Safe at Home Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4705 To require executive agencies and Federal courts to comply with address confidentiality programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 16, 2019 Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Ms. GABBARD) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over- sight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 require executive agencies and Federal courts to comply with address confidentiality programs, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Safe at Home Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4705.IH H4705 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4705 IH SEC. 2. EXECUTIVE AGENCY AND FEDERAL COURT COMPLI- 1 ANCE WITH STATE ADDRESS CONFIDEN- 2 TIALITY PROGRAMS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each executive agency and Fed- 4 eral court shall accept, for any purpose for which an indi- 5 vidual is required to provide an address to the agency or 6 court, an address designated to that individual pursuant 7 to an address confidentiality program. 8 (b) EXEMPTION FROM LIABILITY.—A participant 9 shall not be subject to Federal regulatory, civil, or criminal 10 penalties for providing a designated address in lieu of the 11 participant’s actual physical address. 12 (c) REGULATORY COMPLIANCE WITH ADDRESS CON- 13 FIDENTIALITY PROGRAMS.—Not later than 1 year after 14 the date of the enactment of this Act, each executive agen- 15 cy shall review and, as necessary, modify existing regula- 16 tions to comply with this Act. 17 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH ADDRESS CONFIDENTIALITY 18 PROGRAM PROCEDURES AND EXEMPTION FROM FOIA.— 19 In the case of an executive agency or Federal court seek- 20 ing to acquire the actual physical address of a participant, 21 the agency or court shall comply with any applicable pro- 22 cedures of the address confidentiality program for acquir- 23 ing such address. Upon acquiring such an address, the ad- 24 dress shall be considered confidential, and shall not be 25 subject to any request pursuant to section 552 of title 5, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4705.IH H4705 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4705 IH United States Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Free- 1 dom of Information Act’’), except that in extreme cir- 2 cumstances a court may order the disclosure of that ad- 3 dress pursuant to such request subject to a protective 4 order against further disclosure. 5 (e) PROMPT NOTIFICATION UPON TERMINATION 6 FROM PARTICIPATION.—If an individual’s participation in 7 an address confidentiality program is terminated, that in- 8 dividual shall promptly notify each executive agency or 9 Federal court that accepted a designated address under 10 subsection (a). 11 (f) DEFINITION.—In this Act: 12 (1) ADDRESS CONFIDENTIALITY PROGRAM.— 13 The term ‘‘address confidentiality program’’ means 14 a program implemented pursuant to State law that 15 provides a designated address, provides a mail-for- 16 warding service, and is designated by the program 17 participant as their legal agent to receive service of 18 process. 19 (2) DESIGNATED ADDRESS.—The term ‘‘des- 20 ignated address’’ means an address assigned by an 21 address confidentiality program for a program par- 22 ticipant to use in lieu of the participant’s actual 23 physical address. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4705.IH H4705 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4705 IH (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 1 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 105 of title 5, United States Code, except that such 3 term does not include the Census Bureau. 4 (4) PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘participant’’ 5 means an adult or minor who is enrolled in an ad- 6 dress confidentiality program. 7 (5) PHYSICAL ADDRESS.—The term ‘‘physical 8 address’’ means a program participant’s actual 9 home, school, or employment address. 10 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 11 the States, the District of Columbia, each territory 12 or possession of the United States, and each feder- 13 ally recognized Indian Tribe. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4705.IH H4705 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS