STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Scott, Mr.
Blumenthal, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Heller, and Mrs.
Shaheen):
S. 2135. A bill to enforce current law regarding the National Instant
Criminal Background Check System; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of
the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 2135
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fix NICS Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.
Section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
(34 U.S.C. 40901) is amended--
(1) in subsection (e)(1), by adding at the end the
following:
``(F) Semiannual certification and reporting.--
``(i) In general.--The head of each Federal department or
agency shall submit a semiannual written certification to the
Attorney General indicating whether the department or agency
is in compliance with the record submission requirements
under subparagraph (C).
``(ii) Submission dates.--The head of a Federal department
or agency shall submit a certification to the Attorney
General under clause (i)--
``(I) not later than July 31 of each year, which shall
address all relevant records, including those that have not
been transmitted to the Attorney General, in possession of
the department or agency during the period beginning on
January 1 of the year and ending on June 30 of the year; and
[[
Page S7264]]
``(II) not later than January 31 of each year, which shall
address all relevant records, including those that have not
been transmitted to the Attorney General, in possession of
the department or agency during the period beginning on July
1 of the previous year and ending on December 31 of the
previous year.
``(iii) Contents.--A certification required under clause
(i) shall state, for the applicable period--
``(I) the total number of records of the Federal department
or agency demonstrating that a person falls within one of the
categories described in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922
of title 18, United States Code;
``(II) for each category of records described in subclause
(I), the total number of records of the Federal department or
agency that have been provided to the Attorney General; and
``(III) the efforts of the Federal department or agency to
ensure complete and accurate reporting of relevant records,
including efforts to monitor compliance and correct any
reporting failures or inaccuracies.
``(G) Implementation plan.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this subparagraph, the head of each Federal
department or agency, in coordination with the Attorney
General, shall establish a plan to ensure maximum
coordination and automated reporting or making available of
records to the Attorney General as required under
subparagraph (C), and the verification of the accuracy of
those records, including the pre-validation of those records,
where appropriate, during a 4-year period specified in the
plan. The records shall be limited to those of an individual
described in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title
18, United States Code.
``(ii) Benchmark requirements.--Each plan established under
clause (i) shall include annual benchmarks to enable the
Attorney General to assess implementation of the plan,
including--
``(I) qualitative goals and quantitative measures;
``(II) measures to monitor internal compliance, including
any reporting failures and inaccuracies;
``(III) a needs assessment, including estimated compliance
costs; and
``(IV) an estimated date by which the Federal department or
agency will fully comply with record submission requirements
under subparagraph (C).
``(iii) Compliance determination.--Not later than the end
of each fiscal year beginning after the date of the
establishment of a plan under clause (i), the Attorney
General shall determine whether the applicable Federal
department or agency has achieved substantial compliance with
the benchmarks included in the plan.
``(H) Accountability.--The Attorney General shall publish,
including on the website of the Department of Justice, and
submit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on the
Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives a semiannual report that discloses--
``(i) the name of each Federal department or agency that
has failed to submit a required certification under
subparagraph (F);
``(ii) the name of each Federal department or agency that
has submitted a required certification under subparagraph
(F), but failed to certify compliance with the record
submission requirements under subparagraph (C);
``(iii) the name of each Federal department or agency that
has failed to submit an implementation plan under
subparagraph (G);
``(iv) the name of each Federal department or agency that
is not in substantial compliance with an implementation plan
under subparagraph (G);
``(v) a detailed summary of the data, broken down by
department or agency, contained in the certifications
submitted under subparagraph (F);
``(vi) a detailed summary of the contents and status,
broken down by department or agency, of the implementation
plans established under subparagraph (G); and
``(vii) the reasons for which the Attorney General has
determined that a Federal department or agency is not in
substantial compliance with an implementation plan
established under subparagraph (G).
``(I) Noncompliance penalties.--For each of fiscal years
2019 through 2022, each political appointee of a Federal
department or agency that has failed to certify compliance
with the record submission requirements under subparagraph
(C), and is not in substantial compliance with an
implementation plan established under subparagraph (G), shall
not be eligible for the receipt of bonus pay, excluding
overtime pay, until the department or agency--
``(i) certifies compliance with the record submission
requirements under subparagraph (C); or
``(ii) achieves substantial compliance with an
implementation plan established under subparagraph (G).
``(J) Technical assistance.--The Attorney General may use
funds made available for the national instant criminal
background check system established under subsection (b) to
provide technical assistance to a Federal department or
agency, at the request of the department or agency, in order
to help the department or agency comply with the record
submission requirements under subparagraph (C).
``(K) Application to federal courts.--For purposes of this
paragraph--
``(i) the terms `department or agency of the United States'
and `Federal department or agency' include a Federal court;
and
``(ii) the Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts shall perform, for a Federal court, the
functions assigned to the head of a department or agency.'';
and
(2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the following:
``For purposes of the preceding sentence, not later than 60
days after the date on which the Attorney General receives
such information, the Attorney General shall determine
whether or not the prospective transferee is the subject of
an erroneous record and remove any records that are
determined to be erroneous. In addition to any funds made
available under subsection (k), the Attorney General may use
such sums as are necessary and otherwise available for the
salaries and expenses of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
to comply with this subsection.''.
SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF NICS ACT RECORD IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM.
(a) Requirements to Obtain Waiver.--Section 102 of the NICS
Improvement Amendments Act of 2007(34 U.S.C. 40912) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence--
(A) by striking ``the Crime Identification Technology Act
of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 14601)'' and inserting ``section 102 of
the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 (34 U.S.C.
40301)''; and
(B) by inserting ``is in compliance with an implementation
plan established under subsection (b) or'' before ``provides
at least 90 percent of the information described in
subsection (c)''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting ``or has
established an implementation plan under section 107'' after
``the Attorney General''.
(b) Implementation Assistance to States.--Section 103 of
the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40913)
is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting before the semicolon
at the end the following: ``, including through increased
efforts to pre-validate the contents of those records to
expedite eligibility determinations'';
(2) in subsection (e)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``and''; and
(ii) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``, and $125,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018
through 2022''; and
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following--
``(2) Domestic abuse and violence prevention initiative.--
``(A) Establishment.--For each of fiscal years 2018 through
2022, the Attorney General shall create a priority area under
the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (commonly known as
`NARIP') for a Domestic Abuse and Violence Prevention
Initiative that emphasizes the need for grantees to identify
and upload all felony conviction records and domestic
violence records.
``(B) Funding.--The Attorney General--
``(i) may use not more than 50 percent of the amounts made
available under this subsection for each of fiscal years 2018
through 2022 to carry out the initiative described in
subparagraph (A); and
``(ii) shall give a funding preference under NARIP to
States that--
``(I) have established an implementation plan under section
107; and
``(II) will use amounts made available under this
subparagraph to improve efforts to identify and upload all
felony conviction records and domestic violence records
described in clauses (i), (v), and (vi) of section
102(b)(1)(C) by not later than September 30, 2022.''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Technical Assistance.--The Attorney General shall
direct the Office of Justice Programs, the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation to--
``(1) assist States that are not currently eligible for
grants under this section to achieve compliance with all
eligibility requirements; and
``(2) provide technical assistance and training services to
grantees under this section.''.
SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
(a) State Grant Program for Criminal Justice
Identification, Information, and Communication.--Section 102
of the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 (34 U.S.C.
40301) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(3)--
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) as
subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
``(C) identification of all individuals who have been
convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term
exceeding 1 year'';
(2) in subsection (b)(6)--
(A) by striking ``(18 U.S.C. 922 note)'' and inserting
``(34 U.S.C. 40901(b))''; and
(B) by inserting before the semicolon at the end the
following: ``, including through increased efforts to pre-
validate the contents of felony conviction records and
domestic violence records to expedite eligibility
determinations, and measures and resources necessary to
establish and achieve compliance with an implementation plan
under section
[[
Page S7265]]
107 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007'';
(3) in subsection (d), by inserting after ``unless'' the
following: ``the State has achieved compliance with an
implementation plan under section 107 of the NICS Improvement
Amendments Act of 2007 or''; and
(4) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ``2002 through 2007''
and inserting ``2018 through 2022''.
(b) Grants for the Improvement of Criminal Records.--
Section 106(b)(1) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention
Act (34 U.S.C. 40302(1)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)--
(A) by striking ``as of the date of enactment of this Act''
and inserting ``, as of the date of enactment of the Fix NICS
Act of 2017,''; and
(B) by striking ``files,'' and inserting the following:
``files and that will utilize funding under this subsection
to prioritize the identification and transmittal of felony
conviction records and domestic violence records,'';
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(3) in subparagraph (C)--
(A) by striking ``upon establishment of the national
system,''; and
(B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``;
and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following--
``(D) to establish and achieve compliance with an
implementation plan under section 107 of the NICS Improvement
Amendments Act of 2007.''.
SEC. 5. IMPROVING INFORMATION SHARING WITH THE STATES.
(a) In General.--Title I of the NICS Improvement Amendments
Act of 2007 (34 U.
S. 40911 et seq.) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``SEC. 107. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
``(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Fix NICS Act of 2017, the Attorney General,
in coordination with the States and Indian tribal
governments, shall establish, for each State or Indian tribal
government, a plan to ensure maximum coordination and
automation of the reporting or making available of
appropriate records to the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System established under section 103 of the
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901) and
the verification of the accuracy of those records during a 4-
year period specified in the plan. The records shall be
limited to those of an individual described in subsection (g)
or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code
``(b) Benchmark Requirements.--Each plan established under
this section shall include annual benchmarks to enable the
Attorney General to assess the implementation of the plan,
including--
``(1) qualitative goals and quantitative measures; and
``(2) a needs assessment, including estimated compliance
costs.
``(c) Compliance Determination.--Not later than the end of
each fiscal year beginning after the date of the
establishment of an implementation plan under this section,
the Attorney General shall determine whether each State or
Indian tribal government has achieved substantial compliance
with the benchmarks included in the plan.
``(d) Accountability.--The Attorney General--
``(1) shall disclose and publish, including on the website
of the Department of Justice--
``(A) the name of each State or Indian tribal government
that received a determination of failure to achieve
substantial compliance with an implementation plan under
subsection (c) for the preceding fiscal year; and
``(B) a description of the reasons for which the Attorney
General has determined that the State or Indian tribal
government is not in substantial compliance with the
implementation plan, including, to the greatest extent
possible, a description of the types and amounts of records
that have not been submitted; and
``(2) if a State or Indian tribal government described in
paragraph (1) subsequently receives a determination of
substantial compliance, shall--
``(A) immediately correct the applicable record; and
``(B) not later than 3 days after the determination, remove
the record from the website of the Department of Justice and
any other location where the record was published.
``(e) Incentives.--For each of fiscal years 2018 through
2022, the Attorney General shall give affirmative preference
to all Bureau of Justice Assistance discretionary grant
applications of a State or Indian tribal government that
received a determination of substantial compliance under
subsection (c) for the fiscal year in which the grant was
solicited.''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section
1(b) of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (Public
Law 110-180; 121 Stat. 2559) is amended by inserting after
the item relating to section 106 the following:
``Sec. 107. Implementation plan.''.
