Department of Justice Appropriation Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1980

(Measure passed House, amended, roll call #570 (386-24))

Department of Justice Appropriation Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1980 - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1980 to carry out the following activities of the Department of Justice, including any bureau, office, board, division, commission, or subdivision thereof: (1) general administration; (2) United States Parole Commission; (3) general legal activities; (4) Antitrust Division; (5) United States Attorneys, Marshals, and Trustees, including the acquisition, lease, maintenance, and operation of aircraft; (6) support of United States prisoners in non-Federal institutions; (7) fees and expenses of witnesses; (8) Community Relations Service; (9) Federal Bureau of Investigation, including up to $12,100,000 to counter terrorism in the United States; (10) Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS); (11) Drug Enforcement Administration; and (12) Federal Prison System.

Authorizes appropriations to improve the quality of medical and legal services within the Federal Prison System.

Establishes an Office of Inspector General within the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Requires the Department to obtain an independent comprehensive management analysis of INS.

Increases the 1980 authorization level for the Nazi War Criminal Special Litigation Unit to $3,000,000.

Requires the Attorney General to undertake program evaluations for all divisions of the Department.

Directs the Attorney General to transmit a report to each House of Congress in any case in which a law is not enforced or a law in any administrative or judicial proceeding is not contested or defended by the Department because of the position of the Department that such law is unconstitutional.

Provides that the Department of Justice shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of the reprogramming of funds in excess of the lesser of $250,000 or ten percent between programs, divisions, and boards of the Department.

Amends the Controlled Substances Act to: (1) authorize appropriations for the expenses of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for fiscal year 1980; (2) authorize the DEA to pay tort claims arising in foreign countries in connection with DEA operations in accordance with the Federal Tort Claims Act; and (3) repeal the requirement that an award of compensation be made to informers in accordance with the customs laws.

Allows authorizations under this Act to be used for the purchase of insurance for motor vehicles and aircraft operating in official Government business in foreign countries.

Provides for one round trip per year educational travel for dependents of Department of Justice personnel stationed overseas.

Authorizes the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration to use funds, and to authorize States to use funds, for programs devoted to the international aspects of crime prevention. Authorizes the State of California to use block grants awarded during fiscal year 1979 or earlier to fund the 1980 Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders.