[House Report 109-336]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    109-336

======================================================================
 
                               SHIELD ACT

                                _______
                                

 December 13, 2005.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Oxley, from the Committee on Financial Services, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2695]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

      The Committee on Financial Services, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 2695) to amend the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act to protect the personally identifying 
information of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, 
sexual assault, and stalking, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 
the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     1
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     3
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures     3
Committee Cost Estimate..........................................     3
Congressional Budget Office Estimate.............................     3
Federal Mandates Statement.......................................     4
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     4
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     4
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................     4
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation...................     5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     6

                          Purpose and Summary

    The purpose of H.R. 2695 is to enhance the safety of 
domestic violence victims staying in shelters by requiring the 
use of non-personally identifying information for data 
collection and statistical purposes. The Department of Housing 
and Urban Development currently requires information such as 
the date of birth, location, ethnicity and race of women 
staying in domestic violence shelters. This data can be used to 
identify victims of domestic violence, placing them at even 
greater risk. H.R. 2695 recommends the use of other data 
collection methods to compile unduplicated counts without 
jeopardizing the lives of domestic violence victims.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    The Safe Housing Identity Exception for the Lives of 
Domestic Violence Victims Act (SHIELD Act) prohibits disclosure 
of the personally identifying information of victims of 
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 
stalking.
    In 2001, the Veteran's Affairs, Housing and Urban 
Development Appropriations Conference Committee directed HUD to 
collect data on the extent of homelessness at a local level. 
HUD created a rule requiring entities receiving funds through 
the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act to implement 
local Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS). HMIS are 
complex databases that collect, track, and share comprehensive 
personally identifiable data about individuals who use services 
for the homeless, including victims of domestic violence. Under 
this rule, all HUD McKinney-Vento Act programs, including 
domestic violence shelters, transitional housing programs, and 
homeless and emergency shelters are required to input 
residents' personal data into the HMIS.
    In place of personally identifying information, the SHIELD 
Act recommends the use of non-personally identifying 
information for data collection and statistical purposes. As 
defined in H.R. 2695, prohibited, identifying information 
includes: (1) first and last name; (2) home or other physical 
address, including street name, name of city or town, and ZIP 
code; (3) email address or other online contact information, 
such as instant messaging user identifier or a screen name that 
reveals an individual's email address; (4) telephone number; 
(5) social security number; (6) Internet Protocol address or 
host name that identifies an individual; (7) persistent 
identifier, such as a customer number held in a ``cookie'' or 
processor serial number, that is combined with other available 
data that identifies an individual; and (8) any other 
information, including grade point average, date of birth, 
academic or occupational interests, athletic or extracurricular 
interests, racial or ethnic background, or religious 
affiliation, that, in combination with any of the above, would 
serve to identify any individual.
    Thirty-seven states have confidentiality statutes that 
conflict with HUD's requirement to include personally 
identifying information in the HMIS database. In addition to 
the Federal and state homeless programs and their contractors 
that have access to this information, the HMIS database can be 
accessed by law enforcement agencies and national security 
agencies without a warrant. Further, the database could be 
accessed by an individual with a Freedom of Information Act 
request.

                        Committee Consideration

    The Committee on Financial Services met in open session on 
November 16, 2005 and ordered reported to the House H.R. 2695, 
the ``Safe Housing Identity Exception for the Lives of Domestic 
Violence Victims Act'' by a voice vote.

                            Committee Votes

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes 
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. No 
record votes were taken with in conjunction with the 
consideration of this legislation. A motion by Mr. Oxley to 
report the bill to the House with a favorable recommendation 
was agreed to by a voice vote.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee establishes the 
following performance related goals and objectives for this 
legislation:
    The objective of this legislation is to protect the 
identity of domestic violence victims. The goal of H.R. 2695 is 
to prohibit HUD from requiring domestic violence victims 
staying at shelters to provide personally identifying 
information and instead. This legislation requires that non-
personally identifying information instead be used for data 
collection and statistical purposes.

   New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its 
own the estimate of new budget authority, entitlement 
authority, or tax expenditures or revenues contained in the 
cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional 
Budget Act pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget 
Act.

                        Committee Cost Estimate

    The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared 
by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to 
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                  Congressional Budget Office Estimate

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, November 29, 2005.
Hon. Michael G. Oxley,
Chairman, Committee on Financial Services,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2695, the Safe 
Housing Identity Exception for the Lives of Domestic Violence 
Victims Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Chad Chirico.
            Sincerely,
                                           Donald B. Marron
                               (For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2695--Safe Housing Identity Exception for the Lives of Domestic 
        Violence Victims Act

    H.R. 2695 would amend the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act to protect the identifying information of 
victims of domestic violence. The bill would prohibit 
recipients of certain grants from disclosing to any person, 
agency, or entity a victim's identifying information such as 
the victim's name, address, or telephone number.
    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2695 would have no 
effect on the federal budget and would not affect direct 
spending or revenues.
    H.R. 2695 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Any 
costs to state, local, or tribal governments would be incurred 
voluntarily as a condition of federal assistance.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Chad Chirico. 
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                       Federal Mandates Statement

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act.

                      Advisory Committee Statement

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the 
Constitutional Authority of Congress to enact this legislation 
is provided by Article 1, section 8, clause 1 (relating to the 
general welfare of the United States) and clause 3 (relating to 
the power to regulate interstate commerce).

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

             Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation


Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the bill, the 
``Safe Housing Identity Exception for the Lives of Domestic 
Violence Victims Act,'' or the ``SHIELD Act.''

Section 2. Amendment to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

    The Secretary of HUD is directed to instruct entities that 
are: (1) recipients of HUD grants or HUD programs; or (2) 
recipients of any other Federal or State program, to not 
disclose identifying information about individuals who are 
reasonably believed to be: (1) a victim of domestic violence, 
dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; (2) the parent or 
guardian of a minor victim of domestic violence, dating 
violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or (3) the dependent or 
minor child of a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, 
sexual assault, or stalking. One example of ``identifying 
information'' is first and last name.
    The Secretary must not require entities receiving benefits 
under any other Federal or State program to disclose personally 
identifying information about any client reasonably believed to 
be: (1) victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
assault, or stalking; (2) the parents or guardians of minor 
victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 
or stalking; or (3) the dependents or minor children of victims 
of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 
stalking.
    The Secretary shall instruct recipients of (1) HUD programs 
and funding; (2) any other Federal or State programs; (3) any 
other Federal or State program participating in any homeless 
management information system (HMIS) funded at least in part 
under this subsection, that personally identifying information 
about any client may only be disclosed to an HMIS with that 
client's informed, timely, written consent. To comply with HMIS 
data collection requirements, the Secretary may require 
entities covered in this act to share nonpersonally identifying 
aggregate and demographic information.
    The term ``personally identifying information'' means 
information relating to an individual that could be used to 
identify that individual, including: (1) first and last name; 
(2) a home or other physical address, including street name, 
name of city or town, and ZIP code; (3) an email address or 
other online contact information, such as an instant messaging 
user identifier or a screen name that reveals an individual's 
email address; (4) a telephone number; (5) a social security 
number; (6) an Internet Protocol address or host name that 
identifies an individual; (7) a persistent identifier, such as 
a customer number held in a ``cookie'' or processor serial 
number, that is combined with other available data that 
identifies an individual; and (8) any other information, 
including grade point average, date of birth, academic or 
occupational interests, athletic or extracurricular interests, 
racial or ethnic background, or religious affiliation, that, in 
combination with any of the above would serve to identify any 
individual.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

       SECTION 423 OF THE MCKINNEY-VENTO HOMELESS ASSISTANCE ACT


SEC. 423. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.

  (a) In General.--The Secretary may provide any project with 
one or more of the following types of assistance under this 
subtitle:
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (8) Confidentiality.--
                  (A) Housing assistance grants and programs.--
                In the course of awarding grants or 
                implementing programs under this subsection, 
                the Secretary shall instruct any recipient or 
                subgrantee not to disclose to any person, 
                agency, or entity any personally identifying 
                information about any client if the Secretary, 
                recipient, or subgrantee believes, based upon 
                reasonable evidence, that the client is--
                          (i) a victim of domestic violence, 
                        dating violence, sexual assault, or 
                        stalking;
                          (ii) the parent or guardian of a 
                        minor victim of domestic violence, 
                        dating violence, sexual assault, or 
                        stalking; or
                          (iii) the dependent or minor child of 
                        a victim of domestic violence, dating 
                        violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
                  (B) Other federal and state programs.--The 
                Secretary shall not require or ask a recipient 
                or subgrantee of any other Federal or State 
                program to disclose personally identifying 
                information about any clients if the persons, 
                agencies, or entities implementing those 
                programs believe, based upon reasonable 
                evidence, that those clients are--
                          (i) victims of domestic violence, 
                        dating violence, sexual assault, or 
                        stalking;
                          (ii) the parents or guardians of 
                        minor victims of domestic violence, 
                        dating violence, sexual assault, or 
                        stalking; or
                          (iii) the dependents or minor 
                        children of victims of domestic 
                        violence, dating violence, sexual 
                        assault, or stalking.
                  (C) Homeless management information 
                systems.--The Secretary shall instruct any 
                recipient or subgrantee under this subsection 
                or any recipient or subgrantee of any other 
                Federal or State program participating in any 
                homeless management information system funded 
                in whole or in part under this subsection that 
                personally identifying information about any 
                client may only be submitted to a homeless 
                management information system if the program 
                seeking to disclose such information has 
                obtained informed, reasonably time-limited, 
                written consent from the client to whom the 
                information relates. The Secretary may require 
                or ask any recipient or subgrantee to share 
                nonpersonally identifying data in the aggregate 
                regarding services to clients and nonpersonally 
                identifying demographic information in order to 
                comply with the data collection requirements of 
                homeless management information systems.
                  (D) Definition.--As used in this paragraph, 
                the term personally identifying information 
                means information from or about an individual 
                that could be used to identify such individual, 
                including--
                          (i) first and last name;
                          (ii) a home or other physical 
                        address, including street name, name of 
                        city or town, and ZIP code;
                          (iii) an email address or other 
                        online contact information, such as an 
                        instant messaging user identifier or a 
                        screen name that reveals an 
                        individual's email address;
                          (iv) a telephone number;
                          (v) a social security number;
                          (vi) an Internet Protocol address or 
                        host name that identifies an 
                        individual;
                          (vii) a persistent identifier, such 
                        as a customer number held in a 
                        ``cookie'' or processor serial number, 
                        that is combined with other available 
                        data that identifies an individual; and
                          (viii) any other information, 
                        including grade point average, date of 
                        birth, academic or occupational 
                        interests, athletic or extracurricular 
                        interests, racial or ethnic background, 
                        or religious affiliation, that, in 
                        combination with any of the above, 
                        would serve to identify any individual.

                                  
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