[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4970 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4970
To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female law
enforcement agents and officers of the Federal Government, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 1, 2024
Mr. Ossoff (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female law
enforcement agents and officers of the Federal Government, 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 ``Female Officers Ballistic Protection
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINED TERM.
In this Act, the term ``ballistic resistant body armor'' means
torso ballistic protection containing soft ballistic panels, hard
ballistic panels, or a combination of both, contained within a carrier,
which may be concealable for wear under a uniform shirt or external for
wear over a uniform shirt, and holds panels and plates in position on
the torso.
SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY ARMOR TO ENSURE THE
PROTECTION OF FEMALE AGENTS AND OFFICERS.
(a) In General.--Every Federal department or agency that employs
law enforcement agents or officers, when procuring ballistic resistant
body armor for individuals whose body shapes are most closely
associated with female agents and officers, shall procure ballistic
resistant body armor that--
(1) is specifically designed to fully protect body shapes
most closely associated with female agents and officers;
(2) is made to conform to the individual wearer and provide
the best possible fit and coverage to allow for either a flat
or shaped front panel;
(3) is assessed and verified, upon delivery, to fit
properly and have sufficient coverage in accordance with
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International)
standards for fit;
(4) has enhanced and advanced fit and technology that stops
a bullet from skipping off the chest at an upward angle into
the throat region or the spinal cord area; and
(5) is certified by the National Institute of Justice
(referred to in this paragraph as ``NIJ''), pursuant to the NIJ
standard for ballistic resistant body armor, and listed on the
associated NIJ Compliant Products List as successfully passing
the ballistic resistant body armor standards in accordance with
the applicable ballistic protection level recommended by the
NIJ, including passing testing that uses--
(A) ballistic testing on gender-specific clay or
gelatin molds to ensure better contact of nonplanar
panels with clay or gelatin molds;
(B) soft body armor front panels contained in soft
carriers on female-shaped clay or gelatin molds
designed to fill the space behind the panel;
(C) shots to be placed on shaping features;
(D) angled shots; and
(E) an angled shot at the chest that tests the
concerns of bullet skipping into the neckline of each
test sample to address the concern of a bullet
skipping.
(b) Certification Requirement.--In addition to the requirements
under subsection (a), the head of any Federal agency, before procuring
ballistic resistant body armor pursuant to such subsection, shall
submit a request to the Criminal Justice Technology Testing and
Evaluation Center of the National Institute of Justice to certify that
the body armor to be purchased complies with the standards described in
subsection (a).
(c) Annual Reports.--
(1) Issuance of ballistic resistant body armor.--Not later
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and
annually thereafter for the following 2 years, the head of each
Federal department or agency that employs law enforcement
agents or officers shall submit a report to the Attorney
General regarding the ballistic resistant body armor issued to
female agents and officers, including, with respect to the
reporting period--
(A) the number of female agents and officers to
whom ballistic resistant body armor was issued for
performance of their official duties;
(B) the number of ballistic resistant body armor
units the use of which was discontinued due to
noncompliance with the requirements described in
subsection (a);
(C) the number of ballistic resistant body armor
units issued to female agents and officers that are
compliant with the requirements described in subsection
(a); and
(D) the percentage of female agents and officers of
such component agency who, as of the last day of the
reporting period, have been issued and are regularly
using ballistic resistant body armor that complies with
the requirements described in subsection (a),
disaggregated by duty station.
(2) Aggregate report.--Not later than 30 days after
receiving all of the reports required to be submitted under
paragraph (1) for a given period, the Attorney General shall
submit a report that aggregates all of the data contained in
such reports to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate
and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,
all agents and officers of any Federal department or agency that
employs law enforcement agents or officers who have a body shape most
closely associated with female agents and officers shall have been
issued body armor that meets the requirements described in section
3(a).
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