I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7354 
To establish an Interagency Task Force to examine the conditions and experi-
ences of Black women and girls in education, economic development, 
healthcare, labor and employment, housing, justice and civil rights, to 
promote community-based methods for mitigating and addressing harm 
and ensuring accountability, and to study societal effects on Black women 
and girls, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 14, 2024 
Ms. KELLY of Illinois (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mrs. WATSON 
COLEMAN, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. BLUNT 
ROCHESTER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. WATERS, 
Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. LEE 
of California, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. 
BROWN, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. 
MCBATH, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. STRICKLAND, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mrs. SYKES, 
Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. PLASKETT, and Ms. JACK-
SON LEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education 
and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, and Financial Services, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish an Interagency Task Force to examine the con-
ditions and experiences of Black women and girls in 
education, economic development, healthcare, labor and 
employment, housing, justice and civil rights, to promote 
community-based methods for mitigating and addressing 
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harm and ensuring accountability, and to study societal 
effects on Black women and girls, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Protect Black Women 
and Girls Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The United States Commission on Civil 
Rights (USCCR) advises Congress, as well as the 
President and the American public, on ‘‘discrimina-
tion or denials of equal protection of the laws under 
the Constitution of the United States because of 
color, race, religion, sex, age, disability, or national 
origin, or in the administration of justice’’. 
(2) The USCCR routinely has difficulties col-
lecting information from Federal agencies despite 
having the power to take depositions, issue interrog-
atories and subpoenas, and broad authority language 
for the collection of information from Federal agen-
cies. 
(3) The activities mandated herein for the 
USCCR are explicitly authorized by section 3 of the 
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Civil Rights Commission Act of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 
1975a). 
(4) An interagency task force is a task force or-
ganized in collaboration with two or more Federal 
agencies, using government-wide resources, and ex-
pertise to— 
(A) examine a particular problem, issue, or 
event; 
(B) discuss strategies as a collective group 
to address such problem, issue, or event; 
(C) identify programs, policies, and fund-
ing; and 
(D) make recommendations for changes in 
public policy. 
(5) Black women and girls are individuals who 
identify as a woman, female, or femme. 
(6) Implicit bias on the basis of race is experi-
enced by all Black people, and demonstrated more 
clearly, in the troubling conditions for Black women 
and girls in our school discipline policies and the 
connections to the school-to-prison pipeline for chil-
dren of color with disabilities. 
(7) Black girls are suspended and expelled from 
school at rates that exceed other girls and all other 
boys except Black boys. 
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(8) 40 percent of all suspected human traf-
ficking victims in the U.S. are Black, and Black 
children account for nearly 51 percent of all juvenile 
prostitution arrests. 
(9) In studying the conditions of confinement 
for women in prison, Black women are admitted to 
prison at 3.9 times the rate of White women. 
SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON BLACK WOMEN AND 
GIRLS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 
in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, shall establish an Interagency Task Force on 
Black women and girls (referred to in this Act as the 
‘‘Task Force’’) to carry out the purposes and duties de-
scribed in subsections (d) and (e), in compliance with re-
quirements and restrictions under law, as applicable, in-
cluding those prohibiting discrimination on the basis of 
race and sex. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall consist of 
members appointed as follows: 
(1) The head of each of the following agencies 
shall appoint at least one officer or employee, but no 
more than two, from a relevant office of the fol-
lowing: 
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(A) The Department of Health and 
Human Services. 
(B) The Department of Education. 
(C) The Department of Labor. 
(D) The National Institutes of Health. 
(E) The Department of Justice. 
(F) The Department of Housing and 
Urban Development. 
(2) The Attorney General shall appoint the fol-
lowing: 
(A) One officer or employee of a defender 
organization described in section 3006A(g)(2) 
of title 18, United States Code. 
(B) Two representatives of community- 
based organizations that have expertise working 
on culturally specific issues unique to the needs 
of Black women and girls. 
(c) TERMS.—The term of a member of the Task 
Force shall be 4 years, and the member shall be eligible 
for consecutive reappointment by the head of their respec-
tive agency or the Attorney General. 
(d) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Task Force is to 
examine the conditions and experiences of Black women 
and girls, to identify and assess the efficacy of policies 
and programs of Federal, State, and local governments de-
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signed to improve outcomes for Black women and girls, 
and to make recommendations to improve such policies 
and programs. 
(e) DUTIES.—The duties of the Task Force are as 
follows: 
(1) EDUCATION.—The Task Force shall iden-
tify and recommend programs, policies, and incen-
tives for adoption by Federal, State, or local govern-
ments with respect to the following: 
(A) Community-led educational and sup-
port programs for Black girls in kindergarten 
through grade 12, which shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(i) Social and emotional learning pro-
grams, 
including 
those 
that 
employ 
facilitators trained in identity-based dia-
logue. 
(ii) Support for girls who have a par-
ent or guardian who is incarcerated or has 
a substance use disorder. 
(iii) Support for a college scholarship 
fund and programs to increase access to 
post-secondary education for Black chil-
dren of incarcerated parents. 
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(iv) Classroom and after school em-
powerment programs for Black girls. 
(v) Community-led civic engagement 
and community organizing education. 
(vi) Classroom and community-led art, 
theater, and STEM learning centers. 
(vii) School-based and community- 
based programs to eliminate the detention 
and incarceration of school-aged children 
that employ trained de-escalation profes-
sionals. 
(viii) Household access to school-based 
communication technologies. 
(ix) School-based or community-based 
restorative justice programs instead of ex-
pulsion of girls from school. 
(x) Curriculum, tutoring, and activi-
ties support for homeschooling and virtual 
learning families. 
(xi) School-based or community-based 
programs on comprehensive, age-appro-
priate, sexual health education, which 
teaches about consent and healthy relation-
ships across the spectrum. 
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(B) Community-led educational programs 
for Black women, including— 
(i) providing household access to in-
formation and communication technologies 
to narrow the digital divide and enhance 
access to higher education; 
(ii) emotional support training for 
Black mothers, parents, or other guardians 
on child development and behavioral and 
discipline management; and 
(iii) educational programs to support 
immigrant women, including English learn-
ing 
courses, 
citizenship 
preparation 
courses, and GED courses. 
(C) School-based and community-based re-
storative and transformative justice curriculums 
and spaces. 
(D) Policies that prohibit religious dis-
crimination against Black Muslim girls in kin-
dergarten through grade 12, which may include 
the following: 
(i) Allowing girls to always wear all 
cultural and religious garments. 
(ii) Excusing absences for Muslim 
girls during religious holidays. 
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(iii) Avoiding scheduling exams during 
Muslim holidays that require such girls to 
fast. 
(E) Educational programs for Black girls 
in kindergarten through grade 12 with learning, 
developmental, and emotional disabilities that 
may pose an obstacle to learning and excelling 
in academics, and support groups for parents of 
such children. 
(F) Programs and support groups for 
mothers, parents, or guardians of a child with 
disabilities. 
(2) 
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT.—The 
Task 
Force shall identify and recommend programs, poli-
cies, and incentives for adoption by Federal, State, 
or local governments with respect to the following: 
(A) Pre-apprenticeship, nontraditional, and 
career exploration programs for careers in the 
skilled trades and transportation. 
(B) Programs that give priority to black 
women-owned businesses, which qualify as dis-
advantaged business enterprises, when award-
ing yearly and multi-year contract dollars. 
(C) Entrepreneurship and cooperative busi-
ness training for Black women. 
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(D) Support for low-income Black women 
workers. 
(E) Career mentorship for Black women. 
(F) Support for Black women workers over 
the age of 50 to enter the workforce. 
(G) Support for Black women who leave 
the workforce to care for a dependent (such as 
an elderly relative or child) to re-enter the 
workforce after a significant absence. 
(H) Increase in sustainable employment 
for women headed households. 
(I) Limitation of barriers to occupational 
licensure for Black women. 
(J) Establishment of vocational training 
and career technical education. 
(K) Job placement and career assistance 
programs for Black youth experiencing home-
lessness or discrimination. 
(L) Support for Black women and girls 
with disabilities entering the workforce in part-
nership with local businesses. 
(3) HEALTHCARE.—The Task Force shall iden-
tify and recommend programs, policies, and incen-
tives for adoption by Federal, State, or local govern-
ments with respect to the following: 
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(A) Developing a study of the health, in-
cluding the mental health, of Black women and 
girls. 
(B) Programs to improve maternal health 
from the prenatal to postpartum period and in-
fant mortality outcomes for Black mothers and 
children. 
(C) Community-based, on demand mental 
health and trauma services. 
(D) Gender and culturally responsive do-
mestic violence (including violence against an 
intimate partner) and interpersonal violence re-
sponders. 
(E) Local neighborhood safe houses. 
(F) Long-term, on demand, substance use 
disorder treatment. 
(G) Community-based emergency response 
teams for women and girls. 
(H) Access to comprehensive well-women 
care for Black women and girls, including local 
testing for mammograms, papsmears, sexually 
transmitted infections, other medical testing, 
and general health screenings. 
(I) Local neighborhood COVID–19 testing. 
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(J) Programs to assist Black mothers, par-
ents, or guardians of children with disabilities 
and Black women with disabilities with obtain-
ing affordable health insurance. 
(4) JUSTICE
AND
CIVIL
RIGHTS.—The Task 
Force shall identify and recommend programs, poli-
cies, and incentives for adoption by Federal, State, 
or local governments with respect to the following: 
(A) Reentry assistance and reunification 
planning and community-based programming 
for women victims of sexual, domestic, or inti-
mate partner violence, or the war on drugs or 
women experiencing mental illness or substance 
abuse. 
(B) Programs for Black women and girls 
that promote the treatment of underlying prob-
lems instead of incarceration, including the ex-
pansion of the use of parole and diversion pro-
grams and preventing the incarceration of 
mothers who are primary caretakers of minor 
children. 
(C) Access to legal assistance provided by 
the Office on Violence Against Women of the 
Department of Justice for child custody and pa-
rental termination proceedings. 
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(D) Funding that enables communities to 
reimagine community-based programming. 
(E) Support for formerly incarcerated 
Black women, in collaboration with community- 
led organizations. 
(F) Permitting formerly incarcerated and 
convicted women (not including incarceration or 
convictions for violent offenses, human traf-
ficking, or sex offenses) to be eligible to serve 
as a foster parent. 
(G) Judicial discretion in sentencing and 
procedures for resentencing. 
(H) Examination of policies to reform and 
limit laws requiring mandatory minimum sen-
tences. 
(I) 
Examination 
of 
vacatur 
and 
expungement laws for criminal offenses com-
mitted by victims of human and sex trafficking. 
(J) Promoting access for Black women 
with disabilities to be sheltered, or held in men-
tal healthcare facilities rather than imprisoned, 
especially for nonviolent crimes. 
(5) HOUSING.—The Task Force shall identify 
and recommend programs, policies, and incentives 
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for adoption by Federal, State, or local governments 
with respect to the following: 
(A) Increasing access to the following: 
(i) Permanent and transitional hous-
ing for women with children, formerly in-
carcerated women, women with disabilities, 
and elderly women. 
(ii) Legal representation for women 
with children and women 60 years of age 
and older facing eviction. 
(iii) Homeownership assistance funds 
for Black women. 
(B) Increasing accessibility and availability 
of long-term neighborhood transitional and per-
manent supportive housing for Black women re-
entering the community following incarceration. 
(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to Congress a re-
port on— 
(1) the activities conducted under this section; 
and 
(2) the activities conducted under this section 
that are ongoing or are in continuation of existing 
Federal programs, including information on addi-
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tional work undertaken in response to duties of the 
Task Force under subsection (e). 
(g) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to Congress, the 
President, and to each chief executive of a State rec-
ommendations on policies, practices, programs, and incen-
tives that may be adopted to improve outcomes for Black 
women and girls. 
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS RE-
PORT ON ISSUES IMPACTING BLACK WOMEN 
AND GIRLS. 
(a) DUTIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
United States Commission on Civil Rights shall conduct 
a comprehensive study and collect data with respect to the 
effects on Black women and girls of the following: 
(1) The lack of contract opportunities with the 
Federal Government for Black women. 
(2) The wage gap and pay equity for Black 
women in comparison to other individuals. 
(3) The high maternal mortality rate and the 
steps needed to reduce such rate. 
(4) The high infant mortality rate of Black 
girls. 
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(5) The impact of screening for breast cancer 
at an earlier age than 40 years of age for Black 
women. 
(6) The school-to-prison pipeline and its impact 
on Black women and girls, including Black women 
and girls with disabilities. 
(7) Housing stability, homelessness, and access 
to affordable rental housing and home loans for 
Black women. 
(8) The prevalence and rate of violence, includ-
ing intimate partner violence and homicide, against 
Black women and girls, including Black transgender 
women and girls, and the effect of prevention strate-
gies and barriers to service for such women and 
girls. 
(9) Excessive use of force by law enforcement, 
including when death results, against Black women 
and girls, including Black transgender women and 
girls. 
(10) The over-incarceration of Black women 
and girls, including Black transgender women and 
girls, in the juvenile and adult justice system. 
(11) Establishing a moratorium on building 
new women’s prisons or jails. 
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(12) Repealing of the Adoption Safe Families 
Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115). 
(13) Repealing any policy or law that creates 
barriers to housing or precludes formerly incarcer-
ated people from living with family members in pub-
lic or private housing. 
(14) Neighborhood family reunification support. 
(15) The high rate of sex trafficking of Black 
women and girls, and the impact of State vacatur 
and expungement laws for victims of human and sex 
trafficking. 
(16) Any additional items described in section 
2(e) that the Commission determines appropriate. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
United States Commission on Civil Rights shall submit to 
Congress, the President, and make publicly available on-
line, a report outlining the Commission’s activities and 
findings under subsection (a). 
(c) INFORMATION SHARING.—All relevant entities of 
the United States Government, including the Department 
of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Serv-
ices, the Department of Education, the Department of 
Labor, and the National Institutes of Health, shall provide 
information to the United States Commission on Civil 
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