Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB693 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 693
5	5	To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female agents and
6	6	officers of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	FEBRUARY24, 2025
9	9	Mr. P
10	10	ETERS(for himself and Mrs. BRITT) introduced the following bill; which
11	11	was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
12	12	Governmental Affairs
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female
15	15	agents and officers of the Department of Homeland Se-
16	16	curity, and for other purposes.
17	17	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
18	18	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
19	19	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
20	20	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DHS Better Ballistic 4
21	21	Body Armor Act’’. 5
22	22	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
23	23	In this Act: 7
24	24	(1) B
25	25	ALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY ARMOR .—The 8
26	26	term ‘‘ballistic resistant body armor’’ means torso 9
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29	29	•S 693 IS
30	30	ballistic protection containing either soft ballistic 1
31	31	panels, hard ballistic panels, or a combination of 2
32	32	both, contained within a carrier, which may be con-3
33	33	cealable for wear under a uniform shirt or external 4
34	34	for wear over a uniform shirt, and holds panels and 5
35	35	plates in position on the torso. 6
36	36	(2) D
37	37	EPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 7
38	38	means the Department of Homeland Security. 8
39	39	(3) S
40	40	ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9
41	41	the Secretary of Homeland Security. 10
42	42	SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY 11
43	43	ARMOR TO ENSURE THE PROTECTION OF 12
44	44	ALL OF THE DEPARTMENT’S AGENTS AND OF-13
45	45	FICERS. 14
46	46	(a) I
47	47	NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall require com-15
48	48	ponents of the Department, when procuring ballistic re-16
49	49	sistant body armor for agents and officers, to procure bal-17
50	50	listic resistant body armor that— 18
51	51	(1) is specifically designed to fully protect the 19
52	52	body shapes of agents and officers; 20
53	53	(2) is made to conform to the individual wearer 21
54	54	and provide the best possible fit and coverage to 22
55	55	allow for either a flat or shaped front panel; 23
56	56	(3) is assessed and verified, upon delivery, to fit 24
57	57	properly and have sufficient coverage in accordance 25
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60	60	•S 693 IS
61	61	with American Society for Testing and Materials 1
62	62	(ASTM International) standards for fit; 2
63	63	(4) has enhanced and advanced fit and tech-3
64	64	nology that stops a bullet from redirecting off the 4
65	65	chest at an upward angle into the throat region or 5
66	66	the spinal cord area; and 6
67	67	(5) is certified by the National Institute of Jus-7
68	68	tice (referred to in this paragraph as ‘‘NIJ’’), pursu-8
69	69	ant to the NIJ standard for ballistic resistant body 9
70	70	armor, and listed on the associated NIJ Compliant 10
71	71	Products List as successfully passing the ballistic re-11
72	72	sistant body armor standards in accordance with the 12
73	73	applicable ballistic protection level recommended by 13
74	74	the NIJ, including passing testing that uses, for 14
75	75	each test sample— 15
76	76	(A) ballistic testing on clay or gelatin 16
77	77	molds to ensure better contact of nonplanar 17
78	78	panels with clay or gelatin molds, as required 18
79	79	by the body shapes of agents and officers; 19
80	80	(B) soft body armor front panels contained 20
81	81	in soft carriers on female-shaped clay or gelatin 21
82	82	molds designed to fill the space behind the 22
83	83	panel; 23
84	84	(C) shots to be placed on shaping features; 24
85	85	(D) angled shots; 25
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88	88	•S 693 IS
89	89	(E) an angled shot at the chest to address 1
90	90	the concern of a bullet skipping into the neck-2
91	91	line; and 3
92	92	(F) any additional testing criteria rec-4
93	93	ommended by the NIJ after the date of the en-5
94	94	actment of this Act. 6
95	95	(b) A
96	96	NNUALREPORTS.— 7
97	97	(1) I
98	98	SSUANCE OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY 8
99	99	ARMOR.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 9
100	100	enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 10
101	101	the following 2 years, the head of each relevant com-11
102	102	ponent agency of the Department shall submit a re-12
103	103	port to the Secretary regarding the ballistic resistant 13
104	104	body armor issued to female agents and officers of 14
105	105	such component agency, including, with respect to 15
106	106	the reporting period— 16
107	107	(A) the number of female agents and offi-17
108	108	cers to whom ballistic resistant body armor was 18
109	109	issued for performance of their official duties; 19
110	110	(B) the number of ballistic resistant body 20
111	111	armor units issued to female agents and offi-21
112	112	cers, the use of which was discontinued due to 22
113	113	noncompliance with the requirements described 23
114	114	in subsection (a); 24
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117	117	•S 693 IS
118	118	(C) the number of ballistic resistant body 1
119	119	armor units issued to female agents and officers 2
120	120	that are compliant with the requirements de-3
121	121	scribed in subsection (a); and 4
122	122	(D) the percentage of female agents and 5
123	123	officers of such component agency who, as of 6
124	124	the last day of the reporting period, have been 7
125	125	issued ballistic resistant body armor that com-8
126	126	plies with the requirements described in sub-9
127	127	section (a), disaggregated by duty station. 10
128	128	(2) A
129	129	GGREGATE REPORT .—Not later than 30 11
130	130	days after receiving all of the reports required to be 12
131	131	submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 13
132	132	submit a report that aggregates all of the data con-14
133	133	tained in such reports to the Committee on Home-15
134	134	land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen-16
135	135	ate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 17
136	136	House of Representatives. 18
137	137	SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 19
138	138	Not later than 3 years after the date of the enact-20
139	139	ment of this Act, all agents and officers of any component 21
140	140	of the Department whose duties require body armor shall 22
141	141	have been issued body armor that meets the requirements 23
142	142	described in section 3(a). 24
143	143	Æ
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