Bill Summary
This proposed bill, named after Brittany Clardy, aims to address the issue of missing and murdered Black women and girls within the United States. It seeks to establish an Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls within the Department of Justice, headed by a Director appointed by the Attorney General. The office will serve as a legal and policy advisor to the Attorney General, develop recommendations for policies to address injustice in the criminal justice system's response to cases of missing and murdered Black women and girls, and coordinate with relevant federal agencies, state and local agencies, and community organizations to collect data and conduct case reviews.
The bill also calls for the establishment of a national advisory commission made up of Black women and girls who have experienced violence, abduction, or trafficking, as well as family members who have lost a loved one to this violence. The commission will work with the Office to collect data on missing person and homicide cases involving Black women and girls, as well as Amber Alerts and reports of missing Black girls. It will also conduct case reviews and make recommendations for policies to address the criminal justice system's response to cases of missing and murdered Black women and girls.
Furthermore, the bill calls for the creation of a grant program to provide funding to community-based organizations that provide services to prevent or end the targeting of Black women and girls, as well as support for victims and their families. The Director of the Office will also be responsible for reporting to Congress on the progress and impact of the initiatives within the bill. Overall, the bill aims to address the disproportionate rates of violence and lack of resources dedicated to protecting and seeking justice for Black women and girls in the United States.
Possible Impacts
1. The establishment of the Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls could provide support and resources for victims and their families, giving them a sense of justice and closure.
2. The grant program for community-based organizations could raise awareness and provide training to law enforcement and other criminal justice partners on how to handle cases involving missing and murdered Black women and girls, potentially leading to more successful investigations and prosecutions.
3. The requirement for a biennial report on missing and murdered Black women and girls could shed light on the disproportionate rates of violence and lack of protections and resources for this demographic, potentially leading to policy changes and increased support for these victims.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5573 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5573
To establish within the Department of Justice an Office for Missing and
Murdered Black Women and Girls.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 19, 2023
Ms. Omar (for herself, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms.
Crockett, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms.
Jacobs, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Williams of
Georgia, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Adams, Mr. Carter of
Louisiana, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Ms. McCollum, Ms.
Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mrs. Beatty, Mrs.
Dingell, Mr. Lieu, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Carson, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Ocasio-
Cortez, Mr. Payne, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Espaillat, Mrs.
Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Bush, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Blunt Rochester,
Ms. Craig, Ms. Strickland, Ms. Brown, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Evans,
Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Frost, Ms. Waters, Ms. McClellan, Ms. Escobar, Mr.
David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Bishop
of Georgia, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Neguse,
Mr. Ivey, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Jackson of
Illinois, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, and Mr. Clyburn) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish within the Department of Justice an Office for Missing and
Murdered Black Women and Girls.
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 ``Britanny Clardy Missing and Murdered
Black Women and Girls Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Black women and girls are uniquely vulnerable and too
easily erased from public discussions about missing and
murdered people.
(2) According to the National Crime Information Center, in
2020, of the 268,884 girls and women reported missing, 90,333,
or nearly 34 percent, were Black, while Black girls and women
make up only 15 percent of the female population in the United
States.
(3) Nationally, cases involving Black girls and women stay
open four times longer than other cases on average, as reported
by Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
(4) Nationally, Black women have the highest rates of death
due to homicide among women (4.4. per 100,000 compared to 1.5
per 100,000 for White women) and statistically shown these
murders are most often committed by an intimate partner or
someone the victim knows.
(5) Understanding the roots of how and why Black women and
girls are not as well protected from violence as White women
and girls requires attention to both historical and present-day
manifestations of interlocking systems of oppression, such as
racism and sexism.
(6) Effective research regarding the racial inequities
surrounding violence against women and girls should--
(A) involve local, relevant community engaged
research expertise in the area;
(B) seek to center community members as essential
experts through interviews and focus groups with Black
women and girls who have lived experience within the
topic;
(C) include the use of mixed methods approaches to
evaluate, monitor, and communicate data with the
broader impacted communities; and
(D) include a long-term evaluation plan to assess
the impact of the data collection efforts and involve
data specialists or consultants equipped to build
tracking and reporting infrastructure.
(7) That considering all the facts above, the existing
Federal resources dedicated to combatting violence against
women and girls is not enough to address this problem and
additional resources must be targeted directly to protecting,
supporting and providing justice to Black women and girl in the
United States.
SEC. 3. OFFICE FOR MISSING AND MURDERED BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS.
(a) Establishment.--There is established within the Department of
Justice an Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls
(hereinafter referred to as the ``Office''), which shall be headed by a
Director appointed by the Attorney General.
(b) Personnel and Funds.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall provide to the
Office such personnel and funds as necessary to establish and operate
the Office as a component of the Department.
(c) Duties of Office.--The Director of the Office shall--
(1) serve as the legal and policy advisor to the Attorney
General to ensure justice for missing and murdered Black women
and girls;
(2) develop recommendations for policies to address
injustice in the criminal justice system's response to cases of
missing and murdered Black women and girls;
(3) establish a national advisory commission of Black women
and girls who have experienced violence, abduction, or
trafficking, and family members who have lost a loved one to
this violence;
(4) coordinate with the relevant Federal agencies, the
national advisory commission established in paragraph (3),
State, local, and Tribal agencies, and local family services
agencies to--
(A) collect data on missing person and homicide
cases involving Black women and girls, including the
total number of cases, the rate at which the cases are
solved, the length of time the cases remain open, and a
comparison to similar cases involving different
demographic groups;
(B) collect data on Amber Alerts, including the
total number of Amber Alerts issued, the total number
of Amber Alerts that involve Black girls, and the
outcome of cases involving Amber Alerts disaggregated
by the child's race and sex;
(C) collect data on reports of missing Black girls,
including the number classified as voluntary runaways,
and a comparison to similar cases involving different
demographic groups; and
(D) conduct case reviews and report on the results
of such reviews for cases involving missing and
murdered Black women and girls, including--
(i) cold cases for missing Black women and
girls; and
(ii) death investigation review for cases
of Black women and girls ruled as suicide or
overdose under suspicious circumstances.
(5) develop tools and processes to evaluate the
implementation and impact of the efforts of the Office;
(6) facilitate technical assistance for State, local, and
Tribal law enforcement agencies during active cases involving
missing and murdered Black women and girls; and
(7) create and maintain a centralized data repository and
public dashboard for the tracking of missing and Murdered Black
women and girls.
(d) Report Required.--
(1) In general.--Not later than the first January 15th
after the date of enactment of this Act, and biennially
thereafter, the Director of the Office, in coordination with
the relevant Federal agencies and State, local, and Tribal
agencies, shall submit a report to the covered committees on
missing and murdered Black women and girls, including--
(A) an analysis and assessment of any data
collected in subsection (c)(4);
(B) an analysis and assessment on the intersection
between cases involving missing and murdered Black
women and girls and labor trafficking and sex
trafficking;
(C) any findings derived from the case reviews
conducted under subsection (c)(4)(D);
(D) an analysis of any case review conducted
relating to the prosecution and sentencing for cases
where a perpetrator committed a violent or exploitative
crime against a Black woman or girl;
(E) reviews sentencing guidelines for crimes
related to missing and murdered Black women and girls;
and
(F) recommendations for policies to address to the
criminal justice system's response to cases of missing
and murdered Black women and girls, including--
(i) the intersection between cases
involving missing and murdered Black women and
girls and labor trafficking and sex
trafficking; and
(ii) analyze and assess the intersection
between cases involving murdered Black women
and girls and domestic violence, including
prior instances of domestic violence within the
family or relationship, whether an offender had
prior convictions for domestic assault or
related offenses, and whether the offender used
a firearm in the murder or any prior instances
of domestic assault.
(2) Covered committees defined.--In this subsection, the
term ``covered committees'' means the Committee on the
Judiciary and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the
Senate.
SEC. 4. GRANTS TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN
SERVICES.
(a) Grant Program Established.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office shall
establish a grant program to provide grants to community-based
organizations that provide services designed to prevent or end the
targeting of Black women or girls or provide assistance to victims of
offenses that targeted Black women or girls.
(b) Grant Award.--Community-based organizations awarded a grant
under this section shall use the amount awarded under the grant program
to--
(1) provide culturally appropriate services designed to
reduce or prevent crimes that target Black women or girls;
(2) provide culturally appropriate training related to the
handling of situations and crimes targeting of Black women and
girls, including training for law enforcement officers, county
attorneys, city attorneys, judges, and other criminal justice
partners; and
(3) provide victim services or survivorship support to
Black women and girls who are victims of crimes or other
offenses or to the family members of missing and murdered Black
women and girls.
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