National AMBER Alert Act of 2002

National AMBER Alert Act of 2002 - Directs the Attorney General to establish an AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert Coordinator position to: (1) establish guidelines for implementing a statewide AMBER Alert plan; (2) provide technical assistance to the States, broadcasters, and law enforcement agencies in implementing such plans; (3) certify to the Secretary of Transportation any State that has established or agrees to establish such a plan and a reciprocal arrangement with other States; and (4) monitor compliance and revoke certification of any State that fails to establish such a plan.

Directs the Secretary to make grants to certified States to develop, acquire, install, and construct facilities and equipment along highways to notify the public about missing children and their abductors.

[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5317 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5317

  To develop, coordinate, and improve the AMBER Alert communications 
                    network throughout the country.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 4, 2002

    Mr. Foley (for himself, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Bachus, Mr. Towns, Mr. 
    Greenwood, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mrs. 
  Tauscher, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. 
  Hayes, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Schrock, Mr. Borski, Mr. Graham, Mr. 
Kennedy of Minnesota, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Boyd, Mr. Thompson of 
California, Mr. Grucci, and Mr. Keller) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to 
      be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To develop, coordinate, and improve the AMBER Alert communications 
                    network throughout the country.

    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 ``National AMBER Alert Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. AMBER ALERT COORDINATION.

    (a) Coordinator.--The Attorney General shall establish an AMBER 
Alert Coordinator position (referred to in this section as ``the 
Coordinator''). The Coordinator shall--
            (1) establish, with the assistance of the National Center 
        for Missing and Exploited Children and the Federal 
        Communications Commission, guidelines for implementing a 
        statewide Amber Alert plan not later than 60 days after the 
        date of enactment of this Act;
            (2) provide technical assistance to the States, 
        broadcasters, and law enforcement agencies in implementing 
        AMBER Alert plans;
            (3) certify, not later than 90 days after a certification 
        request is received, to the Secretary of Transportation any 
        State that--
                    (A) has established or agrees to establish a 
                statewide AMBER Alert plan not later than 1 year after 
                receiving a grant under section 3;
                    (B) agrees to establish a reciprocal arrangement 
                with other States, including sharing of information 
                regarding the initiation of an AMBER Alert; and
                    (C) is in compliance with the guidelines 
                established pursuant to paragraph (1);
            (4) deny certification, not later than 90 days after a 
        certification request is received and provide notification of 
        such denial to the Secretary of Transportation, to any State 
        that fails to comply with the certification requirements 
        described in paragraph (3);
            (5) monitor compliance and revoke certification of any 
        State that fails to establish an AMBER Alert plan in accordance 
        with the 1-year period referred to in paragraph (3)(A) and 
        provide notification of such revocation to the State and the 
        Secretary of Transportation;
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $500,000 for fiscal year 2003 
and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2004 through 2007. 
Such sums shall remain available until expended.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Transportation shall make grants 
to States to develop, acquire, install, and construct facilities and 
equipment along highways to notify the public of missing children 
(including a description of such children), information regarding any 
abductor of such children, and other relevant information.
    (b) Application.--In order to be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, a State shall--
            (1) adhere to the requirements of this section;
            (2) apply to the Coordinator appointed under section 2 for 
        certification--
                    (A) in 2003, not later than March 1; and
                    (B) in subsequent years, not later than January 1 
                of the year in which the State expects to receive 
                funds; and
            (3) include a projection of costs to implement subsection 
        (a).
    (c) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of a project for 
which a grant is made to a State under this section in a fiscal year 
shall not exceed 50 percent.
    (d) Apportionment of Funds.--Amounts appropriated to carry out this 
section shall be apportioned in equal shares to each State that meets 
the requirements of this Act.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $99,500,000 for fiscal year 2003 
and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2004 through 
2007. Such sums shall remain available until expended.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Amber alert.--The term ``AMBER Alert'' (America's 
        Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response Alert) means a voluntary 
        partnership between law enforcement agencies and broadcasters 
        to activate an urgent bulletin in serious child abduction 
        cases. Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS), 
        formerly referred to as the Emergency Broadcast System, to air 
        a description of the missing child and suspected abductor and 
        any other relevant information.
            (2) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States 
        and the District of Columbia.
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