Department of Justice Appropriation Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1980

(Conference report filed in House, H. Rept. 96-628)

Department of Justice Appropriation Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1980 - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1980 to the Department of Justice for the following: (1) general administration; (2) the United States Parole Commission; (3) general legal activities; (4) the Antitrust Division; (5) United States Attorneys, Marshals, and Trustees, including the acquisition, lease, maintenance, and operation of aircraft; (6) support of U.S. prisoners in non-Federal institutions; (7) fees and expenses of witnesses; (8) the Community Relations Service; (9) the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); (10) the Immigration and Naturalization Service; (11) the Drug Enforcement Administration; and (12) the Federal Prison System.

Prohibits the use of funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act to pay the compensation for any attorney employed after enactment of this Act, unless such attorney is duly licensed and authorized to practice under the laws of a State, territory, or the District of Columbia.

Declares that the Department of Justice shall not be required to absorb from sums appropriated pursuant to the authorization provided in this Act, other than those sums specifically provided, any increases in salary, pay, retirement, and other employee benefits authorized by law, or other nondiscretionary costs.

Prohibits the use of appropriated funds to purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire message-switching equipment until approved by the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

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. Sets a cap on the Attorney General's fund for official receptions. Allows funds to be used for expenses and transportation for primary and secondary schooling of dependents of personnel stationed outside the continental United States.

Authorizes the appropriation of funds for fiscal year 1980 for increases in salary, pay, retirement, employee benefits authorized by law, and other nondiscretionary costs.

Specifies that sums authorized to be appropriated for salaries and expenses for certain divisions of the Department may be used for uniforms and allowances.

Authorizes an additional position for Assistant Attorney General.

Specifies that notwithstanding certain provisions of the Department of Justice Appropriation Act, 1973, relating to salaries and expenses of the FBI, sums authorized under this Act for such salaries and expenses may be used until the end of fiscal year 1980.

Allows the use of funds authorized to be appropriated for undercover investigative operations of the FBI which are necessary for the detection and prosecution of crimes against the United States or for the collection of foreign intelligence or counterintelligence only upon the written certification of the Director of the FBI and the Attorney General. Directs that the proceeds from such operations be deposited into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. Requires that any business or corporation established or acquired as part of an undercover operation with a net value over $50,000 be liquidated, sold, or otherwise disposed of and the circumstances reported to the Attorney General and the Comptroller General. Requires the proceeds from such disposition to be deposited in the U.S. Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

Directs the FBI to conduct detailed financial audits of undercover operations (other than foreign counterintelligence operations) closed on or after October 1, 1979, to report the results of each audit in writing to the Department of Justice, and to report annually to the Congress concerning such audits.

Requires each organization of the Department, through the appropriate office within the Department, to notify in writing the Committees on the Judiciary and other appropriate committees of Congress (including ranking Minority Party Members) of the reprogramming of funds and significant program changes at least 15 days before effecting such changes.

Directs the Attorney General to perform periodic evaluations of the overall efficiency and effectiveness of Department of Justice programs and any supporting activities funded under this Act, to be made available to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and House of Representatives. Sets forth procedures for specific requests made by such committees.

Requires the Attorney General to make arrangements with an appropriate entity for an independent, comprehensive management analysis of the operations of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to make such operations efficient and cost effective. Requires such analysis to be submitted to the appropriate committees of Congress, together with any administrative or legislative recommendations of the Attorney General.

Directs the Attorney General to submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Congress, a plan for the activation and coordination, within the Department, of compatible, comprehensive case management information and tracking systems for each of the judicial districts of the United States, and for each of the divisions of the Department. Sets forth the areas of information to be included in such plan.

Authorizes the Attorney General to initiate, with the concurrence of any agency with primary enforcement responsibility for an environmental or natural resource law, an investigation of any violation of an environmental or natural resource law of the United States, and to bring such actions as are necessary to enforce such laws.

Amends the Controlled Substances Act to: (1) authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1980 for the expenses of the Department in carrying out such Act; (2) authorize the Drug Enforcement Administration (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.

Authorizes additional appropriations for joint State and joint State and local law enforcement agencies engaged in cooperative enforcement efforts with respect to drug related offenses and organized crime.

Directs the Attorney General to submit a plan to Congress by September 1, 1980, to close the United States Penitentiary at Atlanta, Georgia, and to rehabilitate the Federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas.

Authorizes additional appropriations for the planning and site acquisition of a Federal detention facility in Los Angeles County, California.

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.

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.

Establishes in the INS an Office of Special Investigator to conduct audits and investigations of INS programs and to inform the Commissioner of the INS and Congress of the problems of such programs.

Changes the daily rate of compensation for the public members of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. Extends the time within which the Commission must make a final report of its findings and recommendations to the President and each House of Congress. Specifies that detailees from Federal agencies may be detailed without reimbursement by the Commission. Increases the amount of funds authorized and stipulates that such funds remain available until expended. Authorizes the Commission to procure the services of experts and consultants.