II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4970 

To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female law enforcement 

agents and officers of the Federal Government, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Mr. OSSOFF (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To improve the effectiveness of body armor issued to female 

law enforcement agents and officers of the Federal Government, 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 ‘‘Female Officers Bal5 listic Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINED TERM. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘ballistic resistant body armor’’ 

8 means torso ballistic protection containing soft ballistic 

9 panels, hard ballistic panels, or a combination of both, 

10 contained within a carrier, which may be concealable for 


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1 wear under a uniform shirt or external for wear over a 

2 uniform shirt, and holds panels and plates in position on 

3 the torso. 

4 SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY 

5 ARMOR TO ENSURE THE PROTECTION OF FE6 MALE AGENTS AND OFFICERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Every Federal department or 

8 agency that employs law enforcement agents or officers, 

9 when procuring ballistic resistant body armor for individ10 uals whose body shapes are most closely associated with 

11 female agents and officers, shall procure ballistic resistant 

12 body armor that— 

13 (1) is specifically designed to fully protect body 

14 shapes most closely associated with female agents 

15 and officers; 

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

17 and provide the best possible fit and coverage to 

18 allow for either a flat or shaped front panel; 

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

20 properly and have sufficient coverage in accordance 

21 with American Society for Testing and Materials 

22 (ASTM International) standards for fit; 

23 (4) has enhanced and advanced fit and tech24 nology that stops a bullet from skipping off the 


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1 chest at an upward angle into the throat region or 

2 the spinal cord area; and 

3 (5) is certified by the National Institute of Jus4 tice (referred to in this paragraph as ‘‘NIJ’’), pursu5 ant to the NIJ standard for ballistic resistant body 

6 armor, and listed on the associated NIJ Compliant 

7 Products List as successfully passing the ballistic re8 sistant body armor standards in accordance with the 

9 applicable ballistic protection level recommended by 

10 the NIJ, including passing testing that uses— 

11 (A) ballistic testing on gender-specific clay 

12 or gelatin molds to ensure better contact of 

13 nonplanar panels with clay or gelatin molds; 

14 (B) soft body armor front panels contained 

15 in soft carriers on female-shaped clay or gelatin 

16 molds designed to fill the space behind the 

17 panel; 

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

19 (D) angled shots; and 

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

21 the concerns of bullet skipping into the neckline 

22 of each test sample to address the concern of a 

23 bullet skipping. 

24 (b) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—In addition to 

25 the requirements under subsection (a), the head of any 


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1 Federal agency, before procuring ballistic resistant body 

2 armor pursuant to such subsection, shall submit a request 

3 to the Criminal Justice Technology Testing and Evalua4 tion Center of the National Institute of Justice to certify 

5 that the body armor to be purchased complies with the 

6 standards described in subsection (a). 

7 (c) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

8 (1) ISSUANCE OF BALLISTIC RESISTANT BODY

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

10 enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 

11 the following 2 years, the head of each Federal de12 partment or agency that employs law enforcement 

13 agents or officers shall submit a report to the Attor14 ney General regarding the ballistic resistant body 

15 armor issued to female agents and officers, includ16 ing, with respect to the reporting period— 

17 (A) the number of female agents and offi18 cers to whom ballistic resistant body armor was 

19 issued for performance of their official duties; 

20 (B) the number of ballistic resistant body 

21 armor units the use of which was discontinued 

22 due to noncompliance with the requirements de23 scribed in subsection (a); 

24 (C) the number of ballistic resistant body 

25 armor units issued to female agents and officers 


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1 that are compliant with the requirements de2 scribed in subsection (a); and 

3 (D) the percentage of female agents and 

4 officers of such component agency who, as of 

5 the last day of the reporting period, have been 

6 issued and are regularly using ballistic resistant 

7 body armor that complies with the requirements 

8 described in subsection (a), disaggregated by 

9 duty station. 

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

11 days after receiving all of the reports required to be 

12 submitted under paragraph (1) for a given period, 

13 the Attorney General shall submit a report that ag14 gregates all of the data contained in such reports to 

15 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

16 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

17 Representatives. 

18 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 Not later than 3 years after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, all agents and officers of any Federal 

21 department or agency that employs law enforcement 

22 agents or officers who have a body shape most closely as23 sociated 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). 

Æ 


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