[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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