Title: HOMESTEAD Act of 2019
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
Help Oversee, Manage, and Evaluate Safe Treatment and Ensure Access without Delay Act of 2019 or the HOMESTEAD Act of 2019
This bill prohibits a detention facility from (1) preventing a Member of Congress from entering for the purpose of conducting oversight, or (2) making any temporary modification that alters what a visiting Member may observe. Further, a Member is not required to provide notice of intent to enter a detention facility for the purpose of conducting oversight.
A detention facility is any facility used to detain or house aliens and operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Health and Human Services.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3868 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3868

 To grant Members of Congress access to detention facilities, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2019

Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Ms. Dean, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, Ms. 
Shalala, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Ryan, Ms. DeLauro, and Ms. Wilson of 
   Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Homeland Security, 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 committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To grant Members of Congress access to detention facilities, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Help Oversee, Manage, and Evaluate 
Safe Treatment and Ensure Access without Delay Act of 2019'' or the 
``HOMESTEAD Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. MANDATORY ACCESS TO DETENTION FACILITIES.

    (a) In General.--A Member of Congress may not be prevented from 
entering any detention facility for the purpose of conducting 
oversight.
    (b) Temporary Modification.--The head of a detention facility may 
not make any temporary modification at the detention facility in a 
manner that alters what is observed by a visiting Member of Congress.
    (c) No Notice Required.--A Member of Congress shall not be required 
to provide notice of intent to enter a detention facility for the 
purpose of conducting oversight.
    (d) Detention Facility Defined.--In this section, the term 
``detention facility'' means any facility--
            (1) used to detain or otherwise house aliens; and
            (2) operated by or for--
                    (A) the Department of Homeland Security (including 
                any facility operated by a private contractor with the 
                Department); or
                    (B) the Department of Health and Human Services 
                (including any facility operated by a private 
                contractor with the Department).
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