II 

Calendar No. 492 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4305 

[Report No. 118–214] 

To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female agents and 

officers of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 9, 2024 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. OSSOFF, and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female 

agents and officers of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘DHS Better Ballistic 

5 Body Armor Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (a) BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY ARMOR.—The term 

4 ‘‘ballistic resistant body armor’’ means torso ballistic pro5 tection containing soft ballistic panels, hard ballistic pan6 els, or a combination of both, contained within a carrier, 

7 which may be concealable for wear under a uniform shirt 

8 or external for wear over a uniform shirt, and holds panels 

9 and plates in position on the torso. 

10 (b) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ means 

11 the Department of Homeland Security. 

12 (c) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security. 

14 SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY 

15 ARMOR TO ENSURE THE PROTECTION OF 

16 THE DEPARTMENT’S FEMALE AGENTS AND 

17 OFFICERS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require com19 ponents of the Department, when procuring ballistic re20 sistant body armor for individuals whose body shapes are 

21 most closely associated with female agents and officers, 

22 to procure ballistic resistant body armor that— 

23 (1) is specifically designed to fully protect body 

24 shapes most closely associated with female agents 

25 and officers; 


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1 (2) is made to conform to the individual wearer 

2 and provide the best possible fit and coverage to 

3 allow for either a flat or shaped front panel; 

4 (3) is assessed and verified, upon delivery, to fit 

5 properly and have sufficient coverage in accordance 

6 with American Society for Testing and Materials 

7 (ASTM International) standards for fit; 

8 (4) has enhanced and advanced fit and tech9 nology that stops a bullet from skipping off the 

10 chest at an upward angle into the throat region or 

11 the spinal cord area; and 

12 (5) is certified by the National Institute of Jus13 tice (referred to in this paragraph as ‘‘NIJ’’), pursu14 ant to the NIJ standard for ballistic resistant body 

15 armor, and listed on the associated NIJ Compliant 

16 Products List as successfully passing the ballistic re17 sistant body armor standards in accordance with the 

18 applicable ballistic protection level recommended by 

19 the NIJ, including passing testing that uses— 

20 (A) ballistic testing on gender-specific clay 

21 or gelatin molds to ensure better contact of 

22 nonplanar panels with clay or gelatin molds; 

23 (B) soft body armor front panels contained 

24 in soft carriers on female-shaped clay or gelatin 


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1 molds designed to fill the space behind the 

2 panel; 

3 (C) shots to be placed on shaping features; 

4 (D) angled shots; and 

5 (E) an angled shot at the chest that tests 

6 the concerns of bullet skipping into the neckline 

7 of each test sample to address the concern of a 

8 bullet skipping. 

9 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

10 (1) ISSUANCE OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY

11 ARMOR.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 

13 the following 2 years, the head of each relevant com14 ponent agency of the Department shall submit a re15 port to the Secretary regarding the ballistic resistant 

16 body armor issued to female agents and officers of 

17 such component agency, including, with respect to 

18 the reporting period— 

19 (A) the number of female agents and offi20 cers to whom ballistic resistant body armor was 

21 issued for performance of their official duties; 

22 (B) the number of ballistic resistant body 

23 armor units the use of which was discontinued 

24 due to noncompliance with the requirements de25 scribed in subsection (a); 


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1 (C) the number of ballistic resistant body 

2 armor units issued to female agents and officers 

3 that are compliant with the requirements de4 scribed in subsection (a); and 

5 (D) the percentage of female agents and 

6 officers of such component agency who, as of 

7 the last day of the reporting period, have been 

8 issued and are regularly using ballistic resistant 

9 body armor that complies with the requirements 

10 described in subsection (a), disaggregated by 

11 duty station. 

12 (2) AGGREGATE REPORT.—Not later than 30 

13 days after receiving all of the reports required to be 

14 submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

15 submit a report that aggregates all of the data con16 tained in such reports to the Committee on Home17 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen18 ate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

19 House of Representatives. 

20 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 Not later than 3 years after the date of the enact22 ment of this Act, all agents and officers of any component 

23 of the Department who have a body shape most closely 

24 associated with female agents and officers shall have been 


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1 issued body armor that meets the requirements described 

2 in section 3(a). 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DHS Better Ballistic 

5 Body Armor Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (a) BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY ARMOR.—The term 

9 ‘‘ballistic resistant body armor’’ means torso ballistic pro10 tection containing either soft ballistic panels, hard ballistic 

11 panels, or a combination of both, contained within a car12 rier, which may be concealable for wear under a uniform 

13 shirt or external for wear over a uniform shirt, and holds 

14 panels and plates in position on the torso. 

15 (b) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ means 

16 the Department of Homeland Security. 

17 (c) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 

18 Secretary of Homeland Security. 

19 SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY 

20 ARMOR TO ENSURE THE PROTECTION OF THE 

21 DEPARTMENT’S FEMALE AGENTS AND OFFI22 CERS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require compo24 nents of the Department, when procuring ballistic resistant 

25 body armor for individuals whose body shapes are most 


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1 closely associated with female agents and officers, to procure 

2 ballistic resistant body armor that— 

3 (1) is specifically designed to fully protect body 

4 shapes most closely associated with female agents and 

5 officers; 

6 (2) is made to conform to the individual wearer 

7 and provide the best possible fit and coverage to allow 

8 for either a flat or shaped front panel; 

9 (3) is assessed and verified, upon delivery, to fit 

10 properly and have sufficient coverage in accordance 

11 with American Society for Testing and Materials 

12 (ASTM International) standards for fit; 

13 (4) has enhanced and advanced fit and tech14 nology that stops a bullet from skipping off the chest 

15 at an upward angle into the throat region or the spi16 nal cord area; and 

17 (5) is certified by the National Institute of Jus18 tice (referred to in this paragraph as ‘‘NIJ’’), pursu19 ant to the NIJ standard for ballistic resistant body 

20 armor, and listed on the associated NIJ Compliant 

21 Products List as successfully passing the ballistic re22 sistant body armor standards in accordance with the 

23 applicable ballistic protection level recommended by 

24 the NIJ, including passing testing that uses, for each 

25 test sample— 


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1 (A) ballistic testing on gender-specific clay 

2 or gelatin molds to ensure better contact of 

3 nonplanar panels with clay or gelatin molds; 

4 (B) soft body armor front panels contained 

5 in soft carriers on female-shaped clay or gelatin 

6 molds designed to fill the space behind the panel; 

7 (C) shots to be placed on shaping features; 

8 (D) angled shots; 

9 (E) an angled shot at the chest to address 

10 the concern of a bullet skipping into the neckline; 

11 and 

12 (F) any additional testing criteria rec13 ommended by the NIJ after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act. 

15 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

16 (1) ISSUANCE OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY

17 ARMOR.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the 

19 following 2 years, the head of each relevant compo20 nent agency of the Department shall submit a report 

21 to the Secretary regarding the ballistic resistant body 

22 armor issued to female agents and officers of such 

23 component agency, including, with respect to the re24 porting period— 


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1 (A) the number of female agents and officers 

2 to whom ballistic resistant body armor was 

3 issued for performance of their official duties; 

4 (B) the number of ballistic resistant body 

5 armor units issued to female agents and officers, 

6 the use of which was discontinued due to non7 compliance with the requirements described in 

8 subsection (a); 

9 (C) the number of ballistic resistant body 

10 armor units issued to female agents and officers 

11 that are compliant with the requirements de12 scribed in subsection (a); and 

13 (D) the percentage of female agents and offi14 cers of such component agency who, as of the last 

15 day of the reporting period, have been issued bal16 listic resistant body armor that complies with 

17 the requirements described in subsection (a), 

18 disaggregated by duty station. 

19 (2) AGGREGATE REPORT.—Not later than 30 

20 days after receiving all of the reports required to be 

21 submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

22 submit a report that aggregates all of the data con23 tained in such reports to the Committee on Homeland 

24 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 


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1 the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

2 Representatives. 

3 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act, all agents and officers of any component of the 

6 Department whose duties require body armor and who have 

7 a body shape most closely associated with female agents and 

8 officers shall have been issued body armor that meets the 

9 requirements described in section 3(a). 


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Calendar No. 492 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4305 

[Report No. 118–214] 

A BILL 

To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued 

of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. to female agents and officers of the Department 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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