II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5289 

To create a moratorium on the government use of facial recognition technology until a Commission recommends the appropriate guidelines and 

limitation for use of facial recognition technology. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 15, 2022 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To create a moratorium on the government use of facial 

recognition technology until a Commission recommends 

the appropriate guidelines and limitation for use of facial 

recognition technology. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ethical Use of Facial 

5 Recognition Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Facial recognition is a technology that is in2 creasingly being used and marketed to law enforce3 ment agencies across the United States without ap4 propriate debate or consideration of its impacts. 

5 (2) Facial recognition has been shown to dis6 proportionately impact communities of color, activ7 ists, immigrants, and other groups that are often al8 ready unjustly targeted. 

9 (3) Facial recognition has a history of being in10 accurate, particularly for women, young people, Afri11 can Americans, and other ethnic groups. 

12 (4) There is evidence that facial recognition has 

13 been used at protests and rallies, which could chill 

14 speech. 

15 (5) It is critical that facial recognition not be 

16 used to suppress First Amendment related activities, 

17 violate privacy, or otherwise adversely impact indi18 viduals’ civil rights and civil liberties. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

22 means the congressional commission established 

23 under section 6. 


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1 (2) COVERED GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.—The 

2 term ‘‘covered government official’’ means any offi3 cer, employee, or contractor of a Federal agency. 

4 (3) FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY.—The 

5 term ‘‘facial recognition technology’’ means the 

6 automated or semi-automated process that assists in 

7 identifying or verifying an individual based on the 

8 characteristics of an individual’s face. 

9 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

10 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 

11 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

12 (5) IMPLEMENTATION BILL.—The term ‘‘imple13 mentation bill’’ means a bill— 

14 (A) consisting of the legislative language 

15 prepared under section 6(e)(1)(A); and 

16 (B) introduced under section 6(e)(1)(B). 

17 SEC. 4. LIMITS ON USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION TECH18 NOLOGY. 

19 A covered government official may not set up any 

20 camera to be used in connection with facial recognition 

21 technology, access or use information obtained from facial 

22 recognition technology, or import facial recognition tech23 nology to identify an individual in the United States with24 out a warrant until the date on which Congress enacts 

25 legislation implementing the guidelines for use of facial 


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1 recognition technology established by the Commission 

2 under section 6. 

3 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 

4 (a) CIVIL ACTION.—Any person aggrieved by a viola5 tion of section 4 by a covered government official may 

6 bring a civil action for injunctive or declaratory relief in 

7 the appropriate district court of the United States. 

8 (b) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL GRANTS.—Notwith9 standing any other provision of law, no Federal funds may 

10 be used by a State or unit of local government to invest 

11 in facial recognition software, purchase facial recognition 

12 technology services, or acquire images for use in facial rec13 ognition technology systems. 

14 SEC. 6. COMMISSION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a congres16 sional commission to consider and create guidelines for the 

17 use of facial recognition technology in the United States. 

18 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

20 composed of 13 members, of whom— 

21 (A) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

22 President, and such member shall serve as the 

23 Chairperson of the Commission; 

24 (B) 3 members shall be appointed by the 

25 majority leader of the Senate; 


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1 (C) 3 members shall be appointed by the 

2 minority leader of the Senate; 

3 (D) 3 members shall be appointed by the 

4 Speaker of the House of Representatives; and 

5 (E) 3 members shall be appointed by the 

6 minority leader of the House of Representa7 tives. 

8 (2) EXPERTISE OF MEMBERS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members appointed 

10 under paragraph (1) shall represent each of the 

11 following groups: 

12 (i) Law enforcement and immigration 

13 enforcement officials. 

14 (ii) Privacy and technology experts. 

15 (iii) Communities most impacted neg16 atively by the use of facial recognition 

17 technology. 

18 (B) REQUIREMENT.—Not fewer than 7 

19 members of the Commission shall be represent20 atives of the group described in subparagraph 

21 (A)(iii). 

22 (c) DUTIES.—The Commission shall— 

23 (1) consider and create guidelines and limita24 tions for the use of facial recognition technology in 


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1 the United States to ensure that the use of such 

2 technology does not— 

3 (A) create a constant state of surveillance 

4 of individuals in the United States that does 

5 not allow for a level of reasonable anonymity; 

6 (B) produce biased or inaccurate results; 

7 (C) disproportionately impact a racial, eth8 nic, national origin group, or other protected 

9 class of individuals; 

10 (D) impinge on the privacy, free speech, or 

11 due process rights of individuals in the United 

12 States; or 

13 (E) limit the ability of law enforcement of14 ficers to track down missing and exploited chil15 dren and trafficked individuals; and 

16 (2) consider and recommend the appropriate 

17 rules for governing the use and limitations on both 

18 government and commercial use of facial recognition 

19 technology, including— 

20 (A) whether there are appropriate uses for 

21 facial recognition technology without a warrant 

22 by government officials in a private or public 

23 space; 

24 (B) what are the appropriate uses and lim25 itations for commercial use, including what 


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1 rights individuals should have relating to the 

2 data produced and the use of their likeness in 

3 facial recognition technology; 

4 (C) in what circumstances, if any, govern5 ment officials should be permitted to use facial 

6 recognition without a warrant; 

7 (D) what rules should govern how and 

8 where images may be acquired through facial 

9 recognition technology, taking into account indi10 viduals’ reasonable expectations of privacy or 

11 anonymity; 

12 (E) in what situations individuals should 

13 be able to opt out or required to opt in to the 

14 use of facial recognition technology; 

15 (F) what safeguards need to be put in 

16 place to prevent abuse of facial recognition 

17 technology; 

18 (G) what are appropriate remedies when 

19 facial recognition technology is misused; and 

20 (H) what rights individuals have relating 

21 to the data produced and the use of their like22 ness in facial recognition technology. 

23 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall sub25 mit a report to Congress that contains— 


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1 (1) the guidelines required to be created under 

2 subsection (c); 

3 (2) recommendations for implementation of 

4 such guidelines; and 

5 (3) any minority views or recommendations of 

6 the Commission. 

7 (e) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

8 (1) INTRODUCTION.—Not later than 90 days 

9 after the date on which the report required under 

10 subsection (d) is submitted to Congress— 

11 (A) Congress shall prepare legislative lan12 guage to implement the recommendations in13 cluded in such report; and 

14 (B) the legislative language prepared 

15 under subparagraph (A)— 

16 (i) shall be introduced in the Senate 

17 (by request) not later than the third day 

18 on which the Senate is in session after the 

19 date on which the Commission approves 

20 the legislative language by the majority 

21 leader of the Senate or by a Member of the 

22 Senate designated by the majority leader 

23 of the Senate; and 

24 (ii) shall be introduced in the House 

25 of Representatives (by request) not later 


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1 than the third day on which the House of 

2 Representatives is in session after the date 

3 on which the Commission approves the leg4 islative language by the majority leader of 

5 the House of Representatives or by a 

6 Member of the House of Representatives 

7 designated by the majority leader of the 

8 House of Representatives. 

9 (2) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REP10 RESENTATIVES.— 

11 (A) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—Any 

12 committee of the House of Representatives to 

13 which an implementation bill is referred shall 

14 report it to the House not later than 3 days 

15 after the date on which the implementation bill 

16 is introduced in the House of Representatives. 

17 If a committee fails to report an implementa18 tion bill within that period, it shall be in order 

19 to move that the House of Representatives dis20 charge the committee from further consider21 ation of the bill. Such a motion shall not be in 

22 order after the last committee authorized to 

23 consider the bill reports it to the House of Rep24 resentatives or after the House of Representa25 tives has disposed of a motion to discharge the 


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1 bill. The previous question shall be considered 

2 as ordered on the motion to its adoption with3 out intervening motion except 20 minutes of de4 bate equally divided and controlled by the pro5 ponent and an opponent. If such a motion is 

6 adopted, the House of Representatives shall 

7 proceed immediately to consider the implemen8 tation bill in accordance with subparagraphs 

9 (B) and (C). A motion to reconsider the vote by 

10 which the motion is disposed of shall not be in 

11 order. 

12 (B) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 

13 After the last committee authorized to consider 

14 an implementation bill reports it to the House 

15 of Representatives or has been discharged from 

16 its consideration, it shall be in order to move to 

17 proceed to consider the implementation bill in 

18 the House of Representatives. Such a motion 

19 shall not be in order after the House of Rep20 resentatives has disposed of a motion to proceed 

21 with respect to the implementation bill. The 

22 previous question shall be considered as ordered 

23 on the motion to its adoption without inter24 vening motion. A motion to reconsider the vote 


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1 by which the motion is disposed of shall not be 

2 in order. 

3 (C) CONSIDERATION.—An implementation 

4 bill shall be considered as read. All points of 

5 order against an implementation bill and 

6 against its consideration are waived. The pre7 vious question shall be considered as ordered on 

8 an implementation bill to its passage without 

9 intervening motion except 2 hours of debate 

10 equally divided and controlled by the proponent 

11 and an opponent and one motion to limit debate 

12 on an implementation bill. A motion to recon13 sider the vote on passage of an implementation 

14 bill shall not be in order. 

15 (3) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN THE SENATE.— 

16 (A) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.—An im17 plementation bill introduced in the Senate 

18 under paragraph (1) shall be jointly referred to 

19 the committee or committees of jurisdiction, 

20 which committees shall report the bill and with 

21 a favorable recommendation, an unfavorable 

22 recommendation, or without recommendation 

23 not later than 3 days after the date on which 

24 the implementation bill is introduced. If any 

25 committee fails to report an implementation bill 


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1 within that period, that committee shall be 

2 automatically discharged from consideration of 

3 the bill, and the implementation bill shall be 

4 placed on the appropriate calendar. 

5 (B) MOTION TO PROCEED.—Notwith6 standing rule XXII of the Standing Rules of 

7 the Senate, it is in order, not later than 3 days 

8 of session after the date on which an implemen9 tation bill is reported or discharged from all 

10 committees to which it was referred, for the 

11 majority leader of the Senate or the majority 

12 leader’s designee to move to proceed to the con13 sideration of the implementation bill. It shall 

14 also be in order for any Member of the Senate 

15 to move to proceed to the consideration of the 

16 implementation bill at any time after the con17 clusion of such 3-day period. A motion to pro18 ceed is in order even though a previous motion 

19 to the same effect has been disagreed to. All 

20 points of order against the motion to proceed to 

21 an implementation bill are waived. The motion 

22 to proceed is not debatable. The motion is not 

23 subject to a motion to postpone. A motion to 

24 reconsider the vote by which the motion is 

25 agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. 


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1 If a motion to proceed to the consideration of 

2 an implementation bill is agreed to, the imple3 mentation bill shall remain the unfinished busi4 ness until disposed of. 

5 (C) CONSIDERATION.—All points of order 

6 against an implementation bill and against con7 sideration of the implementation bill are waived. 

8 Consideration of an implementation bill, includ9 ing amendments thereto, and debatable motions 

10 and appeals in connection therewith shall not 

11 exceed a total of 30 hours which shall be di12 vided equally between the majority and minority 

13 leaders or their designees. A motion further to 

14 limit debate on an implementation bill is in 

15 order, shall require an affirmative vote of a ma16 jority of the Members duly chosen and sworn, 

17 and is not debatable. Any debatable motion or 

18 appeal is debatable for not to exceed 1 hour, to 

19 be divided equally between those favoring and 

20 those opposing the motion or appeal. All time 

21 used for consideration of an implementation 

22 bill, including time used for quorum calls and 

23 voting, shall be counted against the total 30 

24 hours of consideration. 


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1 (D) LIMITATIONS ON CONSIDERATION.—A 

2 motion to postpone, or a motion to recommit 

3 the implementation bill or a motion to proceed 

4 to the consideration of other business is not in 

5 order. 

6 (E) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE7 DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 

8 relating to the application of the rules of the 

9 Senate, as the case may be, to the procedure re10 lating to an implementation bill shall be decided 

11 without debate. 

12 (4) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER HOUSE.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing an 

14 implementation bill, one House receives from 

15 the other the implementation bill— 

16 (i) the implementation bill of the 

17 other House shall be referred to a com18 mittee; and 

19 (ii) the procedure in the receiving 

20 House shall be the same as if no imple21 mentation bill had been received from the 

22 other House. 

23 (5) RULES TO COORDINATE ACTION WITH

24 OTHER HOUSE.— 


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1 (A) TREATMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION

2 BILL OF OTHER HOUSE.—If the Senate fails to 

3 introduce or consider an implementation bill 

4 under this section, the implementation bill of 

5 the House of Representatives shall be entitled 

6 to expedited floor procedures under this section. 

7 (B) TREATMENT OF COMPANION MEAS8 URES IN THE SENATE.—If following passage of 

9 an implementation bill in the Senate, the Sen10 ate then receives the implementation bill from 

11 the House of Representatives, the House-passed 

12 implementation bill shall not be debatable. The 

13 vote on passage of the implementation bill in 

14 the Senate shall be considered to be the vote on 

15 passage of the implementation bill received 

16 from the House of Representatives. 

17 (6) VETOES.—If the President vetoes an imple18 mentation bill, debate on a veto message in the Sen19 ate under this section shall be 1 hour equally divided 

20 between the majority and minority leaders or their 

21 designees. 

Æ 


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