I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 355 
To protect law enforcement officers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 13, 2023 
Mr. BACON (for himself, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. CARL, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. 
LATTA, Mr. BARR, Mr. AMODEI, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. JOHN-
SON of Ohio, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, and Mr. MEUSER) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary 
A BILL 
To protect law enforcement officers, 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 ‘‘Back the Blue Act 
of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. 
(a) KILLING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.— 
(1) OFFENSE.—Chapter 51 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
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‘‘§ 1123. Killing of law enforcement officers 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the terms ‘Federal law enforcement officer’ 
and ‘United States judge’ have the meanings given 
those terms in section 115; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘federally funded public safety of-
ficer’ means a public safety officer or judicial officer 
for a public agency that— 
‘‘(A) receives Federal financial assistance; 
and 
‘‘(B) is an agency of an entity that is a 
State of the United States, the District of Co-
lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is-
lands, or any territory or possession of the 
United States, an Indian tribe, or a unit of 
local government of that entity; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘firefighter’ includes an individual 
serving as an official recognized or designated mem-
ber of a legally organized volunteer fire department 
and an officially recognized or designated public em-
ployee member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew; 
‘‘(4) the term ‘judicial officer’ means a judge or 
other officer or employee of a court, including pros-
ecutors, court security, pretrial services officers, 
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court reporters, and corrections, probation, and pa-
role officers; 
‘‘(5) the term ‘law enforcement officer’ means 
an individual, with statutory arrest powers, involved 
in crime or juvenile delinquency control or reduction 
or enforcement of the laws; 
‘‘(6) the term ‘public agency’ includes a court 
system, the National Guard of a State to the extent 
the personnel of that National Guard are not in 
Federal service, and the defense forces of a State 
authorized by section 109 of title 32; and 
‘‘(7) the term ‘public safety officer’ means an 
individual serving a public agency in an official ca-
pacity, as a law enforcement officer, as a firefighter, 
as a chaplain, or as a member of a rescue squad or 
ambulance crew. 
‘‘(b) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any person 
to— 
‘‘(1) kill, or attempt or conspire to kill— 
‘‘(A) a United States judge; 
‘‘(B) a Federal law enforcement officer; or 
‘‘(C) a federally funded public safety offi-
cer while that officer is engaged in official du-
ties, or on account of the performance of offi-
cial duties; or 
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‘‘(2) kill a former United States judge, Federal 
law enforcement officer, or federally funded public 
safety officer on account of the past performance of 
official duties. 
‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Any person that violates subsection 
(b) shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not 
less than 10 years or for life, or, if death results, shall 
be sentenced to not less than 30 years and not more than 
life, or may be punished by death.’’. 
(2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 
for chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘1123. Killing of law enforcement officers.’’. 
(b) ASSAULT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.— 
(1) OFFENSE.—Chapter 7 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘§ 120. Assaults of law enforcement officers 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘feder-
ally funded State or local law enforcement officer’ means 
an individual involved in crime and juvenile delinquency 
control or reduction, or enforcement of the laws (including 
a police, corrections, probation, or parole officer) who 
works for a public agency (that receives Federal financial 
assistance) of a State of the United States or the District 
of Columbia. 
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‘‘(b) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful to assault a fed-
erally funded State or local law enforcement officer while 
engaged in or on account of the performance of official 
duties, or assaults any person who formerly served as a 
federally funded State or local law enforcement officer on 
account of the performance of such person’s official duties 
during such service, or because of the actual or perceived 
status of the person as a federally funded State or local 
law enforcement officer. 
‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Any person that violates subsection 
(b) shall be subject to a fine under this title and— 
‘‘(1) if the assault resulted in bodily injury (as 
defined in section 1365), shall be imprisoned not less 
than 2 years and not more than 10 years; 
‘‘(2) if the assault resulted in substantial bodily 
injury (as defined in section 113), shall be impris-
oned not less than 5 years and not more than 20 
years; 
‘‘(3) if the assault resulted in serious bodily in-
jury (as defined in section 1365), shall be impris-
oned for not less than 10 years; 
‘‘(4) if a deadly or dangerous weapon was used 
during and in relation to the assault, shall be im-
prisoned for not less than 20 years; and 
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‘‘(5) shall be imprisoned for not more than 1 
year in any other case. 
‘‘(d) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No prosecution of any of-
fense described in this section may be undertaken by 
the United States, except under the certification in 
writing of the Attorney General, or a designee, 
that— 
‘‘(A) the State does not have jurisdiction; 
‘‘(B) the State has requested that the Fed-
eral Government assume jurisdiction; 
‘‘(C) the verdict or sentence obtained pur-
suant to State charges left demonstratively 
unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating 
bias-motivated violence; or 
‘‘(D) a prosecution by the United States is 
in the public interest and necessary to secure 
substantial justice. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to limit the au-
thority of Federal officers, or a Federal grand jury, 
to investigate possible violations of this section. 
‘‘(e) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) OFFENSES NOT RESULTING IN DEATH.— 
Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person shall 
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be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any offense 
under this section unless the indictment for such of-
fense is found, or the information for such offense 
is instituted, not later than 7 years after the date 
on which the offense was committed. 
‘‘(2) OFFENSES RESULTING IN DEATH.—An in-
dictment or information alleging that an offense 
under this section resulted in death may be found or 
instituted at any time without limitation.’’. 
(2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 
for chapter 7 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘120. Assualts of law enforcement officers.’’. 
(c) FLIGHT TO AVOID PROSECUTION FOR KILLING 
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.— 
(1) OFFENSE.—Chapter 49 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘§ 1075. Flight to avoid prosecution for killing law 
enforcement officials 
‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any person 
to move or travel in interstate or foreign commerce with 
intent to avoid prosecution, or custody or confinement 
after conviction, under the laws of the place from which 
the person flees or under section 1114 or 1123, for a crime 
consisting of the killing, an attempted killing, or a con-
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spiracy to kill a Federal judge or Federal law enforcement 
officer (as those terms are defined in section 115), or a 
federally funded public safety officer (as that term is de-
fined in section 1123). 
‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person that violates subsection 
(a) shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not 
less than 10 years, in addition to any other term of impris-
onment for any other offense relating to the conduct de-
scribed in subsection (a).’’. 
(2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 
for chapter 49 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘1075. Flight to avoid prosecution for killing law enforcement officials.’’. 
SEC. 3. SPECIFIC AGGRAVATING FACTOR FOR FEDERAL 
DEATH PENALTY KILLING OF LAW ENFORCE-
MENT OFFICER. 
(a) AGGRAVATING FACTORS FOR HOMICIDE.—Sec-
tion 3592(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after paragraph (16) the following: 
‘‘(17) KILLING OF A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI-
CER, PROSECUTOR, JUDGE, OR FIRST RESPONDER.— 
The defendant killed or attempted to kill a person 
who is authorized by law— 
‘‘(A) to engage in or supervise the preven-
tion, detention, or investigation of any criminal 
violation of law; 
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(2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(4) The term ‘Facility Security Level’ means 
a security risk assessment level assigned to a Fed-
eral facility by the security agency of the facility in 
accordance with the biannually issued Interagency 
Security Committee Standard. 
‘‘(5) The term ‘civilian public access facility’ 
means a facility open to the general public.’’. 
SEC. 6. IMPROVING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW EN-
FORCEMENT AGENCIES AND THE COMMU-
NITIES THEY SERVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 2024 
through 2028, the Attorney General using covered 
amounts shall, using such amounts as are necessary not 
to exceed $20,000,000, award grants to State, local, or 
tribal law enforcement agencies and appropriate non-
governmental organizations to— 
(1) promote trust and ensure legitimacy among 
law enforcement agencies and the communities they 
serve through procedural reforms, transparency, and 
accountability; 
(2) develop comprehensive and responsive poli-
cies on key topics relevant to the relationship be-
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