Restoring Access Through Identification Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1315 To amend title 18, United States Code, to require that Bureau of Prisons help Federal prisoners who are being released to obtain appropriate ID to facilitate their reentry into society at no cost to the prisoner, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 24, 2021 Mr. TAKANO (for himself and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to require that Bureau of Prisons help Federal prisoners who are being released to obtain appropriate ID to facilitate their re- entry into society at no cost to the prisoner, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Access 4 Through Identification Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1315.IH H1315 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1315 IH SEC. 2. PROVISION OF PHOTO IDENTIFICATION CARD FOR 1 PRISONERS. 2 (a) TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.—Subpara- 3 graph (B) of section 4042(a)(6) of the title 18, United 4 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(B) obtain, at no cost to the prisoner, 6 identification documents, including social secu- 7 rity cards, birth certificates, and driver’s li- 8 censes or State photo identification documents; 9 and’’. 10 (b) SECOND CHANCE ACT OF 2007.—Section 231(b) 11 of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60541(b)) 12 is amended by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: 13 ‘‘(1) OBTAINING IDENTIFICATION.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall as- 15 sist prisoners in obtaining, at no cost to the 16 prisoner, identification documents prior to re- 17 lease from a term of imprisonment in a Federal 18 prison or if the individual was not sentenced to 19 a term of imprisonment in a Federal prison, 20 prior to release from a sentence to a term in 21 community confinement, including a social secu- 22 rity card, birth certificate, and driver’s license 23 or other State photo identification document. 24 ‘‘(B) NOTICE TO PRISONERS OF INABILITY 25 TO OBTAIN DOCUMENTS.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1315.IH H1315 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1315 IH ‘‘(i) LACK OF RESPONSE FROM FED- 1 ERAL OR STATE AGENCY.—If the Director 2 cannot obtain a copy of a document re- 3 quired to obtain a form of identification 4 described in subparagraph (A) because of 5 inaction by the Federal or State agency 6 from which the document was requested, 7 the Director shall provide to the prisoner— 8 ‘‘(I) a written statement that ex- 9 plains what steps the Director took in 10 trying to obtain the document; and 11 ‘‘(II) any documents transmitted 12 to the Director by the Federal or 13 State agency in response to the re- 14 quest for the document. 15 ‘‘(ii) LACK OF AUTHORIZATION FROM 16 PRISONER.—If the Director cannot obtain 17 a copy of a document required to obtain a 18 form of identification described in subpara- 19 graph (A) because the prisoner does not 20 provide the authorization required to ob- 21 tain the document, the Director shall pro- 22 vide a written statement to the prisoner 23 that explains why the document was not 24 obtained. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1315.IH H1315 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1315 IH ‘‘(C) REPORT.—On an annual basis, the 1 Director shall submit to Congress a report on 2 the receipt of driver’s licenses or other State 3 photo identification documents by prisoners de- 4 scribed in subparagraph (A) that includes, for 5 the previous year— 6 ‘‘(i) the number of prisoners who re- 7 ceived such an identification document; 8 and 9 ‘‘(ii) the number of prisoners released 10 without receiving such an identification 11 document, and the reasons that such pris- 12 oners did not receive such an identification 13 document.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1315.IH H1315 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS