IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1693 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 29, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary AN ACT To eliminate the disparity in sentencing for cocaine offenses, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Sep 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1693.RFS H1693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1693 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Eliminating a Quan- 2 tifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act of 2021’’ or 3 the ‘‘EQUAL Act of 2021’’. 4 SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF INCREASED PENALTIES FOR CO- 5 CAINE OFFENSES WHERE THE COCAINE IN- 6 VOLVED IS COCAINE BASE. 7 (a) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.—The following 8 provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 9 801 et seq.) are repealed: 10 (1) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(A) (21 11 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)). 12 (2) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(B) (21 13 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(B)). 14 (b) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IMPORT AND EXPORT 15 ACT.—The following provisions of the Controlled Sub- 16 stances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) 17 are repealed: 18 (1) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(1) (21 19 U.S.C. 960(b)(1)). 20 (2) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(2) (21 21 U.S.C. 960(b)(2)). 22 (c) APPLICABILITY TO PENDING AND PAST CASES.— 23 (1) PENDING CASES.—This section, and the 24 amendments made by this section, shall apply to any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Sep 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1693.RFS H1693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1693 RFS sentence imposed after the date of enactment of this 1 Act, regardless of when the offense was committed. 2 (2) PAST CASES.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a defend- 4 ant who, on or before the date of enactment of 5 this Act, was sentenced for a Federal offense 6 described in subparagraph (B), the sentencing 7 court may, on motion of the defendant, the Bu- 8 reau of Prisons, the attorney for the Govern- 9 ment, or on its own motion, impose a reduced 10 sentence after considering the factors set forth 11 in section 3553(a) of title 18, United States 12 Code. 13 (B) FEDERAL OFFENSE DESCRIBED.—A 14 Federal offense described in this subparagraph 15 is an offense that involves cocaine base that is 16 an offense under one of the following: 17 (i) Section 401 of the Controlled Sub- 18 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 841). 19 (ii) Section 1010 of the Controlled 20 Substances Import and Export Act (21 21 U.S.C. 960). 22 (iii) Section 404(a) of the Controlled 23 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 844(a)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Sep 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1693.RFS H1693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1693 RFS (iv) Any other Federal criminal of- 1 fense, the conduct or penalties for which 2 were established by reference to a provision 3 described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii). 4 (C) DEFENDANT NOT REQUIRED TO BE 5 PRESENT.—Notwithstanding Rule 43 of the 6 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the de- 7 fendant is not required to be present at any 8 hearing on whether to impose a reduced sen- 9 tence pursuant to this paragraph. 10 (D) NO REDUCTION FOR PREVIOUSLY RE- 11 DUCED SENTENCES.—A court may not consider 12 a motion made under this paragraph to reduce 13 a sentence if the sentence was previously im- 14 posed or previously reduced in accordance with 15 this Act. 16 (E) NO REQUIREMENT TO REDUCE SEN- 17 TENCE.—Nothing in this paragraph may be 18 construed to require a court to reduce a sen- 19 tence pursuant to this paragraph. 20 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 21 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 22 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 23 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 24 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Sep 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1693.RFS H1693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1693 RFS Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 1 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 2 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 3 vote on passage. 4 Passed the House of Representatives September 28, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Sep 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1693.RFS H1693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS