I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1429
To protect tenants in public housing and housing assisted under the rental 
assistance program under section 8 of the United States Housing Act 
of 1937 who are victims from eviction by reason of criminal activity. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 25, 2003
Ms. LEE (for herself, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. 
CORRINE BROWN of Florida, and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 
Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To protect tenants in public housing and housing assisted 
under the rental assistance program under section 8 
of the United States Housing Act of 1937 who are 
victims from eviction by reason of criminal activity.
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 ‘‘One Strike and You’re 
Out! Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC HOUSING TENANTS. 
Paragraph (6) of section 6(l) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(l)(6)) is amended 
by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: 
‘‘; except that such criminal activity, engaged in by a 
member of a tenant’s household or any guest or other per-
son under the tenant’s control, shall not be cause for ter-
mination of tenancy of the tenant if the tenant or imme-
diate member of the tenant’s family is a victim of domestic 
violence or dating violence and, as a result, could not con-
trol or prevent the criminal activity relating to domestic 
violence or dating violence; and except that nothing in this 
paragraph may be construed to limit the authority of a 
public housing agency to evict individuals who engage in 
criminal acts of physical violence against family members 
or others, and in all cases, a public housing agency shall 
consider the safety, security, and continued maintenance 
of victims of domestic violence to be of paramount impor-
tance’’. 
SEC. 3. TENANTS OF HOUSING ASSISTED UNDER SECTION 8 
PROGRAM. 
Clause (iii) of section 8(d)(1)(B) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii)) is 
amended by inserting before the semicolon at the end the 
following: ‘‘; except that such criminal activity, engaged 
in by a member of a tenant’s household or any guest or
other person under the tenant’s control, shall not be cause 
for termination of tenancy of the tenant if the tenant or 
immediate member of the tenant’s family is a victim of 
domestic violence or dating violence and, as a result, could 
not control or prevent the criminal activity relating to do-
mestic violence or dating violence; and except that nothing 
in this clause may be construed to limit the authority of 
a public housing agency to evict individuals who engage 
in criminal acts of physical violence against family mem-
bers or others, and in all cases, a public housing agency 
shall consider the safety, security, and continued mainte-
nance of victims of domestic violence to be of paramount 
importance’’. 
SEC. 4. REPORTING BY PHAS ON EVICTIONS FOR DOMES-
TIC AND DATING VIOLENCE. 
Section 6 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 
(42 U.S.C. 1437d) is amended by inserting after sub-
section (o) the following new subsection: 
‘‘(p) REPORTS ON EVICTIONS FOR DOMESTIC AND 
DATING VIOLENCE.—Each public housing agency shall 
submit a report annually to the Secretary on the number 
of persons whose tenancy in public housing of the agency 
was terminated, and the number whose tenancy in housing 
assisted by the agency with amounts made available under
section 8 was terminated, because of criminal activity re-
lating to domestic violence or dating violence.’’.
Æ