[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1034 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1034
To require the Attorney General to issue guidance to law enforcement
agencies as they respond to increased levels of domestic violence
during the COVID-19 public health emergency, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 11, 2021
Ms. Wexton (for herself, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Cooper,
Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Demings, Mrs. Hinson, Ms. Norton, Mr. McGovern,
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Foster, Ms. Kuster, Mr.
Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Takano, Mr. Sires,
Ms. Wild, Mr. Carson, and Mr. Hastings) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Attorney General to issue guidance to law enforcement
agencies as they respond to increased levels of domestic violence
during the COVID-19 public health emergency, and for other purposes.
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 ``Domestic Violence Public Health
Emergency Guidance Act''.
SEC. 2. GUIDANCE ON ADDRESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DURING THE COVID-19
PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.
(a) Guidance.--Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary
of Health and Human Services, domestic violence stakeholders, and
State, local, and tribal law enforcement stakeholders, shall issue
guidance to Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies
which contain promising and model practices for addressing domestic
violence and protecting the safety of law enforcement officers and all
other parties involved, during the COVID-19 public health emergency. In
issuing the guidance required under this subsection, the Attorney
General shall--
(1) identify law enforcement-centered promising or model
practices for--
(A) addressing domestic violence during the COVID-
19 public health emergency;
(B) adopting and implementing such programs and
practices;
(C) implementing measures to mitigate exposure to
COVID-19, including adequate use of personal protective
equipment, when responding to domestic violence
incidents that create potential exposure to COVID-19
for all parties involved; and
(D) ensuring safety and limiting risk of exposure
to COVID-19 for family members of law enforcement
officers;
(2) identify victim-centered promising and model practices
for--
(A) assessing the potential threat of violence to
the victim and their children, while ensuring safety
and privacy;
(B) safety planning for victims and their children
and taking preventive steps to ensure safety for all
parties involved during the COVID-19 public health
emergency;
(C) timely submission of records for domestic
violence protective orders and other related court
orders and convictions for crimes related to intimate
partner violence;
(D) enforcing domestic violence protective orders,
other related court orders, and child custody orders in
the context of domestic violence; and
(E) ensuring community coordinated responses to
domestic violence; and
(3) create a resource guide, including--
(A) the promising and model practices identified
under paragraphs (1) and (2);
(B) educational resources on risk factors related
to COVID-19 that exacerbate the risk of escalation and
lethality of reports of domestic violence, such as fear
of illness, drug and alcohol abuse, economic
uncertainty, unemployment, and grief;
(C) educational resources on training, including
cultural humility and vicarious trauma, for law
enforcement officers responding to domestic violence;
(D) educational resources on investigation and
prosecutorial tools for law enforcement officers
responding to domestic violence;
(E) resources for victims of domestic violence
during the COVID-19 public health emergency, including
information related to the national domestic violence
hotline authorized under section 313 of the Family
Violence Prevention and Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10413).
(b) Dissemination.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall--
(1) issue the guidance developed under subsection (a)
directly to Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement
agencies;
(2) make the guidance publicly available by posting the
guidance electronically on the website of the Department of
Justice;
(3) collaborate with the Secretary of Health and Human
Services to make the guidance available on the website of the
Department of Health and Human Services.
(c) Extension.--The Attorney General may extend the deadlines under
subsections (a) and (b), in the case that meeting such deadlines is
impracticable. In the case that the Attorney General extends such a
deadline pursuant to this subsection, the Attorney General shall notify
Congress, which notification shall include a date before which the
Attorney General will complete each such requirement.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The term ``domestic violence'' has the meaning given
the term under section 40002(a)(8) of the Violent Crime Control
and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(8)).
(2) The term ``COVID-19 public health emergency'' means the
period beginning on the date on which the emergency period
under section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1320b-5(g)(1) was declared and ending 90 days after the
date on which such period ends.
(3) The term ``COVID-19'' means the 2019 Novel Coronavirus
or 2019-nCoV.
(4) The term ``personal protective equipment'' means any
protective equipment required to prevent the wearer from
contracting COVID-19, including gloves, N-95 respirator masks,
gowns, goggles, face shields, or other equipment required for
safety.
(5) The term ``State'' means each of the several States,
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern
Mariana Islands.
(6) The term ``Federal law enforcement agency'' includes
law enforcement agencies of the Armed Forces.
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