 142 | 142 | | under this section shall be not more than 75 per-13 |
|---|
| 143 | 143 | | cent. 14 |
|---|
| 144 | 144 | | (2) I |
|---|
| 145 | 145 | | N-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.— 15 |
|---|
| 146 | 146 | | (A) I |
|---|
| 147 | 147 | | N GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-16 |
|---|
| 148 | 148 | | graph (B), the non-Federal share for a program 17 |
|---|
| 149 | 149 | | carried out using a grant made under this sec-18 |
|---|
| 150 | 150 | | tion may be in the form of in-kind contributions 19 |
|---|
| 151 | 151 | | that are directly related to the purpose for 20 |
|---|
| 152 | 152 | | which the grant was made. 21 |
|---|
| 153 | 153 | | (B) M |
|---|
| 154 | 154 | | AXIMUM PERCENTAGE .—Not more 22 |
|---|
| 155 | 155 | | than 50 percent of the non-Federal share for a 23 |
|---|
| 156 | 156 | | program carried out using a grant made under 24 |
|---|
| 157 | 157 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H475.IH H475 |
|---|
| 158 | 158 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 |
|---|
| 159 | 159 | | •HR 475 IH |
|---|
| 160 | 160 | | this section may be in the form of in-kind con-1 |
|---|
| 161 | 161 | | tributions. 2 |
|---|
| 162 | 162 | | (g) A |
|---|
| 163 | 163 | | DMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of amounts made 3 |
|---|
| 164 | 164 | | available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the 4 |
|---|
| 165 | 165 | | Attorney General may use not more than 5 percent for 5 |
|---|
| 166 | 166 | | administrative costs. 6 |
|---|
| 167 | 167 | | (h) G |
|---|
| 168 | 168 | | EOGRAPHICDISTRIBUTION.—In making grants 7 |
|---|
| 169 | 169 | | under this section, the Attorney General shall— 8 |
|---|
| 170 | 170 | | (1) to the extent reasonable and practical, en-9 |
|---|
| 171 | 171 | | sure an equitable geographical distribution through-10 |
|---|
| 172 | 172 | | out the United States of programs that provide pro-11 |
|---|
| 173 | 173 | | tection or assistance to witnesses; and 12 |
|---|
| 174 | 174 | | (2) give due consideration to applicants from 13 |
|---|
| 175 | 175 | | both urban and rural areas. 14 |
|---|
| 176 | 176 | | (i) R |
|---|
| 177 | 177 | | EPORT TOCONGRESS.—The Attorney General 15 |
|---|
| 178 | 178 | | shall submit a report to Congress— 16 |
|---|
| 179 | 179 | | (1) not later than December 31, 2024, on the 17 |
|---|
| 180 | 180 | | implementation of this section, including any infor-18 |
|---|
| 181 | 181 | | mation on programs funded by grants made under 19 |
|---|
| 182 | 182 | | this section; and 20 |
|---|
| 183 | 183 | | (2) not later than December 31, 2028, on the 21 |
|---|
| 184 | 184 | | programs funded by grants made under this section, 22 |
|---|
| 185 | 185 | | including on best practice models developed under 23 |
|---|
| 186 | 186 | | subsection (e)(2). 24 |
|---|
| 187 | 187 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H475.IH H475 |
|---|
| 188 | 188 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 |
|---|
| 189 | 189 | | •HR 475 IH |
|---|
| 190 | 190 | | (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 1 |
|---|
| 191 | 191 | | authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 |
|---|
| 192 | 192 | | $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 3 |
|---|
| 193 | 193 | | Æ |
|---|
| 194 | 194 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H475.IH H475 |
|---|
| 195 | 195 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS |
|---|