119-hr3603

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3603 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 3603

 To require Federal law enforcement and prison officials to obtain or 
 provide immediate medical attention to individuals in custody who 
 display medical distress.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 May 23, 2025

 Ms. Pressley (for herself, Mr. Carson, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. 
 Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-
 Cortez, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Schakowsky, and Ms. Tlaib) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require Federal law enforcement and prison officials to obtain or 
 provide immediate medical attention to individuals in custody who 
 display medical distress.

 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 ``Andrew Kearse Accountability for 
Denial of Medical Care Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. MEDICAL ATTENTION FOR INDIVIDUALS IN FEDERAL CUSTODY DISPLAYING 
 MEDICAL DISTRESS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``

Sec. 251. Medical attention for individuals in Federal custody 
 displaying medical distress
 ``

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section--
 ``

    (1) the term `appropriate Inspector General', with 
 respect to a covered official, means--
 ``
        (A) the Inspector General of the Federal agency 
 that employs the covered official; or
 ``
        (B) in the case of a covered official employed by 
 a Federal agency that does not have an Inspector 
 General, the Inspector General of the Department of 
 Justice;
 ``

    (2) the term `covered official' means--
 ``
        (A) a Federal law enforcement officer (as defined 
 in 

section 115);
 ``
        (B) an officer or employee of the Bureau of 
 Prisons; or
 ``
            (C) an officer or employee of the United States 
 Marshals Service; and
 ``

    (3) the term `medical distress' includes breathing 
 difficulties.
 ``

    (b) Requirement.--
 ``

    (1) Offense.--It shall be unlawful for a covered official 
 to negligently fail to obtain or provide immediate medical 
 attention to an individual in Federal custody who displays 
 medical distress in the presence of the covered official, if 
 the individual suffers unnecessary pain, injury, or death as a 
 result of that failure.
 ``

    (2) Penalty.--A covered official who violates paragraph

    (1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more 
 than 1 year, or both.
 ``

    (3) State civil enforcement.--Whenever an attorney 
 general of a State has reasonable cause to believe that a 
 resident of the State has been aggrieved by a violation of 
 paragraph

    (1) by a covered official, the attorney general, or 
 another official, agency, or entity designated by the State, 
 may bring a civil action in any appropriate district court of 
 the United States to obtain appropriate equitable and 
 declaratory relief.
 ``
            (c) Inspector General Investigation.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--The appropriate Inspector General shall 
 investigate any instance in which--
 ``
        (A) a covered official fails to obtain or provide 
 immediate medical attention to an individual in Federal 
 custody who displays medical distress in the presence 
 of the covered official; and
 ``
        (B) the individual suffers unnecessary pain, 
 injury, or death as a result of the failure to obtain 
 or provide immediate medical attention.
 ``

    (2) Referral for prosecution.--If an appropriate 
 Inspector General, in conducting an investigation under 
 paragraph

    (1) , concludes that the covered official acted 
 negligently in failing to obtain or provide immediate medical 
 attention to the individual in Federal custody, the appropriate 
 Inspector General shall refer the case to the Attorney General 
 for prosecution under this section.
 ``

    (3) Confidential complaint process.--The Inspector 
 General of a Federal agency that employs covered officials 
 shall establish a process under which an individual may 
 confidentially submit a complaint to the Inspector General 
 regarding an incident described in paragraph

    (1) involving a 
 covered official employed by the Federal agency (or, in the 
 case of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, 
 involving a covered official employed by a Federal agency that 
 does not have an Inspector General).
 ``
            (d) Training.--The head of an agency that employs covered 
officials shall provide training to each such covered official on 
obtaining or providing medical assistance to individuals in medical 
distress.''.

    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``251. Medical attention for individuals in Federal custody displaying 
 medical distress.''.
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