I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4797 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to require that Bureau of Prisons 
help Federal prisoners who are being released to obtain appropriate 
ID to facilitate their reentry into society at no cost to the prisoner, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 22, 2019 
Mr. TAKANO (for himself and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to require that 
Bureau of Prisons help Federal prisoners who are being 
released to obtain appropriate ID to facilitate their re-
entry into society at no cost to the prisoner, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Access 
Through Identification Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROVISION OF PHOTO IDENTIFICATION CARD FOR 
PRISONERS. 
(a) TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.—Subpara-
graph (B) of section 4042(a)(6) of the title 18, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(B) obtain, at no cost to the prisoner, 
identification documents, including social secu-
rity cards, birth certificates, and driver’s li-
censes or State photo identification documents; 
and’’. 
(b) SECOND CHANCE ACT OF 2007.—Section 231(b) 
of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60541(b)) 
is amended by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) OBTAINING IDENTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall as-
sist prisoners in obtaining, at no cost to the 
prisoner, identification documents prior to re-
lease from a term of imprisonment in a Federal 
prison or if the individual was not sentenced to 
a term of imprisonment in a Federal prison, 
prior to release from a sentence to a term in 
community confinement, including a social secu-
rity card, birth certificate, and driver’s license 
or other State photo identification document. 
‘‘(B) NOTICE TO PRISONERS OF INABILITY 
TO OBTAIN DOCUMENTS.— 
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‘‘(i) LACK OF RESPONSE FROM FED-
ERAL OR STATE AGENCY.—If the Director 
cannot obtain a copy of a document re-
quired to obtain a form of identification 
described in subparagraph (A) because of 
inaction by the Federal or State agency 
from which the document was requested, 
the Director shall provide to the prisoner— 
‘‘(I) a written statement that ex-
plains what steps the Director took in 
trying to obtain the document; and 
‘‘(II) any documents transmitted 
to the Director by the Federal or 
State agency in response to the re-
quest for the document. 
‘‘(ii) LACK OF AUTHORIZATION FROM 
PRISONER.—If the Director cannot obtain 
a copy of a document required to obtain a 
form of identification described in subpara-
graph (A) because the prisoner does not 
provide the authorization required to ob-
tain the document, the Director shall pro-
vide a written statement to the prisoner 
that explains why the document was not 
obtained. 
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