[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4305 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4305

To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female agents and 
    officers of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 9, 2024

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mrs. Britt) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female agents and 
    officers of the Department of Homeland Security, 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 ``DHS Better Ballistic Body Armor 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
     (a) Ballistic Resistant Body Armor.--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.
    (b) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the Department of 
Homeland Security.
    (c) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
Homeland Security.

SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY ARMOR TO ENSURE THE 
              PROTECTION OF THE DEPARTMENT'S FEMALE AGENTS AND 
              OFFICERS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall require components of the 
Department, when procuring ballistic resistant body armor for 
individuals whose body shapes are most closely associated with female 
agents and officers, to 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) 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 
        relevant component agency of the Department shall submit a 
        report to the Secretary regarding the ballistic resistant body 
        armor issued to female agents and officers of such component 
        agency, 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), the Secretary shall submit a report that 
        aggregates all of the data contained in such reports to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
        Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security 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 component of the Department 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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