I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1374 

To prevent the abuse and exploitation of older individuals. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2009 

Mr. CHANDLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prevent the abuse and exploitation of older individuals. 

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 ‘‘Elder Abuse Preven5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The number of older Americans who are 

9 abused, neglected, or exploited is increasing, and a 

10 large percentage of elder abuse cases are not re11 ported to Federal and State law enforcement au12 thorities. 


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1 (2) The number of Americans aged 65 and 

2 older is projected to increase exponentially in the 

3 coming years, and many of these valued citizens will 

4 begin to constitute a vulnerable population at in5 creased risk of abuse and exploitation in domestic 

6 and community-based settings. 

7 (3) The projected increase in the number of 

8 Americans aged 65 and over is expected to result in 

9 a corresponding increase in the number of cases of 

10 elder abuse, which suggests an urgent need for com11 prehensive consideration of means by which such 

12 abuse can be prevented, reported, and prosecuted by 

13 Federal and State authorities. 

14 (4) Violent, physical, and sexual assaults upon 

15 older Americans are particularly abhorrent and 

16 should be prosecuted vigorously by Federal and 

17 State law enforcement authorities. Such acts should 

18 be deterred by appropriate penalties including en19 hanced penalties and the elimination of parole for 

20 individuals convicted of violent sexual offenses 

21 against the elderly. 


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1 SEC. 3. NO PAROLE FOR SEXUAL OFFENSES COMMITTED 

2 AGAINST THE ELDERLY OR FOR SEXUALLY 

3 VIOLENT PREDATORS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year after the ex5 piration of the period specified in subsection (b)(1) in 

6 which a State receives funds for a program referred to 

7 in subsection (b)(2), the State shall have in effect through8 out the State laws and policies that prohibit parole for 

9 any individual who is— 

10 (1) convicted of a criminal sexual offense 

11 against a victim who is elderly, which shall include 

12 any such offense under State law for conduct that 

13 would constitute an offense under chapter 109A of 

14 title 18, United States Code, had the conduct oc15 curred in the special maritime and territorial juris16 diction of the United States or in a Federal prison; 

17 or 

18 (2) a sexually violent predator. 

19 (b) COMPLIANCE AND INELIGIBILITY.— 

20 (1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Each State shall have 

21 not more than 3 years from the date of enactment 

22 of this Act to comply with subsection (a), except 

23 that— 

24 (A) the Attorney General may grant an ad25 ditional 2 years to a State that is making good 


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1 faith efforts to comply with such subsection; 

2 and 

3 (B) the Attorney General shall waive the 

4 requirements of subsection (a) if compliance 

5 with such subsection by a State would be un6 constitutional under the constitution of such 

7 State. 

8 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—For any fiscal 

9 year after the expiration of the period specified in 

10 paragraph (1), a State that fails to comply with sub11 section (a) shall not receive 10 percent of the funds 

12 that would otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year 

13 to the State under subpart 1 of part E of title I of 

14 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

15 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), whether character16 ized as the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local 

17 Law Enforcement Assistance Programs, the Local 

18 Government Law Enforcement Block Grants Pro19 gram, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assist20 ance Grant Program, or otherwise. 

21 (c) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated under a 

22 program referred to in subsection (b)(2) to a State for 

23 failure to fully comply with subsection (a) shall be reallo24 cated under that program to States that have not failed 

25 to comply with such subsection. 


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1 (d) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this section, 

2 the term ‘‘sexually violent predator’’ means a person who 

3 has been convicted of a sexually violent offense and who 

4 suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder 

5 that makes the person likely to engage in predatory sexu6 ally violent offenses. 

7 SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL SENTENCING 

8 GUIDELINES. 

9 (a) REQUEST FOR IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION BY

10 THE UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION.—Pur11 suant to its authority under section 994(p) of title 28, 

12 United States Code, and in accordance with this section, 

13 the United States Sentencing Commission is requested 

14 to— 

15 (1) promptly review the sentencing guidelines 

16 applicable to sexual offenses committed against the 

17 elderly; 

18 (2) expeditiously consider the promulgation of 

19 new sentencing guidelines or amendments to existing 

20 sentencing guidelines to provide an enhancement for 

21 such offenses; and 

22 (3) submit to Congress an explanation of ac23 tions taken by the Sentencing Commission pursuant 

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1 ommendations the Sentencing Commission may have 

2 for combating offenses described in paragraph (1). 

3 (b) CONSIDERATIONS IN REVIEW.—In carrying out 

4 this section, the Sentencing Commission is requested to— 

5 (1) ensure that the sentencing guidelines and 

6 policy statements reflect the serious nature of such 

7 offenses and the need for aggressive and appropriate 

8 law enforcement action to prevent such offenses; 

9 (2) assure reasonable consistency with other 

10 relevant directives and with other guidelines; 

11 (3) account for any aggravating or mitigating 

12 circumstances that might justify exceptions, includ13 ing circumstances for which the sentencing guide14 lines currently provide sentencing enhancements; 

15 (4) make any necessary conforming changes to 

16 the sentencing guidelines; and 

17 (5) assure that the guidelines adequately meet 

18 the purposes of sentencing as set forth in section 

19 3553(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code. 

20 (c) EMERGENCY AUTHORITY AND DEADLINE FOR

21 COMMISSION ACTION.—The United States Sentencing 

22 Commission is requested to promulgate the guidelines or 

23 amendments provided for under this section as soon as 

24 practicable, and in any event not later than the 180 days 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, in accordance with 


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1 the procedures sent forth in section 21(a) of the Sen2 tencing Reform Act of 1987, as though the authority 

3 under that Act had not expired. 

Æ 


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