I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 276 
To establish a national commission to investigate the seditious attack on 
the United States Capitol and Congress on January 6, 2021, address 
the systemic failures in the United States Capitol security and intel-
ligence apparatus to accurately assess outside threats, and study and 
propose recommendations to realign the mission of the United States 
Capitol Police, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 12, 2021 
Mr. BOWMAN (for himself, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BUSH, Ms. 
CLARKE of New York, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 
ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. JACOBS of Cali-
fornia, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. JONES, Mr. KAHELE, Ms. LEE of 
California, Ms. MENG, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, 
Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RUSH, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, 
Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GREEN of Texas, and 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish a national commission to investigate the sedi-
tious attack on the United States Capitol and Congress 
on January 6, 2021, address the systemic failures in 
the United States Capitol security and intelligence appa-
ratus to accurately assess outside threats, and study 
and propose recommendations to realign the mission of 
the United States Capitol Police, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Congressional Over-
sight of Unjust Policing Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On January 6, 2021, organized individuals 
violently attacked the United States Capitol while 
both chambers of Congress were in session, putting 
the lives of Members, Congressional staff, and sup-
port staff at risk. 
(2) Various media reports suggest that certain 
members of rank and file law enforcement officers 
aided and abetted individuals who breached security 
at the Capitol on January 6. 
(3) Various media reports indicate that neither 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) nor the 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted 
a risk assessment of demonstration activities, nor 
issued a joint department bulletin as is customary 
for large and notable public events. 
(4) Officers Brian Sicknick and Howard 
Liebengood died after defending the Capitol Com-
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plex and protecting those serving and working there 
on January 6, 2021. 
(5) The United States Capitol Police provides 
limited information to the public about employee 
misconduct, and the Office of the Inspector General 
of the United States Capitol Police does not publicly 
disclose its reports, unlike the vast majority of other 
Inspectors General. 
(6) In recent decades, community organizers 
have formed social justice and criminal reform move-
ments to call for substantive changes in response to 
various incidents across the country in which law en-
forcement has used excessive force against civilians, 
often resulting in the death of those who present or 
identify as Black or Brown. 
(7) In the Nation’s Capital, and on the United 
States Capitol grounds, the disparate treatment of 
individuals is ever-present, as various Members of 
Congress and Congressional staff who come from 
communities of color have documented instances of 
refusal of entry and mistreatment by United States 
Capitol Police (USCP) officers. 
(8) Further, in 2013, agents from the United 
States Secret Service and United States Capitol Po-
lice shot Miriam Carey, an unarmed individual, more 
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than 20 times while she was in her car with her in-
fant, hitting Carey five times and killing her. 
(9) In 2018, United States Secret Service 
agents took Jessica Ford into custody without exces-
sive force, even though she intentionally rammed a 
White House checkpoint with a gun in her hand. 
(10) In 2017, during debates about Public Law 
115–97, United States Capitol Police officers forc-
ibly dragged peaceful demonstrators from the dis-
ability community out of wheelchairs and other sup-
portive medical devices. 
(11) In 2020, armed members of the District of 
Columbia National Guard were dispatched to stand 
guard on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial amidst 
peaceful protests. 
(12) In 2020, United States Park Police and 
National Guard troops forced people into unmarked 
vans and used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to 
disperse peaceful protestors for the President’s 
planned visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church. 
(13) In 2017, the FBI reported that white su-
premacists posed a ‘‘persistent threat of lethal vio-
lence’’ that has produced more fatalities than any 
other category of domestic terrorists since 2000. 
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(14) In 2015, the FBI’s Counterterrorism Pol-
icy Directive and Policy Guide warned that subjects 
of ‘‘domestic terrorism investigations focused on mi-
litia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and 
sovereign citizen extremists often have identified ac-
tive links to law enforcement officers’’. 
(15) A 2006 intelligence assessment, based on 
FBI investigations and open sources warned of 
‘‘white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement . 
. . by organized groups and by self-initiated infiltra-
tion by law enforcement personnel sympathetic to 
white supremacist causes’’. 
(16) Since 2000, hundreds of Federal, State, 
and local law enforcement officials have been caught 
expressing racist, nativist, and sexist views on social 
media. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF U.S. COMMISSION ON UNJUST 
POLICING. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com-
mission to be known as the ‘‘U.S. Commission on Unjust 
Policing’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 
composed of 19 members appointed as follows: 
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(A) 8 members shall be appointed by the 
leadership of Congress, of whom— 
(i) 2 shall be appointed by the major-
ity leader of the Senate; 
(ii) 2 by the minority leader of the 
Senate; 
(iii) 2 by the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives; and 
(iv) 2 by the minority leader of the 
House of Representatives. 
(B) 8 members shall be appointed by the 
Chairs of the following caucuses— 
(i) 2 shall be appointed by the Con-
gressional Black Caucus; 
(ii) 2 by the Congressional Hispanic 
Caucus; 
(iii) 2 by the Congressional Asian Pa-
cific American Caucus; and 
(iv) 2 by the Congressional Progres-
sive Caucus. 
(C) 3 members shall be appointed by the 
President, each of whom shall be individuals 
who are not officers or employees of the Fed-
eral Government and who are experts in at 
least one of the following categories: 
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(i) Racial equity in law enforcement. 
(ii) Preventing white nationalist ex-
tremist violence. 
(iii) Large-scale reform of law en-
forcement agencies. 
(2) QUALIFICATIONS.— 
(A) AREAS OF EXPERTISE.—Each member 
of the Commission shall have knowledge or ex-
pertise, whether by education, experience, train-
ing, or activism, in at least one of the following 
areas: 
(i) Justice and civil rights. 
(ii) Law enforcement and intelligence 
oversight and reform. 
(iii) Diverse and inclusive personnel 
management. 
(iv) Social and emotional development. 
(v) Effective education and training 
methods to combat implicit and uncon-
scious bias. 
(vi) Behavioral economics. 
(vii) Combating white supremacist, 
and other extremist groups, movements, 
and organizing efforts. 
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(B) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
MEMBERS
AP-
POINTED
BY
CONGRESSIONAL
LEADERSHIP.— 
Each of the persons appointing members of the 
Commission under paragraph (1) shall ensure 
that one of the members so appointed is an in-
dividual who is not an officer or employee of the 
Federal Government. 
(C) 
CIVILIAN
REPRESENTATION.—Not 
fewer than 4 members of the Commission shall 
be individuals who are not officers of law en-
forcement agencies. 
(D) DIVERSITY.—It is the intent of Con-
gress that persons appointed to the Commission 
under paragraph (1) be persons who represent 
diverse economic, professional, and social back-
grounds. 
(3) CONSULTATION AND APPOINTMENT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The President, Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, minority lead-
er of the House of Representatives, majority 
leader of the Senate, and minority leader of the 
Senate shall consult among themselves before 
appointing the members of the Commission in 
order to achieve, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, representation of various fields of exper-
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tise to ensure maximum impact by the Commis-
sion. 
(B) COMPLETION
OF
APPOINTMENTS.— 
The President, Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives, minority leader of the House of 
Representatives, majority leader of the Senate, 
and minority leader of the Senate shall conduct 
the consultation under subparagraph (A) and 
make their respective appointments not later 
than 60 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act. 
(C) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the mem-
bership of the Commission shall not affect the 
powers of the Commission and shall be filled in 
the same manner as the original appointment 
not later than 30 days after the vacancy occurs. 
(4) TERMS.—Each member of the Commission 
shall serve for a term of one year, and may be re-
appointed to additional terms. 
(5) REMOVAL.—Subject to the approval of a 
majority of the members of the Commission, a mem-
ber of the Commission may be removed for cause at 
any time by the person who appointed the member 
if the member fails to meet responsibilities of the 
commission. 
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(c) MEETINGS.— 
(1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days 
after the date on which all members of the Commis-
sion have been appointed, the Commission shall hold 
its first meeting. 
(2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 
meet at the call of the Chair. 
(B) FREQUENCY.—The Chair shall call a 
meeting of the members of the Commission not 
less frequently than once every 3 months. 
(3) QUORUM.—Ten members of the Commis-
sion shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number 
may hold hearings. 
(4) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission 
shall select a Chair and Vice Chair from among its 
members. The Chair and Vice Chair shall serve in 
that position for a term of 1 year and may be re-
appointed for additional terms. 
(5) TRANSPARENCY AND PUBLIC INPUT.—Each 
meeting of the Commission for which a quorum is 
present shall be open to the public, either in person 
or remotely through digital technology, and the 
Commission shall establish procedures for members 
of the public to submit testimony at Commission 
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meetings regarding the topics presented during such 
meetings. 
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the Commission are 
as follows: 
(1) To carry out a comprehensive investigation 
into decisions of leadership at the United States 
Capitol Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
the United States Secret Service, and the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security, leading up to and dur-
ing the siege of the United States Capitol on Janu-
ary 6, 2021, including an assessment on whether 
conscious and unconscious bias was a factor in the 
gross miscalculation of the risk posed by protestors 
to Members of Congress and staff on that date. 
(2) To carry out a comprehensive investigation 
in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation and other Federal entities as appropriate 
into whether current members of the United States 
Capitol Police have ties to white supremacist and 
other extremist groups, movements, and organizing 
efforts; and whether any members of the United 
States Capitol Police neglected their duty and 
colluded with protestors or other law enforcement 
entities. 
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(3) To recommend specific measures and re-
forms to Congress and other stakeholders on how 
the United States Capitol Police must realign prior-
ities and practice to address disparate use of force 
and surveillance targets in and around the Capitol 
Complex, including changes to existing law, changes 
to Federal programs, and suggestions for actions the 
private sector can take. 
(4) To recommend specific measures and re-
forms to Congress and other stakeholders to realign 
recruitment, hiring, and retention policies and prac-
tices of the United States Capitol Police to address 
both conscious and unconscious biases, including 
changes to existing law, changes to Federal pro-
grams, and suggestions for actions the private sector 
can take. 
(b) CONSULTATION WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS 
AND AGENCIES.—In carrying out its duties, the Commis-
sion shall consult with officials of appropriate departments 
and agencies of the Federal Government, including each 
of the following: 
(1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
(2) The United States Secret Service. 
(3) The Department of Homeland Security. 
(4) The Department of Justice. 
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(c) REPORTS.— 
(1) ONGOING REPORTS.—Because it is the in-
tent of Congress that the Commission expeditiously 
and carefully identify and rectify inequities in how 
law enforcement at the Capitol Complex surveils and 
protects members of the Congressional community, 
not later than 9 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to 
Congress and the President an initial report on the 
issues described in subsection (a) and related issues. 
(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—In the year following its 
first meeting and annually thereafter, the commis-
sion shall provide to Congress and the public a re-
port on the status of its work. 
(3) INTERNET
AVAILABILITY.—All reports of 
the Commission shall be available to the public via 
a publicly accessible Federal website that is promi-
nently marketed and shared by the Commission. 
SEC. 5. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 
(a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold such 
hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such 
testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission 
considers appropriate to carry out its duties under this 
Act. 
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(b) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—If author-
ized by the Commission, any member or agent of the Com-
mission may take any action which the Commission is au-
thorized to take under this Act. 
(c) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall secure 
directly from any Federal department or agency 
such information as the Commission considers nec-
essary to carry out the provisions of this Act. Upon 
the request of the Chair of the Commission, the 
head of such department or agency shall furnish 
such information to the Commission as expeditiously 
as practicable. 
(2) TREATMENT
OF
CLASSIFIED
INFORMA-
TION.—In the case of information sought by the 
Commission under paragraph (1) that is classified, 
the Federal department or agency involved shall pro-
vide the Commission with an unclassified summary 
of the information, except that any Member of the 
Commission who has received an appropriate secu-
rity clearance that is commensurate with the sensi-
tivity of the classified information involved may re-
ceive such classified information. 
(d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 
the request of the Commission, the Administrator of the 
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General Services Administration shall provide to the Com-
mission, on a reimbursable basis, administrative support 
services necessary for the Commission to carry out its re-
sponsibilities under this Act. 
(e) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the Commission is authorized— 
(A) to procure supplies, services, and prop-
erty; and 
(B) to make or enter into contracts, leases, 
or other legal agreements. 
(2) LIMITATION.—The Commission may not 
enter into any contract, lease, or other legal agree-
ment that extends beyond the date of the termi-
nation of the Commission under section 7(a). 
(f) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 
the United States mail in the same manner and under the 
same conditions as other departments and agencies of the 
Federal Government. 
(g) GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND DEVISES.—The Commis-
sion is authorized to solicit, accept, use, and dispose of 
gifts, bequests, or devises of money, services, or property, 
both real and personal, for the purpose of covering the 
costs incurred by the Commission to carry out its duties 
under this Act. 
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SEC. 6. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 
(a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Members of the 
Commission shall serve without compensation for their 
service, but may receive travel expenses, including per 
diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable 
provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
(b) STAFF.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chair of the Commis-
sion shall, in consultation with the members Com-
mission, appoint an executive director and such 
other additional personnel as may be necessary to 
enable the Commission to perform its duties. 
(2) COMPENSATION.—The Chair of the Com-
mission may appoint the executive director and other 
personnel without regard to the provisions of title 5, 
United States Code, governing appointments in the 
competitive service, and may fix their pay without 
regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub-
chapter III of chapter 53 of that title relating to 
classification and General Schedule pay rates, except 
that an individual so appointed may not receive pay 
in excess of the annual rate of pay for level IV of 
the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 
5, United States Code. 
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(3) APPLICATION
OF
CONGRESSIONAL
AC-
COUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995.—For purposes of the 
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1301 et seq.)— 
(A) the Commission shall be considered an 
employing office; and 
(B) the employees of the Commission shall 
be considered covered employees. 
(c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Upon 
request of the Commission, the head of any Federal de-
partment or agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, 
any employee of that department or agency to the Com-
mission to assist it in carrying out its duties under this 
Act. 
(d) ACCEPTANCE OF VOLUNTARY SERVICES.—Not-
withstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, 
the Commission may accept and use voluntary and uncom-
pensated services as the Commission deems necessary. 
SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF COMMISSION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall terminate 
on the earlier of— 
(1) the date that is 2 calendar years after the 
initial meeting of the Commission; or 
(2) upon completion and presentation of all re-
ports to Congress from the Commission. 
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(b) APPLICATION
OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM-
MITTEE ACT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the provisions of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall apply to the 
activities of the Commission under this Act. 
(2) EXCEPTION.—Section 14(a)(2) of such Act 
(5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission. 
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this Act such sums as may be nec-
essary for each of the first 2 fiscal years which begin after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) AMOUNTS AVAILABLE.—Amounts appropriated 
in accordance with this section for any fiscal year shall 
remain available until the termination of the Commission. 
Æ 
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