I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4035 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
prioritize veterans court treatment programs that ensure equal access 
for racial and ethnic minorities and women, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 22, 2021 
Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself and Mr. NADLER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 to prioritize veterans court treatment pro-
grams that ensure equal access for racial and ethnic 
minorities and women, 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 ‘‘Real Justice for Our 
Veterans Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. EQUAL ACCESS TO VETERANS COURT TREATMENT 
PROGRAMS FOR RACIAL AND ETHNIC MI-
NORITIES AND WOMEN. 
Section 2991(i)(2) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10651(i)(2)) is 
amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (B)— 
(A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(B) in clause (iii), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iv) include a description of a pro-
posal to implement a process to ensure 
that racial and ethnic minorities and 
women have equal access to the program, 
and an equal opportunity to complete the 
program, including by collecting and ana-
lyzing data related to admission in the pro-
gram and completion of the program, to 
ensure there are not disparities related to 
race, ethnicity, or sex.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 
after the date of enactment of this subpara-
graph, the Attorney General shall submit to 
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Congress a report on the effectiveness of vet-
erans treatment court programs. In preparing 
such report, the Attorney General shall conduct 
a national multi-site evaluation of such pro-
grams, including an assessment of— 
‘‘(i) the population served by such 
programs; 
‘‘(ii) whether such programs use evi-
dence-based treatments for substance use 
and mental health, including medication 
for addiction treatment; 
‘‘(iii) recidivism rates of participants 
in such programs; and 
‘‘(iv) program completion rates.’’. 
SEC. 3. VETERANS PILOT PROGRAM ON PROMISING RETEN-
TION MODELS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General, acting 
through the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, 
shall carry out a pilot program— 
(1) to provide training and technical support to 
local and State conviction review entities; and 
(2) to make grants to eligible units of local gov-
ernment to improve retention in a veterans treat-
ment court program (as such term is defined in sec-
tion 2991 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
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Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10651)) and drug 
courts. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible for a grant 
under subsection (a)(2), a unit of local government shall 
operate a veterans treatment court program or a drug 
court. 
(c) APPLICATION.—A unit of local government seek-
ing a grant through the pilot program under subsection 
(a)(2) shall submit to the Attorney General an application 
at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor-
mation as the Attorney General may reasonably require, 
and shall contain, including— 
(1) a description of the therapy model that they 
plan to implement and data to support the use of 
the therapy model, including information showing 
how the therapy will promote retention in and com-
pletion of veterans treatment court programs; and 
(2) detailed plans on how the applicant would 
test the efficacy of the therapy program. 
(d) REPORTING METRICS.—Not later than 180 days 
after receiving a grant under subsection (a)(2), a unit of 
local government shall submit to the Attorney General a 
report, which includes demographic information of partici-
pants in the veterans treatment court program and com-
pletion rates of such participants. The Attorney General 
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