I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 155 
To establish licensing standards for law enforcement, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2021 
Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish licensing standards for law enforcement, 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 ‘‘Providing Officer Li-
censing to Increase Confidence for Everyone Act’’ or the 
‘‘POLICE Act’’. 
SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT LICENSING STANDARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 
consultation with appropriate nongovernmental associa-
tions (such as the International Association of Directors 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:23 Jan 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H155.IH
H155
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
of Law Enforcement Standards and Training and the 
Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agen-
cies), shall issue licensing standards for law enforcement 
officers based on best practices for law enforcement. Such 
licensing standards shall be reviewed and, if necessary, 
modified every 5 years. 
(b) FEDERAL LICENSING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, each Federal law 
enforcement officer shall be licensed in accordance 
with the licensing standards issued pursuant to sub-
section (a). 
(2) CONTINUING
EDUCATION.—Each Federal 
law enforcement officer who has received a license 
under paragraph (1) shall take annual continuing 
education classes on such topics as the Attorney 
General may require to maintain the license for a 
year. 
(3) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER DE-
FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘Federal law 
enforcement officer’’ has the meaning given the term 
in section 115 of title 18, United States Code. 
(c) STATE LICENSING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, a State shall— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:23 Jan 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H155.IH
H155
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
(A) have in effect a licensing system under 
which each State and local law enforcement of-
ficer shall be licensed in accordance with the li-
censing standards issued pursuant to subsection 
(a); and 
(B) have in effect a continuing education 
program that is substantially similar to the pro-
gram for Federal law enforcement officers 
under subsection (b)(2). 
(2) BYRNE.—If a State fails to comply with the 
requirement under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, 
the State shall be subject to a 50 percent reduction 
of the amount that would otherwise be awarded in 
the following fiscal year to that State under subpart 
1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et 
seq.). 
(3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to 
a State for failure to comply with this subsection 
shall be reallocated to States that have complied in 
accordance with subpart 1 of part E of title I of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.). 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:23 Jan 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H155.IH
H155
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS