[Pages H657-H692]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CHILDREN'S SAFETY AND VIOLENT CRIME REDUCTION ACT OF 2006
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 4472) to protect children, to secure the safety of
judges,
[[Page H658]]
prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and their family members, to
reduce and prevent gang violence, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 4472
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Children's
Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2006''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I--SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION ACT
Sec. 101. Short title.
Sec. 102. Declaration of purpose.
Subtitle A--Jacob Wetterling Sex Offender Registration and Notification
Program
Sec. 111. Relevant definitions, including Amie Zyla expansion of sex
offender definition and expanded inclusion of child
predators.
Sec. 112. Registry requirements for jurisdictions.
Sec. 113. Registry requirements for sex offenders.
Sec. 114. Information required in registration.
Sec. 115. Duration of registration requirement.
Sec. 116. In person verification.
Sec. 117. Duty to notify sex offenders of registration requirements and
to register.
Sec. 118. Jessica Lunsford Address Verification Program.
Sec. 119. National Sex Offender Registry.
Sec. 120. Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website.
Sec. 121. Public access to sex offender information through the
Internet.
Sec. 122. Megan Nicole Kanka and Alexandra Nicole Zapp Community
Notification Program.
Sec. 123. Actions to be taken when sex offender fails to comply.
Sec. 124. Immunity for good faith conduct.
Sec. 125. Development and availability of registry management software.
Sec. 126. Federal duty when State programs not minimally sufficient.
Sec. 127. Period for implementation by jurisdictions.
Sec. 128. Failure to comply.
Sec. 129. Sex Offender Management Assistance (soma) Program.
Sec. 130. Demonstration project for use of electronic monitoring
devices.
Sec. 131. Bonus payments to States that implement electronic
monitoring.
Sec. 132. Access to national crime information databases.
Sec. 133. Limited immunity for National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children with respect to CyberTipline.
Sec. 134. Treatment and management of sex offenders in the Bureau of
Prisons.
Sec. 135. GAO studies on feasibility of using driver's license
registration processes as additional registration
requirements for sex offenders.
Sec. 136. Assistance in identification and location of sex offenders
relocated as a result of a major disaster.
Sec. 137. Election by Indian tribes.
Sec. 138. Registration of prisoners released from foreign imprisonment.
Sec. 139. Sex offender risk classification study.
Sec. 140. Study of the effectiveness of restricting the activities of
sex offenders to reduce the occurrence of repeat
offenses.
Subtitle B--Criminal Law Enforcement of Registration Requirements
Sec. 151. Amendments to title 18, United States Code, relating to sex
offender registration.
Sec. 152. Federal Investigation of sex offender violations of
registration requirements.
Sec. 153. Sex offender apprehension grants.
Sec. 154. Use of any controlled substance to facilitate sex offense,
and prohibition on Internet sales of date rape drugs.
Sec. 155. Repeal of predecessor sex offender Program.
Sec. 156. Assistance for prosecution of cases cleared through use of
DNA backlog clearance funds.
Sec. 157. Grants to combat sexual abuse of children.
Sec. 158. Expansion of training and technology efforts.
Sec. 159. Revocation of probation or supervised release.
Subtitle C--Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes Against Children
Sec. 161. Establishment.
Sec. 162. Director.
Sec. 163. Duties and functions.
TITLE II--DNA FINGERPRINTING
Sec. 201. Technical amendment.
Sec. 202. Stopping Violent Predators Against Children.
Sec. 203. Model code on investigating missing persons and deaths.
TITLE III--PREVENTION AND DETERRENCE OF CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN
Sec. 301. Assured punishment for violent crimes against children.
Sec. 302. Kenneth Wrede fair and expeditious habeas review of State
criminal convictions.
Sec. 303. Rights associated with habeas corpus proceedings.
Sec. 304. Study of interstate tracking of persons convicted of or under
investigation for child abuse.
TITLE IV--PROTECTION AGAINST SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
Sec. 401. Increased penalties for sexual offenses against children.
Sec. 402. Sense of Congress with respect to prosecutions under Section
2422(b) of title 18, United States Code.
Sec. 403. Grants for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs.
TITLE V--FOSTER CHILD PROTECTION AND CHILD SEXUAL PREDATOR DETERRENCE
Sec. 501. Requirement to complete background checks before approval of
any foster or adoptive placement and to check national
crime information databases and State child abuse
registries; suspension and subsequent elimination of Opt-
Out.
Sec. 502. Access to Federal crime information databases for certain
purposes.
Sec. 503. Penalties for coercion and enticement by sex offenders.
Sec. 504. Penalties for conduct relating to child prostitution.
Sec. 505. Penalties for sexual abuse.
Sec. 506. Sex offender submission to search as condition of release.
Sec. 507. Kidnapping jurisdiction.
Sec. 508. Marital communication and adverse spousal privilege.
Sec. 509. Abuse and neglect of Indian children.
Sec. 510. Jimmy Ryce Civil commitment program.
Sec. 511. Jimmy Ryce State civil commitment programs for sexually
dangerous persons.
Sec. 512. Mandatory penalties for sex-trafficking of children.
Sec. 513. Sexual abuse of wards.
Sec. 514. No limitation for prosecution of felony sex offenses.
Sec. 515. Child abuse reporting.
TITLE VI--CHILD PORNOGRAPHY PREVENTION
Sec. 601. Findings.
Sec. 602. Strengthening Section 2257 to ensure that children are not
exploited in the production of pornography.
Sec. 603. Additional recordkeeping requirements.
Sec. 604. Prevention of distribution of child pornography used as
evidence in prosecutions.
Sec. 605. Authorizing civil and criminal asset forfeiture in child
exploitation and obscenity cases.
Sec. 606. Prohibiting the production of obscenity as well as
transportation, distribution, and sale.
Sec. 607. Guardians ad litem.
TITLE VII--COURT SECURITY
Sec. 701. Judicial branch security requirements.
Sec. 702. Additional amounts for United States Marshals Service to
protect the judiciary.
Sec. 703. Protections against malicious recording of fictitious liens
against Federal judges and Federal law enforcement
officers.
Sec. 704. Protection of individuals performing certain official duties.
Sec. 705. Report on security of Federal prosecutors.
Sec. 706. Flight to avoid prosecution for killing peace officers.
Sec. 707. Special penalties for murder, kidnapping, and related crimes
against Federal judges and Federal law enforcement
officers.
Sec. 708. Authority of Federal judges and prosecutors to carry
firearms.
Sec. 709. Penalties for certain assaults.
Sec. 710. David March and Henry Prendes protection of federally funded
public safety officers.
Sec. 711. Modification of definition of offense and of the penalties
for, influencing or injuring officer or juror generally.
Sec. 712. Modification of tampering with a witness, victim, or an
informant offense.
Sec. 713. Modification of retaliation offense.
Sec. 714. Inclusion of intimidation and retaliation against witnesses
in State prosecutions as basis for Federal prosecution.
Sec. 715. Clarification of venue for retaliation against a witness.
Sec. 716. Prohibition of possession of dangerous weapons in Federal
court facilities.
Sec. 717. General modifications of Federal murder crime and related
crimes.
Sec. 718. Witness protection grant program.
Sec. 719. Funding for State courts to assess and enhance court security
and emergency preparedness.
Sec. 720. Grants to States for threat assessment databases.
Sec. 721. Grants to States to protect witnesses and victims of crimes.
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Sec. 722. Grants for young witness assistance.
Sec. 723. State and local court eligibility.
TITLE VIII--REDUCTION AND PREVENTION OF GANG VIOLENCE
Sec. 801. Revision and extension of penalties related to criminal
street gang activity.
Sec. 802. Increased penalties for interstate and foreign travel or
transportation in aid of racketeering.
Sec. 803. Amendments relating to violent crime.
Sec. 804. Increased penalties for use of interstate commerce facilities
in the commission of murder-for-hire and other felony
crimes of violence.
Sec. 805. Increased penalties for violent crimes in aid of racketeering
activity.
Sec. 806. Murder and other violent crimes committed during and in
relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Sec. 807. Multiple interstate murder.
Sec. 808. Additional racketeering activity.
Sec. 809. Expansion of rebuttable presumption against release of
persons charged with firearms offenses.
Sec. 810. Venue in capital cases.
Sec. 811. Statute of limitations for violent crime.
Sec. 812. Clarification to hearsay exception for forfeiture by
wrongdoing.
Sec. 813. Transfer of juveniles.
Sec. 814. Crimes of violence and drug crimes committed by illegal
aliens.
Sec. 815. Listing of immigration violators in the National Crime
Information Center database.
Sec. 816. Study.
TITLE IX--INCREASED FEDERAL RESOURCES TO PREVENT AT-RISK YOUTH FROM
JOINING ILLEGAL STREET GANGS
Sec. 901. Grants to State and local prosecutors to combat violent crime
and to protect witnesses and victims of crimes.
Sec. 902. Reauthorize the gang resistance education and training
projects program.
Sec. 903. State and local reentry courts.
TITLE X--CRIME PREVENTION
Sec. 1001. Crime prevention campaign grant.
Sec. 1002. The Justice for Crime Victims Family Act.
TITLE XI--NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT REGISTRY ACT
Sec. 1101. Short title.
Sec. 1102. National registry of substantiated cases of child abuse.
TITLE I--SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION ACT
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Sex Offender Registration
and Notification Act''.
SEC. 102. DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.
In order to protect the public from sex offenders and
offenders against children, and in response to the vicious
attacks by violent sexual predators against the victims
listed below, Congress in this Act establishes a
comprehensive national system for the registration of those
offenders:
(1) Jacob Wetterling, who was 11 years old, was abducted in
1989 in Minnesota, and remains missing.
(2) Megan Nicole Kanka, who was 7 years old, was abducted,
sexually assaulted and murdered in 1994, in New Jersey.
(3) Pam Lychner, who was 31 years old, was attacked by a
career offender in Houston, Texas.
(4) Jetseta Gage, who was 10 years old, was kidnapped,
sexually assaulted, and murdered in 2005 in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa.
(5) Dru Sjodin, who was 22 years old, was sexually
assaulted and murdered in 2003, in North Dakota.
(6) Jessica Lunsford, who was 9 years, was abducted,
sexually assaulted, buried alive, and murdered in 2005, in
Homosassa, Florida.
(7) Sarah Lunde, who was 13 years old, was strangled and
murdered in 2005, in Ruskin, Florida.
(8) Amie Zyla, who was 8 years old, was sexually assaulted
in 1996 by a juvenile offender in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and
has become an advocate for child victims and protection of
children from juvenile sex offenders.
(9) Christy Ann Fornoff, who was 13 years old, was
abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered in 1984, in Tempe,
Arizona.
(10) Alexandra Nicole Zapp, who was 30 years old, was
brutally attacked and murdered in a public restroom by a
repeat sex offender in 2002, in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
(11) Polly Klaas, who was 12 years old, was abducted,
sexually assaulted and murdered in 1993 by a career offender
in California.
(12) Jimmy Ryce, who was 9 years old, was kidnapped and
murdered in Florida on September 11, 1995.
(13) Carlie Brucia, who was 11 years old, was abducted and
murdered in Florida in February, 2004.
(14) Amanda Brown, who was 7 years old, was abducted and
murdered in Florida in 1998.
Subtitle A--Jacob Wetterling Sex Offender Registration and Notification
Program
SEC. 111. RELEVANT DEFINITIONS, INCLUDING AMIE ZYLA EXPANSION
OF SEX OFFENDER DEFINITION AND EXPANDED
INCLUSION OF CHILD PREDATORS.
In this title the following definitions apply:
(1) Sex offender registry.--The term ``sex offender
registry'' means a registry of sex offenders, and a
notification program, maintained by a jurisdiction.
(2) Jurisdiction.--The term jurisdiction means any of the
following:
(A) A State.
(B) The District of Columbia.
(C) The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(D) Guam.
(E) American Samoa.
(F) The Northern Mariana Islands.
(G) The United States Virgin Islands.
(H) To the extent provided and subject to the requirements
of section 137, a federally recognized Indian tribe.
(3) Sex offender.--The term ``sex offender'' means an
individual who, either before or after the enactment of this
Act, was convicted of, or adjudicated as a juvenile
delinquent for, a sex offense.
(4) Expansion of definition of offense to include all child
predators.--The term ``specified offense against a minor''
means an offense against a minor that involves any of the
following:
(A) An offense (unless committed by a parent) involving
kidnapping.
(B) An offense (unless committed by a parent) involving
false imprisonment.
(C) Solicitation to engage in sexual conduct.
(D) Use in a sexual performance.
(E) Solicitation to practice prostitution.
(F) Possession, production, or distribution of child
pornography.
(G) Criminal sexual conduct involving a minor, or the use
of the Internet to facilitate or attempt such conduct.
(H) Any conduct that by its nature is a sex offense against
a minor.
(I) Video voyeurism, as described in section 1801 of title
18, United States Code.
(J) Any attempt or conspiracy to commit an offense
described in this paragraph.
(5) Tier i sex offender.--The term ``tier I sex offender''
means a sex offender whose offense is punishable by
imprisonment for one year or less.
(6) Tier ii sex offender.--The term ``tier II sex
offender'' means a sex offender who is not a Tier III sex
offender whose offense--
(A) is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year;
or
(B) occurs after the offender becomes a tier I sex
offender.
(7) Tier iii sex offender.--The term ``tier III sex
offender'' means a sex offender whose offense is punishable
by imprisonment for more than one year and--
(A) involves a crime of violence as defined in section 16
of title 18, United States Code, against the person of
another, except a crime of violence consisting of an abusive
sexual contact, as defined in section 2246;
(B) is an offense where the victim had not attained the age
of 13 years; or
(C) occurs after the offender becomes a tier II sex
offender.
(8) Amy zyla expansion of sex offense definition.--The term
``sex offense'' means--
(A) a State, local, tribal, foreign, or other criminal
offense that has an element involving a sexual act or sexual
contact with another or an attempt or conspiracy to commit
such an offense, but does not include an offense involving
consensual sexual conduct where the victim was an adult or
was at least 13 years old and the offender was not more than
4 years older than the victim;
(B) a State, local, tribal, foreign, or other specified
offense against a minor;
(C) a Federal offense (including an offense prosecuted
under section 1152 or 1153 of title 18, United States Code)
under section 1201, 1591, or 1801, or chapter 109A, 110, or
117, of title 18, United States Code, or any other Federal
offense designated by the Attorney General for the purposes
of this paragraph; or
(D) a military offense specified by the Secretary of
Defense under section 115(a)(8)(C)(i) of Public Law 105-119
(10 U.S.C. 951 note).
(9) Student.--The term ``student'' means an individual who
enrolls or attends an educational institution, including
(whether public or private) a secondary school, trade or
professional school, and institution of higher education.
(10) Employee.--The term ``employee'' includes an
individual who is self-employed or works for any other
entity, whether compensated or not.
(11) Resides.--The term ``resides'' means, with respect to
an individual, the location of the individual's home or other
place where the individual lives.
(12) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual who has
not attained the age of 18 years.
(13) Convicted.--The term ``convicted'' or a variant
thereof, used with respect to a sex offense, includes
adjudicated deliquent as a juvenile for that offense.
SEC. 112. REGISTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR JURISDICTIONS.
Each jurisdiction shall maintain a jurisdiction-wide sex
offender registry conforming to the requirements of this
title. The Attorney General shall issue guidelines and
regulations to interpret and implement this title.
SEC. 113. REGISTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR SEX OFFENDERS.
(a) In General.--A sex offender must register, and keep the
registration current, in each jurisdiction where the offender
was convicted, where the offender resides, where the offender
is an employee, and where the offender is a student.
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(b) Initial Registration.--The sex offender shall initially
register--
(1) before completing a sentence of imprisonment with
respect to the offense giving rise to the registration
requirement; or
(2) not later than 5 days after being sentenced for that
offense, if the sex offender is not sentenced to a term of
imprisonment.
(c) Keeping the Registration Current.--A sex offender must
inform each jurisdiction involved, not later than 3 days
after each change of residence, employment, or student
status.
(d) Initial Registration of Sex Offenders Unable to Comply
With Subsection (b).--The Attorney General shall prescribe
rules for the registration of sex offenders convicted before
the enactment of this Act or its implementation in a
particular jurisdiction, and for other categories of sex
offenders who are unable to comply with subsection (b).
(e) State Penalty for Failure to Comply.--Each
jurisdiction, other than a Federally recognized Indian tribe,
shall provide a criminal penalty, that includes a maximum
term of imprisonment that is greater than one year, and a
minimum term of imprisonment that is no less than 90 days,
for the failure of a sex offender to comply with the
requirements of this title.
SEC. 114. INFORMATION REQUIRED IN REGISTRATION.
(a) Provided by the Offender.--The sex offender must
provide the following information to the appropriate official
for inclusion in the sex offender registry:
(1) The name and physical description of the sex offender
(including any alias used by the individual).
(2) The Social Security number of the sex offender.
(3) The address of the residence at which the sex offender
resides or will reside.
(4) The name and address of the place where the sex
offender is employed or will be employed.
(5) The name and address of the place where the sex
offender is a student or will be a student.
(6) The license plate number and description of any vehicle
owned or operated by the sex offender.
(7) A photograph of the sex offender.
(8) A set of fingerprints and palm prints of the sex
offender, if the appropriate official determines that the
jurisdiction does not already have available an accurate set.
(9) A DNA sample of the sex offender, if the appropriate
official determines that the jurisdiction does not already
have available an appropriate DNA sample.
(10) A photocopy of a valid driver's license or
identification card issued to the sex offender by a
jurisdiction.
(11) Any other information required by the Attorney
General.
(b) Provided by the Jurisdiction.--The jurisdiction in
which the sex offender registers shall include the following
information in the registry for that sex offender:
(1) A statement of the facts of the offense giving rise to
the requirement to register under this title, including the
date of the offense, and whether or not the sex offender was
prosecuted as a juvenile at the time of the offense.
(2) The criminal history of the sex offender.
(3) Any other information required by the Attorney General.
SEC. 115. DURATION OF REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.
A sex offender shall keep the registration current for a
period (excluding any time the sex offender is in custody or
civilly committed) of--
(1) 20 years, if the offender is a tier I sex offender;
(2) 30 years, if the offender is a tier II sex offender;
and
(3) the life of the offender, if the offender is a tier III
sex offender.
SEC. 116. IN PERSON VERIFICATION.
A sex offender shall appear in person, provide a current
photograph, and verify the information in each registry in
which that offender is required to be registered not less
frequently than--
(1) every six months, if the offender is a tier I sex
offender;
(2) every 3 months, if the offender is a tier II sex
offender; and
(3) every month, if the offender is a tier III sex
offender.
SEC. 117. DUTY TO NOTIFY SEX OFFENDERS OF REGISTRATION
REQUIREMENTS AND TO REGISTER.
An appropriate official shall, shortly before release from
custody of the sex offender, or, if the sex offender is not
in custody, immediately after the sentencing of the sex
offender, for the offense giving rise to the duty to
register--
(1) inform the sex offender of the duty to register and
explain that duty;
(2) require the sex offender to read and sign a form
stating that the duty to register has been explained and that
the sex offender understands the registration requirement;
and
(3) ensure that the sex offender is registered.
SEC. 118. JESSICA LUNSFORD ADDRESS VERIFICATION PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--There is established the Jessica
Lunsford Address Verification Program (hereinafter in this
section referred to as the ``Program'').
(b) Verification.--In the Program, an appropriate official
shall verify the residence of each registered sex offender
not less than--
(1) semi-annually, if the offender is a tier I sex
offender;
(2) quarterly, if the offender is a tier II sex offender;
and
(3) monthly, if the offender is a tier III sex offender.
(c) Use of Mailed Form Authorized.--Such verification may
be achieved by mailing a nonforwardable verification form to
the last known address of the sex offender. The sex offender
must return the form, including a notarized signature or a
fingerprint verification, within a set period of time. A
failure to return the form as required may be a failure to
register for the purposes of this title.
SEC. 119. NATIONAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY.
(a) Internet.--The Attorney General shall maintain a
national database at the Federal Bureau of Investigation for
each sex offender and other person required to register in a
jurisdiction's sex offender registry. The database shall be
known as the National Sex Offender Registry.
(b) Electronic Forwarding.--The Attorney General shall
ensure (through the National Sex Offender Registry or
otherwise) that updated information about a sex offender is
immediately transmitted by electronic forwarding to all
relevant jurisdictions.
SEC. 120. DRU SJODIN NATIONAL SEX OFFENDER PUBLIC WEBSITE.
(a) Establishment.--There is established the Dru Sjodin
National Sex Offender Public Website (hereinafter referred to
as the ``Website'').
(b) Information to Be Provided.--The Attorney General shall
maintain the Website as a site on the Internet which allows
the public to obtain relevant information for each sex
offender by a single query in a form established by the
Attorney General.
SEC. 121. PUBLIC ACCESS TO SEX OFFENDER INFORMATION THROUGH
THE INTERNET.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), each
jurisdiction shall make available on the Internet all
information about each sex offender in the registry, except
for the offender's Social Security number, the identity of
any victim, and any other information exempted from
disclosure by the Attorney General. The jurisdiction shall
provide this information in a manner that is readily
accessible to the public.
(b) Exception.--To the extent authorized by the Attorney
General, a jurisdiction need not make available on the
Internet information about a tier I sex offender whose
offense is a juvenile adjudication.
SEC. 122. MEGAN NICOLE KANKA AND ALEXANDRA NICOLE ZAPP
COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment of Program.--There is established the
Megan Nicole Kanka and Alexandra Nicole Zapp Community
Program (hereinafter in this section referred to as the
``Program'').
(b) Program Notification.--Except as provided in subsection
(c), not later than 5 days after a sex offender registers or
updates a registration, an appropriate official in the
jurisdiction shall provide the information in the registry
(other than information exempted from disclosure by the
Attorney General) about that offender to the following:
(1) The Attorney General, who shall include that
information in the National Sex Offender Registry or other
appropriate data bases.
(2) Appropriate law enforcement agencies (including
probation agencies, if appropriate), and each school and
public housing agency, in each area in which the individual
resides, is employed, or is a student.
(3) Each jurisdiction where the sex offender resides,
works, or attends school, and each jurisdiction from or to
which a change of residence, work, or student status occurs.
(4) Any agency responsible for conducting employment-
related background checks under section 3 of the National
Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119a).
(5) Social service entities responsible for protecting
minors in the child welfare system.
(6) Volunteer organizations in which contact with minors or
other vulnerable individuals might occur.
(7) The community at large.
(c) Exception.--In the case of a tier I sex offender whose
offense is a juvenile adjudication, the Attorney General may
authorize limitation of the entities to which the Program
notification is given when the Attorney General determines it
is consistent with public safety to do so.
SEC. 123. ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN WHEN SEX OFFENDER FAILS TO
COMPLY.
An appropriate official shall notify the Attorney General
and appropriate State, local, and tribal law enforcement
agencies of any failure by a sex offender to comply with the
requirements of a registry. The appropriate official, the
Attorney General, and each such law enforcement agency shall
take any appropriate action to ensure compliance.
SEC. 124. IMMUNITY FOR GOOD FAITH CONDUCT.
The Federal Government, jurisdictions, political
subdivisions of jurisdictions, and their agencies, officers,
employees, and agents shall be immune from liability for good
faith conduct under this title.
SEC. 125. DEVELOPMENT AND AVAILABILITY OF REGISTRY MANAGEMENT
SOFTWARE.
The Attorney General shall develop and support software for
use to establish, maintain, publish, and share sex offender
registries.
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SEC. 126. FEDERAL DUTY WHEN STATE PROGRAMS NOT MINIMALLY
SUFFICIENT.
If the Attorney General determines that a jurisdiction does
not have a minimally sufficient sex offender registration
program, the Department of Justice shall, to the extent
practicable, carry out the duties imposed on that
jurisdiction by this title.
SEC. 127. PERIOD FOR IMPLEMENTATION BY JURISDICTIONS.
Each jurisdiction shall implement this title not later than
2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. However,
the Attorney General may authorize up to two one-year
extensions of the deadline.
SEC. 128. FAILURE TO COMPLY.
(a) In General.--For any fiscal year after the end of the
period for implementation, a jurisdiction that fails, as
determined by the Attorney General, substantially to
implement this title shall not receive 10 percent of the
funds that would otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year
to the jurisdiction under subpart 1 of part E of title I of
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 3570 et seq.).
(b) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under a program
referred to in paragraph (1) to a jurisdiction for failure to
fully implement this title shall be reallocated under that
program to jurisdictions that have not failed to implement
this title or may be reallocated to a jurisdiction from which
they were withheld to be used solely for the purpose of
implementing this title.
(c) Rule of Construction.--The provisions of this title
that are cast as directions to jurisdictions or their
officials constitute, in relation to States, only conditions
required to avoid the reduction of Federal funding under this
section.
SEC. 129. SEX OFFENDER MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE (SOMA) PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall establish and
implement a Sex Offender Management Assistance program (in
this title referred to as the ``SOMA program'') under which
the Attorney General may award a grant to a jurisdiction to
offset the costs of implementing this title.
(b) Application.--The chief executive of a jurisdiction
shall, on an annual basis, submit to the Attorney General an
application in such form and containing such information as
the Attorney General may require.
(c) Bonus Payments for Prompt Compliance.--A jurisdiction
that, as determined by the Attorney General, has
substantially implemented this title not later than two years
after the date of the enactment of this Act is eligible for a
bonus payment. The Attorney General may make such a payment
under the SOMA program for the first fiscal year beginning
after that determination. The amount of the payment shall
be--
(1) 10 percent of the total received by the jurisdiction
under the SOMA program for the preceding fiscal year, if that
implementation is not later than one year after the date of
enactment of this Act; and
(2) 5 percent of such total, if not later than two years
after that date.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to any
amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated, there are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary
to the Attorney General, to be available only for the SOMA
program, for fiscal years 2006 through 2008.
SEC. 130. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR USE OF ELECTRONIC
MONITORING DEVICES.
(a) Project Required.--The Attorney General shall carry out
a demonstration project under which the Attorney General
makes grants to jurisdictions to demonstrate the extent to
which electronic monitoring devices can be used effectively
in a sex offender management program.
(b) Use of Funds.--The jurisdiction may use grant amounts
under this section directly, or through arrangements with
public or private entities, to carry out programs under which
the whereabouts of sex offenders are monitored by electronic
monitoring devices.
(c) Participants.--Not more than 10 jurisdictions may
participate in the demonstration project at any one time.
(d) Factors.--In selecting jurisdictions to participate in
the demonstration project, the Attorney General shall
consider the following factors:
(1) The total number of sex offenders in the jurisdiction.
(2) The percentage of those sex offenders who fail to
comply with registration requirements.
(3) The threat to public safety posed by those sex
offenders who fail to comply with registration requirements.
(4) Any other factor the Attorney General considers
appropriate.
(e) Duration.--The Attorney General shall carry out the
demonstration project for fiscal years 2007, 2008, and 2009.
(f) Innovation.--In making grants under this section, the
Attorney General shall ensure that different approaches to
monitoring are funded to allow an assessment of
effectiveness.
(g) One-Time Report and Recommendations.--Not later than
April 1, 2008, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress
a report--
(1) assessing the effectiveness and value of programs
funded by this section;
(2) comparing the cost-effectiveness of the electronic
monitoring to reduce sex offenses compared to other
alternatives; and
(3) making recommendations for continuing funding and the
appropriate levels for such funding.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may
be necessary.
SEC. 131. BONUS PAYMENTS TO STATES THAT IMPLEMENT ELECTRONIC
MONITORING.
(a) In General.--A jurisdiction that, within 3 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act, has in effect laws and
policies described in subsection (b) shall be eligible for a
bonus payment described in subsection (c), to be paid by the
Attorney General from any amounts available to the Attorney
General for such purpose.
(b) Electronic Monitoring Laws and Policies.--
(1) In general.--Laws and policies referred to in
subsection (a) are laws and policies that ensure that
electronic monitoring is required of a person if that person
is released after being convicted of a sex offense in which
an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years is the
victim.
(2) Monitoring required.--The monitoring required under
paragraph (1) is a system that actively monitors and
identifies the person's location and timely reports or
records the person's presence near or within a crime scene or
in a prohibited area or the person's departure from specified
geographic limitations.
(3) Duration.--The electronic monitoring required by
paragraph (1) shall be required of the person--
(A) for the life of the person, if--
(i) an individual who has not attained the age of 12 years
is the victim; or
(ii) the person has a prior sex conviction (as defined in
section 3559(e) of title 18, United States Code); and
(B) for the period during which the person is on probation,
parole, or supervised release for the offense, in any other
case.
(4) Jurisdiction required to monitor all sex offenders
residing in jurisdiction.--In addition, laws and policies
referred to in subsection (a) also include laws and policies
that ensure that the jurisdiction frequently monitors each
person residing in the jurisdiction for whom electronic
monitoring is required, whether such monitoring is required
under this section or under section 3563(a)(9) of title 18,
United States Code.
(c) Bonus Payments.--The bonus payment referred to in
subsection (a) is a payment equal to 10 percent of the funds
that would otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year to the
jurisdiction under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.
3570 et seq.).
SEC. 132. ACCESS TO NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION DATABASES.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the Attorney General shall ensure access to the national
crime information databases (as defined in section 534 of
title 28, United States Code) by--
(1) the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
to be used only within the scope of the Center's duties and
responsibilities under Federal law to assist or support law
enforcement agencies in administration of criminal justice
functions; and
(2) governmental social service agencies with child
protection responsibilities, to be used by such agencies only
in investigating or responding to reports of child abuse,
neglect, or exploitation.
(b) Conditions of Access.--The access provided under this
section, and associated rules of dissemination, shall be--
(1) defined by the Attorney General; and
(2) limited to personnel of the Center or such agencies
that have met all requirements set by the Attorney General,
including training, certification, and background screening.
SEC. 133. LIMITED IMMUNITY FOR NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING
AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN WITH RESPECT TO
CYBERTIPLINE.
Section 227 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 13032) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
``(g) Limitation on Liability.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and
(3), the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
including any of its directors, officers, employees, or
agents, is not liable in any civil or criminal action arising
from the performance of its CyberTipline responsibilities and
functions as defined by this section.
``(2) Intentional, reckless, or other misconduct.--
Paragraph (1) does not apply in an action in which a party
proves that the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, or its officer, employee, or agent as the case may
be, engaged in intentional misconduct or acted, or failed to
act, with actual malice, with reckless disregard to a
substantial risk of causing injury without legal
justification, or for a purpose unrelated to the performance
of responsibilities or functions under this section.
``(3) Ordinary business activities.--Paragraph (1) does not
apply to an act or omission related to an ordinary business
activity, such as an activity involving general
administration or operations, the use of motor vehicles, or
personnel management.''.
SEC. 134. TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF SEX OFFENDERS IN THE
BUREAU OF PRISONS.
Section 3621 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new subsection:
[[Page H662]]
``(f) Sex Offender Management.--
``(1) In general.--The Bureau of Prisons shall make
available appropriate treatment to sex offenders who are in
need of and suitable for treatment, as follows:
``(A) Sex offender management programs.--The Bureau of
Prisons shall establish non-residential sex offender
management programs to provide appropriate treatment,
monitoring, and supervision of sex offenders and to provide
aftercare during pre-release custody.
``(B) Residential sex offender treatment programs.--The
Bureau of Prisons shall establish residential sex offender
treatment programs to provide treatment to sex offenders who
volunteer for such programs and are deemed by the Bureau of
Prisons to be in need of and suitable for residential
treatment.
``(2) Regions.--At least one sex offender management
program under paragraph (1)(A), and at least one residential
sex offender treatment program under paragraph (1)(B), shall
be established in each region within the Bureau of Prisons.
``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to the Bureau of Prisons for
each fiscal year such sums as may be necessary to carry out
this subsection.''.
SEC. 135. GAO STUDIES ON FEASIBILITY OF USING DRIVER'S
LICENSE REGISTRATION PROCESSES AS ADDITIONAL
REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS FOR SEX OFFENDERS.
For the purposes of determining the feasibility of using
driver's license registration processes as additional
registration requirements for sex offenders to improve the
level of compliance with sex offender registration
requirements for change of address upon relocation and other
related updates of personal information, the Congress
requires the following studies:
(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Government Accountability Office shall
complete a study for the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives to survey a majority of the States
to assess the relative systems capabilities to comply with a
Federal law that required all State driver's license systems
to automatically access State and national databases of
registered sex offenders in a form similar to the requirement
of the Nevada law described in paragraph (2). The Government
Accountability Office shall use the information drawn from
this survey, along with other expert sources, to determine
what the potential costs to the States would be if such a
Federal law came into effect, and what level of Federal
grants would be required to prevent an unfunded mandate. In
addition, the Government Accountability Office shall seek the
views of Federal and State law enforcement agencies,
including in particular the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
with regard to the anticipated effects of such a national
requirement, including potential for undesired side effects
in terms of actual compliance with this Act and related laws.
(2) Not later than October 2006, the Government
Accountability Office shall complete a study to evaluate the
provisions of Chapter 507 of Statutes of Nevada 2005 to
determine--
(A) if those provisions are effective in increasing the
registration compliance rates of sex offenders;
(B) the aggregate direct and indirect costs for the state
of Nevada to bring those provisions into effect; and
(C) whether those provisions should be modified to improve
compliance by registered sex offenders.
SEC. 136. ASSISTANCE IN IDENTIFICATION AND LOCATION OF SEX
OFFENDERS RELOCATED AS A RESULT OF A MAJOR
DISASTER.
The Attorney General shall provide technical assistance to
jurisdictions to assist them in the identification and
location of a sex offender relocated as a result of a major
disaster.
SEC. 137. ELECTION BY INDIAN TRIBES.
(a) Election.--
(1) In general.--A federally recognized Indian tribe may,
by resolution or other enactment of the tribal council or
comparable governmental body--
(A) elect to carry out this subtitle as a jurisdiction
subject to its provisions; or
(B) elect to delegate its functions under this subtitle to
another jurisdiction or jurisdictions within which the
territory of the tribe is located and to provide access to
its territory and such other cooperation and assistance as
may be needed to enable such other jurisdiction or
jurisdictions to carry out and enforce the requirements of
this subtitle.
(2) Imputed election in certain cases.--A tribe shall be
treated as if it had made the election described in paragraph
(1)(B) if--
(A) it is a tribe subject to the law enforcement
jurisdiction of a State under section 1162 of title 18,
United States Code;
(B) the tribe does not make an election under paragraph (1)
within 1 year of the enactment of this Act or rescinds an
election under paragraph (1)(A); or
(C) the Attorney General determines that the tribe has not
implemented the requirements of this subtitle and is not
likely to become capable of doing so within a reasonable
amount of time.
(b) Cooperation Between Tribal Authorities and Other
Jurisdictions.--
(1) Nonduplication.--A tribe subject to this subtitle is
not required to duplicate functions under this subtitle which
are fully carried out by another jurisdiction or
jurisdictions within which the territory of the tribe is
located.
(2) Cooperative agreements.--A tribe may, through
cooperative agreements with such a jurisdiction or
jurisdictions--
(A) arrange for the tribe to carry out any function of such
a jurisdiction under this subtitle with respect to sex
offenders subject to the tribe's jurisdiction; and
(B) arrange for such a jurisdiction to carry out any
function of the tribe under this subtitle with respect to sex
offenders subject to the tribe's jurisdiction.
SEC. 138. REGISTRATION OF PRISONERS RELEASED FROM FOREIGN
IMPRISONMENT.
The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of
State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish
and maintain a system for informing the relevant
jurisdictions about persons entering the United States who
are required to register under this title.
SEC. 139. SEX OFFENDER RISK CLASSIFICATION STUDY.
(a) Study.--The Attorney General shall conduct a study of
risk-based sex offender classification systems, which shall
include an analysis of--
(1) various risk-based sex offender classification systems;
(2) the methods and assessment tools available to assess
the risks posed by sex offenders;
(3) the efficiency and effectiveness of risk-based sex
offender classification systems, in comparison to offense-
based sex offender classification systems, in--
(A) reducing threats to public safety posed by sex
offenders; and
(B) assisting law enforcement agencies and the public in
identifying the most dangerous sex offenders;
(4) the resources necessary to implement, and the legal
implications of implementing, risk-based sex offender
classification systems for sex offender registries; and
(5) any other information the Attorney General determines
necessary to evaluate risk-based sex offender classification
systems.
(b) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall report to
the Congress the results of the study under this section.
(c) Study Conducted by Task Force.--The Attorney General
may establish a task force to conduct the study and prepare
the report required under this section. Any task force
established under this section shall be composed of members,
appointed by the Attorney General, who--
(1) represent national, State, and local interests; and
(2) are especially qualified to serve on the task force by
virtue of their education, training, or experience,
particularly in the fields of sex offender management,
community education, risk assessment of sex offenders, and
sex offender victim issues.
SEC. 140. STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RESTRICTING THE
ACTIVITIES OF SEX OFFENDERS TO REDUCE THE
OCCURRENCE OF REPEAT OFFENSES.
(a) Study.--The Attorney General shall conduct a study to
evaluate the effectiveness of monitoring and restricting the
activities of sex offenders to reduce the occurrence of
repeat offenses by such sex offenders. The study shall
evaluate--
(1) the effectiveness of methods of monitoring and
restricting the activities of sex offenders, including
restrictions--
(A) on the areas in which sex offenders can reside, work,
and attend school;
(B) limiting access by sex offenders to the Internet or to
specific Internet sites;
(C) preventing access by sex offenders to pornography and
other obscene materials; and
(D) imposed as part of supervised release or probation
conditions;
(2) the ability of law enforcement agencies and courts to
enforce such restrictions; and
(3) the efficacy of any other restrictions that may reduce
the occurrence of repeat offenses by sex offenders.
(b) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall report to
the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate the results of the study under this section.
Subtitle B--Criminal Law Enforcement of Registration Requirements
SEC. 151. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE,
RELATING TO SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION.
(a) Criminal Penalties for Nonregistration.--Part I of
title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after
chapter 109A the following:
``CHAPTER 109B--SEX OFFENDER AND CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN REGISTRY
``Sec
``2250. Failure to register
``Sec. 2250. Failure to register
``Whoever is required to register under the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act and--
``(1) is a sex offender as defined for the purposes of that
Act by reason of a conviction under Federal law; or
``(2) travels in interstate or foreign commerce, or enters
or leaves, or resides in, Indian country;
[[Page H663]]
and knowingly fails to register as required shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or
both.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for part I
of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after the item relating to chapter 109A the following new
item:
``109B. Sex offender and crimes against children registry.......2250''.
(c) False Statement Offense.--Section 1001(a) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``If the matter relates to an offense under
chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the
term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not
more than 10 years.''.
(d) Probation.--Paragraph (8) of section 3563(a) of title
18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(8) for a person required to register under the Sex
Offender Registration and Notification Act, that the person
comply with the requirements of that Act; and''.
(e) Supervised Release.--Section 3583 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (d), in the sentence beginning with ``The
court shall order, as an explicit condition of supervised
release for a person described in section 4042(c)(4)'', by
striking ``described in section 4042(c)(4)'' and all that
follows through the end of the sentence and inserting
``required to register under the Sex Offender Registration
and Notification Act that the person comply with the
requirements of that Act.''.
(2) in subsection (k)--
(A) by striking ``2244(a)(1), 2244(a)(2)'' and inserting
``2243, 2244, 2245, 2250'';
(B) by inserting ``not less than 5,'' after ``any term of
years''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following: ``If a defendant
required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and
Notification Act violates the requirements of that Act or
commits any criminal offense for which imprisonment for a
term longer than one year can be imposed, the court shall
revoke the term of supervised release and require the
defendant to serve a term of imprisonment under subsection
(e)(3) without regard to the exception contained therein.
Such term shall be not less than 5 years, and if the offense
was an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or
section 1591, not less than 10 years.''.
(f) Duties of Bureau of Prisons.--Paragraph (3) of section
4042(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read
as follows:
``(3) The Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall inform a
person who is released from prison and required to register
under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of
the requirements of that Act as they apply to that person and
the same information shall be provided to a person sentenced
to probation by the probation officer responsible for
supervision of that person.''.
(g) Conforming Amendments to Cross References.--Paragraphs
(1) and (2) of section 4042(c) of title 18, United States
Code, are each amended by striking ``(4)'' each place it
appears and inserting ``(3)''.
(h) Conforming Repeal of Deadwood.--Paragraph (4) of
section 4042(c) of title 18, United States Code, is repealed.
(i) Military Offenses.--
(1) Section 115(a)(8)(C)(i) of Public Law 105-119 (111
Stat. 2466) is amended by striking ``which encompass'' and
all that follows through ``and (B))'' and inserting ``which
are sex offenses as that term is defined in the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act''.
(2) Section 115(a)(8)(C)(iii) of Public Law 105-119 (111
Stat. 2466; 10 U.S.C. 951 note) is amended by striking ``the
amendments made under subparagraphs (A) and (B)'' and
inserting ``the Sex Offender Registration and Notification
Act''.
(j) Conforming Amendment Relating to Parole.--Section
4209(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended in the
second sentence by striking ``described'' and all that
follows through the end of the sentence and inserting
``required to register under the Sex Offender Registration
and Notification Act that the person comply with the
requirements of that Act.''.
SEC. 152. FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OF SEX OFFENDER VIOLATIONS OF
REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall assist
jurisdictions in locating and apprehending sex offenders who
violate sex offender registration requirements.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal
years 2006 through 2008 to implement this section.
SEC. 153. SEX OFFENDER APPREHENSION GRANTS.
Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
of 1968 is amended by adding at the end the following new
part:
``PART JJ--SEX OFFENDER APPREHENSION GRANTS
``SEC. 3011. AUTHORITY TO MAKE SEX OFFENDER APPREHENSION
GRANTS.
``(a) In General.--From amounts made available to carry out
this part, the Attorney General may make grants to States,
units of local government, Indian tribal governments, other
public and private entities, and multi-jurisdictional or
regional consortia thereof for activities specified in
subsection (b).
``(b) Covered Activities.--An activity referred to in
subsection (a) is any program, project, or other activity to
assist a State in enforcing sex offender registration
requirements.
``SEC. 3012. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may
be necessary for fiscal years 2006 through 2008 to carry out
this part.''.
SEC. 154. USE OF ANY CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE TO FACILITATE SEX
OFFENSE, AND PROHIBITION ON INTERNET SALES OF
DATE RAPE DRUGS.
(a) Increased Punishment.--Chapter 109A of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 2249. Use of any controlled substance to facilitate
sex offense
``(a) Whoever, knowingly uses a controlled substance to
substantially impair the ability of a person to appraise or
control conduct, in order to commit a sex offense, other than
an offense where such use is an element of the offense,
shall, in addition to the punishment provided for the sex
offense, be imprisoned for any term of years not more than 10
years.
``(b) As used in this section, the term `sex offense' means
an offense under this chapter other than an offense under
this section.
``Sec. 2250. Internet sales of date rape drugs
``(a) Whoever knowingly uses the Internet to distribute (as
that term is defined for the purposes of the Controlled
Substances Act) a date rape drug to any person shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or
both.
``(b) As used in this section, the term `date rape drug'
means gamma hydroxybutyric acid, ketamine, or flunitrazepam,
or any analogue of such a substance, including gamma
butyrolactone or 1,4-butanediol.''.
(b) Amendment to Table of Sections.--The table of sections
at the beginning of chapter 109A of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``2249. Use of any controlled substance to facilitate sex offense
``2250. Internet sales of date rape drugs''.
SEC. 155. REPEAL OF PREDECESSOR SEX OFFENDER PROGRAM.
Sections 170101 (42 U.S.C. 14071) and 170102 (42 U.S.C.
14072) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
of 1994, and section 8 of the Pam Lychner Sexual Offender
Tracking and Identification Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 14073),
are repealed.
SEC. 156. ASSISTANCE FOR PROSECUTION OF CASES CLEARED THROUGH
USE OF DNA BACKLOG CLEARANCE FUNDS.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General may make grants to
train and employ personnel to help prosecute cases cleared
through use of funds provided for DNA backlog elimination.
(b) Authorization.--There are authorized to be appropriated
such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2006
through 2010 to carry out this section.
SEC. 157. GRANTS TO COMBAT SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN.
(a) In General.--The Bureau of Justice Assistance shall
make grants to law enforcement agencies for purposes of this
section. The Bureau shall make such a grant--
(1) to each law enforcement agency that serves a
jurisdiction with 50,000 or more residents; and
(2) to each law enforcement agency that serves a
jurisdiction with fewer than 50,000 residents, upon a showing
of need.
(b) Use of Grant Amounts.--Grants under this section may be
used by the law enforcement agency to--
(1) hire additional law enforcement personnel, or train
existing staff to combat the sexual abuse of children through
community education and outreach, investigation of
complaints, enforcement of laws relating to sex offender
registries, and management of released sex offenders;
(2) investigate the use of the Internet to facilitate the
sexual abuse of children; and
(3) purchase computer hardware and software necessary to
investigate sexual abuse of children over the Internet,
access local, State, and Federal databases needed to
apprehend sex offenders, and facilitate the creation and
enforcement of sex offender registries.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal
years 2006 through 2008 to carry out this section.
SEC. 158. EXPANSION OF TRAINING AND TECHNOLOGY EFFORTS.
(a) Training.--The Attorney General, in consultation with
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,
shall--
(1) expand training efforts with Federal, State, and local
law enforcement officers and prosecutors to effectively
respond to the threat to children and the public posed by sex
offenders who use the Internet and technology to solicit or
otherwise exploit children;
(2) facilitate meetings, between corporations that sell
computer hardware and software or provide services to the
general public related to use of the Internet, to identify
problems associated with the use of technology for the
purpose of exploiting children;
(3) host national conferences to train Federal, State, and
local law enforcement officers, probation and parole
officers, and prosecutors regarding pro-active approaches to
monitoring sex offender activity on the Internet;
(4) develop and distribute, for personnel listed in
paragraph (3), information regarding multi-disciplinary
approaches to holding
[[Page H664]]
offenders accountable to the terms of their probation,
parole, and sex offender registration laws; and
(5) partner with other agencies to improve the coordination
of joint investigations among agencies to effectively combat
on-line solicitation of children by sex offenders.
(b) Technology.--The Attorney General, in consultation with
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,
shall--
(1) deploy, to all Internet Crimes Against Children Task
Forces and their partner agencies, technology modeled after
the Canadian Child Exploitation Tracking System; and
(2) conduct training in the use of that technology.
(c) Report.--Not later than July 1, 2006, the Attorney
General, in consultation with the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention, shall submit to Congress a report
on the activities carried out under this section. The report
shall include any recommendations that the Attorney General,
in consultation with the Office, considers appropriate.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Attorney General, for fiscal year
2006--
(1) $1,000,000 to carry out subsection (a); and
(2) $2,000,000 to carry out subsection (b).
SEC. 159. REVOCATION OF PROBATION OR SUPERVISED RELEASE.
(a) Probation.--Section 3565(b) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3) by striking `or' at the end; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
``(5) commits a felony crime of violence; or
``(6) commits a crime of violence against, or an offense
that consists of or is intended to facilitate unlawful sexual
contact (as defined in section 2246) with, a person who has
not attained the age of 18 years;''.
(b) Supervised Release.--Section 3583(g) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3) by striking `or' at the end; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
``(5) commits a felony crime of violence; or
``(6) commits a crime of violence against, or an offense
that consists of or is intended to facilitate unlawful sexual
contact (as defined in section 2246) with, a person who has
not attained the age of 18 years;''.
Subtitle C--Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes Against Children
SEC. 161. ESTABLISHMENT.
There is established within the Department of Justice,
under the general authority of the Attorney General, an
Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes against Children
(hereinafter in this subtitle referred to as the ``Office'').
SEC. 162. DIRECTOR.
The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall be
appointed by the President. The Director shall report to the
Attorney General through the Assistant Attorney General for
the Office of Justice Programs and shall have final authority
for all grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts awarded
by the Office. The Director shall not engage in any
employment other than that of serving as the Director, nor
shall the Director hold any office in, or act in any capacity
for, any organization, agency, or institution with which the
Office makes any contract or other arrangement.
SEC. 163. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS.
The Office is authorized to--
(1) administer the standards for sex offender registration
and notification programs set forth in this title;
(2) administer grant programs relating to sex offender
registration and notification authorized by this title and
other grant programs authorized by this title as directed by
the Attorney General;
(3) cooperate with and provide technical assistance to
States, units of local government, tribal governments, and
other public and private entities involved in activities
related to sex offender registration or notification or to
other measures for the protection of children or other
members of the public from sexual abuse or exploitation; and
(4) perform such other functions as the Attorney General
may delegate.
TITLE II--DNA FINGERPRINTING
SEC. 201. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.
The first sentence of section 3(a)(1)(A) of the DNA
Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C.
14135a(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ``or from'' and all
that follows through ``detained'' and inserting ``, detained,
or convicted''.
SEC. 202. STOPPING VIOLENT PREDATORS AGAINST CHILDREN.
In carrying out Acts of Congress relating to DNA databases,
the Attorney General shall give appropriate consideration to
the need for the collection and testing of DNA to stop
violent predators against children.
SEC. 203. MODEL CODE ON INVESTIGATING MISSING PERSONS AND
DEATHS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
each State should, not later than 1 year after the date on
which the Attorney General published the model code, enact
laws implementing the model code.
(b) GAO Study.--Not later than 2 years after the date on
which the Attorney General published the model code, the
Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on the
extent to which States have implemented the model code. The
report shall, for each State--
(1) describe the extent to which the State has implemented
the model code; and
(2) to the extent the State has not implemented the model
code, describe the reasons why the State has not done so.
TITLE III--PREVENTION AND DETERRENCE OF CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN
SEC. 301. ASSURED PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLENT CRIMES AGAINST
CHILDREN.
(a) Special Sentencing Rule.--Subsection (d) of section
3559 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as
follows:
``(d) Mandatory Minimum Terms of Imprisonment for Violent
Crimes Against Children.--A person who is convicted of a
felony crime of violence against the person of an individual
who has not attained the age of 18 years shall, unless a
greater mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment is
otherwise provided by law and regardless of any maximum term
of imprisonment otherwise provided for the offense--
``(1) if the crime of violence results in the death of a
person who has not attained the age of 18 years, be sentenced
to death or life in prison;
``(2) if the crime of violence is kidnapping, aggravated
sexual abuse, sexual abuse, or maiming, be imprisoned for
life or any term of years not less than 30; and
``(3) if the crime of violence results in serious bodily
injury (as defined in section 2119), be imprisoned for life
or for any term of years not less than 20.''.
SEC. 302. KENNETH WREDE FAIR AND EXPEDITIOUS HABEAS REVIEW OF
STATE CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS.
(a) Section 2264.--Section 2264 of title 28, United States
Code, is amended by redesignating subsection (b) as
subsection (c) and inserting after subsection (a) the
following:
``(b) The court shall not have jurisdiction to consider an
application with respect to an error relating to the
applicant's sentence or sentencing that has been found to be
harmless or not prejudicial in State court proceedings, that
was not presented in State court proceedings, or that was
found by a State court to be procedurally barred, unless a
determination that the error is not structural is contrary to
clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme
Court of the United States.''.
(b) Section 2254.--Section 2254 of title 28, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(j) The court, Justice, or judge entertaining the
application shall not have jurisdiction to consider an
application with respect to an error relating to the
applicant's sentence or sentencing that has been found to be
harmless or not prejudicial in State court proceedings, that
was not presented in State court proceedings, or that was
found by a State court to be procedurally barred, unless a
determination that the error is not structural is contrary to
clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme
Court of the United States.''.
(c) Application.--The amendments made by this section apply
to cases pending on or after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 303. RIGHTS ASSOCIATED WITH HABEAS CORPUS PROCEEDINGS.
Section 3771(b) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by striking ``In any court proceeding'' and inserting
the following:
``(1) In general.--In any court proceeding''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Habeas corpus proceedings.--
``(A) In general.--In a Federal habeas corpus proceeding
arising out of a State conviction, the court shall ensure
that a crime victim is afforded the rights described in
paragraphs (3), (4), (7), and (8) of subsection (a).
``(B) Enforcement.--
``(i) In general.--These rights may be enforced by the
crime victim or the crime victim's lawful representative in
the manner described in paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection
(d).
``(ii) Multiple victims.--In a case involving multiple
victims, subsection (d)(2) shall also apply.
``(C) Limitation.--This paragraph relates to the duties of
a court in relation to the rights of a crime victim in
Federal habeas corpus proceedings arising out of a State
conviction, and does not give rise to any obligation or
requirement applicable to personnel of any agency of the
Executive Branch of the Federal Government.
``(D) Definition.--For purposes of this paragraph, the term
`crime victim' means the person against whom the State
offense is committed or, if that person is killed or
incapacitated, that person's family member or other lawful
representative.''.
SEC. 304. STUDY OF INTERSTATE TRACKING OF PERSONS CONVICTED
OF OR UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR CHILD ABUSE.
(a) Study.--The Attorney General shall study the
establishment of a nationwide interstate tracking system of
persons convicted of, or under investigation for, child
abuse. The study shall include an analysis, along with the
costs and benefits, of various mechanisms for establishing an
interstate tracking system, and include the extent to which
existing registries could be used.
(b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall report to
the Congress the results of the study under this section.
TITLE IV--PROTECTION AGAINST SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
SEC. 401. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR SEXUAL OFFENSES AGAINST
CHILDREN.
(a) Sexual Abuse and Contact.--
[[Page H665]]
(1) Aggravated sexual abuse of children.--Section 2241(c)
of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking ``,
imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both.'' and
inserting ``and imprisoned for not less than 30 years or for
life.''.
(2) Abusive sexual contact with children.--Section 2244 of
chapter 109A of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``subsection (a) or (b)
of'' before ``section 2241'';
(ii) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (3);
(iii) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4)
and inserting ``; or''; and
(iv) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
``(5) subsection (c) of section 2241 of this title had the
sexual contact been a sexual act, shall be fined under this
title and imprisoned for any term of years or for life.'';
and
(B) in subsection (c), by inserting ``(other than
subsection (a)(5))'' after ``violates this section''.
(3) Sexual abuse of children resulting in death.--Section
2245 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by inserting ``, chapter 110, chapter 117, or section
1591'' after ``this chapter'';
(B) by striking ``A person'' and inserting ``(a) In
General.--A person''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Offenses Involving Young Children.--A person who, in
the course of an offense under this chapter, chapter 110,
chapter 117, or section 1591 engages in conduct that results
in the death of a person who has not attained the age of 12
years, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for not less
than 30 years or for life.''.
(4) Death penalty aggravating factor.--Section 3592(c)(1)
of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting
``section 2245 (sexual abuse resulting in death),'' after
``(wrecking trains),''.
(b) Sexual Exploitation and Other Abuse of Children.--
(1) Sexual exploitation of children.--Section 2251(e) of
title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by inserting ``section 1591,'' after ``this chapter,''
the first place it appears;
(B) by striking ``the sexual exploitation of children'' the
first place it appears and inserting ``aggravated sexual
abuse, sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact involving a minor
or ward, or sex trafficking of children, or the production,
possession, receipt, mailing, sale, distribution, shipment,
or transportation of child pornography''; and
(C) by striking ``any term of years or for life'' and
inserting ``not less than 30 years or for life''.
(2) Activities relating to material involving the sexual
exploitation of children.--Section 2252(b) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``paragraphs (1)'' and inserting
``paragraph (1)'';
(B) by inserting ``section 1591,'' after ``this chapter,'';
and
(C) by inserting ``, or sex trafficking of children'' after
``pornography''.
(3) Activities relating to material constituting or
containing child pornography.--Section 2252A(b) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended in paragraph (1)--
(A) by inserting ``section 1591,'' after ``this chapter,'';
and
(B) by inserting ``, or sex trafficking of children'' after
``pornography''.
(4) Using misleading domain names to direct children to
harmful material on the internet.--Section 2252B(b) of title
18, United States Code, is amended by striking ``4'' and
inserting ``20''.
(5) Extraterritorial child pornography offenses.--Section
2260(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read
as follows:
``(c) Penalties.--
``(1) A person who violates subsection (a), or attempts or
conspires to do so, shall be subject to the penalties
provided in subsection (e) of section 2251 for a violation of
that section, including the penalties provided for such a
violation by a person with a prior conviction or convictions
as described in that subsection.
``(2) A person who violates subsection (b), or attempts or
conspires to do so, shall be subject to the penalties
provided in subsection (b)(1) of section 2252 for a violation
of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a) of that
section, including the penalties provided for such a
violation by a person with a prior conviction or convictions
as described in subsection (b)(1) of section 2252.''.
(c) Mandatory Life Imprisonment for Certain Repeated Sex
Offenses Against Children.--Section 3559(e)(2)(A) of title
18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``or 2423(a)'' and inserting ``2423(a)'';
and
(2) by inserting ``, 2423(b) (relating to travel with
intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct), 2423(c)
(relating to illicit sexual conduct in foreign places), or
2425 (relating to use of interstate facilities to transmit
information about a minor)'' after ``minors)''.
SEC. 402. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO PROSECUTIONS
UNDER SECTION 2422(B) OF TITLE 18, UNITED
STATES CODE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) a jury convicted Jan P. Helder, Jr., of using a
computer to attempt to entice an individual who had not
attained the age of 18 years to engage in unlawful sexual
activity;
(2) during the trial, evidence showed that Jan Helder had
engaged in an online chat with an individual posing as a
minor, who unbeknownst to him, was an undercover law
enforcement officer;
(3) notwithstanding, Dean Whipple, District Judge for the
Western District of Missouri, acquitted Jan Helder, ruling
that because he did not, in fact, communicate with a minor,
he did not commit a crime;
(4) the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in United States v.
Jeffrey Meek, specifically addressed the question facing
Judge Whipple and concurred with the 5th and 11th Circuit
Courts in finding that ``an actual minor victim is not
required for an attempt conviction under 18 U.S.C.
2422(b).'';
(5) the Department of Justice has successfully used
evidence obtained through undercover law enforcement to
prosecute and convict perpetrators who attempted to solicit
children on the Internet; and
(6) the Department of Justice states, ``Online child
pornography/child sexual exploitation is the most significant
cyber crime problem confronting the FBI that involves crimes
against children''.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) it is a crime under section 2422(b) of title 18, United
States Code, to use a facility of interstate commerce to
attempt to entice an individual who has not attained the age
of 18 years into unlawful sexual activity, even if the
perpetrator incorrectly believes that the individual has not
attained the age of 18 years;
(2) well-established caselaw has established that section
2422(b) of title 18, United States Code, criminalizes any
attempt to entice a minor into unlawful sexual activity, even
if the perpetrator incorrectly believes that the individual
has not attained the age of 18 years;
(3) the Department of Justice should appeal Judge Whipple's
decision in United States v. Helder, Jr. and aggressively
continue to track down and prosecute sex offenders on the
Internet; and
(4) Judge Whipple's decision in United States v. Helder,
Jr. should be overturned in light of the law as it is
written, the intent of Congress, and well-established
caselaw.
SEC. 403. GRANTS FOR CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall make grants to
States, units of local government, Indian tribes, and
nonprofit organizations for purposes of establishing and
maintaining programs with respect to the prevention of sexual
offenses committed against minors.
(b) State Defined.--For purposes of this section, the term
``State'' means any State of the United States, the District
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana
Islands.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007
through 2011 to carry out this section.
TITLE V--FOSTER CHILD PROTECTION AND CHILD SEXUAL PREDATOR DETERRENCE
SEC. 501. REQUIREMENT TO COMPLETE BACKGROUND CHECKS BEFORE
APPROVAL OF ANY FOSTER OR ADOPTIVE PLACEMENT
AND TO CHECK NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION
DATABASES AND STATE CHILD ABUSE REGISTRIES;
SUSPENSION AND SUBSEQUENT ELIMINATION OF OPT-
OUT.
(a) Requirement to Complete Background Checks Before
Approval of Any Foster or Adoptive Placement and to Check
National Crime Information Databases and State Child Abuse
Registries; Suspension of Opt-Out.--
(1) Requirement to check national crime information
databases and state child abuse registries.--Section
471(a)(20) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20))
is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i)--
(I) by inserting ``, including fingerprint-based checks of
national crime information databases (as defined in section
534(e)(3)(A) of title 28, United States Code),'' after
``criminal records checks''; and
(II) by striking ``on whose behalf foster care maintenance
payments or adoption assistance payments are to be made'' and
inserting ``regardless of whether foster care maintenance
payments or adoption assistance payments are to be made on
behalf of the child''; and
(ii) in each of clauses (i) and (ii), by inserting
``involving a child on whose behalf such payments are to be
so made'' after ``in any case''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) provides that the State shall--
``(i) check any child abuse and neglect registry maintained
by the State for information on any prospective foster or
adoptive parent and on any other adult living in the home of
such a prospective parent, and request any other State in
which any such prospective parent or other adult has resided
in the preceding 5 years, to enable the State to check any
child abuse and neglect registry maintained by such other
State for such information, before the prospective foster or
adoptive parent may be finally approved for placement of a
child, regardless of whether foster care maintenance payments
or adoption assistance payments are to be made on behalf of
the child under the State plan under this part;
``(ii) comply with any request described in clause (i) that
is received from another State; and
[[Page H666]]
``(iii) have in place safeguards to prevent the
unauthorized disclosure of information in any child abuse and
neglect registry maintained by the State, and to prevent any
such information obtained pursuant to this subparagraph from
being used for a purpose other than the conducting of
background checks in foster or adoptive placement cases;''.
(2) Suspension of opt-out.--Section 471(a)(20)(B) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(B)) is amended--
(A) by inserting ``, on or before September 30, 2005,''
after ``plan if''; and
(B) by inserting ``, on or before such date,'' after ``or
if''.
(b) Elimination of Opt-Out.--Section 471(a)(20) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)), as amended by subsection (a) of this
section, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), in the matter preceding clause
(i), by striking ``unless an election provided for in
subparagraph (B) is made with respect to the State,''; and
(2) by striking subparagraph (B) and redesignating
subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B).
(c) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on October 1, 2006, and shall apply with
respect to payments under part E of title IV of the Social
Security Act for calendar quarters beginning on or after such
date, without regard to whether regulations to implement the
amendments are promulgated by such date.
(2) Elimination of opt-out.--The amendments made by
subsection (b) shall take effect on October 1, 2008, and
shall apply with respect to payments under part E of title IV
of the Social Security Act for calendar quarters beginning on
or after such date, without regard to whether regulations to
implement the amendments are promulgated by such date.
(3) Delay permitted if state legislation required.--If the
Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that State
legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) is
required in order for a State plan under section 471 of the
Social Security Act to meet the additional requirements
imposed by the amendments made by a subsection of this
section, the plan shall not be regarded as failing to meet
any of the additional requirements before the first day of
the first calendar quarter beginning after the first regular
session of the State legislature that begins after the
otherwise applicable effective date of the amendments. If the
State has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the
session is deemed to be a separate regular session of the
State legislature.
SEC. 502. ACCESS TO FEDERAL CRIME INFORMATION DATABASES FOR
CERTAIN PURPOSES.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General of the United States
shall, upon request of the chief executive officer of a
State, conduct fingerprint-based checks of the national crime
information databases (as defined in section 534(f)(3)(A) of
title 28, United States Code) submitted by--
(1) a child welfare agency for the purpose of--
(A) conducting a background check required under section
471(a)(20) of the Social Security Act on individuals under
consideration as prospective foster or adoptive parents; or
(B) an investigation relating to an incident of abuse or
neglect of a minor; or
(2) a private elementary or secondary school, a local
educational agency, or State educational agency in that
State, on individuals employed by, under consideration for
employment by, or volunteering for the school or agency in a
position in which the individual would work with or around
children.
(b) Fingerprint-Based Check.--Where possible, the check
shall include a fingerprint-based check of State criminal
history databases.
(c) Fees.--The Attorney General and the States may charge
any applicable fees for the checks.
(d) Protection of Information.--An individual having
information derived as a result of a check under subsection
(a) may release that information only to appropriate officers
of child welfare agencies, private elementary or secondary
schools, or educational agencies or other persons authorized
by law to receive that information.
(e) Criminal Penalties.--An individual who knowingly
exceeds the authority in subsection (a), or knowingly
releases information in violation of subsection (d), shall be
imprisoned not more than 10 years or fined under title 18,
United States Code, or both.
(f) Child Welfare Agency Defined.--In this section, the
term ``child welfare agency'' means--
(1) the State or local agency responsible for administering
the plan under part B or part E of title IV of the Social
Security Act; and
(2) any other public agency, or any other private agency
under contract with the State or local agency responsible for
administering the plan under part B or part E of title IV of
the Social Security Act, that is responsible for the
licensing or approval of foster or adoptive parents.
(g) Definition of Education Terms.--In this section, the
terms ``elementary school'', ``local educational agency'',
``secondary school'', and ``State educational agency'' have
the meanings given to those terms in section 9101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7801).
(h) Technical Correction.--Section 534 of title 28, United
States Code, is amended by redesignating the second
subsection (e) as subsection (f).
SEC. 503. PENALTIES FOR COERCION AND ENTICEMENT BY SEX
OFFENDERS.
Section 2422 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``or imprisoned not more
than 20 years, or both'' and inserting ``and imprisoned not
less than 5 years nor more than 20 years''; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``5'' and inserting
``10''.
SEC. 504. PENALTIES FOR CONDUCT RELATING TO CHILD
PROSTITUTION.
Section 2423 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``5 years and not more
than 30 years'' and inserting ``30 years or for life'';
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``or imprisoned not more
than 30 years, or both'' and inserting ``and imprisoned for
not less than 10 years and not more than 30 years'';
(3) in subsection (c), by striking ``or imprisoned not more
than 30 years, or both'' and inserting ``and imprisoned for
not less than 10 years and not more than 30 years''; and
(4) in subsection (d), by striking ``imprisoned not more
than 30 years, or both'' and inserting ``and imprisoned for
not less than 10 nor more than 30 years''.
SEC. 505. PENALTIES FOR SEXUAL ABUSE.
(a) Aggravated Sexual Abuse.--Section 2241 of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``, imprisoned for any
term of years or life, or both'' and inserting ``and
imprisoned for any term of years not less than 30 or for
life''; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``, imprisoned for any
term of years or life, or both'' and inserting ``and
imprisoned for any term of years not less than 30 or for
life''.
(b) Sexual Abuse.--Section 2242 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by striking ``, imprisoned not more than 20
years, or both'' and inserting ``and imprisoned not less than
10 years nor more than 30 years''.
(c) Abusive Sexual Contact.--Section 2244(a) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``ten years'' and
inserting ``30 years'';
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``three years'' and
inserting ``20 years'';
(3) in paragraph (3), by striking ``two years'' and
inserting ``15 years''; and
(4) in paragraph (4), by striking ``two years'' and
inserting ``10 years''.
SEC. 506. SEX OFFENDER SUBMISSION TO SEARCH AS CONDITION OF
RELEASE.
(a) Conditions of Probation.--Section 3563(a) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and inserting
``; and''; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
``(10) for a person who is a felon or required to register
under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act,
that the person submit his person, and any property, house,
residence, vehicle, papers, computer, other electronic
communication or data storage devices or media, and effects
to search at any time, with or without a warrant, by any law
enforcement or probation officer with reasonable suspicion
concerning a violation of a condition of probation or
unlawful conduct by the person, and by any probation officer
in the lawful discharge of the officer's supervision
functions.''.
(b) Supervised Release.--Section 3583(d) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``The court may order, as an explicit condition of
supervised release for a person who is a felon or required to
register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification
Act, that the person submit his person, and any property,
house, residence, vehicle, papers, computer, other electronic
communications or data storage devices or media, and effects
to search at any time, with or without a warrant, by any law
enforcement or probation officer with reasonable suspicion
concerning a violation of a condition of supervised release
or unlawful conduct by the person, and by any probation
officer in the lawful discharge of the officer's supervision
functions.''.
SEC. 507. KIDNAPPING JURISDICTION.
Section 1201 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``if the person was
alive when the transportation began'' and inserting ``, or
the offender travels in interstate or foreign commerce or
uses the mail or any means, facility, or instrumentality of
interstate or foreign commerce in committing or in
furtherance of the commission of the offense''; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``to interstate'' and
inserting ``in interstate''.
SEC. 508. MARITAL COMMUNICATION AND ADVERSE SPOUSAL
PRIVILEGE.
(a) In General.--Chapter 119 of title 28, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 1826 the
following:
``Sec. 1826A. Marital communications and adverse spousal
privilege
``The confidential marital communication privilege and the
adverse spousal privilege shall be inapplicable in any
Federal proceeding in which a spouse is charged with a crime
against--
``(1) a child of either spouse; or
[[Page H667]]
``(2) a child under the custody or control of either
spouse.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of
sections for chapter 119 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1826
the following:
``1826A. Marital communications and adverse spousal privilege''.
SEC. 509. ABUSE AND NEGLECT OF INDIAN CHILDREN.
Section 1153(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended
by inserting ``felony child abuse or neglect,'' after
``years,''.
SEC. 510. JIMMY RYCE CIVIL COMMITMENT PROGRAM.
Chapter 313 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in the chapter analysis--
(A) in the item relating to section 4241, by inserting ``or
to undergo postrelease proceedings'' after ``trial''; and
(B) by inserting at the end the following:
``4248. Civil commitment of a sexually dangerous person'';
(2) in section 4241--
(A) in the heading, by inserting ``OR TO UNDERGO
POSTRELEASE PROCEEDINGS'' after ``TRIAL'';
(B) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by inserting
``or at any time after the commencement of probation or
supervised release and prior to the completion of the
sentence,'' after ``defendant,'';
(C) in subsection (d)--
(i) by striking ``trial to proceed'' each place it appears
and inserting ``proceedings to go forward''; and
(ii) by striking ``section 4246'' and inserting ``sections
4246 and 4248''; and
(D) in subsection (e)--
(i) by inserting ``or other proceedings'' after ``trial'';
and
(ii) by striking ``chapter 207'' and inserting ``chapters
207 and 227'';
(3) in section 4247--
(A) by striking ``, or 4246'' each place it appears and
inserting ``, 4246, or 4248'';
(B) in subsections (g) and (i), by striking ``4243 or
4246'' each place it appears and inserting ``4243, 4246, or
4248'';
(C) in subsection (a)--
(i) by amending subparagraph (1)(C) to read as follows:
``(C) drug, alcohol, and sex offender treatment programs,
and other treatment programs that will assist the individual
in overcoming a psychological or physical dependence or any
condition that makes the individual dangerous to others;
and'';
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(iii) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end
and inserting a semicolon; and
(iv) by inserting at the end the following:
``(4) `bodily injury' includes sexual abuse;
``(5) `sexually dangerous person' means a person who has
engaged or attempted to engage in sexually violent conduct or
child molestation and who is sexually dangerous to others;
and
``(6) `sexually dangerous to others' means that a person
suffers from a serious mental illness, abnormality, or
disorder as a result of which he would have serious
difficulty in refraining from sexually violent conduct or
child molestation if released.'';
(D) in subsection (b), by striking ``4245 or 4246'' and
inserting ``4245, 4246, or 4248'';
(E) in subsection (c)(4)--
(i) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as
subparagraphs (E) and (F) respectively; and
(ii) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following:
``(D) if the examination is ordered under section 4248,
whether the person is a sexually dangerous person;''; and
(F) in subsections (e) and (h)--
(i) by striking ``hospitalized'' each place it appears and
inserting ``committed''; and
(ii) by striking ``hospitalization'' each place it appears
and inserting ``commitment'' ; and
(4) by inserting at the end the following:
``Sec. 4248. Civil commitment of a sexually dangerous person
``(a) Institution of Proceedings.--In relation to a person
who is in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, or who has
been committed to the custody of the Attorney General
pursuant to section 4241(d), or against whom all criminal
charges have been dismissed solely for reasons relating to
the mental condition of the person, the Attorney General or
any individual authorized by the Attorney General or the
Director of the Bureau of Prisons may certify that the person
is a sexually dangerous person, and transmit the certificate
to the clerk of the court for the district in which the
person is confined. The clerk shall send a copy of the
certificate to the person, and to the attorney for the
Government, and, if the person was committed pursuant to
section 4241(d), to the clerk of the court that ordered the
commitment. The court shall order a hearing to determine
whether the person is a sexually dangerous person. A
certificate filed under this subsection shall stay the
release of the person pending completion of procedures
contained in this section.
``(b) Psychiatric or Psychological Examination and
Report.--Prior to the date of the hearing, the court may
order that a psychiatric or psychological examination of the
defendant be conducted, and that a psychiatric or
psychological report be filed with the court, pursuant to the
provisions of section 4247(b) and (c).
``(c) Hearing.--The hearing shall be conducted pursuant to
the provisions of section 4247(d).
``(d) Determination and Disposition.--If, after the
hearing, the court finds by clear and convincing evidence
that the person is a sexually dangerous person, the court
shall commit the person to the custody of the Attorney
General. The Attorney General shall release the person to the
appropriate official of the State in which the person is
domiciled or was tried if such State will assume
responsibility for his custody, care, and treatment. The
Attorney General shall make all reasonable efforts to cause
such a State to assume such responsibility. If,
notwithstanding such efforts, neither such State will assume
such responsibility, the Attorney General shall place the
person for treatment in a suitable facility, until--
``(1) such a State will assume such responsibility; or
``(2) the person's condition is such that he is no longer
sexually dangerous to others, or will not be sexually
dangerous to others if released under a prescribed regimen of
medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment;
whichever is earlier.
``(e) Discharge.--When the Director of the facility in
which a person is placed pursuant to subsection (d)
determines that the person's condition is such that he is no
longer sexually dangerous to others, or will not be sexually
dangerous to others if released under a prescribed regimen of
medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment, he
shall promptly file a certificate to that effect with the
clerk of the court that ordered the commitment. The clerk
shall send a copy of the certificate to the person's counsel
and to the attorney for the Government. The court shall order
the discharge of the person or, on motion of the attorney for
the Government or on its own motion, shall hold a hearing,
conducted pursuant to the provisions of section 4247(d), to
determine whether he should be released. If, after the
hearing, the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence
that the person's condition is such that--
``(1) he will not be sexually dangerous to others if
released unconditionally, the court shall order that he be
immediately discharged; or
``(2) he will not be sexually dangerous to others if
released under a prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric,
or psychological care or treatment, the court shall--
``(A) order that he be conditionally discharged under a
prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological
care or treatment that has been prepared for him, that has
been certified to the court as appropriate by the Director of
the facility in which he is committed, and that has been
found by the court to be appropriate; and
``(B) order, as an explicit condition of release, that he
comply with the prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric,
or psychological care or treatment.
The court at any time may, after a hearing employing the same
criteria, modify or eliminate the regimen of medical,
psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment.
``(f) Revocation of Conditional Discharge.--The director of
a facility responsible for administering a regimen imposed on
a person conditionally discharged under subsection (e) shall
notify the Attorney General and the court having jurisdiction
over the person of any failure of the person to comply with
the regimen. Upon such notice, or upon other probable cause
to believe that the person has failed to comply with the
prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological
care or treatment, the person may be arrested, and, upon
arrest, shall be taken without unnecessary delay before the
court having jurisdiction over him. The court shall, after a
hearing, determine whether the person should be remanded to a
suitable facility on the ground that he is sexually dangerous
to others in light of his failure to comply with the
prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological
care or treatment.
``(g) Release to State of Certain Other Persons.--If the
director of the facility in which a person is hospitalized or
placed pursuant to this chapter certifies to the Attorney
General that a person, against whom all charges have been
dismissed for reasons not related to the mental condition of
the person, is a sexually dangerous person, the Attorney
General shall release the person to the appropriate official
of the State in which the person is domiciled or was tried
for the purpose of institution of State proceedings for civil
commitment. If neither such State will assume such
responsibility, the Attorney General shall release the person
upon receipt of notice from the State that it will not assume
such responsibility, but not later than 10 days after
certification by the director of the facility.''.
SEC. 511. JIMMY RYCE STATE CIVIL COMMITMENT PROGRAMS FOR
SEXUALLY DANGEROUS PERSONS.
(a) Grants Authorized.--Except as provided in subsection
(b), the Attorney General shall make grants to jurisdictions
for the purpose of establishing, enhancing, or operating
effective civil commitment programs for sexually dangerous
persons.
(b) Limitation.--The Attorney General shall not make any
grant under this section for the purpose of establishing,
enhancing, or operating any transitional housing for a
sexually dangerous person in or near a locations where minors
or other vulnerable persons are likely to come into contact
with that person.
[[Page H668]]
(c) Eligibility.--
(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, a jurisdiction must, before the expiration of
the compliance period--
(A) have established a civil commitment program for
sexually dangerous persons that is consistent with guidelines
issued by the Attorney General; or
(B) submit a plan for the establishment of such a program.
(2) Compliance period.--The compliance period referred to
in paragraph (1) expires on the date that is 2 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act. However, the Attorney
General may, on a case-by-case basis, extend the compliance
period that applies to a jurisdiction if the Attorney General
considers such an extension to be appropriate.
(d) Attorney General Reports.--Not later than January 31 of
each year, beginning with 2008, 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 progress of jurisdictions in
implementing this section and the rate of sexually violent
offenses for each jurisdiction.
(e) Definitions.--As used in this section:
(1) The term ``civil commitment program'' means a program
that involves--
(A) secure civil confinement, including appropriate
control, care, and treatment during such confinement; and
(B) appropriate supervision, care, and treatment for
individuals released following such confinement.
(2) The term ``sexually dangerous person'' means an
individual who is dangerous to others because of a mental
illness, abnormality, or disorder that creates a risk that
the individual will engage in sexually violent conduct or
child molestation.
(3) The term ``jurisdiction'' has the meaning given such
term in section 111.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
SEC. 512. MANDATORY PENALTIES FOR SEX-TRAFFICKING OF
CHILDREN.
Section 1591(b) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``or imprisonment'' and inserting ``and
imprisonment'';
(B) by inserting ``not less than 10'' after ``any term of
years''; and
(C) by striking ``, or both''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``or imprisonment for not'' and inserting
``and imprisonment for not less than 5 years nor''; and
(B) by striking ``, or both''.
SEC. 513. SEXUAL ABUSE OF WARDS.
Chapter 109A of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 2243(b), by striking ``five years'' and
inserting ``15 years''; and
(2) by inserting a comma after ``Attorney General'' each
place it appears.
SEC. 514. NO LIMITATION FOR PROSECUTION OF FELONY SEX
OFFENSES.
Chapter 213 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3298. Child abduction and sex offenses
``Notwithstanding any other law, an indictment may be found
or an information instituted at any time without limitation
for any offense under section 1201 involving a minor victim,
and for any felony under chapter 109A, 110, or 117, or
section 1591.''; and
(2) by adding at the end of the table of sections at the
beginning of the chapter the following new item:
``3298. Child abduction and sex offenses''.
SEC. 515. CHILD ABUSE REPORTING.
Section 2258 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
striking ``Class B misdemeanor'' and inserting ``Class A
misdemeanor''.
TITLE VI--CHILD PORNOGRAPHY PREVENTION
SEC. 601. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The effect of the intrastate production,
transportation, distribution, receipt, advertising, and
possession of child pornography on interstate market in child
pornography.
(A) The illegal production, transportation, distribution,
receipt, advertising and possession of child pornography, as
defined in section 2256(8) of title 18, United States Code,
as well as the transfer of custody of children for the
production of child pornography, is harmful to the
physiological, emotional, and mental health of the children
depicted in child pornography and has a substantial and
detrimental effect on society as a whole.
(B) A substantial interstate market in child pornography
exists, including not only a multimillion dollar industry,
but also a nationwide network of individuals openly
advertising their desire to exploit children and to traffic
in child pornography. Many of these individuals distribute
child pornography with the expectation of receiving other
child pornography in return.
(C) The interstate market in child pornography is carried
on to a substantial extent through the mails and other
instrumentalities of interstate and foreign commerce, such as
the Internet. The advent of the Internet has greatly
increased the ease of transporting, distributing, receiving,
and advertising child pornography in interstate commerce. The
advent of digital cameras and digital video cameras, as well
as videotape cameras, has greatly increased the ease of
producing child pornography. The advent of inexpensive
computer equipment with the capacity to store large numbers
of digital images of child pornography has greatly increased
the ease of possessing child pornography. Taken together,
these technological advances have had the unfortunate result
of greatly increasing the interstate market in child
pornography.
(D) Intrastate incidents of production, transportation,
distribution, receipt, advertising, and possession of child
pornography, as well as the transfer of custody of children
for the production of child pornography, have a substantial
and direct effect upon interstate commerce because:
(i) Some persons engaged in the production, transportation,
distribution, receipt, advertising, and possession of child
pornography conduct such activities entirely within the
boundaries of one state. These persons are unlikely to be
content with the amount of child pornography they produce,
transport, distribute, receive, advertise, or possess. These
persons are therefore likely to enter the interstate market
in child pornography in search of additional child
pornography, thereby stimulating demand in the interstate
market in child pornography.
(ii) When the persons described in subparagraph (D)(i)
enter the interstate market in search of additional child
pornography, they are likely to distribute the child
pornography they already produce, transport, distribute,
receive, advertise, or possess to persons who will distribute
additional child pornography to them, thereby stimulating
supply in the interstate market in child pornography.
(iii) Much of the child pornography that supplies the
interstate market in child pornography is produced entirely
within the boundaries of one state, is not traceable, and
enters the interstate market surreptitiously. This child
pornography supports demand in the interstate market in child
pornography and is essential to its existence.
(E) Prohibiting the intrastate production, transportation,
distribution, receipt, advertising, and possession of child
pornography, as well as the intrastate transfer of custody of
children for the production of child pornography, will cause
some persons engaged in such intrastate activities to cease
all such activities, thereby reducing both supply and demand
in the interstate market for child pornography.
(F) Federal control of the intrastate incidents of the
production, transportation, distribution, receipt,
advertising, and possession of child pornography, as well as
the intrastate transfer of children for the production of
child pornography, is essential to the effective control of
the interstate market in child pornography.
(2) The importance of protecting children from repeat
exploitation in child pornography:
(A) The vast majority of child pornography prosecutions
today involve images contained on computer hard drives,
computer disks, and related media.
(B) Child pornography is not entitled to protection under
the First Amendment and thus may be prohibited.
(C) The government has a compelling state interest in
protecting children from those who sexually exploit them, and
this interest extends to stamping out the vice of child
pornography at all levels in the distribution chain.
(D) Every instance of viewing images of child pornography
represents a renewed violation of the privacy of the victims
and a repetition of their abuse.
(E) Child pornography constitutes prima facie contraband,
and as such should not be distributed to, or copied by, child
pornography defendants or their attorneys.
(F) It is imperative to prohibit the reproduction of child
pornography in criminal cases so as to avoid repeated
violation and abuse of victims, so long as the government
makes reasonable accommodations for the inspection, viewing,
and examination of such material for the purposes of mounting
a criminal defense.
SEC. 602. STRENGTHENING SECTION 2257 TO ENSURE THAT CHILDREN
ARE NOT EXPLOITED IN THE PRODUCTION OF
PORNOGRAPHY.
Section 2257(h) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``subparagraphs (A)
through (D)'' and inserting ``subparagraph (A)''; and
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``which does not
involve'' and all that follows through ``depicted'' and
inserting ``with respect to which the Attorney General
determines the record keeping requirements of this section
are not needed to carry out the purposes of this chapter''.
SEC. 603. ADDITIONAL RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) New Requirement.--
(1) In general.--Title 18, United States Code, is amended
by inserting after section 2257 the following:
``Sec. 2257A. Recordkeeping requirements for simulated sexual
conduct
``(a) Whoever produces any book, magazine, periodical,
film, videotape, or other matter which--
``(1) contains a visual depiction of simulated sexually
explicit conduct (except conduct described in section
2256(2)(A)(v)), created after the date of the enactment of
this section; and
``(2) is produced in whole or in part with materials which
have been mailed or shipped
[[Page H669]]
in interstate or foreign commerce, or is shipped or
transported or is intended for shipment or transportation in
interstate or foreign commerce;
shall create and maintain individually identifiable records
pertaining to every performer portrayed in such a visual
depiction.
``(b) Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (h)(2), and (i)
of section 2257 apply to matter and records described in
subsection (a) of this section in the same manner as they
apply to matter and records described in section 2257(a).
``(c) As used in this section, the term `produces' means--
``(1) to film, videotape, photograph; or create a picture,
digital image, or digitally- or computer-manipulated image of
an actual human being, that constitutes a visual depiction of
simulated sexually explicit conduct; or
``(2) to make such a depiction available to another, if the
circumstances in which the depiction is made available are
likely to convey the impression that the depiction is child
pornography.
``(d) This section (other than to the extent subsection (b)
of this section makes section 2257(d) applicable) does not
apply to a person who produces matter described in subsection
(a), and who--
``(1) ascertains, by examination of an identification
document containing such information, the name and birth date
of every performer portrayed in such a visual depiction, and
maintains such information in individually identifiable
records;
``(2) makes such records available to the Attorney General
for inspection at all reasonable times;
``(3) provides to the Attorney General the name, title, and
business address of the individual employed for the purpose
of maintaining such records; and
``(4) certifies compliance with paragraphs (1), (2), and
(3) to the Attorney General on an annual basis, and that the
Attorney General will be promptly notified of any changes in
that name, title, or business address.''.
(2) Effective date of regulations.--The regulations issued
to carry out section 2257A of title 18, United States Code,
shall not become effective until 90 days after the
regulations are published in the Federal Register.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters at the
beginning of chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2257
the following new item:
``2257A. Recordkeeping requirements for simulated sexual conduct''.
SEC. 604. PREVENTION OF DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
USED AS EVIDENCE IN PROSECUTIONS.
Section 3509 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(m) Prohibition on Reproduction of Child Pornography.--
``(1) In any criminal proceeding, any property or material
that constitutes child pornography (as defined by section
2256 of this title) must remain in the care, custody, and
control of either the Government or the court.
``(2)(A) Notwithstanding Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure, a court shall deny, in any criminal
proceeding, any request by the defendant to copy, photograph,
duplicate, or otherwise reproduce any property or material
that constitutes child pornography (as defined by section
2256 of this title), so long as the Government makes the
property or material reasonably available to the defendant.
``(B) For the purposes of subparagraph (A), property or
material shall be deemed to be reasonably available to the
defendant if the Government provides ample opportunity for
inspection, viewing, and examination at a Government facility
of the property or material by the defendant, his or her
attorney, aid any individual the defendant may seek to
qualify to furnish expert testimony at trial.''.
SEC. 605. AUTHORIZING CIVIL AND CRIMINAL ASSET FORFEITURE IN
CHILD EXPLOITATION AND OBSCENITY CASES.
(a) Conforming Forfeiture Procedures for Obscenity
Offenses.--Section 1467 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting a period after ``of
such offense'' and striking all that follows; and
(2) by striking subsections (b) through (n) and inserting
the following:
``(b) The provisions of section 413 of the Controlled
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 853) with the exception of
subsection (d), shall apply to the criminal forfeiture of
property pursuant to subsetion (a).
``(c) Any property subject to forfeituire pursuant to
subsection(a) may be forfeited to the United States in a
civil case in accordance with the procedures set forth in
chapter 46 of this title.''.
(b) Property Subject to Criminal Forfeiture.--Section
2253(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
(A) by inserting ``or who is convicted of an offense under
sections 2252B, 2257, or 2257A of this chapter,'' after
``2260 of this chapter''; and
(B) by striking ``an offense under section 2421, 2422, or
2423 of chapter 117'' and inserting ``an offense under
chapter 109A'';
(2) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``2252A, 2252B, 2257, or
2257A'' after ``2252''; and
(3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``or any property
traceable to such property'' before the period.
(c) Criminal Forfeiture Procedure.--Section 2253 of title
18, United States Code, is amended by striking subsections
(b) through (o) and inserting the following:
``(b) Section 413 of the Controlled Substances Act (21
U.S.C. 853) with the exception of subsection (d), applies to
the criminal forfeiture of property pursuant to subsection
(a).''.
(d) Civil Forfeiture.--Section 2254 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 2254. Civil forfeiture
``Any property subject to forfeiture pursuant to section
2253 may be forfeited to the United States in a civil case in
accordance with the procedures set forth in chapter 46.''.
SEC. 606. PROHIBITING THE PRODUCTION OF OBSCENITY AS WELL AS
TRANSPORTATION, DISTRIBUTION, AND SALE.
(a) Section 1465.--Section 1465 of title 18 of the United
States Code is amended--
(1) by inserting ``PRODUCTION AND'' before
``TRANSPORTATION'' in the heading of the section;
(2) by inserting ``produces with the intent to transport,
distribute, or transmit in interstate or foreign commerce, or
whoever knowingly'' after ``whoever knowingly'' and before
``transports or travels in''; and
(3) by inserting a comma after ``in or affecting such
commerce''.
(b) Section 1466.--Section 1466 of title 18 of the United
States Code is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``producing with intent
to distribute or sell, or'' before ``selling or transferring
obscene matter,'';
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting, ``produces'' before
``sells or transfers or offers to sell or transfer obscene
matter''; and
(3) in subsection (b) by inserting ``production,'' before
``selling or transferring or offering to sell or transfer
such material.''.
SEC. 607. GUARDIANS AD LITEM.
Section 3509(h)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting ``, and provide reasonable compensation
and payment of expenses for,'' before ``a guardian''.
TITLE VII--COURT SECURITY
SEC. 701. JUDICIAL BRANCH SECURITY REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Ensuring Consultation With the Administrative Office of
the United States Courts.--Section 566 of title 28, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(i) The United States Marshals Service shall consult with
the Administrative Office of the United States Courts on a
continuing basis regarding the security requirements for the
judicial branch and inform the Administrative Office of the
measures the Marshals Service intends to take to meet those
requirements.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 604(a) of title 28,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating existing paragraph (24) as paragraph
(25);
(2) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (23); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (23) the following:
``(24) Consult with the United States Marshals Service on a
continuing basis regarding the security requirements for the
Judicial Branch; and''.
SEC. 702. ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS FOR UNITED STATES MARSHALS
SERVICE TO PROTECT THE JUDICIARY.
In addition to any other amounts authorized to be
appropriated for the United States Marshals Service, there
are authorized to be appropriated for the United States
Marshals Service to protect the judiciary, $20,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010 for--
(1) hiring entry-level deputy marshals for providing
judicial security;
(2) hiring senior-level deputy marshals for investigating
threats to the judiciary and providing protective details to
members of the judiciary and Assistant United States
Attorneys; and
(3) for the Office of Protective Intelligence, for hiring
senior-level deputy marshals, hiring program analysts, and
providing secure computer systems.
SEC. 703. PROTECTIONS AGAINST MALICIOUS RECORDING OF
FICTITIOUS LIENS AGAINST FEDERAL JUDGES AND
FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
(a) Offense.--Chapter 73 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1521. Retaliating against a Federal official by false
claim or slander of title
``Whoever, with the intent to harass or intimidate a person
designated in section 1114, files, or attempts or conspires
to file, in any public record or in any private record which
is generally available to the public, any false lien or
encumbrance against the real or personal property of that
person, on account of the performance of official duties by
that person, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned
for not more than 10 years, or both.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The chapter analysis for chapter
73 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following new item:
``1521. Retaliating against a Federal judge or Federal law enforcement
officer by false claim or slander of title.''.
SEC. 704. PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALS PERFORMING CERTAIN
OFFICIAL DUTIES.
(a) Offense.--Chapter 7 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
[[Page H670]]
``Sec. 117. Protection of individuals performing certain
official duties
``(a) Whoever knowingly makes restricted personal
information about a covered official, or a member of the
immediate family of that covered official, publicly
available, with the intent that such restricted personal
information be used to intimidate or facilitate the
commission of a crime of violence (as defined in section 16)
against that covered official, or a member of the immediate
family of that covered official, shall be fined under this
title and imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
``(b) As used in this section--
``(1) the term `restricted personal information' means,
with respect to an individual, the Social Security number,
the home address, home phone number, mobile phone number,
personal email, or home fax number of, and identifiable to,
that individual;
``(2) the term `covered official' means--
``(A) an individual designated in section 1114;
``(B) a public safety officer (as that term is defined in
section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968); or
``(C) a grand or petit juror, witness, or other officer in
or of, any court of the United States, or an officer who may
be serving at any examination or other proceeding before any
United States magistrate judge or other committing
magistrate; and
``(3) the term `immediate family' has the same meaning
given that term in section 115(c)(2).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 7 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``117. Protection of individuals performing certain official duties''.
SEC. 705. REPORT ON SECURITY OF FEDERAL PROSECUTORS.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee
on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a report on the
security of assistant United States attorneys and other
Federal attorneys arising from the prosecution of terrorists,
violent criminal gangs, drug traffickers, gun traffickers,
white supremacists, and those who commit fraud and other
white-collar offenses. The report shall describe each of the
following:
(1) The number and nature of threats and assaults against
attorneys handling those prosecutions and the reporting
requirements and methods.
(2) The security measures that are in place to protect the
attorneys who are handling those prosecutions, including
measures such as threat assessments, response procedures,
availability of security systems and other devices, firearms
licensing (deputations), and other measures designed to
protect the attorneys and their families.
(3) The Department of Justice's firearms deputation
policies, including the number of attorneys deputized and the
time between receipt of threat and completion of the
deputation and training process.
(4) For each measure covered by paragraphs (1) through (3),
when the report or measure was developed and who was
responsible for developing and implementing the report or
measure.
(5) The programs that are made available to the attorneys
for personal security training, including training relating
to limitations on public information disclosure, basic home
security, firearms handling and safety, family safety, mail
handling, counter-surveillance, and self-defense tactics.
(6) The measures that are taken to provide the attorneys
with secure parking facilities, and how priorities for such
facilities are established--
(A) among Federal employees within the facility;
(B) among Department of Justice employees within the
facility; and
(C) among attorneys within the facility.
(7) The frequency such attorneys are called upon to work
beyond standard work hours and the security measures provided
to protect attorneys at such times during travel between
office and available parking facilities.
(8) With respect to attorneys who are licensed under State
laws to carry firearms, the Department of Justice's policy as
to--
(A) carrying the firearm between available parking and
office buildings;
(B) securing the weapon at the office buildings; and
(C) equipment and training provided to facilitate safe
storage at Department of Justice facilities.
(9) The offices in the Department of Justice that are
responsible for ensuring the security of the attorneys, the
organization and staffing of the offices, and the manner in
which the offices coordinate with offices in specific
districts.
(10) The role, if any, that the United States Marshals
Service or any other Department of Justice component plays in
protecting, or providing security services or training for,
the attorneys.
SEC. 706. FLIGHT TO AVOID PROSECUTION FOR KILLING PEACE
OFFICERS.
(a) Flight.--Chapter 49 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1075. Flight to avoid prosecution for killing peace
officers
``Whoever moves or travels in interstate or foreign
commerce with intent to avoid prosecution, or custody or
confinement after conviction, under the laws of the place
from which he flees or under section 1114 or 1123, for a
crime consisting of the killing, an attempted killing, or a
conspiracy to kill, an individual involved in crime and
juvenile delinquency control or reduction, or enforcement of
the laws or for a crime punishable by section 1114 or 1123,
shall be fined under this title and imprisoned, in addition
to any other imprisonment for the underlying offense, for any
term of years not less than 10.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 49 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``1075. Flight to avoid prosecution for killing peace officers''.
SEC. 707. SPECIAL PENALTIES FOR MURDER, KIDNAPPING, AND
RELATED CRIMES AGAINST FEDERAL JUDGES AND
FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
(a) Murder.--Section 1114 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``Whoever''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) If the victim of a murder punishable under this
section is a United States judge (as defined in section 115)
or a Federal law enforcement officer (as defined in 115) the
offender shall be punished by a fine under this title and
imprisonment for any term of years not less than 30, or for
life, or, if death results, may be sentenced to death.''.
(b) Kidnapping.--Section 1201(a) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ``If the
victim of the offense punishable under this subsection is a
United States judge (as defined in section 115) or a Federal
law enforcement officer (as defined in 115) the offender
shall be punished by a fine under this title and imprisonment
for any term of years not less than 30, or for life, or, if
death results, may be sentenced to death.''.
SEC. 708. AUTHORITY OF FEDERAL JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS TO
CARRY FIREARMS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 203 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 3053 the
following:
``Sec. 3054. Authority of Federal judges and prosecutors to
carry firearms
``Any justice of the United States or judge of the United
States (as defined in section 451 of title 28), any judge of
a court created under article I of the United States
Constitution, any bankruptcy judge, any magistrate judge, any
United States attorney, and any other officer or employee of
the Department of Justice whose duties include representing
the United States in a court of law, may carry firearms,
subject to such regulations as the Attorney General shall
prescribe. Such regulations may provide for training and
regular certification in the use of firearms and shall, with
respect to justices, judges, bankruptcy judges, and
magistrate judges, be prescribed after consultation with the
Judicial Conference of the United States.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such
chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 3053 the following:
``3054. Authority of Federal judges and prosecutors to carry
firearms''.
SEC. 709. PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN ASSAULTS.
Section 111 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``8 years'' and inserting ``15 years'' in
subsection (a); and
(2) by striking ``20 years'' and inserting ``30 years'' in
subsection (b).
SEC. 710. DAVID MARCH AND HENRY PRENDES PROTECTION OF
FEDERALLY FUNDED PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS.
(a) Offense.--Chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1123. Killing of federally funded public safety
officers
``(a) Whoever kills, or attempts or conspires to kill, a
federally funded public safety officer while that officer is
engaged in official duties, or on account of the performance
of official duties, or kills a former federally funded public
safety officer on account of the past performance of official
duties, shall be punished by a fine under this title and
imprisonment for any term of years not less than 30, or for
life, or, if death results and the offender is prosecuted as
a principal, may be sentenced to death.
``(b) As used in this section--
``(1) the term `federally funded public safety officer'
means a public safety officer for a public agency (including
a court system, the National Guard of a State to the extent
the personnel of that National Guard are not in Federal
service, and the defense forces of a State authorized by
section 109 of title 32) that receives Federal financial
assistance, of an entity that is a State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, Guam, American
Samoa, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or any
territory or possession of the United States, an Indian
tribe, or a unit of local government of that entity;
``(2) the term `public safety officer' means an individual
serving a public agency in an official capacity, as a
judicial officer, as a law enforcement officer, as a
firefighter, as a chaplain, or as a member of a rescue squad
or ambulance crew;
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``(3) the term `judicial officer' means a judge or other
officer or employee of a court, including prosecutors, court
security, pretrial services officers, court reporters, and
corrections, probation, and parole officers; and
``(4) the term `firefighter' includes an individual serving
as an official recognized or designated member of a legally
organized volunteer fire department and an officially
recognized or designated public employee member of a rescue
squad or ambulance crew; and
``(5) the term `law enforcement officer' means an
individual, with arrest powers, involved in crime and
juvenile delinquency control or reduction, or enforcement of
the laws.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``1123. Killing of federally funded public safety officers''.
SEC. 711. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF OFFENSE AND OF THE
PENALTIES FOR, INFLUENCING OR INJURING OFFICER
OR JUROR GENERALLY.
Section 1503 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) so that subsection (a) reads as follows:
``(a)(1) Whoever--
``(A) corruptly, or by threats of force or force, endeavors
to influence, intimidate, or impede a juror or officer in a
judicial proceeding in the discharge of that juror or
officer's duty;
``(B) injures a juror or an officer in a judicial
proceeding arising out of the performance of official duties
as such juror or officer; or
``(C) corruptly, or by threats of force or force,
obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct,
or impede, the due administration of justice;
or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be punished as
provided in subsection (b).
``(2) As used in this section, the term `juror or officer
in a judicial proceeding' means a grand or petit juror, or
other officer in or of any court of the United States, or an
officer who may be serving at any examination or other
proceeding before any United States magistrate judge or other
committing magistrate.''; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking paragraphs (1) through
(3) and inserting the following:
``(1) in the case of a killing, or an attempt or a
conspiracy to kill, the punishment provided in section 1111,
1112, 1113, and 1117; and
``(2) in any other case, a fine under this title and
imprisonment for not more than 30 years.''.
SEC. 712. MODIFICATION OF TAMPERING WITH A WITNESS, VICTIM,
OR AN INFORMANT OFFENSE.
(a) Changes in Penalties.--Section 1512 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in each of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a),
insert ``or conspires'' after ``attempts'';
(2) so that subparagraph (A) of subsection (a)(3) reads as
follows:
``(A) in the case of a killing, the punishment provided in
sections 1111 and 1112;'';
(3) in subsection (a)(3)--
(A) in the matter following clause (ii) of subparagraph (B)
by striking ``20 years'' and inserting ``30 years''; and
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``10 years'' and
inserting ``20 years'';
(4) in subsection (b), by striking ``ten years'' and
inserting ``30 years''; and
(5) in subsection (d), by striking ``one year'' and
inserting ``20 years''.
SEC. 713. MODIFICATION OF RETALIATION OFFENSE.
Section 1513 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ``or conspires''
after ``attempts'';
(2) in subsection (a)(1)(B)--
(A) by inserting a comma after ``probation''; and
(B) by striking the comma which immediately follows another
comma;
(3) in subsection (a)(2)(B), by striking ``20 years'' and
inserting ``30 years'';
(4) in subsection (b), by striking ``ten years'' and
inserting ``30 years'';
(5) in the first subsection (e), by striking ``10 years''
and inserting ``30 years''; and
(6) by redesignating the second subsection (e) as
subsection (f).
SEC. 714. INCLUSION OF INTIMIDATION AND RETALIATION AGAINST
WITNESSES IN STATE PROSECUTIONS AS BASIS FOR
FEDERAL PROSECUTION.
Section 1952 of title 18, United States Code, is amended in
subsection (b)(2), by inserting ``intimidation of, or
retaliation against, a witness, victim, juror, or
informant,'' after ``extortion, bribery,''.
SEC. 715. CLARIFICATION OF VENUE FOR RETALIATION AGAINST A
WITNESS.
Section 1513 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(g) A prosecution under this section may be brought in
the district in which the official proceeding (whether or not
pending, about to be instituted or completed) was intended to
be affected or was completed, or in which the conduct
constituting the alleged offense occurred.''.
SEC. 716. PROHIBITION OF POSSESSION OF DANGEROUS WEAPONS IN
FEDERAL COURT FACILITIES.
Section 930(e)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting ``or other dangerous weapon'' after
``firearm''.
SEC. 717. GENERAL MODIFICATIONS OF FEDERAL MURDER CRIME AND
RELATED CRIMES.
(a) Murder Amendments.--Section 1111 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended in subsection (b) by inserting ``not
less than 30'' after ``any term of years''.
(b) Manslaughter Amendments.--Section 1112(b) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``ten years'' and inserting ``20 years'';
and
(2) by striking ``six years'' and inserting ``10 years''.
SEC. 718. WITNESS PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM.
Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
of 1968 is amended by inserting after part BB (42 U.S.C.
3797j et seq.) the following new part:
``PART CC--WITNESS PROTECTION GRANTS
``SEC. 2811. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
``(a) In General.--From amounts made available to carry out
this part, the Attorney General may make grants to States,
units of local government, and Indian tribes to create and
expand witness protection programs in order to prevent
threats, intimidation, and retaliation against victims of,
and witnesses to, crimes.
``(b) Uses of Funds.--Grants awarded under this part shall
be--
``(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of local
government, or Indian tribe; and
``(2) used for the creation and expansion of witness
protection programs in the jurisdiction of the grantee.
``(c) Preferential Consideration.--In awarding grants under
this part, the Attorney General may give preferential
consideration, if feasible, to an application from a
jurisdiction that--
``(1) has the greatest need for witness and victim
protection programs;
``(2) has a serious violent crime problem in the
jurisdiction;
``(3) has had, or is likely to have, instances of threats,
intimidation, and retaliation against victims of, and
witnesses to, crimes; and
``(4) shares an international border and faces a
demonstrable threat from cross border crime and violence.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010.''.
SEC. 719. FUNDING FOR STATE COURTS TO ASSESS AND ENHANCE
COURT SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General, through the Office
of Justice Programs, shall make grants under this section to
the highest State courts in States participating in the
program, for the purpose of enabling such courts--
(1) to conduct assessments focused on the essential
elements for effective courtroom safety and security
planning; and
(2) to implement changes deemed necessary as a result of
the assessments.
(b) Essential Elements.--As used in subsection (a)(1), the
essential elements include, but are not limited to--
(1) operational security and standard operating procedures;
(2) facility security planning and self-audit surveys of
court facilities;
(3) emergency preparedness and response and continuity of
operations;
(4) disaster recovery and the essential elements of a plan;
(5) threat assessment;
(6) incident reporting;
(7) security equipment;
(8) developing resources and building partnerships; and
(9) new courthouse design.
(c) Applications.--To be eligible for a grant under this
section, a highest State court shall submit to the Attorney
General an application at such time, in such form, and
including such information and assurances as the Attorney
General shall require.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010.
SEC. 720. GRANTS TO STATES FOR THREAT ASSESSMENT DATABASES.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General, through the Office
of Justice Programs, shall make grants under this section to
the highest State courts in States participating in the
program, for the purpose of enabling such courts to establish
and maintain a threat assessment database described in
subsection (b).
(b) Database.--For purposes of subsection (a), a threat
assessment database is a database through which a State can--
(1) analyze trends and patterns in domestic terrorism and
crime;
(2) project the probabilities that specific acts of
domestic terrorism or crime will occur; and
(3) develop measures and procedures that can effectively
reduce the probabilities that those acts will occur.
(c) Core Elements.--The Attorney General shall define a
core set of data elements to be used by each database funded
by this section so that the information in the database can
be effectively shared with other States and with the
Department of Justice.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to
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carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for each
of fiscal years 2006 through 2009.
SEC. 721. GRANTS TO STATES TO PROTECT WITNESSES AND VICTIMS
OF CRIMES.
(a) In General.--Section 31702 of the Violent Crime Control
and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13862) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) to create and expand witness and victim protection
programs to prevent threats, intimidation, and retaliation
against victims of, and witnesses to, violent crimes.''.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 31707 of the
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42
U.S.C. 13867) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 31707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for
each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010 to carry out this
subtitle.''.
SEC. 722. GRANTS FOR YOUNG WITNESS ASSISTANCE.
(a) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
(2) Juvenile.--The term ``juvenile'' means an individual
who is 17 years of age or younger.
(3) Young adult.--The term ``young adult'' means an
individual who is between the ages of 18 and 21.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and
the Northern Mariana Islands.
(b) Program Authorization.--The Director may make grants to
State and local prosecutors and law enforcement agencies in
support of juvenile and young adult witness assistance
programs, including State and local prosecutors and law
enforcement agencies that have existing juvenile and adult
witness assistance programs.
(c) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, State and local prosecutors and law enforcement
officials shall--
(1) submit an application to the Director in such form and
containing such information as the Director may reasonably
require; and
(2) give assurances that each applicant has developed, or
is in the process of developing, a witness assistance program
that specifically targets the unique needs of juvenile and
young adult witnesses and their families.
(d) Use of Funds.--Grants made available under this section
may be used--
(1) to assess the needs of juvenile and young adult
witnesses;
(2) to develop appropriate program goals and objectives;
and
(3) to develop and administer a variety of witness
assistance services, which includes--
(A) counseling services to young witnesses dealing with
trauma associated in witnessing a violent crime;
(B) pre- and post-trial assistance for the youth and their
family;
(C) providing education services if the child is removed
from or changes their school for safety concerns;
(D) support for young witnesses who are trying to leave a
criminal gang and information to prevent initial gang
recruitment.
(E) protective services for young witnesses and their
families when a serious threat of harm from the perpetrators
or their associates is made; and
(F) community outreach and school-based initiatives that
stimulate and maintain public awareness and support.
(e) Reports.--
(1) Report.--State and local prosecutors and law
enforcement agencies that receive funds under this section
shall submit to the Director a report not later than May 1st
of each year in which grants are made available under this
section. Reports shall describe progress achieved in carrying
out the purpose of this section.
(2) Report to congress.--The Director shall submit to
Congress a report by July 1st of each year which contains a
detailed statement regarding grant awards, activities of
grant recipients, a compilation of statistical information
submitted by applicants, and an evaluation of programs
established under this section.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section $3,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 2008.
SEC. 723. STATE AND LOCAL COURT ELIGIBILITY.
(a) Bureau Grants.--Section 302(c)(1) of title I of the
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.
3732(c)(1)) is amended by inserting ``State and local courts,
local law enforcement,'' after ``contracts with''.
(b) State and Local Governments to Consider Courts.--The
Attorney General may require, as appropriate, that whenever a
State or unit of local government or Indian tribe applies for
a grant from the Department of Justice, the State, unit, or
tribe demonstrate that, in developing the application and
distributing funds, the State, unit, or tribe--
(1) considered the needs of the judicial branch of the
State, unit, or tribe, as the case may be;
(2) consulted with the chief judicial officer of the
highest court of the State, unit, or tribe, as the case may
be; and
(3) consulted with the chief law enforcement officer of the
law enforcement agency responsible for the security needs of
the judicial branch of the State, unit, or tribe, as the case
may be.
(c) Armor Vests.--Section 2501 of title I of the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (3796ii) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``State and local
court,'' after ``local,''; and
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting ``State and local
court'' after ``government,''.
(d) Child Abuse Prevention.--Section 105 of the Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106) is amended--
(1) in the section heading, by inserting ``STATE AND LOCAL
COURTS,'' after ``AGENCIES'';
(2) in subsection (a), by inserting ``and State and local
courts'' after ``such agencies or organizations)''; and
(3) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ``and State and
local courts'' after ``organizations''.
TITLE VIII--REDUCTION AND PREVENTION OF GANG VIOLENCE
SEC. 801. REVISION AND EXTENSION OF PENALTIES RELATED TO
CRIMINAL STREET GANG ACTIVITY.
(a) In General.--Chapter 26 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``CHAPTER 26--CRIMINAL STREET GANGS
``Sec.
``521. Criminal street gang prosecutions.
``Sec. 521. Criminal street gang prosecutions
``(a) Street Gang Crime.--Whoever commits, or conspires,
threatens or attempts to commit, a gang crime for the purpose
of furthering the activities of a criminal street gang, or
gaining entrance to or maintaining or increasing position in
such a gang, shall, in addition to being subject to a fine
under this title--
``(1) if the gang crime results in the death of any person,
be sentenced to death or life in prison;
``(2) if the gang crime is kidnapping, aggravated sexual
abuse, or maiming, be imprisoned for life or any term of
years not less than 30;
``(3) if the gang crime is assault resulting in serious
bodily injury (as defined in section 1365), be imprisoned for
life or any term of years not less than 20; and
``(4) in any other case, be imprisoned for life or for any
term of years not less than 10.
``(b) Forfeiture.--
``(1) In general.--The court, in imposing sentence on any
person convicted of a violation of this section, shall order,
in addition to any other sentence imposed and irrespective of
any provision of State law, that such person shall forfeit to
the United States such person's interest in--
``(A) any property used, or intended to be used, in any
manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission
of, the violation; and
``(B) any property constituting, or derived from, any
proceeds the person obtained, directly or indirectly, as a
result of the violation.
``(2) Application of controlled substances act.--
Subsections (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l),
(m), (n), (o), and (p) of section 413 of the Controlled
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 853) shall apply to a forfeiture
under this section as though it were a forfeiture under that
section.
``(c) Definitions.--The following definitions apply in this
section:
``(1) Criminal street gang.--The term `criminal street
gang' means a formal or informal group or association of 3 or
more individuals, who commit 2 or more gang crimes (one of
which is a crime of violence), in 2 or more separate criminal
episodes, in relation to the group or association, if any of
the activities of the criminal street gang affects interstate
or foreign commerce.
``(2) Gang crime.--The term `gang crime' means conduct
constituting any Federal or State crime, punishable by
imprisonment for more than one year, in any of the following
categories:
``(A) A crime of violence (other than a crime of violence
against the property of another).
``(B) A crime involving obstruction of justice, tampering
with or retaliating against a witness, victim, or informant,
or burglary.
``(C) A crime involving the manufacturing, importing,
distributing, possessing with intent to distribute, or
otherwise dealing in a controlled substance or listed
chemical (as those terms are defined in section 102 of the
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)).
``(D) Any conduct punishable under section 844 (relating to
explosive materials), subsection (a)(1), (d), (g)(1) (where
the underlying conviction is a violent felony (as defined in
section 924(e)(2)(B) of this title) or is a serious drug
offense (as defined in section 924(e)(2)(A))), (g)(2),
(g)(3), (g)(4), (g)(5), (g)(8), (g)(9), (i), (j), (k), (n),
(o), (p), (q), (u), or (x) of section 922 (relating to
unlawful acts), or subsection (b), (c), (g), (h), (k), (l),
(m), or (n) of section 924 (relating to penalties), section
930 (relating to possession of firearms and dangerous weapons
in Federal facilities), section 931 (relating to purchase,
ownership, or possession of body armor by violent felons),
sections 1028 and 1029 (relating to fraud and related
activity in connection with identification documents or
access devices), section 1952 (relating to interstate and
foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering
enterprises), section 1956 (relating to
[[Page H673]]
the laundering of monetary instruments), section 1957
(relating to engaging in monetary transactions in property
derived from specified unlawful activity), or sections 2312
through 2315 (relating to interstate transportation of stolen
motor vehicles or stolen property).
``(E) Any conduct punishable under section 274 (relating to
bringing in and harboring certain aliens), section 277
(relating to aiding or assisting certain aliens to enter the
United States), or section 278 (relating to importation of
alien for immoral purpose) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act.
``(3) Aggravated sexual abuse.--The term `aggravated sexual
abuse' means an offense that, if committed in the special
maritime and territorial jurisdiction would be an offense
under section 2241(a).
``(4) State.--The term `State' means each of the several
States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and
any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United
States.''.
(b) Amendment Relating to Priority of Forfeiture Over
Orders for Restitution.--Section 3663(c)(4) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by striking ``chapter 46 or
chapter 96 of this title'' and inserting ``section 521, under
chapter 46 or 96,''.
(c) Money Laundering.--Section 1956(c)(7)(D) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by inserting ``, section 521
(relating to criminal street gang prosecutions)'' before ``,
section 541''.
SEC. 802. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN
TRAVEL OR TRANSPORTATION IN AID OF
RACKETEERING.
Section 1952 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``perform'' and all that
follows through the end of the subsection and inserting
``perform an act described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3), or
conspires to do so, shall be punished as provided in
subsection (d).''; and
(2) by adding at the end following:
``(d) The punishment for an offense under subsection (a)
is--
``(1) in the case of a violation of paragraph (1) or (3), a
fine under this title and imprisonment for not more than 20
years; and
``(2) in the case of a violation of paragraph (2), a fine
under this title and imprisonment for any term of years or
for life, but if death results the offender may be sentenced
to death.''.
SEC. 803. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO VIOLENT CRIME.
(a) Carjacking.--Section 2119 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``, with the intent to cause death or
serious bodily harm'' in the matter preceding paragraph (1);
(2) by inserting ``or conspires'' after ``attempts'' in the
matter preceding paragraph (1);
(3) by striking ``15'' and inserting ``20'' in paragraph
(1); and
(4) by striking ``or imprisoned not more than 25 years, or
both'' and inserting ``and imprisoned for any term of years
or for life'' in paragraph (2).
(b) Clarification of Illegal Gun Transfers to Commit Drug
Trafficking Crime or Crimes of Violence.--Section 924(h) of
title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(h) Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign
commerce, knowingly transfers a firearm, knowing or intending
that the firearm will be used to commit, or possessed in
furtherance of, a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime
(as defined in subsection (c)(2)), shall be fined under this
title and imprisoned not more than 20 years.''.
(c) Amendment of Special Sentencing Provision Relating to
Limitations on Criminal Association.--Section 3582(d) of
title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting ``section 521 (criminal street gang
prosecutions), in'' after ``felony set forth in'';
(2) by striking ``specified person, other than his
attorney, upon'' and inserting ``specified person upon''; and
(3) by inserting ``a criminal street gang or'' before ``an
illegal enterprise''.
(d) Conspiracy Penalty.--Section 371 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by striking ``five'' and inserting
``20''.
SEC. 804. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR USE OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE
FACILITIES IN THE COMMISSION OF MURDER-FOR-HIRE
AND OTHER FELONY CRIMES OF VIOLENCE.
(a) In General.--Section 1958 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) by striking the section heading and inserting the
following:
``Sec. 1958. Use of interstate commerce facilities in the
commission of murder-for-hire and other felony crimes of
violence'';
(2) in subsection (a), by inserting ``or other crime of
violence, punishable by imprisonment for more than one
year,'' after ``intent that a murder''; and
(3) in subsection (a), by striking ``shall be fined'' the
first place it appears and all that follows through the end
of such subsection and inserting the following:
``shall, in addition to being subject to a fine under this
title--
``(1) if the crime of violence or conspiracy results in the
death of any person, be sentenced to death or life in prison;
``(2) if the crime of violence is kidnapping, aggravated
sexual abuse (as defined in section 521), or maiming, or a
conspiracy to commit such a crime of violence, be imprisoned
any term of years or for life;
``(3) if the crime of violence is an assault, or a
conspiracy to assault, that results in serious bodily injury
(as defined in section 1365), be imprisoned not more than 30
years; and
``(4) in any other case, be imprisoned not more than 20
years.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The item relating to section 1958
in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 95 of
title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``1958. Use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of
murder-for-hire and other felony crimes of violence.''.
SEC. 805. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR VIOLENT CRIMES IN AID OF
RACKETEERING ACTIVITY.
(a) Offense.--Section 1959(a) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(a) Whoever commits, or conspires, threatens, or attempts
to commit, a crime of violence, as consideration for the
receipt of, or as consideration for a promise or agreement to
pay, anything of pecuniary value from an enterprise engaged
in racketeering activity, or for the purpose of furthering
the activities of an enterprise engaged in racketeering
activity, or for the purpose of gaining entrance to or
maintaining or increasing position in, such an enterprise,
shall, unless the death penalty is otherwise imposed, in
addition and consecutive to the punishment provided for any
other violation of this chapter and in addition to being
subject to a fine under this title--
``(1) if the crime of violence results in the death of any
person, be sentenced to death or life in prison;
``(2) if the crime of violence is kidnapping, aggravated
sexual abuse (as defined in section 521), or maiming, be
imprisoned for any term of years or for life;
``(3) if the crime of violence is assault resulting in
serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365), be
imprisoned not more than 30 years; and
``(4) in any other case, be imprisoned not more than 20
years.''.
(b) Venue.--Section 1959 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(c) A prosecution for a violation of this section may be
brought in--
``(1) the judicial district in which the crime of violence
occurred; or
``(2) any judicial district in which racketeering activity
of the enterprise occurred.''.
SEC. 806. MURDER AND OTHER VIOLENT CRIMES COMMITTED DURING
AND IN RELATION TO A DRUG TRAFFICKING CRIME.
(a) In General.--Part D of the Controlled Substances Act
(21 U.S.C. 841 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``Murder and other violent crimes committed during and in relation to a
drug trafficking crime
``Sec. 424. (a) In General.--Whoever commits, or conspires,
or attempts to commit, a crime of violence during and in
relation to a drug trafficking crime, shall, unless the death
penalty is otherwise imposed, in addition and consecutive to
the punishment provided for the drug trafficking crime and in
addition to being subject to a fine under this title--
``(1) if the crime of violence results in the death of any
person, be sentenced to death or life in prison;
``(2) if the crime of violence is kidnapping, aggravated
sexual abuse (as defined in section 521), or maiming, be
imprisoned for life or any term of years not less than 30;
``(3) if the crime of violence is assault resulting in
serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365), be
imprisoned for life or any term of years not less than 20;
and
``(4) in any other case, be imprisoned for life or for any
term of years not less than 10.
``(b) Venue.--A prosecution for a violation of this section
may be brought in--
``(1) the judicial district in which the murder or other
crime of violence occurred; or
``(2) any judicial district in which the drug trafficking
crime may be prosecuted.
``(c) Definitions.--As used in this section--
``(1) the term `crime of violence' has the meaning given
that term in section 16 of title 18, United States Code; and
``(2) the term `drug trafficking crime' has the meaning
given that term in section 924(c)(2) of title 18, United
States Code.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
423 the following:
``424. Murder and other violent crimes committed during and in relation
to a drug trafficking crime''.
SEC. 807. MULTIPLE INTERSTATE MURDER.
(a) Offense.--Chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1123. Use of interstate commerce facilities in the
commission of multiple murder
``(a) In General.--Whoever travels in or causes another
(including the intended victim) to travel in interstate or
foreign commerce, or uses or causes another (including the
intended victim) to use the mail or any facility of
interstate or foreign commerce, or who conspires or attempts
to do so, with intent that 2 or more intentional homicides be
committed in violation of the laws of any State or the United
States shall, in addition to being subject to a fine under
this title--
``(1) if the offense results in the death of any person, be
sentenced to death or life in prison;
[[Page H674]]
``(2) if the offense results in serious bodily injury (as
defined in section 1365), be imprisoned for any term of
years, or for life; and
``(3) in any other case, be imprisoned not more than 20
years.
``(b) Definition.--The term `State' means each of the
several States of the United States, the District of
Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of
the United States.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``1123. Use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of
multiple murder.''.
SEC. 808. ADDITIONAL RACKETEERING ACTIVITY.
Section 1961(1) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, or would have
been so chargeable if the act or threat had not been
committed in Indian country (as defined in section 1151) or
in any other area of exclusive Federal jurisdiction,'' after
``chargeable under State law''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``section 1123
(relating to interstate murder),'' after ``section 1084
(relating to the transmission of gambling information),''.
SEC. 809. EXPANSION OF REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION AGAINST RELEASE
OF PERSONS CHARGED WITH FIREARMS OFFENSES.
Section 3142 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (e), in the matter following paragraph
(3), by inserting ``an offense under subsection (g)(1) (where
the underlying conviction is a serious drug offense (as
defined in section 924(e)(2)(A)) or a crime of violence),
(g)(2), (g)(4), (g)(5), (g)(8), or (g)(9) of section 922,''
after ``that the person committed'';
(2) in subsection (f)(1)--
(A) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (C); and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) an offense under section 922(g); or''.
(3) in subsection (g), by amending paragraph (1) to read as
follows:
``(1) the nature and circumstances of the offense charged,
including whether the offense is a crime of violence, or
involves a controlled substance, firearm, explosive, or
destructive devise;''.
SEC. 810. VENUE IN CAPITAL CASES.
Section 3235 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to
read as follows:
``Sec. 3235. Venue in capital cases
``(a) The trial for any offense punishable by death shall
be held in the district where the offense was committed or in
any district in which the offense began, continued, or was
completed.
``(b) If the offense, or related conduct, under subsection
(a) involves activities which affect interstate or foreign
commerce, or the importation of an object or person into the
United States, such offense may be prosecuted in any district
in which those activities occurred.''.
SEC. 811. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR VIOLENT CRIME.
(a) In General.--Chapter 213 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3298. Violent crime offenses
``No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any
noncapital felony, crime of violence, including any
racketeering activity or gang crime which involves any crime
of violence, unless the indictment is found or the
information is instituted not later than 15 years after the
date on which the alleged violation occurred or the
continuing offense was completed.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 213 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``3298. Violent crime offenses.''.
SEC. 812. CLARIFICATION TO HEARSAY EXCEPTION FOR FORFEITURE
BY WRONGDOING.
Rule 804(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Evidence is amended
to read as follows:
``(6) Forfeiture by wrongdoing.--A statement offered
against a party who has engaged or acquiesced in wrongdoing,
or who could reasonably foresee such wrongdoing would take
place, if the wrongdoing was intended to, and did, procure
the unavailability of the declarant as a witness.''.
SEC. 813. TRANSFER OF JUVENILES.
The 4th undesignated paragraph of section 5032 of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``A juvenile'' where it appears at the
beginning of the paragraph and inserting ``Except as
otherwise provided in this chapter, a juvenile'';
(2) by striking ``as an adult, except that, with'' and
inserting ``as an adult. With''; and
(3) by striking ``However, a juvenile'' and all that
follows through ``criminal prosecution.'' at the end of the
paragraph and inserting ``The Attorney General may prosecute
as an adult a juvenile who is alleged to have committed an
act after that juvenile's 16th birthday which if committed by
an adult would be a crime of violence that is a felony, an
offense described in subsection (d), (i), (j), (k), (o), (p),
(q), (u), or (x) of section 922 (relating to unlawful acts),
or subsection (b), (c), (g), (h), (k), (l), (m), or (n) of
section 924 (relating to penalties), section 930 (relating to
possession of firearms and dangerous weapons in Federal
facilities), or section 931 (relating to purchase, ownership,
or possession of body armor by violent felons). The decision
whether or not to prosecute a juvenile as an adult under the
immediately preceding sentence is not subject to judicial
review in any court. In a prosecution under that sentence,
the juvenile may be prosecuted and convicted as an adult for
any other offense which is properly joined under the Federal
Rules of Criminal Procedure, and may also be convicted as an
adult of any lesser included offense.''.
SEC. 814. CRIMES OF VIOLENCE AND DRUG CRIMES COMMITTED BY
ILLEGAL ALIENS.
(a) Offenses.--Title 18, United States Code, is amended by
inserting after chapter 51 the following new chapter:
``CHAPTER 52--ILLEGAL ALIENS
``Sec.
``1131. Enhanced penalties for certain crimes committed by illegal
aliens.
``Sec. 1131. Enhanced penalties for certain crimes committed
by illegal aliens
``Whoever, being an alien who is unlawfully present in the
United States, commits, conspires or attempts to commit, a
crime of violence (as defined in section 16) or a drug
trafficking offense (as defined in section 924), shall be
fined under this title and sentenced to not less than 5 years
in prison. If the defendant was previously ordered removed
under the Immigration and Nationality Act on the grounds of
having committed a crime, the defendant shall be sentenced to
not less than 15 years in prison. A sentence of imprisonment
imposed under this section shall run consecutively to any
other sentence of imprisonment imposed for any other
crime.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters at the
beginning of part I of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 51
the following new item:
``52. Illegal aliens............................................1131''.
SEC. 815. LISTING OF IMMIGRATION VIOLATORS IN THE NATIONAL
CRIME INFORMATION CENTER DATABASE.
(a) Provision of Information to the NCIC.--Not later than
180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Under
Secretary for Border and Transportation Security of the
Department of Homeland Security shall provide the National
Crime Information Center of the Department of Justice with
such information as the Director may have on any and all
aliens against whom a final order of removal has been issued,
and any and all aliens who have signed a voluntary departure
agreement. Such information shall be provided to the National
Crime Information Center regardless of whether or not the
alien received notice of a final order of removal and even if
the alien has already been removed.
(b) Inclusion of Information in the NCIC Database.--Section
534(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) acquire, collect, classify, and preserve records of
violations of the immigration laws of the United States,
regardless of whether or not the alien has received notice of
the violation and even if the alien has already been removed;
and''.
SEC. 816. STUDY.
The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security
shall jointly conduct a study on the connection between
illegal immigration and gang membership and activity,
including how many of those arrested nationwide for gang
membership and violence are aliens illegally present in the
United States. The Attorney General and the Secretary shall
report the results of that study to Congress not later than
one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE IX--INCREASED FEDERAL RESOURCES TO PREVENT AT-RISK YOUTH FROM
JOINING ILLEGAL STREET GANGS
SEC. 901. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL PROSECUTORS TO COMBAT
VIOLENT CRIME AND TO PROTECT WITNESSES AND
VICTIMS OF CRIMES.
(a) In General.--Section 31702 of the Violent Crime Control
and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13862), as amended
by section 724 of this Act, is further amended--
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and
inserting a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) to hire additional prosecutors to--
``(A) allow more cases to be prosecuted; and
``(B) reduce backlogs;
``(7) to fund technology, equipment, and training for
prosecutors and law enforcement in order to increase accurate
identification of gang members and violent offenders, and to
maintain databases with such information to facilitate
coordination among law enforcement and prosecutors; and
``(8) to fund technology, equipment, and training for
prosecutors to increase the accurate identification and
successful prosecution of young violent offenders.''.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 31707 of the
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42
U.S.C. 13867) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 31707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for
each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010 to carry out this
subtitle.''.
[[Page H675]]
SEC. 902. REAUTHORIZE THE GANG RESISTANCE EDUCATION AND
TRAINING PROJECTS PROGRAM.
Section 32401(b) of the Violent Crime Control Act of 1994
(42 U.S.C. 13921(b)) is amended by striking paragraphs (1)
through (6) and inserting the following:
``(1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
``(2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2007;
``(3) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008;
``(4) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; and
``(5) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2010.''.
SEC. 903. STATE AND LOCAL REENTRY COURTS.
(a) In General.--Part FF of title I of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797w et
seq.) is amended by inserting at the end the following:
``SEC. 2979. STATE AND LOCAL REENTRY COURTS.
``(a) Grants Authorized.--The Attorney General shall award
grants of not more than $500,000 to--
``(1) State and local courts; or
``(2) State agencies, municipalities, public agencies,
nonprofit organizations, and tribes that have agreements with
courts to take the lead in establishing a re-entry court.
``(b) Use of Funds.--Grant funds awarded under this section
shall be administered in accordance with the guidelines,
regulations, and procedures promulgated by the Attorney
General, and may be used to--
``(1) monitor offenders returning to the community;
``(2) provide returning offenders with--
``(A) drug and alcohol testing and treatment; and
``(B) mental and medical health assessment and services;
``(3) convene community impact panels, victim impact
panels, or victim impact educational classes;
``(4) provide and coordinate the delivery of other
community services to offenders, including--
``(A) housing assistance;
``(B) education;
``(C) employment training;
``(D) conflict resolution skills training;
``(E) batterer intervention programs; and
``(F) other appropriate social services; and
``(5) establish and implement graduated sanctions and
incentives.
``(c) Application.--Each eligible entity desiring a grant
under this section shall, in addition to any other
requirements required by the Attorney General, submit an
application to the Attorney General that--
``(1) describes a long-term strategy and detailed
implementation plan, including how the entity plans to pay
for the program after the Federal funding ends;
``(2) identifies the governmental and community agencies
that will be coordinated by this project;
``(3) certifies that--
``(A) there has been appropriate consultation with all
affected agencies, including existing community corrections
and parole entities; and
``(B) there will be appropriate coordination with all
affected agencies in the implementation of the program; and
``(4) describes the methodology and outcome measures that
will be used in evaluation of the program.
``(d) Matching Requirement.--The Federal share of a grant
received under this section may not exceed 75 percent of the
costs of the project funded under this section unless the
Attorney General--
``(1) waives, wholly or in part, this matching requirement;
and
``(2) publicly delineates the rationale for the waiver.
``(e) Annual Report.--Each grantee under this section shall
submit to the Attorney General, for each fiscal year in which
funds from a grant received under this part is expended, a
report, at such time and in such manner as the Attorney
General may reasonably require, that contains--
``(1) a summary of the activities carried out under the
grant;
``(2) an assessment of whether the activities summarized
under paragraph (1) are meeting the needs identified in the
application submitted under subsection (c); and
``(3) such other information as the Attorney General may
require.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated
$10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2009 to
carry out this section.
``(2) Limitations.--Of the amount made available to carry
out this section in any fiscal year--
``(A) not more than 2 percent may be used by the Attorney
General for salaries and administrative expenses; and
``(B) not more than 5 percent nor less than 2 percent may
be used for technical assistance and training.''.
TITLE X--CRIME PREVENTION
SEC. 1001. CRIME PREVENTION CAMPAIGN GRANT.
Subpart 2 of part E of title I of the Onmibus Crime Control
and Safe Street Act of 1968 is amended by adding at the end
the following new chapter:
``CHAPTER D--GRANTS TO PRIVATE ENTITIES
``SEC. 519. CRIME PREVENTION CAMPAIGN GRANT.
``(a) Grant Authorization.--The Attorney General may
provide a grant to a national private, nonprofit organization
that has expertise in promoting crime prevention through
public outreach and media campaigns in coordination with law
enforcement agencies and other local government officials,
and representatives of community public interest
organizations, including schools and youth-serving
organizations, faith-based, and victims' organizations and
employers.
``(b) Application.--To request a grant under this section,
an organization described in subsection (a) shall submit an
application to the Attorney General in such form and
containing such information as the Attorney General may
require.
``(c) Use of Funds.--An organization that receives a grant
under this section shall--
``(1) create and promote national public communications
campaigns;
``(2) develop and distribute publications and other
educational materials that promote crime prevention;
``(3) design and maintain web sites and related web-based
materials and tools;
``(4) design and deliver training for law enforcement
personnel, community leaders, and other partners in public
safety and hometown security initiatives;
``(5) design and deliver technical assistance to States,
local jurisdictions, and crime prevention practitioners and
associations;
``(6) coordinate a coalition of Federal, national, and
statewide organizations and communities supporting crime
prevention;
``(7) design, deliver, and assess demonstration programs;
``(8) operate McGruff related programs, including McGruff
Club;
``(9) operate the Teens, Crime, and Community Program; and
``(10) evaluate crime prevention programs and trends.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section--
``(1) for fiscal year 2006, $6,000,000;
``(2) for fiscal year 2007, $7,000,000;
``(3) for fiscal year 2008, $8,000,000;
``(4) for fiscal year 2009, $9,000,000; and
``(5) for fiscal year 2010, $10,000,000.''.
SEC. 1002. THE JUSTICE FOR CRIME VICTIMS FAMILY ACT.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Justice for Crime Victims Family Act''.
(b) Study of Measures Needed to Improve Performance of
Homicide Investigators.--Not later than six months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall
submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate a report outlining what measures are needed to improve
the performance of Federal, State, and local criminal
investigators of homicide. The report shall include an
examination of--
(1) the benefits of increasing training and resources for
such investigators, with respect to investigative techniques,
best practices, and forensic services;
(2) the existence of any uniformity among State and local
jurisdictions in the measurement of homicide rates and
clearance of homicide cases;
(3) the coordination in the sharing of information among
Federal, State, and local law enforcement and coroners and
medical examiners; and
(4) the sources of funding that are in existence on the
date of the enactment of this Act for State and local
criminal investigators of homicide.
(c) Improvements Needed for Solving Homicides Involving
Missing Persons and Unidentified Human Remains.--Not later
than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on the Judiciary of the Senate a report to evaluate measures
to improve the ability of Federal, State, and local criminal
investigators of homicide to solve homicides involving
missing persons and unidentified human remains. The report
shall include an examination of--
(1) measures to expand national criminal records databases
with accurate information relating to missing persons and
unidentified human remains;
(2) the collection of DNA samples from potential ``high-
risk'' missing persons;
(3) the benefits of increasing access to national criminal
records databases for medical examiners and coroners;
(4) any improvement in the performance of postmortem
examinations, autopsies, and reporting procedures of
unidentified persons or remains;
(5) any coordination between the National Center for
Missing Children and the National Center for Missing Adults;
(6) website postings (or other uses of the Internet) of
information of identifiable information such as physical
features and characteristics, clothing, and photographs of
missing persons and unidentified human remains; and
(7) any improvement with respect to--
(A) the collection of DNA information for missing persons
and unidentified human remains; and
(B) entering such information into the Combined DNA Index
System of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and national
criminal records databases.
TITLE XI--NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT REGISTRY ACT
SEC. 1101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``National Child Abuse and
Neglect Registry Act''.
SEC. 1102. NATIONAL REGISTRY OF SUBSTANTIATED CASES OF CHILD
ABUSE.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human
Services, in consultation with
[[Page H676]]
the Attorney General, shall create a national registry of
substantiated cases of child abuse or neglect.
(b) Information.--
(1) Collection.--The information in the registry described
in subsection (a) shall be supplied by States and Indian
tribes, or, at the option of a State, by political
subdivisions of such State, to the Secretary of Health and
Human Services.
(2) Type of information.--The registry described in
subsection (a) shall collect in a central electronic registry
information on persons reported to a State, Indian tribe, or
political subdivision of a State as perpetrators of a
substantiated case of child abuse or neglect.
(c) Scope of Information.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Treatment of reports.--The information to be provided
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services under this
title shall relate to substantiated reports of child abuse or
neglect.
(B) Exception.--If a State, Indian tribe, or political
subdivision of a State has an electronic register of cases of
child abuse or neglect equivalent to the registry established
under this title that it maintains pursuant to a requirement
or authorization under any other provision of law, the
information provided to the Secretary of Health and Human
Services under this title shall be coextensive with that in
such register.
(2) Form.--Information provided to the Secretary of Health
and Human Services under this title--
(A) shall be in a standardized electronic form determined
by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; and
(B) shall contain case-specific identifying information
that is limited to the name of the perpetrator and the nature
of the substantiated case of child abuse or neglect, and that
complies with clauses (viii) and (ix) of section 106(b)(2)(A)
of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C.
5106(b)(2)(A)(viii) and (ix)).
(d) Construction.--This title shall not be construed to
require a State, Indian tribe, or political subdivision of a
State to modify--
(1) an equivalent register of cases of child abuse or
neglect that it maintains pursuant to a requirement or
authorization under any other provision of law; or
(2) any other record relating to child abuse or neglect,
regardless of whether the report of abuse or neglect was
substantiated, unsubstantiated, or determined to be
unfounded.
(e) Accessibility.--Information contained in the national
registry shall only be accessible to any Federal, State,
Indian tribe, or local government entity, or any agent of
such entities, that has a need for such information in order
to carry out its responsibilities under law to protect
children from child abuse and neglect.
(f) Dissemination.--The Secretary of Health and Human
Services shall establish standards for the dissemination of
information in the national registry of substantiated cases
of child abuse or neglect. Such standards shall comply with
clauses (viii) and (ix) of section 106(b)(2)(A) of the Child
Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C.
5106(b)(2)(A)(viii) and (ix)).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Conyers) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
General Leave
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4472, currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4472, the Children's
Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act. This legislation contains
bipartisan, comprehensive proposals to better protect our children from
convicted sex offenders, to enhance judicial security, and to combat
violent criminal gangs that terrorize our communities. Last year, the
full House overwhelmingly approved three separate bills tailored to
address these critical issues.
H.R. 3132, the Children's Safety Act of 2005, passed the House on
September 14 of last year by a vote of 371-52. H.R. 1751, the Secure
Access to Justice and Courthouse Protection Act, was approved by the
House on November 9, 2005, by a vote of 375-45, and H.R. 1279, the Gang
Prevention and Deterrence Act, passed the House on May 11, 2005, by a
vote of 279-144. H.R. 4472 incorporates core provisions of each bill
with some modifications and additions.
Last year our Nation was horrified by news of the sexual assault and
kidnapping of Dylan and Shasta Groehne and the brutal murder of their
parents and siblings. These heinous acts occurred after 9-year-old
Jessica Lunsford was abducted, raped and buried alive, and 13-year-old
Sarah Lunde was murdered. All of these terrible crimes were committed
by convicted sex offenders.
While these tragedies received the public attention and outrage they
demanded, sexual predators continue to exploit current loopholes in our
criminal justice system to prey on America's most vulnerable. H.R. 4472
protects America's children by making it much harder for them to do so.
When child sex offenders are brought to justice and serve time for
their offenses, they are often released into unsuspecting communities
to resume their sexual attacks. There are over 550,000 convicted sex
offenders in the country, and it is conservatively estimated that at
least 100,000 of them, 100,000, are lost in the system, meaning that
nonregistered sex offenders are living in our communities, attending
schools and working at locations where they can prey on our children.
The threat to our children grows each day as more unregistered sex
offenders move freely within our midst. This bill reduces these
unconscionable vulnerabilities by strengthening sex offender
notification requirements.
The bill also addresses the problem of violence in and around our
courthouses against judges, prosecutors, witnesses, law enforcement and
other court personnel, as well as their immediate families. According
to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, Federal judges receive
nearly 700 threats a year, and several Federal judges require security
personnel to protect them and their families from violent gangs, drug
organizations and disgruntled litigants. Judges, witnesses, and
courthouse personnel and law enforcement officers must operate without
fear in order to enforce and administer the law without bias.
Finally, the bill includes relevant provisions to address the growing
national threat from violent and vicious gangs in our communities.
According to the last National Youth Gang Survey, it is estimated that
there are now between 750,000 and 850,000 gang members in our country.
Every city in the country with a population of 250,000 or more has
reported gang activity. There are over 25,000 gangs in more than 3,000
jurisdictions in the United States. In recent years gangs have become
organized criminal syndicates with structured associations, many of
which are now international in scope. State and local law enforcement
have sent us a clear message: update and strengthen America's laws to
combat the scourge of violence in our communities.
H.R. 4472 is strongly supported by John Walsh of America's Most
Wanted, the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children, and the
Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and other victims and representatives
of victims organizations, as well as law enforcement agencies around
the country.
These tireless advocates for America's children have provided vital
assistance in crafting this measure, and their calls for justice for
America's children must no longer go unanswered. We must act now to
ensure that the tragedy of perverse and sexual attacks on America's
children is not compounded by the tragedy of congressional inaction to
strengthen our laws to address this national epidemic.
I urge my colleagues to put aside partisan differences and to speak
in a clear and united voice to protect our children, to ensure a safe
judiciary, and to give America's law-abiding citizens the right to live
free from gang violence.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1115
Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume, and I am happy to be here today to join the debate around this
bill. I am hoping that my good friend, the chairman of the committee,
will somewhere in the course of this suspension explain to us why three
bills were mentioned but one that was added by the majority of the
House, H.R. 3132, which deals with hate crimes and is arguably one of
the most notable pieces of civil rights criminal enforcement protection
considered by the Congress, was inexplicably left off. This makes the
process very mysterious to me, because
[[Page H677]]
hate crimes is a very important part of any Child Safety and Violent
Crime Reduction Act that is before us, and I am very disappointed that
somewhere in the night this bill was dropped so that we are now
combining three instead of four bills.
It is a Federal crime to hijack an automobile; it is a Federal crime
to possess cocaine. It ought to be a Federal crime to drag a man to his
death because of his race or to hang a man because of his sexual
orientation. We should, and I hope we will through some parliamentary
mechanism, seize upon the historic opportunity that is before us to
enact legislation that would effectively augment existing Federal law
and demonstrate that this Nation will not tolerate violence directed at
any individual because of their identity. But instead of supporting
this principle, the measure before us takes an opposite direction. I am
really, really sorry about this because it does the House an injustice.
I am also, at the same time, wishing to register notice that an
amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), which
was adopted and would have prevented the sale of a firearm to anyone
convicted of a misdemeanor sex offense, was also dropped. This is very
troubling. Still others will talk about the 43 new mandatory minimum
penalties and over 10 new death penalties that have become eligible by
offenses in this new bill.
So I am hopeful that we can work out some kind of agreement or
acknowledgment about the unusual parliamentary process by which this
matter has been brought to us.
I rise in strong opposition to this legislation and the manner by
which it comes before us today. Introduced just over two months ago,
this legislation, all 164 pages, has managed to completely circumvent
the traditional legislative process.
Without the benefit of a single hearing or committee markup, the
legislation has somehow found its way here to the floor of the House of
Representatives. To make matters worse, it's being considered under
suspension of the rules, leaving with reasonable concerns no
opportunity to offer modest amendments.
Some might suggest that hearings or markups aren't necessary under
these circumstances; since this measure, in large part, is a
combination of three different bills, H.R. 3132; H.R. 1279; and H.R.
1751, which have all been considered by this body in the past. But, I
strongly disagree. This measure differs from those various proposals in
several meaningful ways.
First and foremost, this measure fails to include the hate crimes
amendment that I offered--and which was adopted by a 223-199 vote as
part of H.R. 3132. My hate crimes amendment arguably is one of the most
notable pieces of civil rights criminal enforcement protection
considered by this Congress in the last 30 years.
The FBI has reported a dramatic increase in hate motivated violence
since the September 11th terrorist attacks. While the overall crime
rate has grown by approximately two percent, the number of reported
hate crimes have increased dramatically from 8,063 in 2000 to 9,730 in
2001, a 20.7 percent increase. Racial bias again represented the
largest percentage of bias-motivated incidents, 44.9 percent; followed
by Ethnic/National Origin Bias, 21.6 percent; Religious Bias, 18.8
percent, Sexual Orientation Bias, 14.3 percent; and Disability Bias,
0.4 percent).
It's worth noting that the amendment I offered would not have created
new law. It simply would have amended existing law. Namely, section 245
of title 18, passed in 1968, which allowed Federal prosecution of
attacks on the Freedom Riders during their historical civil rights work
in the South.
The amendment of Section 245 would make it easier for Federal
authorities to prosecute racial, religious, ethnic and gender-based
violence, in the same way that the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996
helped Federal prosecutors combat church arson: by loosening the unduly
rigid jurisdictional requirements under Federal law.
Current law limits Federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to incidents
that occur during the exercise of federally protected activities, such
as voting, and does not permit Federal involvement in a range of cases
involving crimes motivated by bias against the victim's sexual
orientation, gender or disability. This loophole is particularly
significant given the fact that four states have no hate crime laws on
the books, and another 21 states have extremely weak hate crimes laws.
It is a Federal crime to hijack an automobile or to possess cocaine,
and it ought to be a Federal crime to drag a man to death because of
his race or to hang a man because of his sexual orientation. We should
seize upon this historic opportunity to enact legislation that would
effectively augment existing Federal law and demonstrate that this
Nation will not tolerate violence directed at any individual because of
their identity, instead of supporting legislation, such as the measure
before us today, that takes us in the opposite direction.
Second, this measure fails to include an amendment offered by
Mr. Nadler--also adopted by voice-vote--which would have prevented the
sale of a firearm to anyone convicted of a misdemeanor sex offense.
By now, members of this body are painfully aware of the fact that sex
offenders often use firearms to prey upon their unsuspecting victims.
In fact, not long ago Keith Dwayne Lyons, a high-risk sex offender, was
convicted of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
According to published police reports, Mr. Lyons was aided by the use
of a firearm in carrying out his crime. Unfortunately, and
notwithstanding such tragedies, it appears to be the wisdom of a small
minority that the bill before us is not the proper vehicle to address
such matters and prevent them from reoccurring in the future.
Finally, the measure under consideration today includes a complex
system of categories whereby sex offenders are classified based upon
the nature of their offense. They are also routinely forced to verify
the accuracy of their registry information based upon this system.
This new system of registration and registry verification has never
been discussed by members of our committee. While some may certainly
welcome such a system, others most likely will not. In either event, a
change of this magnitude should not be undertaken without adequate
thought, consideration and debate.
Setting aside these issues, I remained deeply concerned by the
legislation's inclusion of at least 43 new mandatory minimum penalties
and over 10 new death penalty eligible offenses. In the past, I've gone
to great lengths to explain my deep opposition to mandatory minimum
sentences and the death penalty, so I won't repeat many of those
arguments here. Except, to say that such penalties are completely
arbitrary, ineffective at reducing crime and a total waste of
taxpayers' money.
Thanks to mandatory minimum sentences, almost 10 percent of all
inmates in state and Federal prisons are serving life sentences, a near
83 percent increase from 1992. In two states alone, New York and
California, almost 20 percent of inmates are serving life sentences.
And, what do we have to show for such statistics? The answer is
simple. A prison system that currently houses more than 2.1 million
Americans and costs an estimated $40 billion a year to run and operate.
In the end, the list of lingering concerns associated with this bill
is quite staggering.
Over 33 scientific researchers, treatment professionals and child
advocates have written in to express their concerns regarding the
bill's overly harsh treatment of juveniles.
Advocates from the immigration community have written in to complain
about the bill's provisions which will likely encourage state and local
law enforcement officials to enforce Federal immigration laws.
And, groups ranging from the Chamber of Commerce to the American
Library Association have expressed serious concerns that the provisions
outlined in title 6 of the bill will create criminal liability for the
producers and distributors of mainstream novels, photographs, Internet
content, movies, and TV shows.
With so many outstanding issues and no opportunity to offer even
modest amendments, it's hard to see how anyone could lend their support
to this measure.
I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``no''.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green).
Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding me this time and for his great leadership on child safety
issues.
There is one provision I wish to speak about in this bill that the
people of Wisconsin are tragically familiar with: the Amy Zyla Act. It
was inspired by the story of Amy Zyla, a young woman from Waukesha,
Wisconsin. Amy is a young lady who has bravely crusaded to protect
other potential victims. She herself was sexually assaulted by a young
offender when she was just 8 years old. Her attacker was found guilty
and was sentenced to a juvenile facility for this heinous act. Yet
because he was a juvenile, his record was sealed. When he turned 18, he
was released into the community, only to reoffend shortly after he got
out.
Law enforcement was not allowed to notify the community that a
convicted, high-risk sex offender was back on the streets, because he
had been a juvenile. As a result, he went on to portray himself as a
youth minister and
[[Page H678]]
preyed upon others. He was given the trust of other parents because
they simply didn't know that he was a convicted sex offender.
These subsequent crimes were absolutely preventable. Under the Amy
Zyla provision of this bill, if a sex crime committed by a juvenile
offender is serious enough that it would qualify reporting under the
sex offender registry had he been an adult, law enforcement has the
authority to notify the community when that sex offender is released.
Madam Speaker, communities, victims, and parents must be able to rely
upon the sex offender registries. This provision, and certainly this
bill, will help us get there.
Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Scott), and no one has worked harder in this area than
he.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding me this time.
Madam Speaker, this is a very difficult bill to try to debate because
it includes a lot of different bills, everything except the hate crimes
bill, which had broad support at least on this side. It includes a
variety of slogans and sound bites, many of which have actually been
shown to increase crime, disrupt orderly, proportionate, and fair
sentencing, it wastes money and violates common sense.
Among these approaches are trying more juveniles as adults, the
mandatory minimums, new death penalties, and habeas corpus
restrictions, which is a process by which dozens of innocent people on
death row have been able to show their innocence and escape the death
penalty because they were innocent of the underlying charges. It also
includes a national sex offender registry that includes misdemeanors
and juveniles in the same kind of registration as the most serious
predatory offenses.
If we are going to be serious about dealing with child sexual abuse,
we ought to face the fact that virtually all of the abusers are either
related to the child or at least known to the child's family. No
studies have shown that these things actually reduce child abuse; and,
in fact, anecdotal evidence would suggest that we might be actually
increasing crime. Because the people who are the subject of these are
unable to get a job, unable to live in any kind of neighborhood, have
nothing to lose, the restrictive covenants now restricting where they
can live, and all of these things may in fact increase crime. But there
are certainly no studies to show that they have reduced by any
measurable amounts the amount of child sexual abuse.
We are treating more juveniles as adults. That thing has been studied
over and over again, and we know that treating more juveniles as adults
will increase the crime rates. In every State, the most heinous crimes
are already subject to juveniles being treated as adults. So if this
passes, we are talking about those who are not now treated as adults
who would be treated as adults under this bill. Those are the marginal
cases.
We know that those marginal cases sent to adult court will not have
education and psychological services and family services available in
the juvenile court. They will either be locked up with adults or just
released on probation. Whatever the adult court judge does will be more
likely to have crime in the future than if the juvenile court can
provide those services.
We know how to reduce juvenile crime. It is the prevention programs.
And unlike many bills, there is actually some money in this bill for
prevention programs. They work. So those provisions are actually
meaningful. We also have reentry programs in here. They work and have
been proven to reduce recidivism. So there are at least some provisions
of the bill that have something to recommend them.
But the mandatory minimums in the bill have been studied. We know
from all the studies that mandatory minimums have been shown to waste
money, discriminate against minorities, and violate common sense. This
bill includes mandatory minimums for juveniles that includes a 20-year
mandatory minimum for a fistfight that results in a serious injury, and
10 years mandatory minimum if there is no serious injury; 10 years
mandatory minimum for a fistfight in a school yard. This bill cannot be
serious.
We have death penalties which have been proven to have no effect on
crime. Innocent people are convicted. We have a habeas corpus provision
that will eliminate the possibility that many of those who are innocent
on death row, and we know there are many of them, will not have the
opportunity to have their cases adjudicated.
We saw in the confirmation hearings for Justice Alito, when he was
asked if an innocent person had a constitutional right against
execution, and he didn't give a straight answer. We need to make sure
people's rights are protected and that habeas corpus provisions are
eliminated from the bill.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Keller).
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time and for his leadership on child safety issues.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Child Safety and
Violent Crime Reduction Act because it is a commonsense way to protect
our school children from pedophiles.
Isn't it a matter of common sense to allow a local school district in
Orlando, Florida to do criminal background checks on coaches, janitors,
and teachers who work with our children, to make sure they are not
convicted pedophiles from Georgia or some other State?
Isn't it common sense to protect young school children in the first
place by keeping these pedophiles locked up with lengthy prison
sentences?
Isn't it common sense that coddling repeated sex offenders with self-
esteem courses and rehabilitation doesn't work, and that locking them
up does work?
Madam Speaker, the best way to protect young children is to keep
child predators locked up in the first place, because someone who has
molested a child will do it again and again and again.
Last year, two young Florida girls, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford and
13-year-old Sarah Lunde, were abducted, raped, and killed. In both
cases the crimes were committed by convicted sex offenders who were out
on probation. This law imposes a mandatory minimum punishment of 30
years for those who commit violent crimes against children, as well as
a punishment of life in prison or a death sentence when that crime
results in a child's death.
It is high time that we crack down on child molesters by implementing
these commonsense reforms, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on
H.R. 4472.
Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), who has worked on a number of issues
connected with the measure presently being debated.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I once again skirt the
rules of the House by taking note of the fact that people not in this
Chamber may be watching us. And I am particularly concerned about
members of the Iraqi National Assembly, the newly elected Parliament
which we are trying to instruct in democracy. They may be observing
this procedure by which this House deals with a number of very
important and controversial issues, some of which I fully support, some
of which I question. But as they watch us deal with this, it is being
dealt with in a manner in which no amendments are allowed, in which
only 40 minutes total of debate are allowed. And it is a bill brought
forward because the committee leadership didn't like what happened when
the House actually voted on it in a democratic manner.
You will remember this bill came before us, many of the elements of
this bill some time ago, and the House, working its will, voted to
include an amendment to the hate crimes section. That appalled many
Members of the majority. In fact, we read in some of the newspapers,
members of the majority of the Republican Study Committee lamented the
fact that the leadership had actually given the House membership a
chance to vote. They said, we can't allow that to happen, we can't
allow democracy to be running rampant on the floor of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
So today we have the antidote to democracy. We have a bill brought
forward that repeats much of what was done before, which adds some
other issues that ought to be debated, many
[[Page H679]]
of which I support, some of which I might like to see amended, and it
prohibits amendments. It is a very important and somewhat controversial
piece. And there can be controversy about better ways to do it or worse
ways to do it, but it is brought up in an absolutely undemocratic
fashion.
So to those members of the Iraqi National Assembly who may happen to
be observing this, I think there is a very important point we need to
make: please don't try this at home.
We are trying to instill others in the world to be democratic. The
President's inaugural address noted that we are going to bring
democracy. Is this what you mean by teaching people to follow
democratic procedures, Madam Speaker?
{time} 1130
The other side brings up a controversial bill, and because it was
amended once, make sure you can bring it back again in an unamendable
form, put in other aspects, and leave virtually no time for debate. We
will have debated this bill under the same rule that we debate naming
of post offices. We will give this bill the same amount of time as we
give post offices, or that major piece of legislation, the only vote we
cast last Wednesday when this House came out overwhelmingly in favor of
Sandra Day O'Connor. That is the bill that we had 40 minutes of debate
on, the same as this.
This is a shameful example of the degradation of the democratic
process that has befallen this House. What happens is what has happened
in the past: things get put in here that cannot be individually
examined, they cannot be debated. Members will feel pressured to vote
for the overall package. Members, and this is the goal, put a lot of
things in here that are very important and very good, many of which I
have voted for in the past, many of which I want to vote for. But
Members have put in a few other things that are very controversial and
do not allow this House to approach looking at things individually and
saying an amendment here, yes or no. And then if Members do not buy the
whole package, then you go after them.
The Republican majority has decided to legislate in the same manner
in which you give a pill to a dog: you take something that the dog
wants and you stick a couple of pills in it and you ram it down its
throat. That is an inappropriate way for this democratic House to
proceed.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
Madam Speaker, this is not giving a pill to a dog. What this
legislation does is it combines three bills that the House already
debated and passed but which got stalled in the other body. What it
does is it takes away the poison pills that have caused the essential
legislation to be stalled in the other body. And it makes some
amendments, some of which have been requested by people on the other
side of the aisle such as getting rid of a certain number of mandatory
minimum penalties.
The purpose of this exercise is to get legislation signed into law
and it is important legislation on protecting children from pedophiles,
protecting Americans from gangs, and protecting judges from kooks who
want to try to do them and their families harm. That is why this
procedure is being used today so that we can make a law.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida
(Ms. Harris).
(Ms. HARRIS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Ms. HARRIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to
support H.R. 4472, the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction
Act.
Unfortunately, there are thousands of reasons why this legislation is
so vitally important. According to the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, the location of between 100,000 and 150,000 of the
500,000 sex offenders currently registered in the United States are
unknown. But the victims are known, and their names are known. And
today, we know we are not powerless.
This bill takes commonsense steps towards ensuring sex offenders are
not free to prey on the most vulnerable members of our society. We
require States to expand the definition of sexual offenders to include
juveniles, alert other States when predators seek refuge in another
State and make community notification proactive, not reactive efforts.
There are many reasons which cause parents across America to lie
awake at night. Our failure to pass this valuable legislation should
not be one of them.
Madam Speaker, sexual predators live in darkness but their victims
live in vibrant colors of all our memories. In pinks and blues. And in
purple.
Prior to her abduction and murder at the hands of a sexual predator
in February of 2004, that was the favorite color of 11-year-old Carlie
Brucia. It still is.
Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 16 seconds to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I just want to point out
that the poison pill the gentleman from Wisconsin was referring to was
an amendment adopted on the floor of this House by a majority of the
House. So the poison pill is the result of a majority of this House.
The problem is the gentleman from Wisconsin has Thomas Jefferson
confused with Lucretia Borgia. When the will of the House works its
will under this regime, and the gentleman from Wisconsin does not like
the outcome, it becomes a poison pill and we go through this whole
procedure just to get rid of it.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Nadler), a distinguished member of the committee.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, this bill manipulates the legislative
process by repackaging legislation that for the most part has already
passed the House, and by taking out of that legislation two amendments
that were passed on the floor of the House and giving us no
opportunity, giving the House majority no opportunity to correct this.
The bill includes three previous bills. On one of them I offered an
amendment to prohibit gun possession by convicted misdemeanor sex
offenders against minors. The amendment was agreed to unanimously and
incorporated in the underlying bill. This is one of the poison pills.
One of the poison pills, in other words, is that apparently the
sponsors of this bill think it is essential to allow people convicted
of misdemeanor sex offenses against minors to possess firearms, so they
can use firearms against minors the next time.
The other amendment, the ranking member offered an amendment to
combat crimes based on race, religion, national origin, disability,
gender and sexual orientation by allowing the Federal Government to
provide resources to local law enforcement to act as a Federal backup
if local authorities do not prosecute these crimes. The amendment
passed 223-199.
Now we are faced with this legislation on a suspension calendar. We
are told that it is on a suspension calendar and it is unamendable
because we have already debated. Yes, but we passed it in different
forms, and they are just taking out the two poison pills.
Who has the right to decide that what the majority of the House voted
is a poison pill and not give this House the right to vote on whether
it agrees with them or not?
If the gentleman brought forth this bill under the regular calendar
and said should we remove these two provisions because we cannot pass
them in the Senate, let the House debate that. Maybe we would decide it
is more important to let the Senate pass this bill and permit
misdemeanor sexual offenders to have firearms than not to pass the
bill. Maybe we would decide that, but that should be decided in a
debate, not because someone behind the scenes decides that the will of
the House can be overturned.
I urge Members to oppose this bill because it does not include these
two provisions, to ban gun possession by those convicted of misdemeanor
sex offenders against minors. We should not go on record today, as a
vote for this legislation would be in favor of gun possession by people
convicted of misdemeanor sex offenses. And it also does
[[Page H680]]
not include the hate crimes amendment that was sponsored by Mr. Conyers
and included by the House by majority vote.
It is wrong to prostitute the procedures of this House to undo the
majority votes on the floor by behind-the-scenes manipulation and then
say this is democratic procedure.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Gillmor) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.
(Mr. GILLMOR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. GILLMOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and rise in strong
support of the bill.
Mr. Speaker, as a father and a grandfather I am often reminded of the
dangers that surround my loved ones. Specifically the growing threat
that sexual predators pose to our Nation's children and their families
represents an area where our criminal justice system has fallen behind
the public need. In order to effectively protect our loved ones, we
must provide the American public with unfettered access to know who
these dangerous criminals are and where they are living. If a picture
is worth a thousand words, than a comprehensive nationwide publicly
accessible database is worth at least that many lives.
I was pleased that Chairman Sensenbrenner included provisions from my
bill, H.R. 95, that would create a national, comprehensive, and
publicly accessible sex offender database into this comprehensive piece
of legislation. Additionally, I feel that it is important to have
consistency not only with a national registry, but also in how
offenders are classified. Currently each State classifies offenders
differently according to the risk that they pose to the community. The
result is inconsistent and unreliable classifications across state
lines. I was pleased that the chairman saw the need to address this
issue, and I appreciate him working with me to include a provision to
study the merits of a national risk-based classification system that
could be integrated into the national sex offender database.
Furthermore, I was delighted at the level of bipartisanship that both
my bill and today's legislation have received and I would like to
personally thank Mr. Pomeroy from North Dakota for his leadership and
support. Also, I would like to extend my gratitude to organizations
such as the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America and the Safe Now
Project for the help and cooperation that they provided throughout this
process.
Mr. Speaker, today we must come together to make certain that our
children grow up in a safe and secure environment and that parents are
unafraid to let their children play in their neighborhood because they
have the information they need to protect them. Knowledge is power, and
today we have an opportunity before us to supply the American public
with the tools necessary to protect themselves, their family, and their
friends against those that would commit these heinous crimes. I urge
all of my colleagues to cast their vote in support of this legislation
and collectively answer the American public's call to provide them with
additional resources to combat these predators before another life is
lost and tragedy befalls another family.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley).
Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of collateral issues being
discussed today, but the fact remains that the will of the House is not
a mandate on the Senate. The Senate was unwilling to accept some
provisions. Let us acknowledge that.
But let us talk about what we are here for today, and that is to
protect the vulnerable children. You have heard the names repeatedly in
this debate. I do not want to read about another one for our failure to
act.
This House did overwhelmingly approve this bill because there are a
lot of good legislative initiatives in this bill to protect our
children. I have said repeatedly on this floor that we protect library
books better than we do our children. We have a better system of
accountability than we do for our children.
This is about the kids that have perished because they were at the
hands of despicable child predators.
Mr. Sensenbrenner has crafted a bill that gets at the heart of this
matter. I want to thank John Walsh, who lost his son Adam, as a
tireless advocate who went and asked Senator Frist to bring this base
bill to the Senate floor, and Senator Frist has agreed to that request,
along with the other parents of the children who have lost their lives.
These brave parents have come to this city to urge Congress to not
let the tragedies that have happened to their families happen to
another child.
I thank Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite, an outstanding advocate who had a
resident in her district who died at the hands of a pedophile. We can
do better.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mike Volkov, Bradley Schreiber and
others who helped craft this important legislation, and I urge passage
of this bill.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, what are we here for, to let the other body off the
hook? Anything they do not like, we have to take out? I do not follow
that reasoning at all.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 seconds to the gentleman from Massachusetts
(Mr. Frank).
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I know some Members here
will not remember it, but there used to be something called a
conference committee, and if we sent the Senate a bill and they did not
like it, they could amend it and send it back. We do not have to do the
bidding of the Senate by taking the tough issue off the table for them.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Scott).
(Mr. SCOTT of Virginia asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks, and include extraneous material.)
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want to refer to a letter that
says, ``For the first time, the statute would implicate a wide array of
legitimate, mainstream businesses that have never been linked in any
way to the sexual exploitation of children.'' It continues, ``In some
instances, the proposed amendments are vague and offer little guidance
as to what is required of those needing to comply, and in others, they
impose requirements that are simply impossible to meet.''
The letter is signed by the Chamber of Commerce, the American Library
Association, the National Association of Broadcasters, the National
Cable and Telecommunications Association, Screen Actors Guild, American
Association of Advertising Agencies, the American Association of Law
Libraries and others.
February 7, 2006.
Hon. Orrin G. Hatch,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Hatch: We are writing to express our
continuing concern with the legislative language contained in
S. 2140, the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation of Children
Act that would significantly expand the scope of Title 18
U.S.C. Sec. 2257. As you know, we strongly support the
objective of increasing the Justice Department's ability to
combat child pornography and exploitation. The members of our
broad coalition are committed to protecting children from
exploitation. That is why we appreciate and acknowledge the
efforts of the sponsors of S. 2140 to address many of the
issues raised by prior attempts to amend Sec. 2257. However,
serious concerns remain.
S. 2140 would significantly expand the types and categories
of conduct that would trigger the requirements of Sec. 2257.
For the first time, the statute would implicate a wide array
of legitimate, mainstream businesses that have never been
linked in any way to the sexual exploitation of children. S.
2140 dramatically expands the class of persons required to
keep records and to label products under Sec. 2257. Many
affected by the proposed expansion are businesses and
individuals that have no actual contact or relationship with
the performers in question. In some instances, the proposed
amendments are vague and offer little guidance as to what is
required of those needing to comply, and in others, they
impose requirements that are simply impossible to meet.
Expansion of Sec. 2257 as envisioned by the proposed
legislation will likely divert even more resources toward
legal challenges to the statute and away from the
legislation's primary objective of prosecuting those who
sexually exploit children.
It is important to note that since Sec. 2257 was passed in
1988, the inspection regime of the law has, to our knowledge,
never been used. Rather than expanding the scope of Sec. 2257
to cover a myriad of lawful, legitimate, Main-street
businesses, we believe effective enforcement of the existing
regime is first necessary. Accordingly, any amendments to the
statute should be narrow and focused on individuals that seek
to harm young people.
Finally, from the outset of this process, we have been
prepared to discuss the serious concerns our coalition has
with the proposals to amend Sec. 2257. However, we are not
involved in the negotiation of the current bill language.
While we remain committed to working with all interested
parties, we do not believe that in its current form, S. 2140
addresses the myriad of legitimate concerns raised by our
coalition.
We applaud you for your continued leadership and dedication
to protecting children
[[Page H681]]
and reiterate our commitment to work with you to address this
serious issue.
Sincerely,
United States Chamber of Commerce; Video Software Dealers
Association; Americans for Tax Reform; American Library
Association; American Conservative Union; National
Association of Broadcasters; National Cable &
Telecommunications Association; Motion Picture
Association of America; Screen Actors Guild; Media
Freedom Project; American Hotel and Lodging
Association; The American Federation of Television and
Radio Artists; Magazine Publishers of America;
Directors Guild of America; Digital Media Association;
Computer & Communications Industry Association;
Association of Research Libraries; The Creative
Coalition; Association of National Advertisers;
Association of American Publishers; American
Association of Advertising Agencies; American
Advertising Federation; American Booksellers Foundation
for Free Expression; Publishers Marketing Association;
Freedom to Read Foundation; American Association of Law
Libraries
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite).
Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong
support of the bill that we have before us, the Children's Safety and
Violent Crime Reduction Act.
February 23 marked the 1-year anniversary of Jessica Lunsford's
death. I knew the family; I knew the grandmother. If Jessica were still
with us, she would have been in the fifth grade. She would be learning
about decimals and fractions and the solar system. Instead, her life
was taken by a sex offender who assaulted and murdered her, and then
buried her in his backyard. That is what this bill is all about; it is
going after those, as someone once described, pond-scum predators.
Congress has responsibility to punish those who perpetrate the worst
and most disgusting crimes against our children. My heartfelt thanks to
the chairman who was gracious enough to work with all of us on these
various bills to protect our children in America today.
Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to wait one day longer for this bill to
become law. On behalf of Jessica Lunsford's family, I urge every Member
of this House to vote in favor of this bill. It is important that we
send a loud and clear message that Congress is serious about protecting
America's children from predators, those same predators who would harm
our children, our grandchildren, and our neighbor's children. That is
what this bill is all about. It is about protecting America's children
and I urge support of the bill.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada
(Mr. Porter) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.
(Mr. PORTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and include my
statement for the Record:
I want to thank the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Mr.
Sensenbrenner, for bringing this bill to the House today. It is an
important bill that will help protect children and our community's
safety.
One section of this package includes H.R. 4894, legislation I
introduced, that will provide our school districts with another tool in
their extraordinary efforts to bring highly qualified staff to our
classrooms and schools.
By providing our school districts with direct access to criminal
information records, we can help ensure timely and complete information
on prospective school employees. This provision will allow local and
state educational agencies to access national criminal information
databases and will ensure that schools have the information they need
when hiring teachers entrusted with our children and our classrooms.
Teachers are unparalleled in the role they play in children's lives.
Most teachers uphold the highest standards of conduct, and they deserve
the trust they have earned in educating our children. However,
particularly in rapidly-growing communities, a lack of good information
may leave schools vulnerable and could endanger our students. This is a
common sense opportunity to give states and local schools the tools
they need to ensure safety in our schools.
This package also includes legislation I introduced, H.R. 4732, The
Sergeant Henry Prendes Memorial Act of 2006. This legislation states
that whoever kills, or attempts to kill or conspires to kill, a
federally funded public safety officer while that officer is engaged in
official duties, shall be imprisoned for no less than 30 years, or
life, or, if death results may be sentenced to death. A `public safety
officer' in this legislation means an individual serving a public
agency in an official capacity, as a judicial officer, law enforcement
officer, firefighter, chaplain, or as a member of a rescue squad or
ambulance crew.
This is a common sense legislative package that will help keep our
children and those who protect our communities safe. I urge my
colleagues to support this bill and, again, applaud the Chairman for
his leadership on the underlying legislation.
Mr. Speaker, insert the following article on Sergeant Prendes into
the Record.
`Our Worst Nightmare': LV Officer Slain in Gunbattle
(By Brian Haynes, Review-Journal)
What was to have been a proud day for the Metropolitan
Police Department on Wednesday ended as one of its darkest.
Fourteen-year police veteran Sgt. Henry Prendes was shot
and killed during a domestic violence call, becoming the
first Las Vegas police officer in 17 years to be slain in the
line of duty.
``I can tell you, for the men and women of the Metropolitan
Police Department this is a very sad day,'' Sheriff Bill
Young said. ``It's our worst nightmare as an agency.''
Prendes, 37, was ambushed as he approached the front door
of a house in southwest Las Vegas. The gunman then held
police at bay by firing more than 50 rounds from a
semiautomatic assault rifle before officers shot and killed
him, Young said.
A second officer was shot in the leg during the gunbattle.
Police identified the gunman as Amir Rashid Crump, 21, an
aspiring Las Vegas rapper who went by the nickname
``Trajik.''
The incident began about 1:20 p.m., just as Young was about
to start an awards ceremony at the Clark County Commission
chambers. Young told the audience of police officers and
their families that he had to leave and explained that an
officer had been shot. He didn't know that Prendes was dead
until he was en route to University Medical Center.
Police had responded to the home at 8336 Feather Duster
Court, near Durango Drive and the Las Vegas Beltway, after
several 911 calls about a man beating a woman with a stick in
the front yard and breaking windows on vehicles and the
house.
Prendes and several officers arrived and found the woman,
who was Crump's girlfriend. Her mother and her brother were
with her. Crump had gone inside the home.
Prendes ``cautiously approached'' the door when he was met
with gunfire, Young said. An officer nearby saw Prendes
``reeling out of the house, saying, `I'm hit,' '' Young said.
Prendes fell on the sidewalk, but other officers could not
reach him because Crump continued firing with his gun, which
was similar to an AK-47, Young said.
Crump fired about 50 rounds and kept the officers pinned
behind cars, walls and whatever cover they could find, he
said. He went upstairs and fired down upon the officers, he
said.
Investigators found several empty ammunition clips at the
scene.
``He was prepared for this,'' Young said. ``He was ready,
waiting and willing to kill a police officer.''
As the gunbattle continued, officers from across the valley
sped toward the area and swarmed the neighborhood. Several
roads were closed as police locked down the scene and
surrounding neighborhood.
Joe Anello, a Manhattan Beach, Calif., resident who was
visiting a relative, watched the incident unfold from a
backyard looking toward Feather Duster Court. He said he
heard a burst of eight to 10 shots, followed by about 15
seconds of silence, then another 15 or 20 gunshots.
Another neighbor, Anthony Johnson, said it sounded like a
gunbattle.
``It sounded like someone was shooting, and then someone
shooting back,'' he said.
Aaron Barnes, who lives on Feather Duster Court, said he
came home from work and saw the police helicopter. He heard
gunfire and looked up the street to see his neighbor, Crump,
firing a gun.
He said his neighbor, a member of the rap group Desert
Mobb, was usually quiet, except for occasional loud music in
the middle of the night.
Despite the barrage of gunfire, police officers tried to
rescue Prendes. A plainclothes officer with the gang unit was
armed with an assault rifle and helped turn the tide.
``His weapon probably saved the day,'' Young said.
That officer was shot in the leg during the rescue attempt.
Police shot and killed Crump outside the front door.
About five or six officers fired their weapons during the
incident. Their names will be withheld until 48 hours after
the incident, which is department policy.
``This could have been a lot worse,'' Young said. ``We are
extremely fortunate that other police officers were not
killed in this incident.''
At UMC, dozens of somber uniformed and plainclothes
officers gathered in front of the Trauma Unit to show their
support for the wounded officer. Police sealed off the Trauma
Unit entrance for hours, allowing only authorized personnel
to use that entrance. Nearly all visitors were told to use a
different hospital entrance.
[[Page H682]]
The last Las Vegas police officer to be shot and killed in
the line of duty was 34-year-old Marc Kahre. He was shot in
October 1988 while responding to a domestic violence call in
east Las Vegas.
Young said domestic violence calls can be the most
dangerous for a police officer, but Las Vegas police officers
handle thousands a year without incident.
``Today, unfortunately, our luck ran out,'' Young said.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons).
Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I want to add my strong voice today in
support of H.R. 4472, the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction
Act of 2005. I also want to thank Chairman Sensenbrenner for his solid
effort in making sure that this House is once again on record in
working to protect our children and our families.
I am pleased that an amendment that I offered to the original
legislation last year, which was adopted with a unanimous vote, is
included once again in today's final bill.
My amendment requires the GAO to study the feasibility of
implementing on a nationwide basis a tough annual driver's license
registration requirement that my home State of Nevada has imposed on
sex offenders.
Just last month, it was reported that there are almost 2,000
convicted sex offenders living in Nevada that are out of compliance
with these registration requirements. Something must be done to fix
this problem. It is nationwide.
This bill takes a huge step forward in protecting the most vulnerable
among us, our children.
{time} 1145
I strongly urge my colleagues to support this critical bill and send
a message to all that preying on our children will not be tolerated
anytime, anywhere.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) 2\3/4\ minutes.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the distinguished gentleman, and I
can't thank you enough for the work you have done in a bipartisan
effort to preserve a very valuable piece of legislation, the hate
crimes legislation that this Congress has gone on record any number of
times to be able to support.
Mr. Speaker, I wish as I listened to my good friends on the other
side of the aisle that we were squarely focusing on protecting our
children. In fact, I support the National Sex Offender Registry that is
in this particular legislation, the sex crimes, that provides, if you
will, a list of the sex offenders all over America. I think that is an
important element. I obviously support the idea of preventing sexual
assault on juveniles in prison and certainly the vetting of foster care
parents that are taking care of our children. But I think the basic
fault of this legislation doesn't lie in the House, it lies in the
majority leader of the Senate refusing to put this particular
legislation on the floor of the Senate and going into conference.
My difficulty, of course, is the various kitchen sink elements that
are included. I may want to see the Federal judges that are included
and protected in this legislation protected, but have we vetted the
question of allowing judges to carry guns in the courtroom? Should we
not provide more resources to the U.S. marshals who are there to
protect both the families of the judges and the people who are in the
courtroom? Are we particularly studied on the issue dealing with
juvenile crime? Time after time after time it has shown that the trying
of a juvenile as an adult does not work. I believe more studied
consideration of these legislative initiatives would represent the work
of a studied body who cares about getting legislation that is going to
withstand judicial scrutiny.
This legislation, which I am still in dilemma as to its merits for
voting on, raises severe questions. Why didn't the gun legislation get
in that eliminates sex offenders from being able to recklessly carry
guns? We want to protect our children. We want to pay tribute to the
legacy and the work of John Walsh and the legacy of his lost child and
the many lost children that we don't want to see happen again. But for
God's sake, can we do legislation that embraces all of us who believe
in the necessity of protecting our children? There is a frustration of
wanting to do what is right and yet having legislation that doesn't
allow the vetting, the amending and the responsible consideration.
This bill that seeks to protect children has very many merits. I
would just beg my colleagues to understand that this process must be
one that can last and survive.
I can assure you that this will still have trouble in the Senate,
because you have left off the hate crimes legislation which was a
bipartisan effort. I ask my colleagues for consideration of this bill
in the context in which I have discussed this legislation.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my Democratic
friend from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).
Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Talk, talk, talk. The time for talking is over. Last week I had the
opportunity to stand with people whose children have been taken from
them, children who were victims of horrific crimes. So that their
children not die in vain, these wonderful people, including Linda
Walker, who is the mother of Drew Sjodin who lost her life in North
Dakota, have focused their energies on trying to help keep other
children safe and to keep them safe by giving families the information
about dangerous, high-risk sexual predators who are living in their
communities.
It is time we move this bill forward so that it might be conferenced
with action the Senate would take on similar legislation. I am not
happy with the Senate's handling of this proposal, not one bit, but I
am not going to let some quest for perfection delay our efforts to make
our families safer any longer. These families want action now, and this
Congress should give it to them. Vote for this bill.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Poe).
Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman for making sure
that our children are safer. The days of child predators playing hide
and seek are over in this country. No longer will they be able to hide
in our communities and seek out our children as their prey.
The national registration in this bill will help protect our children
so that when child molesters leave our penitentiaries and move about
from State to State, we will be able to keep up with them.
As many Members of the House, I am the parent of four children, three
grandchildren and two on the way. I have met with parents who have lost
their children to child predators who left penitentiaries and preyed
against them. Mark Lunsford and Marc Klaas both came to Washington to
talk about the loss of their children to these criminals.
We need to have a response, and the first duty of government, which
is to protect the public and to protect our children, is the greatest
cause that we can be involved in. As a member of the Victims Rights
Caucus that was started with Katherine Harris and Jim Costa, we support
these efforts and applaud this act.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield the balance of our time
to the Congresswoman from Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin, a former member of
the House Judiciary Committee.
Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise not to address the substance of this
bill, but to address a matter that is most unfortunately missing from
this bill. Today we consider H.R. 4472, the Children's Safety and
Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005, under the suspension calendar,
which, of course, means that amendments cannot be offered.
This bill encompasses H.R. 3132, the Children's Safety Act of 2005,
which passed the House in September of 2005. When that bill was
considered on the floor, a hate crimes amendment was offered by the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), and it passed by a strong
bipartisan vote of 223--199. Yet despite that strong bipartisan support
from the Members of this Chamber, the hate crimes provision has been
stripped out of the bill before us today, and there is simply no good
reason for the House to consider H.R. 4472 without hate crimes
language.
One cannot fully address the issues of crime reduction and child
safety without acknowledging the terrorizing impact hate-motivated
violence has in
[[Page H683]]
our society, especially in subjecting groups of individuals to a
debilitating state of fear for their safety and security. Hate crimes
reduction is violent crime reduction, and it is about keeping millions
of Americans, including children, safe from hate-motivated violence.
It is a shame that by introducing an omnibus crime prevention bill
and proceeding under suspension of the rules that the majority
undermines the democratic process by doing an end run around hate crime
prevention. I urge my colleagues to bear these facts in mind as they
consider this legislation.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
Mr. Speaker, I include at this point in the Record a section-by-
section analysis of H.R. 4472.
H.R. 4472--The Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of
2005
Sec. 101. Short Title. Short Title; Table of Contents, Sec.
102. Declaration of Purpose.
Sec. 111. This section sets forth the definitions for Title
I of the Act.
Sec. 112. This section requires each jurisdiction to
maintain a jurisdiction-wide sex offender registry conforming
to the requirements of this title and authorizes the Attorney
General to prescribe guidelines to carry out the purposes of
the title.
Sec. 113. This section requires a sex offender to register,
and maintain current information in each jurisdiction where
the sex offender was convicted, where the sex offender
resides, where the sex offender is employed and where the sex
offender attends school.
Sec. 114. This section specifies, at a minimum, what
information the registry must include.
Sec. 115. This section specifies the duration of the
registration requirement.
Sec. 116. This section requires a sex offender to appear in
person for verification of registration information.
Sec. 117. This section requires a jurisdiction official to
inform the sex offender of the registration requirements.
Sec. 118. This section establishes the Jessica Lunsford
Verification Program which requires State officials to verify
the residence of each registered sex offender.
Sec. 119. This section requires the Attorney General to
maintain a National Sex Offender Registry.
Sec. 120. This section creates the Dru Sjodin National Sex
Offender Public Website.
Sec. 121. This section requires each jurisdiction to make
available to the public through an Internet site certain
information about a sex offender.
Sec. 122. This section requires an appropriate official to
notify, within 5 days of a change in a sex offender's
information certain agencies.
Sec. 123. This section requires an appropriate official
from the State or other jurisdiction to notify the Attorney
General and appropriate State and local law enforcement
agencies to inform them of any failure by a sex offender to
comply with the registry requirements.
Sec. 124. This section provides that law enforcement
agencies, employees of law enforcement agencies, contractors
acting at the direction of law enforcement agencies, and
officials from State and other jurisdictions shall not be
held criminally or civilly liable for carrying out a duty in
good faith.
Sec. 125. This section requires the Attorney General to
develop software and make it available to States and
jurisdictions to establish, maintain, publish and share sex
offender registries.
Sec. 126. If the Attorney General determines that a
jurisdiction does not have a minimally sufficient sex
offender registry program, he is required to the extent
practicable, to carry out the obligations of the registry
program.
Sec. 127. This section requires jurisdictions to comply
with the requirements of this title within 2 years of
enactment.
Sec. 128. This section imposes a ten percent reduction in
Byrne Grant funds to any jurisdiction that fails, as
determined by the Attorney General, substantially to comply
with the requirements of this Act.
Sec. 129. This section authorizes the Sex Offender
Management Assistance Program to fund grants to jurisdictions
to implement the sex offender registry requirements.
Sec. 130. This section authorizes the Attorney General to
create a demonstration project for the electronic monitoring
of registered sex offenders.
Sec. 131. This section authorizes the Attorney General to
award grants to states that substantially implement
electronic monitoring programs for life for certain dangerous
sex offenders and for the period of court supervision for any
other case.
Sec. 132. This section provides NCMEC with access to
Interstate Identification Index data.
Sec. 133. This section provides NCMEC with limited immunity
related to its CyberTipline.
Sec. 134. This section requires that the Bureau of Prisons
make available appropriate treatment to sex offenders who are
in need of and suitable for treatment.
Sec. 135. This section requires the GAO to conduct a study
to determine the feasibility of using driver's license
registration processes as additional registration
requirements for sex offenders.
Sec. 136. This section requires the Attorney General to
provide technical assistance to jurisdictions to assist them
in the identification and location of sex offenders relocated
as a result of a major disaster.
Sec. 137. For the purposes of this Act, the term
``federally recognized Indian tribe'' does not include
within its purview Alaska Native groups or entities. In
1884 when Congress created the first civil government for
Alaska it decided that Alaska Natives should be subject at
all locations in Alaska to the same civil and criminal
jurisdiction as that to which all non-Native residents of
Alaska are subject. Alaska Natives today are subject at
all locations in Alaska, including in communities that are
``Native villages'' for the purposes of the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act, to the criminal statutes of the
Alaska State Legislature and are prosecuted in the Alaska
State courts for violations of those statutes. For that
reason, like all other sex offenders who are physically
present within the State of Alaska, Alaska Native sex
offenders, including offenders who reside in ``Native
villages'', are required by Alaska Statute 12.63.010 et
seq. to register as sex offenders with the Alaska
Departments of Corrections or Public Safety or with an
Alaska municipal police department, as appropriate.
Sec. 138. This section authorizes the Justice Department,
in consultation with the Secretary of State and the
Department of Homeland Security, to establish procedures to
notify relevant jurisdictions about persons entering the
United States who are required to register.
Sec. 139. This section requires the Justice Department to
study risk-based classification systems and report back to
Congress within 18 months of enactment.
Sec. 140. This section requires the Justice Department to
study the effectiveness of restrictions on recidivism rates
for sex offenders and to report back to Congress within 6
months of enactment on this issue.
Sec. 151. This section creates a new federal crime for a
Federal sex offender or offender crosses State lines.
Sec. 152. This section authorizes the Attorney General to
assist in the apprehension of sex offenders who have failed
to comply with applicable registration requirements.
Sec. 153. This section authorizes funding of such sums as
necessary for the Attorney General to provide grants to
States and other jurisdictions to apprehend sex offenders for
failure to comply.
Sec. 154. This section creates an enhanced criminal penalty
for use of a controlled substance against a victim to
facilitate the commission of a sex offense; and a new
criminal offense prohibiting Internet sales of certain
``date-rape'' drugs.
Sec. 155. This section repeals the predecessor sex offender
registry program.
Sec. 156. This section authorizes grants to train and
employ personnel to help investigate and prosecute cases
cleared through use of funds provided for DNA backlog
elimination.
Sec. 157. This section authorizes grants to law enforcement
agencies to help combat sexual abuse of children, including
additional personnel and related staff, computer hardware and
software necessary to investigate such crimes, and
apprehension of sex offenders who violate registry
requirements.
Sec. 158. This section requires the Justice Department to
expand training efforts coordination among participating
agencies to combat on-line solicitation of children by sex
offenders.
Sec. 159. This section amends the probation and supervised
release provisions to mandate revocation when a offender
commits a crime of violence or an offense to facilitate
sexual contact involving a person under 18 years old.
Sec. 161. This section establishes an Office on Sexual
Violence and Crimes Against Children.
Sec. 162. This section provides for Presidential
appointment of a Director of the Office.
Sec. 163. This section states the purpose is to administer
the sex offender registration and notification program;
administer grant programs; and to provide technical
assistance, coordination and support to other governmental
and nongovernmental entities.
Sec. 201. This section amends the DNA Analysis Backlog
Elimination Act to make a correction to ensure collection and
use of DNA profiles from convicted offenders.
Sec. 202. This section directs the Attorney General to give
appropriate consideration to the need for collection and
testing of DNA to stop violent predators against children.
Sec. 203. This section directs the GAO to conduct a study
two years after the publication of the model code on the
extent to which States have implemented.
Sec. 301. This section modifies the existing statute
and adopts new penalties for felony crimes of violence
crimes committed against children.
Sec. 302. This section restricts federal habeas review of
collateral sentencing claims relating to a state conviction.
Sec. 303. This section establishes victim rights
requirements for habeas corpus proceedings.
Sec. 304. This section requires the Attorney General to
study the implementation for a nationwide tracking system for
persons charged or investigated for child abuse.
Sec. 401. This section modifies the criminal penalties for
several existing sexual offenses
[[Page H684]]
against children by amending the current law.
Sec. 402. This section expresses a sense of Congress with
respect to reversal of criminal conviction of Jan P. Helder,
Jr.
Sec. 403. This section authorizes a new grant program for
child sex abuse prevention programs, and authorizes $10
million for fiscal years 2007 to 2011.
Sec. 501. This section amends the Social Security Act to
require each State to complete background checks and abuse
registries relating to any foster parent or adoptive parent
application, before approval of such an application, and
provides access to agencies responsible for foster parent of
adoptive parent placements.
Sec. 502. This section authorizes the Attorney General to
provide fingerprint-based background checks to child welfare
agencies, private and public educational agencies, and
volunteers in order to conduct background checks for
prospective adoption or foster parents, private and public
teachers or school employees.
Sec. 503. This section amends section 2422(a) and (b) of
title 18, United States Code, to increase penalties for
coercion and enticement.
Sec. 504. This section increases mandatory-minimum
penalties for conduct relating to child prostitution ranging
from a mandatory minimum of 10 years to a mandatory minimum
of 30 years depending on the severity of the conduct.
Sec. 505. This section amends several statutes relating to
sexual abuse.
Sec. 506. This section expands the list of mandatory
conditions of probation and supervised release to include
submission by the sex offender under supervision to searches
by law enforcement and probation officers with reasonable
suspicion, and to searches by probation officers in the
lawful discharge of their supervision functions.
Sec. 507. This section expands the federal jurisdiction
nexus for kidnapping comparable to that of many other federal
crimes to include travel by the offender in interstate or
foreign commerce, or use of the mails or other means,
facilities, or instrumentalities of interstate or foreign
commerce in furtherance of the offense.
Sec. 508. This section restricts the scope of the common
law marital privileges by making them inapplicable in a
criminal child abuse case in which the abuser or his or her
spouse invokes a privilege to avoid testifying.
Sec. 509. This section amends 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1153, the
``Major Crimes Act'' for Indian country cases to add felony
child abuse or neglect to the predicate offenses.
Sec. 510. This section authorizes civil commitment of
certain sex offenders who are dangerous to others because of
serious mental illness, abnormality or disorder.
Sec. 511. This section authorizes grants to States to
operate effective civil commitment programs for sexually
dangerous programs.
Sec. 512. This section amends United States Code, to impose
a mandatory-minimum penalties when the offense involved
trafficking of a child.
Sec. 513. This section amends United States Code to
increase maximum penalties for sexual abuse of wards.
Sec. 514. This section authorizes the indictment of a
defendant at any time for a criminal offense for child
abduction and sex offenses.
Sec. 515. This section makes the failure to report child
abuse a Class A misdemeanor rather than a Class B
misdemeanor.
Sec. 601. Findings.
Sec. 602. This section improves the existing record-keeping
regulatory scheme by adding to the types of depictions
covered to include lascivious exhibition of the genitals or
pubic area of any person, and clarifying the definitions
applicable to the inspection regime so that those entities
that produce such materials comply with the record-keeping
requirements.
Sec. 603. This section adopts new record-keeping
obligations on persons who produce materials depicting
simulated sexual conduct.
Sec. 604. This section specifies that depictions of child
pornography discovered by law enforcement must be maintained
within the government's or a court's control at all times.
Sec. 605. This section amends the obscenity forfeiture
provisions to make the procedures for obscenity forfeitures
the same as they are for most other crimes.
Sec. 606. This section criminalizes the production of
obscenity as well as its transportation, distribution, and
sale, so long as the producer has the intent to transport,
distribute, or sell the material in interstate or foreign
commerce.
Sec. 607. This section authorizes compensation of court-
appointed guardians ad litem.
Sec. 701. This section requires that the Director of the
United States Marshals Service consult and coordinate with
the Administrative Office of the United States Courts
regarding the security requirements for the judicial branch.
Sec. 702. This section authorizes $20,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2006 through 2010 for hiring additional
necessary personnel.
Sec. 703. This section would create a new Federal criminal
offense for the filing of fictitious liens against real or
personal property owned by Federal judges or attorneys.
Sec. 704. This section makes it a Federal crime to
knowingly make available otherwise restricted personal
information to be used to intimidate or facilitate the
commission of a crime of violence against covered officials
or family members of covered officials.
Sec. 705. This section requires the Attorney General to
report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on the
security of Assistant United States Attorneys.
Sec. 706. This section makes it a crime punishable by fine
and imprisonment of ten years to flee prosecution for the
murder, or attempted murder, of a peace officer.
Sec. 707. This section raises sentences for those convicted
of murder, or attempted murder, and kidnapping or attempted
kidnapping.
Sec. 708. This section authorizes Federal judges and
prosecutors to carry firearms, subject to regulations
implemented by the Justice Department regarding training and
use.
Sec. 709. This section modifies the existing penalties for
assaults against a federal law enforcement officer.
Sec. 710. This section creates a new criminal offense for
the killing of, attempting to kill or conspiring to kill, any
public safety officer for a public agency that receives
Federal funding.
Sec. 711. This section raises maximum criminal penalties
for violating 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1503 relating to influencing or
injuring jurors or officers of judicial proceedings by
killing, attempting to kill, use force or threatening to kill
or harm an officer or juror.
Sec. 712. This section modifies 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1512 to
increase penalties for killing or attempting to kill a
witness, victim, or informant to obstruct justice.
Sec. 713. This section modifies 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1513 for
killing or attempting to kill a witness, victim, or an
informant in retaliation for their testifying or providing
information to law enforcement by increasing penalties for
causing bodily injury or damaging the person's property or
business or livelihood, or threatening to do so.
Sec. 714. This section amends 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1952 relating
to interstate and foreign travel in aid of racketeering
enterprise by expanding the prohibition against ``unlawful
activity'' to include ``intimidation of, or retaliation
against, a witness, victim, juror, or informant.''
Sec. 715. This section amends section 1513 of title 18 to
clarify proper venue for prosecutions to include the district
in which the official proceeding or conduct occurred.
Sec. 716. This section amends 18 U.S.C. Sec. 930(e)(1) to
prohibit the possession of ``a dangerous weapon'' in a
Federal court facility.
Sec. 717. This section modifies the Federal murder and
manslaughter statutes to include new mandatory minimums.
Sec. 718. This section creates a new grant program for
States, units of local government, and Indian tribes to
create and expand witness protection programs in order to
prevent threats, intimidation and retaliation against victims
of, and witnesses to, crimes.
Sec. 719. This section authorizes grants to State courts to
conduct threat assessments and implement recommended security
changes.
Sec. 720. This section authorizes a new grant program to
provide States with funds to develop threat assessment
databases.
Sec. 721. This section amends 42 U.S.C. Sec. 13862 to
authorize grants to create and expand witness protection
programs to assist witnesses and victims of crime.
Sec. 722. This section authorizes grants for State and
local prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to provide
witnesses assistance programs for young witnesses.
Sec. 723. This section modifies the eligibility
requirements for discretionary grants to allow State court
eligibility.
Sec. 801. This section revises existing section 521 of
title 18, U.S.C., to prohibit gang crimes that are committed
in order to further the activities of a criminal street gang.
Sec. 802. This section expands existing section 1952 of
title 18, U.S.C., to increase penalties and simplifies the
elements of the offense.
Sec. 803. This section amends criminal statutes relating to
definition and penalties for carjacking, illegal gun
transfers to drug traffickers or violent criminals, special
sentencing provisions, and conspiracy to defraud the United
States.
Sec. 804. This section amends existing section 1958 of
title 18, U.S.C., to increase penalties for use of interstate
commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire
and other felony crimes of violence.
Sec. 805. This section amends existing section 1959(a) of
title 18, U.S.C., to increase penalties and expand the
prohibition on include aggravated sexual abuse.
Sec. 806. This section fills a gap in existing federal law
and creates a new criminal offense for violent acts committed
during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Sec. 807. This section creates a new criminal offense for
traveling in or causing another to travel in interstate or
foreign commerce or to use any facility in interstate or
foreign commerce with the intent that 2 or more murders be
committed in violation of the laws of any State or the United
States.
Sec. 808. This section modifies the list of RICO predicates
to clarify applicability of predicate offense which occur on
Indian country or in any other area of exclusive Federal
jurisdiction.
Sec. 809. This section applies the rebuttable presumption
in pre-trial release detention hearings to cases in which a
defendant is charged with firearms offenses after having
previously been convicted of a prior crime of violence or a
serious drug offense.
[[Page H685]]
Sec. 810. This section amends United States Code to clarify
venue in capital cases where murder, or related conduct,
occurred.
Sec. 811. This section extends the statute of limitations
for violent crime cases from 5 years to 15 years after the
offense occurred or the continuing offense was completed.
Sec. 812. This section permits admission of statements of a
murdered witness to be introduced against the defendant who
caused a witness' unavailability and the members of the
conspiracy if such actions were foreseeable to the other
members of the conspiracy.
Sec. 813. This section authorizes the Attorney General to
charge as an adult in federal court a juvenile who is 16
years or older and commits a crime of violence.
Sec. 814. This section amends title 18 to create a new
enhanced criminal penalty when an illegal alien commits a
crime of violence or a drug trafficking offense.
Sec. 815. This section requires the Department of Homeland
Security to provide to the Department of Justice information
about certain immigration violators so that such information
can be included in national criminal history databases.
Sec. 816. This section requires the Attorney General and
the Secretary of Homeland Security to jointly conduct a study
on illegal immigration and gang membership.
Sec. 901. This section authorizes use of Byrne grants to
State and local prosecutors to protect witnesses and victims
of crimes; to fund new technology, equipment and training for
prosecutors and law enforcement in order to increase accurate
identification of gang members and violent offenders, and to
facilitate coordination among law enforcement and
prosecutors.
Sec. 902. This section reauthorizes the Gang Resistance
Education and Training Program.
Sec. 903. This section authorizes the Justice Department to
provide grants to establish offender reentry courts.
Sec. 1001. This section authorizes a new grant program for
the National Crime Prevention Council.
Sec. 1002. This section requires the Justice Department to
conduct a study.
Sec. 1101. Short Title.
Sec. 1102. This section requires the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, with the Justice Department, to create a
national registry of substantiated cases of child abuse and
neglect.
Mr. Speaker, when I was first elected to the Wisconsin legislature in
1968, one of my mentors warned me against making the perfect the enemy
of the good, because if the perfect ends up defeating the good, then
bad will prevail.
What we have heard from the opponents of this motion to suspend the
rules is that the bill is a good one, but it doesn't do enough, and we
ought to add this and this and this and this. But we tried that last
year. We passed the core bills of three separate components of this
bill, and they ended up getting stuck in the other side of the Capitol
Building.
Honestly, our children, our judges, and all Americans can't afford to
wait any longer. The gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy), I
think, summed it up perfectly, that is, that the victims and their
families cannot afford to wait any longer because of parliamentary
objections to this, that and everything else.
Now, let us look at what this bill does. It allows a national
registration of sex offenders so that we can get the over 100,000
convicted sex offenders who slipped through the registration cracks on
the Internet so that people will know if they are in their
neighborhood. If you defeat this bill, that is not going to happen.
This bill also prevents the sale of date-rape drugs over the
Internet. If you defeat this bill, that is not going to happen.
The bill has a number of provisions to protect Federal judges and
their families and courthouse personnel and buildings so that we don't
have the tragedy that happened to Judge Lefkos in Chicago when two
members of her family were murdered. You defeat this bill, our judges
are going to be vulnerable.
Practically every community of over a quarter of a million in this
country has faced the scourge of gangs. There is comprehensive gang law
in this bill that will help our law enforcement get to the ringleaders
of these gangs and to arrest them and throw them into jail. That is
going to make all of us safer. You defeat this bill, and that is not
going to happen.
I want to see a law made, and those who have spoken in support of
this motion to suspend the rules want to see this bill become law as
quickly as possible. We have a commitment from the majority leader on
the other side of the Capitol, if this bill passes today, to schedule
it quickly. In the name of our children and all Americans, vote to
suspend the rules.
House of Representatives,
Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC, March 7,
2006.
Hon. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon,
Chairman, Committee on Education and Workforce, House of
Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman McKeon: I am writing to confirm our mutual
understanding regarding H.R. 4472, the ``Children's Safety
and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005,'' which is scheduled
for consideration on the House floor on Wednesday, March 8,
2006. I agree that Title XI of the manager's amendment
implicates the jurisdiction of the Committee on Education and
Workforce, and appreciate your willingness to forego
consideration in order to facilitate floor consideration of
this legislation. I agree that your decision to waive
consideration of the bill should not be construed to limit
the jurisdiction of the Committee on Education and Workforce
over H.R. 4472 or similar legislation, or otherwise prejudice
your Committee with respect to the appointment of conferees
to this or similar legislation.
Sincerely,
F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, March 7, 2006.
Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.,
Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to confirm our mutual
understanding with respect to the consideration of H.R. 4472,
the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of
2005. Title XI of the manager's amendment to be considered
under the suspension of the rules, contains the CHILDHELP
National Registry Act and is within the jurisdiction of the
Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Given the importance of this legislation and your
willingness to work with me in drafting the final language of
Title XI, I will support the inclusion of this provision in
the manager's amendment without consideration by my
committee. However, I do so only with the understanding that
this procedural route should not be construed to prejudice
the Committee on Education and the Workforce's jurisdictional
interest and prerogatives on these provisions or any other
similar legislation and will not be considered as precedent
for consideration of matters of jurisdictional interest to my
committee in the future. Furthermore, should these or similar
provisions be considered in a conference with the Senate, I
would expect members of the Committee on Education and the
Workforce be appointed to the conference committee on these
provisions.
Finally, I would ask that you include a copy of our
exchange of letters in the Congressional Record during the
consideration of this bill. If you have any questions
regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to call me. I
thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives
Committee on Ways and Means,
Washington, DC, March 7, 2006.
Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, Rayburn House Office
Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Sensenbrenner: I am writing concerning H.R.
4472, the ``Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act
of 2005,'' which is scheduled for floor action on Wednesday,
March 8, 2006.
As you know, the Committee on Ways and Means has
jurisdiction over matters concerning certain child welfare
programs, particularly as they pertain to foster care and
adoption. Section 501 of the bill would require States to
conduct safety checks of would-be foster and adoptive homes
as well as eliminate the ability of States to opt-out of
Federal background check requirements restricting Federal
support for children placed with foster or adoptive parents
with serious criminal histories. Section 502 would require
States to check child abuse registries for potential foster
and adoptive parents. Thus these provisions fall within the
jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. However, in
order to expedite this bill for floor consideration, the
Committee will forgo action. This is being done with the
understanding that it does not in any way prejudice the
Committee with respect to the appointment of conferees or its
jurisdictional prerogatives on this bill or similar
legislation.
I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming
this understanding with respect to H.R. 4472, and would ask
that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be
included in the Congressional Record during floor
consideration.
Best regards,
Bill Thomas,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC, March 7, 2006.
Hon. Bill Thomas,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, House of
Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Thomas:
I am writing to confirm our mutual understanding regarding
H.R. 4472, the ``Children's Safety and Violent Crime
Reduction Act of 2005,'' which is scheduled for consideration
on the House floor on Wednesday, March 8,
[[Page H686]]
2006. I agree that sections 501 and 502 implicate the
jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, and
appreciate your willingness to forego consideration in order
to facilitate floor consideration of this legislation. I
agree that your decision to waive consideration of the bill
should not be construed to limit the jurisdiction of the
Committee on Ways and Means over H.R. 4472 or similar
legislation, or otherwise prejudice your Committee with
respect to the appointment of conferees to this or similar
legislation.
Sincerely,
F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.,
Chairman.
Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4472, the
Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act. Once again, this
Congress is attempting to address very serious and complicated problems
with a law that substitutes the talking points of ``tough on crime''
politicians for the wisdom of judges, prosecutors, treatment
professionals and child advocates. As a father and someone who has
fought for better foster care, education, and health care for children,
I object to this ill-conceived legislation that is as much an attack on
our independent judiciary as it is a bill to protect kids.
Many child advocates themselves oppose this bill because kids in
grade school or junior high will be swept up alongside paroled adults
in sex offender registries. Many caught in registries would be 13 and
14 year olds. In some states, children 10 and under would be
registered.
This bill creates new mandatory minimum sentences, which impose the
judgment of Congress over every case, regardless of the circumstances.
The Judicial Conference of the United States and the U.S. Sentencing
Commission have found that mandatory minimums actually have the
opposite of their intended effect. They ``destroy honesty in sentencing
by encouraging plea bargains.'' They treat dissimilar offenders in a
similar manner, even though there are vast differences in the
seriousness of their conduct and their danger to society. Judges serve
a very important role in criminal justice, and Congress should not
attempt to do their job for them.
Finally, this bill expands the death penalty, which is not a
deterrent, costs more to implement than life imprisonment, and runs the
risk of executing the innocent.
Nobody, especially the parents and victims of sexual abuse who have
contacted me on this issue, should confuse my objections to this bad
policy with indifference to the problem of child sex abuse in this
country. It is a huge problem, affecting millions of American children.
Recent news stories prove that the registry system isn't working well.
I support aspects of this bill, including a strengthened nationwide
registry for pedophiles, with strict requirements for reporting changes
of address and punishments for failing to report. I support
establishing treatment programs for sex offenders in prison, background
checks for foster parents, funding for computer systems to track sex
crimes involving the Internet, and, at last resort, procedures for
committing sexually dangerous persons to secure treatment facilities.
However, I cannot violate my Constitutional duty to protect our
independent judiciary nor can I support extreme, dangerous policies, so
I will vote against this bill. I hope that, working with the Senate, we
can improve this legislation and implement the policies that everyone
agrees are needed without the unintended consequences of the bill in
its current form.
Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following items for inclusion in
the Record regarding the House floor consideration of H.R. 4472 on
March 8, 2006.
March 7, 2006.
Dear Representative Conyers: On behalf of the Judicial
Conference of the United States, the policy-making body of
the federal judiciary, I am writing to convey its views
regarding the provisions contained in H.R. 4472, the
``Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of
2005.''
We would like to emphasize that there are several ways in
which this bill will be helpful to the Judiciary, even though
there are some provisions about which we have concerns or
would wish to modify. In particular, we greatly appreciate
inclusion in this bill of important measures designed to
improve the security of our federal courts. Some of the
impetus for these court security provisions in the bill arose
from the tragic circumstances surrounding the murder of
family members of Judge Joan Lefkow of the United States
District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Her
husband and mother were shot and killed by a disgruntled
litigant.
The current bill contains several provisions that are of
particular interest to the federal courts and that are
supported by the Judicial Conference. One provision of the
bill requires the United States Marshals Service to consult
with the Administrative Office of the United States Courts
regarding the security requirements of the judicial branch.
While this is a positive amendment to current law, we believe
that the United States Marshals Service should be required to
``coordinate'' with the judicial branch.
The bill contains two other provisions that are supported
by the Judicial Conference including one that will help
protect judges from the malicious recording of fictitious
liens and another that extends to federal judges the
authority to carry firearms under regulations prescribed by
the Attorney General in consultation with the Judicial
Conference of the United States. The latter provision says
that, with respect to justices, judges, magistrate judges and
bankruptcy judges, such regulations ``may'' provide for the
training and regular certification in the use of firearms.
The Judicial Conference believes that the training and
certification requirement should be mandatory and that
``shall'' should replace ``may.''
While the bill addresses many important issues of interest
to the Conference, the bill also contains some provisions
about which we are concerned, which we briefly address below.
The bill would amend the habeas corpus procedures set out
in 28 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 2264 and 2254 to bar federal court
review of claims based upon an error in an applicant's
sentence or sentencing that a court determined to be harmless
or not prejudicial, that were not presented in state court,
or that were found by the state court to be procedurally
barred, ``unless a determination that the error is not
structural is contrary to clearly established federal law, as
determined by the Supreme Court.'' This section is similar to
a provision of the Streamlined Procedures Act (H.R. 3035 and
S. 1088, 109th Congress) that was opposed by the Judicial
Conference as described in a September 26, 2005 letter sent
to members of the House Judiciary Committee. The Conference
specifically opposed sections of the Streamlined Procedures
Act that would limit judicial review of procedurally
defaulted claims and harmless errors in federal habeas corpus
petitions filed by state prisoners. Those provisions had the
potential to:
(1) Undermine the traditional role of the federal courts to
hear and decide the merits of claims arising under the
Constitution;
(2) Impede the ability of the federal and state courts to
conduct an orderly review of constitutional claims, with
appropriate deference to state-court proceedings; and
(3) Prevent the federal courts from reaching the merits of
habeas corpus petitions by adding procedural requirements
that may complicate the resolution of these cases and lead to
protracted litigation. . . .
The habeas provision in this bill raises similar concerns
and is opposed by the Judicial Conference.
Another section would make it a federal crime for a person
to knowingly fail to register as required under the Sex
Offender Registration and Notification Act if the person is
either a sex offender based upon a federal conviction or is a
sex offender based on a state conviction who thereafter
travels in interstate or foreign commerce, or enters or
leaves, or resides in, Indian country. Because the
requirement to register under that act would include
convictions in state courts, this has the potential to expand
federal jurisdiction over large numbers of persons whose
conduct would previously have been subject to supervision
solely by the state courts. In addition, as the bill requires
the states to expand systems for supervising all persons
convicted of specified offenses, the expansion of federal
jurisdiction into this area risks duplication of effort and
conflicts between the federal and state systems.
The bill would amend 18 U.S.C. Sec. 5032 to allow a
juvenile who is prosecuted for one of the specified crimes of
violence or firearms offenses to ``be prosecuted and
convicted as an adult for any other offense which is properly
joined under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and
also [to] be convicted as an adult of any lesser included
offense.'' Given that joinder of offenses is liberally
allowed under the Rules, and that the bill further provides
that the determination of the Attorney General to proceed
against a juvenile as an adult is an exercise of unreviewable
prosecutorial discretion, this provision could result in the
federal prosecution of juveniles for myriad offenses if they
are also prosecuted for a felony crime of violence or a
firearms offense.
The bill contains various provisions that expand the
application of mandatory minimum sentences. The Judicial
Conference opposes mandatory minimum sentencing provisions
because they undermine the sentencing guideline regime
Congress established under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984
by preventing the systematic development of guidelines that
reduce unwarranted disparity and provide proportionality and
fairness in punishment. While we recognize the desire to
increase the security of persons associated with the justice
system, we believe that this can be accomplished without
resort to the creation of mandatory minimums.
I appreciate having the opportunity to express the views of
the Judicial Conference on H.R. 4472, the ``Children's Safety
and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005.'' If you have any
questions regarding this legislation please contact Cordia
Strom, Assistant Director, Office of Legislative Affairs.
Sincerely,
Leonidas Ralph Mecham,
Secretary, Judicial Conference
of the United States.
____
December 15, 2005.
Dear Chairman Sensenbrenner and Representative Conyers: On
behalf of the National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (JJDP) Coalition, an alliance of nearly 100
organizations that work in a variety of arenas on behalf of
at-risk youth, we
[[Page H687]]
are writing at this time to express our very deep concerns
about recently introduced H.R. 4472. This ``omnibus'' bill
incorporates several separate bills; two of these bills have
been the focus of strong opposition by this Coalition as
being harmful and detrimental in many ways to the best
interests of youth.
Specifically, the National JJDP Coalition objects to
provisions of Title I, Sex Offender Registration and
Notification Act, and Title VIII, Reduction and Prevention of
Gang Violence.
Title I: Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act
The National JJDP Coalition strongly believes that juvenile
offenders adjudicated delinquent of sex offenses should be
excluded from both the National Sex Offender Registry to be
maintained by the Attorney General and the state-level sex
offender registries required by H.R. 4472. While we
understand that certain Tier I juvenile sex offenders may not
be included on the internet or subject to all of the program
notification requirements, we believe that this potential
remedy does not do nearly enough to differentiate between
juvenile and adult sex offenders and simply cannot safeguard
juveniles in accordance with established principles of
confidentiality. Without the use of careful risk assessments
and judicial review for each juvenile sex offender, youth who
pose no future risk to public safety will have their own
safety jeopardized and their futures inevitably compromised
by their inclusion in the registry. We throw away these youth
at great cost to our own public safety and future interests.
Critically, the increased penalties in Titles III and IV of
H.R. 4472 fail to acknowledge the research on adolescents,
generally, and adolescent sex offenders. In creating policy
around this issue, it is imperative that policymakers rely on
the vast scientific literature distinguishing the behavior of
juveniles and adults.
Research has consistently shown that youth who act out
sexually differ significantly from adult sex offenders.
First, juvenile offenders who act out sexually do not tend to
eroticize aggression, nor are they aroused by child sex
stimuli as adult sex offenders are. Many young people who
exhibit sexual behavior have been sexually abused themselves
and/or exposed to pornography or other sex stimulation by
someone older. As a result of this abuse and victimization,
they need mental health services and support. Mental health
professionals regard this juvenile behavior as much less
dangerous. Indeed, when applying the American Psychiatric
Association diagnostic criteria for pedophilia (abusive
sexual uses of children) to the juvenile arrests included in
the National Incident Based Reporting System, only 8 percent
of these incidents would even be considered as evidence of a
pedophilia disorder.
Furthermore, many of the juveniles who are included on sex
offender registries are done so for behavior that certainly
does not fit the profiles compelling such requirements. For
example, under the Idaho Code, two fifteen year olds engaged
in ``heavy petting'' would be guilty of a felony requiring
them to register on the state's sex offender list.
Regarding recidivism, not only is the re-arrest rate for
youth charged with sexual crimes much lower than that for
adults, but the subsequent arrests of these youth are
primarily for non-sexual offenses. A 2000 study by the Texas
Youth Commission of 72 young offenders who were released from
state correctional facilities for sexual offenses (their
incarceration suggests that judges considered these youth as
posing a greater risk) found a re-arrest rate of 4.2% for a
sexual offense. A 1996 study found similarly low sex offense
recidivism rates in Baltimore (3.3-4.2%), San Francisco
(5.5%) and Lucas County, Ohio (3.2%).
Title VIII: Reduction and Prevention of Gang Violence
The juvenile transfer provisions of Title VIII would result
in the expanded ``transfer'' or ``waiver'' of youth to the
adult criminal system and/or placing an additional number of
youth in adult correctional facilities. Comprehensive
national research on the practice of prosecuting youth in the
adult system has conclusively shown that transferring youth
to the adult criminal justice system does nothing to reduce
crime and actually has the opposite effect. Study after study
has shown that youth transferred to the adult criminal
justice system are more likely to re-offend and to commit
more serious crimes upon release than youth who were charged
with similar offenses and had similar offense histories but
remained in the juvenile justice system.
Moreover, national data shows that, in comparison to youth
held in juvenile facilities, young people incarcerated with
adults are: five times as likely to report being a victim of
rape; twice as likely to be beaten by staff; and 50% more
likely to be assaulted with a weapon.
A recent Justice Department report also found that youth
confined in adult facilities are nearly 8 times more likely
to commit suicide than youth in juvenile facilities.
Further, minority youth will be disproportionately affected
by this policy. Recent studies by the Department of Justice
have shown that more than 7 out of 10 youth admitted to state
prisons across the country were youth of color. Youth of
color sent to adult court are also over-represented in
charges filed, especially for drug offenses, and are more
likely to receive a sentence of incarceration than White
youth even when charged with the same types of offenses.
Moreover, putting the transfer decision in the sole
discretion of a prosecutor, not a judge as the law currently
requires, violates the most basic principles of due process
and fairness.
We urge you to strike the provisions we have described
herein from H.R. 4472 that would place youth on a National
Registry and would also expand the number of youth tried as
adults and remove judicial discretion from the transfer
decision. As advocates for at-risk youth, we are also strong
advocates of community safety. But these provisions will not
increase community or child safety, they will in fact have
the opposite effect. Extensive data and research-based
practice supports the positions of the National JJDP
Coalition on these issues. We urge you to utilize this
evidence in creating policy that will genuinely contribute to
enhanced community safety and lower recidivism as well as
assist and support system-involved youth in getting on the
path to productive adulthood.
We appreciate your consideration of our concerns. If you
have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Morna
Murray at the Children's Defense Fund at 202.662.3577,
mmurray@childrensdefense.org or Elizabeth Gladden Kehoe at
the National Juvenile Defender Center at 202.452.0010, x103,
ekehoe@njdc.info.
Sincerely,
Morna A. Murray,
Children's Defense Fund, Co-chair, National Juvenile
Justice & Delinquency Prevention Coalition;
John Tuell,
Child Welfare League of America, Co-chair, National
Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Coalition.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following items for inclusion
in the Record regarding the House floor consideration of H.R. 4472 on
March 8, 2006.
February 23, 2006.
In New Jersey, the Office of the Public Defender represents
all indigent persons entitled to a court hearing concerning
the Megan's Law tier classification and community
notification proposed for them by the State. Over the past
ten years the Office has served as counsel for 60% of persons
challenging their tier levels in New Jersey--nearly 3000
cases in a state where approximately 5000 such cases have
been adjudicated.
Based upon our long and extensive experience with New
Jersey's system of notification and its registrants, as well
as our contact with renowned experts in the field of sex
offender recidivism, we believe we have a unique perspective
to provide the House with comments concerning H.R. 4472 (the
Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005),
currently pending a vote on the House floor.
Our comments focus on four aspects of the current bill.
First, unlike the Senate bill on the same topic (S. 1086) the
House bill will have a significantly negative impact on many
juveniles, subjecting them to notification in their
neighborhoods and via the Internet for possibly 20 years.
This would inflict undue hardship which, given the low risk
of re-offense juvenile sex offenders pose to the public and
their strong amenability to treatment, is often not justified
by a public safety need.
Second, the notification required by H.R. 4472 will apply
to thousands of persons in each state, requiring notice to
registrants' neighborhoods and around their work and school,
and via the Internet. The proposed notification would include
home addresses and places of employment. Neighborhood
notification is currently reserved only for New Jersey's
approximately 160 high risk offenders, but as proposed under
H.R. 4472 would apply to thousands of registrants. Based on
our firsthand experience this form of notification will
predictably lead to large numbers of offenders becoming
homeless and unemployed.
Because this form of notification will undermine the
ability of many registrants to maintain stable housing,
steady employment and ongoing treatment, it will have a
marked impact on registrants' risk levels and opportunities
to remain offense free, and thus will negatively affect
public safety.
Third, by impacting on registrants' abilities to provide
for their most basic needs, H.R. 4472 will severely impede
the implementation of sex offender monitoring programs like
New Jersey's Community Supervision for Life and Parole for
Life programs, which are designed to prevent future
reoffending by registrants. See N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.3. As
discussed below, due to the form of neighborhood notification
proposed by H.R. 4472 parole officers will be unable to keep
registrants in jobs, maintain their stable home environments
and continue registrants' treatments as those monitoring
programs require. In this way, H.R. 4472 will frustrate New
Jersey's longstanding efforts to monitor sex offenders and
will compromise, not further, community safety.
Fourth,the bill subjects all registrants, including many
juveniles, to the identical
[[Page H688]]
form of Internet and community based notification, without an
individualized risk assessment, despite vast differences
among offenders' risk-of-re-offense levels. By treating
persons with vastly different risk levels identically, H.R.
4472 creates the misimpression that all offenders pose the
same risk. Thus, the bill dilutes the value of notification
and diverts attention from those posing the greatest risk.
1. H.R. Will Inflict Undue Hardship on Juvenile Offenders
Without a Corresponding Benefit to Public Safety.
Sections 111 and 122 of the bill would provide a limited
exception from public notification for juveniles. However,
the bill would require juvenile offenders deemed a tier II to
be subject to 20 years of public notification to communities
and via the Internet. Sec. 111 (6). Some young juveniles may
even unfairly be deemed a tier III since the victim involved
would likely be less than 13 years of age. See Sec. 111 (7).
These tier determinations and the resulting public
notification would occur without any individualized
assessment of whether the juveniles involved posed anything
more than a low risk of re-offense.
Five decades of follow-up studies demonstrate that the vast
majority of juveniles will remain free of sex offense
recidivism. It is consistently found that sex offense
recidivism rates among juveniles are among the lowest of all
such offenders--less than 8% in most treatment follow-up
studies.
Moreover, studies demonstrate that the motivation and
manifestation of sexually inappropriate behaviors of
juveniles are very different than those of adult offenders.
And, children with sexual behavior problems generally respond
well to treatment interventions. If the proposed bill becomes
law, however, it will mean that children will be stigmatized
for life on the basis of their childhood behavior. Despite
the questionable public safety benefits of community
notification with juveniles, it is likely to stigmatize them
fostering peer rejection, isolation, and increased anger.
This impact can prevent juvenile offenders from realizing the
benefits of effective treatments. The proposed notification
and the ensuing stigma will also result in such persons being
denied fair opportunities for employment, education, and
housing despite the low risk of recidivism they typically
pose. Accordingly, the bill will violate the long tradition
in our country of recognizing that most youth who break the
law during childhood can and will mature out of this behavior
with appropriate guidance and treatment.
Thus, the bill would inflict undue hardship on juveniles,
impacting their entire lives, and is not justified by a
public safety need. Rather than resort to such a
counterproductive approach, as the above cited experts
recommend, treatment and supervision should be emphasized for
this group of offenders.
2. The Notification Scheme In H.R. 4472 Will Deprive Many
Registrants, Including Those Who Are a Low or Moderate Risk,
Of The Basic Means To Live Productively In Society With the
Unintended Consequence of Increasing Their Risk Of Re-
Offense.
H.R. 4472 provides that in most cases the same public
notification would be provided to registrant's neighborhoods
and in the vicinity where they work and attend school,
regardless of their danger to the public. Sec. 122(b),(c). In
addition, without determining the actual risk a registrant
poses, that notification will include both a registrant's
home address and the address of his employer. Sec.
114(a)(3),(4). Moreover, the bill applies retroactively to
all applicable offenses.
As set forth above, notification to a registrant's
immediate neighbors is currently reserved for roughly 160
high risk registrants in New Jersey. Due to the impact on an
offender's life that the notice will have, this small number
of registrants is designated ``high risk'' only after an
assessment and court hearing (if requested), showing that the
registrant's risk justifies neighborhood notification. Our
experience demonstrates that notification (whether via the
Internet or provided in a registrant's neighborhood)
containing an employer's name and address will frequently
result in the registrant's termination. This is due to
customers refusing to frequent the business, and neighbors
subjecting the employer to enormous pressure to fire the
offender.
Likewise, New Jersey registrants subject to neighborhood
notification providing their home addresses are often
uprooted from their homes, and eventually become homeless.
Typically this is due to landlords being pressured by
surrounding homeowners to evict the registrant. And in cases
where registrants own their home, significant threats and
vandalism have occurred to drive the offender away. In one
New Jersey case, following notification five bullets were
fired through the front window of a registrant's apartment by
a neighbor, nearly wounding an innocent tenant. Thus, under
H.R. 4472 it is predictable that substantial numbers of
registrants will become homeless.
Registrants pose a much higher risk of re-offense when they
have no job or stable housing. This is agreed upon by studies
in the field of sex offender recidivism, New Jersey's own
actuarial scale for determining registrant risk, as well as
our experience working with registrants over the past ten
years. Therefore, the unintended consequence of providing
many registrants' home addresses and places of employment as
required by H.R. 4472 will be that substantial numbers will
have their re-offense risk increased.
Furthermore, homeless and jobless registrants are, of
course, unable to pay for sex offender and substance abuse
treatment which have been proven to markedly reduce offense
risk. Also, we have witnessed how the desperation caused by
this homeless and jobless state has led our clients to suffer
severe stress, and relapse into substance abuse, and other
high risk behaviors for recidivism. Thus, the notification
proposed by H.R. 4472 to registrants' neighborhoods listing
their place of employment may trigger a new offense, by
removing the supportive components of a person's
rehabilitation. See R. Karl Hanson & Andrew Harris, Solicitor
General of Canada, Dynamic Predictors of Sexual Recidivism
(1998) at 2 (``recidivists showed increased anger and
subjective distress just prior to offending''); ATSA, The
Registration and Community Notification of the Adult Sexual
Offender at 3 (2005) (notification will ``ostracize[]'' sex
offenders and ``may inadvertently increase their danger.'')
Finally, H.R. 4472 would require notification to be
distributed to neighborhoods in cases involving an intra-
familial offense. As this notification will result in
victims' identities being disclosed to neighbors, the
practice will act as a significant deterrent to having
victims of familial offenses report them to police. Sec. 111
(6), (7). Thus, public notification in cases involving a
single intra-familial offense should be eliminated from the
bill.
Given the predictable consequences of the notification
proposed in H.R. 4472, we submit that notice to a
registrant's neighborhood or around his place of employment
which includes his home address, and any notification
including his place of work, should occur only for high risk
offenders, and only after an individualized risk assessment.
Otherwise, H.R. 4472 will run the danger of destabilizing
large numbers of registrants by having them lose the jobs
and housing essential to maintaining offense-free lives.
As mentioned, the notice proposed by the bill will also
discourage victims of intra-familial offenses from
contacting law enforcement.
3. The Notification Proposed in H.R. 4472 Will Undermine
the Ability of States Like New Jersey to Implement Parole for
Life Programs Which Require Law Enforcement Officers to
Monitor Registrants, and Require Registrants to Maintain
Jobs, Housing and Treatment to Reduce their Risk of Re-
Offense.
Since 1994, every adult registrant in New Jersey who
committed a sex offense has been placed on a form of close
monitoring known as community or parole supervision for life.
See N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.4. The purpose of the program is to
locate and monitor adult registrants, potentially for life,
``as if on parole.'' Id. Applicable State regulations provide
that the registrant must maintain stable housing and a job,
avoid drug or alcohol use (as monitored by urine testing),
occasionally submit to random visits by their parole officer
at home, attend sex offender and/or substance abuse
treatment, as well as other requirements.
The success of this eleven-year-old program depends upon a
parole officer being able to locate the lifetime parolee in
their home, do random drug and alcohol testing, check for
other signs' of instability or loss of employment, and thus
prevent the precursors to re-offending. However, the
notification provisions of H.R. 4472 will lead to large
numbers of offenders becoming homeless and will result in
parole officers being unable to locate registrants and
provide them with the close supervision needed to reduce
recidivism rates. Thus, the State's efforts to assist
registrants in keeping stable housing or a job, basic
requirements of parole, will be frustrated.
When we explained to a New Jersey parole officer that the
proposed legislation will put the addresses of many sex
offenders' employers on the Internet, and be provided to
offenders' neighbors or to persons living around their
employers, she stated that her parolees would ``spiral
downward,'' and that they ``wouldn't care'' about trying to
keep from re-offending. She stated, ``Our job would be so
difficult . . . it's hard enough for them to get jobs.'' She
expressed the view that a significant number might re-offend
because, ``A lot of these things are due to high stress
rates.'' Finally, she expressed concern that most of them
would end up ``in homeless shelters'' where there is an
``increased risk of disappearance or committing a new offense
of some kind''--either a non-sexual criminal offense or
possibly a sexual offense.
In addition to Community and Parole Supervision for Life,
New Jersey also assigns special probation officers to
exclusively monitor sex offenders while on parole (prior to
implementation of their special sentence of community or
parole supervision for life) so they can concentrate on the
particular needs this population presents, and provide the
type of close supervision they require. (Notably, we have
observed that other states appear to be putting more and more
sex offenders on probation for life and similarly long
sentences, even for very minor offenses--so it is likely that
this legislation will strongly affect those states as well.)
When we explained the notification requirements of the bill
to a special probation officer he replied that, ``You'll end
up having many, many people re-offending--what else could
they do?'' When asked if he thought these provisions would
cause many registrants to lose their jobs, he 4 replied,
``Absolutely. I can't imagine anyone would want them.'' He
explained that without ``work,
[[Page H689]]
housing, and normal responsibilities'' the registrants would
have ``no self esteem.'' He said that they ``would not listen
to me,'' and would likely ``go out and assault someone
else.''
Thus, there is serious concern that the basic purpose of
the registration provisions of Megan's law (which is to
enable law enforcement to locate registrants in the course of
investigating new offenses, monitor registrants, and explore
allegations of misconduct by such registrants), will be
substantially undermined by the notification provision of
H.R. 4472.
Over the past dozen years, New Jersey and other states have
acted as laboratories for experimentation with sex offender
registration and supervision programs. During this period,
many states have established effective measures to combat
recidivism. We recommend that these states should be
consulted closely on H.R. 4472 and given a chance to comment
or give testimony about the wisdom of the bill and how it may
impact existing, effective law enforcement programs.
4. All Registrants Should Not be Subject to the Same Form
of Notification. Rather, the Bill Should Require a Risk
Assessment and A Tiered Approach to Community Notification
Tied to Risk Level.
Pursuant to Section 122 of the bill, all ``sex offenders,''
regardless of their tier determination, are subject to
identical public notification to neighborhoods and via the
Internet. See Sec. 122.(b) (making the only potential
exception a Tier I, sex offender whose offense was a juvenile
adjudication). It has been our experience that, even if a
registrant's tier level is included in the notice, this
approach will create the misimpression that all offenders
pose the same risk. Thus, it will dilute the effectiveness of
notification by focusing the public's attention on the
offenders truly posing a significant risk of recidivism. This
can be avoided, as occurs in New Jersey and other states, by
providing notice to neighborhoods (as opposed to Internet
notification) only in cases of significant risk. This
determination can be made by using available risk assessment
tools that validity and economically demonstrate risk level.
Formal studies conducted at the behest of or relied upon by
both the federal government and the states confirm that sex
offender re-offense rates vary greatly among different
categories of offenders. See CSOM, Myths and Facts About Sex
Offenders, at 2 (August 2000) (citing various studies
regarding recidivism rates and noting: ``Persons who commit
sex offenses are not a homogeneous group, but instead fall
into several different categories. As a result, research has
identified significant differences in re-offense patterns
from one category to another.'') For instance, studies and
experts conclude that incest offenders present a very low
risk of re-offense. See CSOM, Recidivism of Sex Offenders
(May 2001) (citing study which found a 4% rate of recidivism
for incest offenders). Other studies have determined that
effective treatment substantially reduces recidivism levels.
Id. at 12-14 (citing studies demonstrating 7.2% recidivism
rate with relapse prevention treatment vs. 13.2% of all
treated offenders vs. 17.6% for untreated offenders); Ten
Year Recidivism Follow-up of 1989 Sex Offender Releases,
State of Ohio Dept. of Rehabilitation and Correction (April
2001) (sex-related recidivism after basic sex offender
programming was 7.1 % as compared to 16.5% without
programming).
Further studies cited by CSOM and ATSA recognize the
positive impact that steady employment, stable housing,
ongoing treatment and avoiding isolation play in reducing
recidivism levels. See CSOM, Recidivism of Sex Offenders,
supra.; ATSA, Ten Things You Should Know About Sex Offenders
and Treatment, supra. Thus, while there is an array of
well-recognized factors impacting significantly on a
registrant's risk to the public, H.R. 4472 fails to
consider any, and instead would compel participating
states to label registrants based solely on their offense.
It would also require the identical type of notification
for the overwhelming majority of offenders. This system
will unwisely overload the public with thousands of
offenders' names and pictures and prevent the public from
making informed decisions about which truly pose a
significant risk. See In re Registrant E.I., 300 N.J.
Super. 519, 526 (App. Div. 1997) (noting that a
``mechanical'' application of a notification law will
``impede [its] beneficial purpose''); E.B. v. Verniero,
119 F.3d 1077, 1107-08 (3d. Cir. 1997) (holding that a
state does not have ``any interest in notifying those who
will come in contact with a registrant who has erroneously
been identified as a moderate or high risk.'')
For example, under H.R. 4472 a person convicted of criminal
sexual contact in New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 2C: 14-3) for touching
a juvenile over clothing on the buttocks on one occasion,
years ago, with no history of any prior offense and with a
successful record of treatment, must be labeled a tier II sex
offender. This registrant, along with many others of a
similar ilk, would be made subject to notification in his
neighborhood and via the Internet with other offenders whose
conviction and psychological profile made them much greater
risk. (For example, an offender convicted of aggravated
sexual assault who received no treatment and had recently
been discharged from prison.) Multiply this example by
thousands of cases, and it becomes apparent that the public's
safety requires a time-tested notification system, like New
Jersey's, which includes a risk determination and sends a
clear message, through the type of notification provided,
which registrants most require the public's attention. The
``one size fits all'' approach adopted in H.R. 4472 is
counterproductive and misinforms the public of the relative
danger posed by registrants. For these very reasons,
professional groups such as ATSA have called for a risk based
approach to community notification which provides the most
substantial form of notification for those posing the
greatest risk. ATSA, The Registration and Community
Notification of Adult Sex Offenders, supra.
In New Jersey, a registrant's risk level is determined
using the State's Risk Assessment Scale (``RAS''). The RAS is
a matrix of thirteen static and variable risk factors which
are weighted according to their relative predictive value.
The thirteen factors in the RAS are evaluated and assigned a
point score by a prosecutor. The combined point total from
the RAS factors determines the registrant's tier
classification, placing him in either the low, moderate or
high risk levels. With information from the registrant's
criminal history and registration data an attorney or
paralegal familiar with the RAS can calculate a registrant's
point total and resulting tier classification in just a few
minutes.
In New Jersey, the hearings that determine the final risk
assessment are held within a short time after the RAS
determination has been made, and the registrant is ordinarily
given approximately 45 days to prepare his case, although
some matters are decided in even a shorter term if there is
no disagreement. The hearings uncover information that may
not be available to the prosecutor, such as whether the
registrant is in a supervised placement such as a half-way
house, treatment facility or nursing home, which is desirable
for the supervision it provides. As set forth above, this
influences the degree of notice that is distributed since it
affects the registrant's risk and may avoid excessive
notification that would require the facility to evict the
client, depriving him of needed supervision, and increasing
his risk to the community.
The hearings also reveal the history of the registrant
since the offense, and how many years he has been at liberty
since it occurred which may be as long as 20 or 25 years ago,
in some cases. His record of rehabilitation, achievement in
sex offender specific therapy and substance abuse recovery,
cooperation with probation and/or parole programs, and other
information are also considered. Significantly, the system as
a whole tends to encourage registrants to continue their
rehabilitation when the court fairly considers the efforts of
the individual to rehabilitate, and his years of successful
adjustment to the community without further offense.
Other factors regarding risk that may be considered include
whether the registrant is very ill, elderly and infirm, or
wheelchair bound, so as to pose only a low risk for re-
offense to the community.
In summary, studies in the field and our experience over
the past ten years has shown that sex offenders are a highly
heterogeneous group, and that this diversity includes
offenders who present little risk of re-offense. Inundating
the public with the same form of notification which includes
many low risk offenders will only frustrate the remedial
goals that notification is designed to serve. Such over-broad
notification is especially egregious when one considers that,
as discussed above, it impacts substantially upon the ability
of an offender to work, find or remain in their housing,
continue in treatment and to live offense-free in the
community.
We therefore recommend that H.R. 4472 be amended to permit
states, (like New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York), to
participate in the federal program yet maintain systems which
allow for accurate determinations of the true risk of
recidivism for registrants and provide forms of notification
which are commensurate with that risk. This will allow the
public to easily differentiate between offender risk levels.
Moreover, it will permit states to meaningfully implement
parole for life programs for sex offenders and to monitor
them under the regulations provided by those statutes so that
they can maintain the stable housing, jobs and treatment
needed to continue to pose as low a risk of re-offense as
possible.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Z. Buncher,
Deputy Public Defender, State of New Jersey, Office of the
Public Defender.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following items for
inclusion in the Record regarding the House floor consideration of H.R.
4472 on March 8, 2006.
Oppose H.R. 4472, the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act
of 2005
Dear Representative: On behalf of the American Civil
Liberties Union, a non-partisan organization with hundreds of
thousands of activists and members and 53 affiliates nation-
wide, we write to express our opposition to H.R. 4472, the
Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005
(``Omnibus Crime''). H.R.4472 would create ten new federal
death penalties and almost 30 new discriminatory mandatory
minimums that infringe upon protected First Amendment speech,
effectively eliminate federal and state prisoners' ability to
challenge
[[Page H690]]
wrongful convictions in federal court, make it more difficult
to monitor sex offenders and create more serious juvenile
offenders by incarcerating children in adult prisons. H.R.
4472 is scheduled for a vote on the House floor on Wednesday,
March 8, 2006; we strongly urge you to oppose this
legislation.
Congress Should Not Expand The Federal Death Penalty Until It Ensures
Innocent People Are Not On Death Row
The death penalty is in need of reform, not expansion.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 123
prisoners on death row have now been exonerated. Chronic
problems, including inadequate defense counsel and racial
disparities, plague the death penalty system in the United
States. The expansion of the death penalty for gang and other
crimes creates an opportunity for more arbitrary application
of the death penalty.
In addition to expanding the number of federal death
penalty crimes, this bill also expands venue in capital
cases, making any location even tangentially related to the
crime a possible site for the trial. This raises
constitutional as well as public policy concerns. The U.S.
Constitution states that ``the Trial of all Crimes . . .
shall be by Jury; and shall be held in the State where the
said Crimes shall have been committed.'' This concept is
important in order to prevent undue hardship and partiality
when an accused person is prosecuted in a place that has no
significant connection to the offense with which he is
charged. This proposed change in H.R. 4472 would increase the
inequities that already exist in the federal death penalty
system, giving prosecutors tremendous discretion to ``forum
shop'' for the most death-friendly jurisdiction in which to
try their case.
In carjacking cases, this legislation would effectively
relieve the government from having to prove that a person
intended to cause the death of a person before being subject
to the death penalty. This provision is likely
unconstitutional in the context of capital cases. In
addition, the bill would allow the death penalty for attempt
and conspiracy in carjacking cases, which we believe is
unconstitutional.
H.R. 4472 Erodes Federal Judges' Sentencing Discretion by Proposing
Harsher Mandatory Minimum Sentences
This legislation would create 29 new mandatory minimum
sentences that would result in unfair and discriminatory
prison terms. Many of the criminal penalties in this bill are
increased to mandatory minimum sentences, including the
sentence for second-degree murder that would be a mandatory
sentence of 30 years. Although, in theory, mandatory
minimums were created to address disparate sentences that
resulted from indeterminate sentencing systems, in reality
they shift discretion from the judge to the prosecutor.
Prosecutors hold all the power over whether a defendant
gets a plea bargain in order for that defendant to avoid
the mandatory sentence. This creates unfair and
inequitable sentences for people who commit similar
crimes, thus contributing to the very problem mandatory
minimums were created to address.
people could be convicted of a ``gang'' crime even if they are not
members of a gang
This legislation would impose severe penalties for a
collective group of three or more people who commit ``gang''
crimes. This bill amends the already broad definition of
``criminal street gang'' to an even more ambiguous standard
of a formal or informal group or association of three (3) or
more people who commit two (2) or more ``gang'' crimes. The
number of people required to form a gang decreases from five
(5) people in an ongoing group under current law to three (3)
people who could just be associates or casual acquaintances
under this proposed legislation. Under current law it is
essential to establish that a gang had committed a
``continuing series of offenses.'' By eliminating this
requirement, H.R. 4472 defeats the purpose of a gang law,
i.e. to target criminal activity that has some type of
connection to a tight knit group of people that exists for
the purpose of engaging in illegal activities.
H.R. 4472 Jeopardizes a Person's Right to a Fair Trial
Innocent people could be convicted of crimes they did not
commit if the statute of limitations is extended as proposed
in this legislation. The Omnibus Crime bill proposes to
extend the statute of limitations for non-capital crimes of
violence. Generally, the statute of limitations for non-
capital federal crimes is five (5) years after the offense is
committed. Fifteen years after a crime is committed, alibi
witnesses could have disappeared or died, other witnesses'
memories could have faded and evidence may be unreliable. The
use of questionable evidence could affect a person's ability
to defend him or herself against charges and to receive a
fair trial.
This legislation would also preclude defense attorneys in
child pornography cases from obtaining possession of the
alleged child pornography, possibly depriving the defendant
of a fair trial. This provision is entirely unnecessary,
since federal courts routinely issue extremely restrictive
protective orders regarding alleged child pornography. These
protective orders preclude duplication or review of the
alleged child pornography except as necessary for the
preparation of the defense. Giving the government sole
possession of the material may well harm the defendant's
case. Forensic analysis is often critical in determining
whether the material is, in fact, child pornography.
Title VI Infringes Upon Constitutionally Protected Speech Under the
First Amendment
The legislation would require record keeping for simulated
sexual conduct. Simulated sexual conduct that is not obscene
is protected under the First Amendment. ``Laws that burden
material protected by the First Amendment must be approached
from a skeptical point of view and must be given strict
scrutiny.'' The fact that those laws only burden rather than
prohibit protected material does not save them
constitutionally.
This provision of the bill infringes upon protected speech
and is not narrowly tailored to solve the problems of child
pornography. Understandably, mainstream producers will comply
with the law, but those who are intent on making child
pornography are unlikely to do so. This provision is
therefore constitutionally suspect.
Federal Courts Would Essentially Be Unable To Release Some People on
Death Row Who Were Wrongfully Convicted
Most habeas corpus petitions that challenge a person's
death or criminal sentence are brought to federal court based
on a constitutional error that under the law is considered
``harmless'' or ``non-prejudicial.'' These types of legal
errors do not involve substantial rights and do not
necessarily result in a person being released from custody.
H.R. 4472 would prevent federal courts from hearing claims in
death penalty cases that involve claims of cruel and unusual
punishment under the Eighth Amendment or whether a
defendant's lawyer was ineffective during the sentencing
phase of a capital case.
This provision of the bill has serious implications for the
independence of the federal judiciary. Congress' attempt to
strip Article III courts of their constitutional habeas
corpus jurisdiction is unconstitutional under the doctrine of
Separation of Powers. Removing jurisdiction over many habeas
claims from Federal courts ignores the Separation of Powers
doctrine by eliminating the role of the courts in upholding
constitutional rights of prisoners.
H.R. 4472 Would Result in the Routine Collection and Permanent
Retention of DNA Samples and Profiles From Innocent People
The ``Violence Against Women Act of 2005'' (VAWA) was
signed into law on January 5, 2006, (P.L. No: 109-162) and
dramatically expands the government's authority to collect
and permanently retain DNA samples. Under this law, persons
who are merely arrested or detained by federal authorities
would be forced to have their DNA collected and stored
alongside those of convicted felons in the Federal DNA
database. However, under current law, DNA samples that are
voluntarily submitted to law enforcement authorities are not
included in the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS). In
addition, DNA profiles of individuals arrested but not
convicted of crimes can be expunged from CODIS upon receipt
of a ``certified copy of a final court order establishing
that such charge has been dismissed or has resulted in an
acquittal.''
However, H.R. 4472 would permit voluntarily submitted
samples to be included in CODIS and would eliminate the
expungement provision for people whose DNA was incorporated
in the federal database based on an arrest that never
resulted in a conviction. Retaining a person's DNA in a
criminal database renders him or her an automatic suspect for
any future crime. This is problematic for any category of
tested persons, but especially for those who have been
arrested but not convicted of a crime.
In addition, the Omnibus Crime bill would allow states to
upload to CODIS DNA samples submitted voluntarily in order to
eliminate people as suspects of a crime. This will increase
the use by law enforcement of DNA ``sweeps'' and reducing the
willingness of citizens to cooperate with the police.
H.R. 4472 Will Make It More Difficult To Monitor Sex Offenders by
Simply Forcing Offenders Underground
The proposed legislation requires sex offenders to update
registry information within 5 days of a change in residence,
employment or student status. This requirement is unrealistic
and works against the goal of being able to monitor sex
offenders. If the registration requirements are unrealistic,
offenders will fail to register and end up underground, which
is contrary to the goal of tracking and locating them. Under
the Omnibus Crime bill, states will be required to verify sex
offender registry information in persons possibly as
frequently as once every three months and required to verify
their residences as often as once every month depending on
the class of offender. This will be an enormous burden on the
states to create and implement systems to track sex offenders
on a monthly basis.
The bill will also require the work addresses of sex
offenders to be available on the Internet. Publicizing
information about employers and their addresses on the
Internet could ultimately lead to employers refusing to hire
former sex offenders. Research has shown that significant
supervision upon release and involvement in productive
activities are critical to preventing sex offenders from
reoffending. Limiting the opportunities
[[Page H691]]
of sex offenders to maintain gainful employment is counter-
productive to their rehabilitation as well as to keeping
communities safe.
Children Would Be Put in Federal Prison With Little Opportunity for
Education or Rehabilitation
Under the Omnibus Crime bill, more children will become
hardened criminals after being tried in Federal court and
incarcerated in adult prisons. H.R. 4472 would give
prosecutors the discretion to determine when to try a young
person in Federal court as an adult, if the juvenile is 16
years of age or older and commits a crime of violence. The
decision by a prosecutor to try a juvenile as an adult cannot
be reviewed by a judge under this legislation. This
unreviewable process of transferring youth to adult Federal
court is particularly troubling when juveniles are not
routinely prosecuted in the Federal system and there are no
resources or facilities to address the needs of youth.
For the above-mentioned reasons, we urge members to oppose
H.R. 4472 when the House votes on the bill on March 8, 2006.
Sincerely,
Caroline Fredrickson,
Director,
Jesselyn McCurdy,
Legislative Counsel
____
Human Rights Watch Letter
Dear Members of the House of Representatives: We write to
urge you to vote against the Omnibus Crime Bill, H.R. 4472,
which is scheduled for a vote on Wednesday, March 8, 2006.
This legislation would at the whim of the Attorney General
subject children to adult trials and adult penalties, impose
a wide array of new, harsh mandatory minimum sentences, and
mandate prolonged registration for former sex offenders, even
if they have remained offense-free for decades after being
released from prison.
The following provisions of the bill are of particular
concern:
Juvenile Transfer Provisions: Under this legislation, the
Attorney General could make unreviewable and unilateral
decisions to subject children to adult trials and adult
sentences. Under current law, children can generally only be
tried and sentenced as adults after a transfer hearing, where
a court considers the age and background of the child and
determines whether a transfer serves the interest of justice.
Under H.R. 4472, these teenagers would be subject to adult
sentences, including life without parole, regardless of their
vulnerability and capacity for reform.
More than 20 years of experience across the nation has
revealed that subjecting children to adult sentences is an
ineffective, unjust, and costly means of combating crime.
Certainly, children can and do commit terrible crimes, and
when they do, they should be held accountable. Yet, they
should be held accountable in a manner that reflects their
special capacity for rehabilitation. There is no legitimate
basis for granting the Attorney General the unchecked
authority to subject an increased number of children to adult
sanctions.
Mandatory Minimums: The legislation would impose harsh, new
mandatory minimums for a wide array of crimes, including
crimes of conspiracy, aiding, and abetting. Punishment should
be tailored to the conduct of the individual, including his
or her role in the offense and his culpability. Blanket
mandatory minimums tied to one or two factors do little to
protect community safety at high cost to the criminal justice
system. This legislation incorporates three bills that have
already passed the House, H.R. 1279 (``Gang Deterrence Act of
2005''), H.R. 3132 (``Children's Safety Act of 2005''), and
H.R. 1751 (``Secure Access to Justice and Court Protection
Act of 2005''), with some modifications. It does not include
the hate crime enhancement and gun prohibition provisions
that passed as part of H.R. 3132.
If anything, Congress should be looking for ways to
eliminate mandatory minimums and restore judicial discretion,
proportionality, and fairness in sentencing.
Expansion of the Federal Death Penalty: The legislation
greatly expands the number of federal crimes that carry the
death penalty. This expansion of the death penalty is at odds
with the growing recognition that the criminal justice system
is fallible, arbitrary and unfair, and does not deter crime.
There is no legitimate basis for expansion of this inherently
cruel and immutable punishment.
Registration Requirements for Low-Level Offenders: There
may be legitimate community safety rationales for requiring,
for a limited period of time, certain sexual offenders to
register. There is, however, no legitimate community safety
justification for the provisions in this legislation that
require offenders to register for the rest of their lives,
regardless of whether they have lived offense free for
decades. There is also no legitimate community safety goal
served by the provisions that impose 20-year registration
requirements on low-level or misdemeanor offenders. These
registration requirements are imposed on individuals who have
already served their sentences and are attempting to
reintegrate into the community. Registration requirements put
these individuals at risk of retaliation and discrimination
and make it extremely difficult for these individuals to find
employment, housing, and to rebuild their lives.
Human Rights Watch fully supports holding accountable those
who violate the rights of others. But commission of a crime,
even a crime that involves sexual misconduct, should not be
license to run roughshod over principles of fairness and
proportionality. Human Rights Watch urges you to vote against
H.R. 4472.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Daskal,
Advocacy Director, U.S. Program.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4472, the
Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act. This bill combines
three measures, previously approved by the House with strong bipartisan
support, which seek to protect our children, combat gang violence and
ensure the safety of judicial and law enforcement officials.
This legislation sends a strong message to our law enforcement
officers and local officials that the Federal government is a key
partner in their efforts to keep our communities safe. I represent Los
Angeles and San Bernardino Counties, where law enforcement officers are
combating gang violence by increasing the number of gang task forces
and reaching out into the community to give kids alternatives to gang
membership. This legislation imposes the tough mandatory sentences we
need to keep gang members off the street and our neighborhoods safer.
We are also doing the same for sex offenders, keeping them off the
streets longer, and enforcing registration laws to empower parents with
the information they need to keep their children safe.
I would like to take a few moments to comment on the judicial and law
enforcement protection provisions of the bill. Judges, peace officers
and everyone involved in the justice system are protectors of the law
and servants of safety. They devote their lives and often place
themselves in harm's way so that we may live without fear and danger.
Any attack on these dedicated Americans is an attack on the very
foundation of our Nation.
H.R. 4472 addresses the growing national problem of violence against
those working to uphold the law. Although crime is down nationwide,
threats and attacks against police officers, judges, and witnesses
continue to escalate. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), between 1994 and 2003, 616 law enforcement officers were
murdered in the line of duty. This includes 59 officers from my home
state of California, the most of any state.
Murdering a law enforcement officer is an especially despicable and
heinous crime. Tragically, California lost one of its courageous
officers nearly four years ago and only recently has the suspected
killer been apprehended. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy David
March was brutally slain execution style during a routine traffic stop
on April 29, 2002. The suspect, Armando Garcia, fled to Mexico within
hours of Deputy March's death and had eluded prosecution by U.S.
authorities. Mexico's refusal to extradite individuals who may face the
death penalty or life imprisonment had complicated efforts to bring
Garcia back to the U.S. to face justice.
Over the last four years, Deputy March's family and friends, fellow
law enforcement officers, local public officials and my colleagues in
Congress have worked together to find a resolution to this horrible
situation. Mr. Speaker, we must protect our Nation's sovereignty and
ensure that criminals who break our laws and flee the country are
brought to justice here at home. That is why we urged President Bush
and officials at the State and Justice Departments to take aggressive
action to change Mexico's extradition policy. We met with officials in
the Mexican government to urge them to change their extradition policy.
I even argued before Mexican Supreme Court justices on the intolerable
nature of their extradition rulings.
Last year, my friend from Pasadena, Mr. Schiff, and I introduced H.R.
3900, the Justice for Peace Officers Act, with the strong support of
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. The bill makes it a federal crime
to kill a peace officer and flee the country; it provides for the
possibility of federal prosecution; and it allows for punishment by the
death penalty or life imprisonment. I am especially pleased that
Chairman Sensenbrenner and Mr. Gohmert included key provisions from
this bill in H.R. 1751, and now in H.R. 4472. Specifically, this
provision makes it a federal crime to kill a law enforcement officer,
and it makes such a crime punishable by the death penalty, life
imprisonment or a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison. In addition,
the bill adds a mandatory minimum 10 year penalty on top of the
punishment for killing a law enforcement officer if the suspect flees
the country to avoid prosecution.
This is a national problem that will now receive national attention.
Making it a federal crime to kill a peace officer will provide another
critical tool to pursue and punish cop-killers on the federal level.
This provision also ensures that criminals who murder law enforcement
officers and escape to another country will have the full weight of the
Federal Government on their trail.
Mr. Speaker, last year, we experienced a tremendous breakthrough in
our efforts. In November 2005, the Mexican Supreme Court
[[Page H692]]
issued a ruling to allow extradition for suspects facing life in prison
in the U.S. for their crimes. The decision, which overturns a four year
old ban on such extraditions, will now pave the way for more
extraditions to the U.S. from Mexico.
And on February 23, Mexican law enforcement agents, acting on
information provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department and Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office,
apprehended Armando Garcia in the Guadalajara suburb of Tonala. He is
now in custody and U.S. authorities are taking steps to extradite him
to the U.S.
Mr. Speaker, the capture of Armando Garcia is a victory for justice
and, most important, for the March family. Law enforcement on both
sides of the border deserve tremendous credit for working together and
staying on his trail for nearly four years. This success demonstrates
the importance of an ongoing dialogue between our two countries.
While approving H.R. 4472 is a bold step toward enhancing protection
of peace officers, we must continue our efforts to prevent tragedies
like Deputy March's murder from ever happening again. I firmly believe
that the Administration should use all available resources to bring
about a change in policy in any country that refuses to extradite
murderers to the U.S. because they may face the death penalty or life
imprisonment for crimes they committed on our soil.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the bill and urge my colleagues to
vote in favor of the measure.
Mr. FITZPATRICK of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support
of H.R. 4472, the Children's Safety Violent Crime Reduction Act. Every
day it seems the American people are confronted by another heinous case
of child abduction and assault. These crimes are some of the most
jarring to our society and more must be done to reduce their
occurrence. Last year, I voted in favor of the Child Safety Act and I
am proud to support this bill today. H.R. 4472 will strengthen sex
offender registration, community notification and publication
requirements. Many of the violent crimes against children are
preventable if communities know that possibly dangerous offenders live
amongst their neighbors. That is why I am pleased to see that this bill
includes the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website--a
resource for families to identify sex offenders in their community.
Also Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Sensenbrenner for
including my legislation, H.R. 4883, the Justice for Crime Victims'
Families Act, as part of this necessary bill. As a former County
Commissioner for 10 years, I have had the experience of working with my
local District Attorney on many important, time sensitive cases. One of
the problems I always heard is that the police needed better
communication, coordination between their local, state and Federal
counterparts.
My legislation focuses on the need to help our nation's criminal
investigators conduct investigations into abductions and homicides
faster and more efficiently and to fill the gap in communication that
was expressed to me in the County. My bill would require the Attorney
General to produce a report to Congress outlining the current state of
coordination in information sharing between Federal, state and local
law enforcement, and the sources of funding currently available for
homicide investigators. The Attorney General must also examine what is
being done to expand national criminal records databases, enhance the
collection of DNA samples from missing persons and improving the
performance of medical examinations.
I am concerned that not enough is being done to give our
investigators the best information available in the fastest time
possible. We can't hinder our investigators with jurisdictional hurdles
and information blockades. My legislation will look for ways to make
communication and information sharing more efficient and productive
especially for time sensitive cases. I call on my colleagues to support
this important legislation.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Feeney). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. SENSENBRENNER) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4472, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________