I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1034 

To require the Attorney General to issue guidance to law enforcement agencies 

as they respond to increased levels of domestic violence during the 

COVID–19 public health emergency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2021 

Ms. WEXTON (for herself, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. COOPER, 

Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mrs. HINSON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. 

KUSTER, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. 

TAKANO, Mr. SIRES, Ms. WILD, Mr. CARSON, and Mr. HASTINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Attorney General to issue guidance to law 

enforcement agencies as they respond to increased levels 

of domestic violence during the COVID–19 public health 

emergency, 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 ‘‘Domestic Violence 

5 Public Health Emergency Guidance Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GUIDANCE ON ADDRESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 

2 DURING THE COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH 

3 EMERGENCY. 

4 (a) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 

6 consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 

7 Services, domestic violence stakeholders, and State, local, 

8 and tribal law enforcement stakeholders, shall issue guid9 ance to Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement 

10 agencies which contain promising and model practices for 

11 addressing domestic violence and protecting the safety of 

12 law enforcement officers and all other parties involved, 

13 during the COVID–19 public health emergency. In issuing 

14 the guidance required under this subsection, the Attorney 

15 General shall— 

16 (1) identify law enforcement-centered promising 

17 or model practices for— 

18 (A) addressing domestic violence during 

19 the COVID–19 public health emergency; 

20 (B) adopting and implementing such pro21 grams and practices; 

22 (C) implementing measures to mitigate ex23 posure to COVID–19, including adequate use of 

24 personal protective equipment, when responding 

25 to domestic violence incidents that create potenVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:42 Mar 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1034.IH H1034

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1 tial exposure to COVID–19 for all parties in2 volved; and 

3 (D) ensuring safety and limiting risk of ex4 posure to COVID–19 for family members of law 

5 enforcement officers; 

6 (2) identify victim-centered promising and 

7 model practices for— 

8 (A) assessing the potential threat of vio9 lence to the victim and their children, while en10 suring safety and privacy; 

11 (B) safety planning for victims and their 

12 children and taking preventive steps to ensure 

13 safety for all parties involved during the 

14 COVID–19 public health emergency; 

15 (C) timely submission of records for do16 mestic violence protective orders and other re17 lated court orders and convictions for crimes re18 lated to intimate partner violence; 

19 (D) enforcing domestic violence protective 

20 orders, other related court orders, and child 

21 custody orders in the context of domestic vio22 lence; and 

23 (E) ensuring community coordinated re24 sponses to domestic violence; and 

25 (3) create a resource guide, including— 


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1 (A) the promising and model practices 

2 identified under paragraphs (1) and (2); 

3 (B) educational resources on risk factors 

4 related to COVID–19 that exacerbate the risk 

5 of escalation and lethality of reports of domestic 

6 violence, such as fear of illness, drug and alco7 hol abuse, economic uncertainty, unemploy8 ment, and grief; 

9 (C) educational resources on training, in10 cluding cultural humility and vicarious trauma, 

11 for law enforcement officers responding to do12 mestic violence; 

13 (D) educational resources on investigation 

14 and prosecutorial tools for law enforcement offi15 cers responding to domestic violence; 

16 (E) resources for victims of domestic vio17 lence during the COVID–19 public health emer18 gency, including information related to the na19 tional domestic violence hotline authorized 

20 under section 313 of the Family Violence Pre21 vention and Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10413). 

22 (b) DISSEMINATION.—Not later than 30 days after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

24 shall— 


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1 (1) issue the guidance developed under sub2 section (a) directly to Federal, State, local, and trib3 al law enforcement agencies; 

4 (2) make the guidance publicly available by 

5 posting the guidance electronically on the website of 

6 the Department of Justice; 

7 (3) collaborate with the Secretary of Health 

8 and Human Services to make the guidance available 

9 on the website of the Department of Health and 

10 Human Services. 

11 (c) EXTENSION.—The Attorney General may extend 

12 the deadlines under subsections (a) and (b), in the case 

13 that meeting such deadlines is impracticable. In the case 

14 that the Attorney General extends such a deadline pursu15 ant to this subsection, the Attorney General shall notify 

16 Congress, which notification shall include a date before 

17 which the Attorney General will complete each such re18 quirement. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) The term ‘‘domestic violence’’ has the 

22 meaning given the term under section 40002(a)(8) 

23 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 

24 Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(8)). 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer2 gency’’ means the period beginning on the date on 

3 which the emergency period under section 

4 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 1320b–5(g)(1) was declared and ending 90 days 

6 after the date on which such period ends. 

7 (3) The term ‘‘COVID–19’’ means the 2019 

8 Novel Coronavirus or 2019–nCoV. 

9 (4) The term ‘‘personal protective equipment’’ 

10 means any protective equipment required to prevent 

11 the wearer from contracting COVID–19, including 

12 gloves, N–95 respirator masks, gowns, goggles, face 

13 shields, or other equipment required for safety. 

14 (5) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

15 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

16 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin 

17 Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. 

18 (6) The term ‘‘Federal law enforcement agen19 cy’’ includes law enforcement agencies of the Armed 

20 Forces. 

Æ 


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