[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10221 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10221
To prohibit the use of Federal funds for covered camera systems and
associated components, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 2, 2026
Mr. Massie (for himself, Mr. Burlison, Mr. Khanna, Mrs. Spartz, Mr.
Gosar, Mr. Roy, and Ms. Boebert) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the use of Federal funds for covered camera systems and
associated components, 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 ``Flock-Off Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR COVERED CAMERA SYSTEMS
AND ASSOCIATED COMPONENTS.
(a) Prohibition.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, no Federal funds may be obligated or expended, directly or
indirectly, by the head of any Government agency or by any
recipient or subrecipient of Federal funds (including any
State, local, or Tribal government) to do any of the following:
(A) Purchase, lease, acquire, install, deploy,
maintain, repair, replace, upgrade, or operate a
covered camera system or any associated component.
(B) Enter into, renew, extend, modify, administer,
or make a payment under any contract, subscription,
license, memorandum of understanding, data-sharing
agreement, cooperative agreement, or other similar
arrangement for any of the following:
(i) The installation, maintenance,
operation, or management of a covered camera
system or any associated component.
(ii) Access to--
(I) a covered camera system or any
associated component; or
(II) any data collected, generated,
processed, retained, transmitted, or
otherwise made available through a
covered camera system or any associated
component.
(iii) Hardware, software, cloud storage,
network connectivity, technical support, data
analysis, system integration, or any other
product or service used in connection with a
covered camera system or any associated
component.
(C) Reimburse, subsidize, offset, or otherwise
financially support, in whole or in part, an
expenditure with respect to an action or arrangement
described in subparagraph (A) or (B), respectively.
(2) Existing covered camera systems and associated
components.--
(A) Government agencies.--Not later than 180 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head
of each Government agency shall decommission and remove
any covered camera system and any associated component
purchased, leased, installed, deployed, maintained, or
operated, in whole or in part, with Federal funds.
(B) Recipients and subrecipients.--Not later than
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
as a condition of continuing to receive Federal funds
under the relevant Federal program, each recipient and
subrecipient shall--
(i) cease operating any covered camera
system and any associated component that the
recipient or subrecipient has operated, in
whole or in part, using Federal funds that the
recipient or subrecipient received under a
Federal program; and
(ii) terminate, or decline to renew or
extend, any arrangement described in paragraph
(1)(B) to which the recipient or subrecipient
is a party that is funded, in whole or in part,
under such Federal program.
(C) Recovery of federal funds.--If a recipient or
subrecipient obligates or expends Federal funds that
the recipient or subrecipient received under a Federal
program in violation of paragraph (1), the head of the
Government agency that provided such Federal funds to
the recipient or subrecipient shall withhold further
Federal funds under such Federal program from the
recipient or subrecipient until the recipient or
subrecipient reimburses the Treasury of the United
States for the full amount of Federal funds obligated
or expended in violation of such paragraph.
(b) Exceptions.--
(1) Border exception.--Subsection (a) does not apply to any
covered camera system or any associated component that--
(A) is installed and operated within 1 mile of the
northern border or the southern border;
(B) is owned or operated by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection or by another Federal law enforcement agency
or local law enforcement authority pursuant to a
written agreement with U.S. Customs and Border
Protection; and
(C) is used primarily for border security or for
the detection or interdiction of unlawful entry, human
trafficking, drug trafficking, alien smuggling, or
transnational criminal activity.
(2) Tolling exception.--Notwithstanding subsection (a),
funds made available under section 104(b) of title 23, United
States Code, may be used for any covered camera system or
associated component if--
(A) the only purpose of such use is to collect,
administer, or enforce a toll; and
(B) any data collected from such use is used,
accessed, retained, queried, disclosed, or shared only
for such purpose.
(c) Definitions.--
(1) Associated component.--The term ``associated
component'', with respect to a covered camera system, includes
any hardware, software, algorithm, database, communications
network, cloud-based service, or data analysis platform of, or
used in connection with, such covered camera system to collect,
store, process, analyze, compare, query, match, transmit,
share, or retrieve data collected or generated by such covered
camera system, including biometric data.
(2) Biometric data.--The term ``biometric data'' means any
data derived from human physiological, biological, or
behavioral characteristics that may be used, alone or in
combination with other data, to establish or verify the
identity of an individual, including any of the following data:
(A) A facial image.
(B) A voiceprint.
(C) A fingerprint.
(D) An iris or a retinal scan.
(E) Gait pattern.
(3) Covered camera system.--The term ``covered camera
system'' means any fixed, mobile, or portable photographic,
video, optical, infrared, biometric, or other electronic device
that--
(A) automatically captures and processes an image
or a recording of a motor vehicle or a license plate of
a motor vehicle using machine learning or other
automated image-processing technology to--
(i) extract license plate numbers, motor
vehicle characteristics, or other information
from such image or recording;
(ii) convert such information into
computer-readable data; and
(iii) transmit such image, recording, or
information to a remote or cloud-based system
for storage, analysis, retrieval, or sharing;
or
(B) automatically captures and processes an image
or a recording of an individual using machine learning
or other automated image processing technology to--
(i) extract biometric data of such
individual from such image or recording;
(ii) convert such biometric data into
computer-readable data; and
(iii) transmit such image, recording, or
biometric data to a remote or cloud-based
system for storage, analysis, retrieval, or
sharing.
(4) Federal program; recipient; subrecipient.--The terms
``Federal program'', ``recipient''; and ``subrecipient'' have
the meaning given such terms in section 200.1 of title 2, Code
of Federal Regulations.
(5) Government agency.--The term ``Government agency'' has
the meaning given that term in section 4 of the United States
Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (22 U.S.C.
1433).
(6) Local law enforcement authority.--The term ``local law
enforcement authority'' has the meaning given that term in
section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code.
(7) Northern border; southern border.--The terms ``northern
border'' and ``southern border'' have the meaning given such
terms in section 602 of the Border Infrastructure and
Technology Modernization Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1401).
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