1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Police Receiving Overly Traumatizing Equipment Changes Today Act or the PROTECT Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Under section 2576a of title 10, United States Code, the Department of Defense is authorized to provide excess property to local law enforcement agencies. The Defense Logistics Agency administers such section by operating the Law Enforcement Support Office (referred to in this Act as LESO ) program. (2) New and used material, including mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles and weapons determined by the Department of Defense to be military grade are transferred to Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies through the program. (3) As of September 30, 2019, the Department of Defense, through the LESO, as reported through public information, has transferred $1,796,844,591.74 worth of equipment with over 1,474,319 units of goods. (4) Research has shown that as transfers of militarization equipment increase in States, reputation of police officers decreases and the increased equipment shows no change in the crime rate. (5) Research shows that police officers are more likely to be harmed by civilians when States receive certain transfers and police frequently engage in violent actions against civilians. (6) On January 16, 2015, President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13688 to better coordinate and regulate the Federal transfer of military weapons and equipment to State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and stated that the show of force typically associated with military operations, when employed by civilian police, can weaken community trust, especially in communities with a history of strained relationships between the community and local law enforcement . (7) In July 2017, the Government Accountability Office reported that the program’s internal controls were inadequate to prevent fraudulent applicants’ access to the program. 3. Limiting sale or donation of excess property for law enforcement activities