[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6174 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6174
To end crime and disorder on the streets of the United States by
restoring civil commitment, addressing vagrancy and homelessness
through institutional treatment, and redirecting Federal resources, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 20, 2025
Mr. Burchett introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy
and Commerce, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To end crime and disorder on the streets of the United States by
restoring civil commitment, addressing vagrancy and homelessness
through institutional treatment, and redirecting Federal resources, 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 ``Ending Crime and Disorder on
America's Streets Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to protect public safety by restoring
civil commitment procedures, fighting vagrancy, and redirecting Federal
resources toward effective methods of addressing homelessness,
including the use of institutional treatment in hospitals or asylums
for individuals adjudged insane or otherwise unable to care for
themselves.
SEC. 3. RESTORING CIVIL COMMITMENT.
The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, shall take appropriate action to--
(1) seek, in appropriate cases, the reversal of Federal or
State judicial precedents and the termination of consent
decrees that impede the policy of the United States of
encouraging the civil commitment of unhoused individuals; and
(2) provide assistance to State and local governments,
through technical guidance, grants, or other legally available
means, for the identification, adoption, and implementation of
maximally flexible civil commitment, institutional treatment,
and step-down treatment standards that allow for the
appropriate commitment and treatment of unhoused individuals.
SEC. 4. FIGHTING VAGRANCY ON AMERICA'S STREETS.
(a) Grant Priorities.--The Attorney General, the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, and the Secretary of Transportation shall each conduct an
assessment of the discretionary grant programs administered by the
respective Secretary and determine whether priority for such grants may
be given to grantees in States and municipalities that, to the maximum
extent permitted by law, actively meet the following criteria:
(1) Establish, implement, or enforce Federal and State
prohibitions on illicit drug use in public places.
(2) Establish, implement, or enforce Federal and State
prohibitions on urban camping and loitering.
(3) Establish, implement, or enforce Federal and State
prohibitions on urban squatting.
(4) Enforce, and where necessary, adopt standards that
address unhoused individuals, through assisted outpatient
treatment or by moving such individuals into treatment centers
or other appropriate facilities through the use of civil
commitment or other available means.
(5) Substantially implement and comply with the
registration and notification requirements of the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act (34 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.),
particularly with respect to sex offenders who are required to
register and who have no fixed address, including by adequately
mapping and checking the location of unhoused individuals who
are sex offenders.
(b) Additional Actions by the Attorney General.--The Attorney
General shall--
(1) ensure that unhoused individuals arrested for Federal
crimes are evaluated, consistent with section 4248 of title 18,
United States Code, to determine whether they are sexually
dangerous persons and if appropriate, certified accordingly for
civil commitment;
(2) take all necessary steps to ensure the availability of
funds under the Emergency Federal Law Enforcement Assistance
Program under the Justice Assistance Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C.
50101 et seq.) to support, consistent with the requirements
under such Program, encampment removal efforts in areas for
which public safety is at risk and State and local resources
are inadequate;
(3) assess Federal resources to determine whether they may
be directed toward ensuring, to the extent permitted by law,
that detainees with serious mental illness are not released
into the public because of a lack of forensic bed capacity at
appropriate local, State, and Federal jails or hospitals; and
(4) enhance requirements that prisons and residential
reentry centers that are under the authority of the Attorney
General or receive funding from the Attorney General require
in-custody housing release plans and, to the maximum extent
practicable, require individuals to comply.
SEC. 5. REDIRECTING FEDERAL RESOURCES TOWARD EFFECTIVE METHODS OF
ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS.
(a) Actions by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.--The
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall take appropriate action
to--
(1) ensure that discretionary grants issued by the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for
substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery fund
evidence-based programs and do not fund programs that fail to
achieve adequate outcomes, including efforts termed as harm
reduction or safe consumption efforts;
(2) provide technical assistance to assisted outpatient
treatment programs for unhoused individuals with serious mental
illness or addiction administered by the Secretary during and
after the initiation of any civil commitment process under
section 4246 of title 18, United States Code, that are focused
on assisting such individuals in finding private housing and
support networks; and
(3) ensure that Federal funds for Federally qualified
health centers (as defined in section 1861(aa) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa))) and certified community
behavioral health clinics (as described in section 223 of the
Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (42 U.S.C. 1396a
note; Public Law 113-93)) reduce, rather than promote,
homelessness by supporting, to the maximum extent permitted by
law, comprehensive services for unhoused individuals with
serious mental illness and substance use disorder, including
crisis intervention services.
(b) Coordination With Other Agencies.--The Secretary of Health and
Human Services shall coordinate with the Attorney General and other
relevant agencies to ensure that Federal resources support the transfer
of eligible persons to mental hospitals or asylums, including those
returned from foreign countries who have been legally adjudged insane.
SEC. 6. INCREASING ACCOUNTABILITY AND SAFETY IN AMERICA'S HOMELESSNESS
PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall each take appropriate
actions to increase accountability with respect to the administration
by the respective Secretary of programs providing for assistance,
including through the award of grants, relating to homelessness and
transitional living. Such actions shall include, to the extent
permitted by law--
(1) ending support for ``housing first'' policies that
deprioritize accountability and fail to promote treatment,
recovery, and self-sufficiency;
(2) increasing competition among grantees through
broadening the applicant pool; and
(3) holding grantees to higher standards of effectiveness
in reducing homelessness and increasing public safety.
(b) Housing and Urban Development.--The Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development shall, as the Secretary determines appropriate, take
steps to require recipients of Federal housing and homelessness
assistance to increase requirements that persons participating in the
recipients' programs who suffer from substance use disorder or serious
mental illness use substance abuse treatment or mental health services
as a condition of participation.
(c) Safe Consumption Sites.--With respect to recipients of Federal
housing and homelessness assistance that operate drug injection sites
or ``safe consumption sites,'' knowingly distribute drug paraphernalia,
or permit the use or distribution of illicit drugs on property under
their control--
(1) the Attorney General shall review whether such
recipients are in violation of Federal law, including 21 U.S.C.
856, and bring civil or criminal actions in appropriate cases;
and
(2) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in
coordination with the Attorney General, shall review whether
such recipients are in violation of the terms of the programs
pursuant to which they receive Federal housing and homelessness
assistance and freeze their assistance as the Secretary deems
appropriate.
(d) Housing of Women and Children.--The Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development shall take appropriate measures and revise
regulations as necessary to allow, where permissible under applicable
law, federally funded programs to exclusively house women and children
and to stop sex offenders who receive homelessness assistance through
such programs from being housed with unrelated children.
(e) Collection of Certain Health-Related Information.--The
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in consultation with the
Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall,
as appropriate, and to the extent permitted by law--
(1) allow or require the recipients of Federal funding for
homelessness assistance to collect health-related information
that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development identifies
as necessary for the effective and efficient operation of the
funding program from all persons to whom such assistance is
provided; and
(2) require those funding recipients to share such data
with law enforcement authorities in circumstances permitted by
law and to use the collected health data to provide appropriate
medical care to individuals with mental health diagnoses or to
connect individuals to public health resources.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Step-down treatment.--The term ``step-down treatment''
means a structured, phased approach designed to transition
unhoused individuals or requiring medical intervention from
intensive care to less intensive, community-based or outpatient
services to promote recovery, stability, and self-sufficiency.
(2) Unhoused individual.--The term ``unhoused individual''
means an individual who--
(A) poses risks to themselves or the public or are
living on the streets; and
(B) cannot care for themselves or be sheltered in
an appropriate facility for a period of 3 consecutive
months or longer.
(3) Urban camping.--The term ``urban camping'' means any
temporary outdoor shelter, including tents, tarps, bedding, or
vehicles used for sleeping or residing for a period exceeding
24 hours in a single location on public or private property not
designated for recreational use, where such shelter serves as a
primary living accommodation rather than transient recreation.
(4) Urban squatting.--The term ``urban squatting'' means
the unauthorized occupation or use of vacant or abandoned
buildings, structures, or land by individuals or groups.
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