Words Matter Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3111 To amend Federal law to remove the terms ‘‘mentally retarded’’ and ‘‘mental retardation’’, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 5, 2023 Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PHIL- LIPS, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. KEATING, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. TONKO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mr. MOLINARO, Mrs. HOUCHIN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. NICKEL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. WILD, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. DUNCAN, Ms. LETLOW, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. MCGARVEY, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. MANN, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. KUSTER, and Ms. DELBENE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend Federal law to remove the terms ‘‘mentally retarded’’ and ‘‘mental retardation’’, 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 ‘‘Words Matter Act of 4 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3111 IH SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF ‘‘MENTALLY RETARDED’’ AND ‘‘MEN- 1 TAL RETARDATION’’ FROM FEDERAL LAW. 2 (a) CONTRACTS FOR MEDICAL CARE FOR SPOUSES 3 AND CHILDREN.—Section 1079(d)(3)(B) of title 10, 4 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘is moderately 5 or severely mentally retarded, has a serious physical dis- 6 ability, or has’’ and inserting ‘‘has a moderate to severe 7 intellectual disability, a serious physical disability, or’’. 8 (b) MORTGAGE INSURANCE FOR NURSING HOMES, 9 INTERMEDIATE CARE FACILITIES, AND BOARD AND CARE 10 HOMES.—Section 232(d)(4)(A) of the National Housing 11 Act (12 U.S.C. 1715w(d)(4)(A)) is amended by striking 12 ‘‘the mentally retarded or developmentally disabled’’ and 13 inserting ‘‘individuals with intellectual or developmental 14 disabilities’’. 15 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF A SENTENCE OF DEATH.— 16 Section 3596(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amend- 17 ed by striking ‘‘is mentally retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘has 18 an intellectual disability’’. 19 (d) FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME DEFINITION.—Sec- 20 tion 4(9)(A) of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act 21 (25 U.S.C. 1603(9)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘mental 22 retardation’’ and inserting ‘‘intellectual disability’’. 23 (e) GENERAL PROGRAMS DEFINITIONS.—Section 24 701 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 25 U.S.C. 1665) is amended by striking ‘‘mental retardation’’ 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3111 IH and inserting ‘‘intellectual disability’’ each place it ap- 1 pears. 2 (f) GRANT AUTHORITY.—Section 2201 of the Omni- 3 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 4 U.S.C. 10471) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘mental retar- 6 dation’’ and inserting ‘‘intellectual disabilities’’; and 7 (2) in paragraph (2)— 8 (A) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘a 9 mentally ill or mentally retarded offender’’ and 10 inserting ‘‘an offender who has a mental illness 11 or intellectual disability’’; and 12 (B) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘of a 13 mentally ill or mentally retarded defendant’s 14 cases’’ and inserting ‘‘cases of a defendant who 15 has a mental illness or intellectual disability’’. 16 (g) MENTAL HEALTH COURTS DEFINITIONS.—Sec- 17 tion 2202(2) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 18 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10472(2)) is amended by 19 striking ‘‘mental retardation’’ and inserting ‘‘intellectual 20 disability’’ each place it appears. 21 (h) DONATION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY THROUGH 22 STATE AGENCIES.—Section 549(c)(3)(B)(iv) of title 40, 23 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the mentally 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3111 IH retarded or physically handicapped’’ and inserting ‘‘indi- 1 viduals with intellectual or physical disabilities’’. 2 (i) TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIRECT CARE 3 WORKERS.—Section 747A(a) of the Public Health Service 4 Act (42 U.S.C. 293k–1(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘men- 5 tal retardation’’ and inserting ‘‘intellectual disabilities’’. 6 (j) CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR ACTS INVOLVING 7 FEDERAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS.—Section 1128B of 8 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b) is amended 9 by striking ‘‘the mentally retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘indi- 10 viduals with intellectual disabilities’’ each place it appears. 11 (k) LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY OR PROVIDER.— 12 Section 6201(a)(6)(E)(ix) of the Patient Protection and 13 Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7l(a)(6)(E)(ix)) is 14 amended by striking ‘‘the mentally retarded’’ and insert- 15 ing ‘‘individuals with intellectual disabilities’’. 16 (l) GRANTS FOR PLANNING COMPREHENSIVE ACTION 17 TO RESPOND TO THE NEEDS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH IN- 18 TELLECTUAL DISABILITIES.—Title XVII of the Social Se- 19 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1391 et seq.) is amended— 20 (1) in the title heading by striking ‘‘COMBAT 21 MENTAL RETARDATION’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘MEET THE NEEDS OF INDIVIDUALS 23 WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3111 IH (2) in section 1701, by striking ‘‘combat mental 1 retardation’’ and inserting ‘‘meet the needs of indi- 2 viduals with intellectual disabilities’’ each place it 3 appears; 4 (3) in section 1702— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘needed to combat mental 6 retardation’’ and inserting ‘‘needed to meet the 7 needs of individuals with intellectual disabil- 8 ities’’; 9 (B) by striking ‘‘the mental retardation 10 problem and of the need for combating it’’ and 11 inserting ‘‘such needs’’; 12 (C) by striking ‘‘relating to the various as- 13 pects of mental retardation and its prevention, 14 treatment, or amelioration’’ and inserting ‘‘to 15 meet such needs’’; and 16 (D) by striking ‘‘community action to com- 17 bat mental retardation’’ and inserting ‘‘commu- 18 nity action to meet such needs’’; and 19 (4) in section 1703 by striking ‘‘the mentally 20 retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals with intellectual 21 disabilities’’. 22 (m) REQUIREMENTS FOR, AND ASSURING QUALITY 23 CARE IN, SKILLED NURSING FACILITIES.—Section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3111 IH 1819(b)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i– 1 3(b)(4)) is amended— 2 (1) in subparagraph (A)(vii) by striking ‘‘men- 3 tally ill and mentally retarded residents’’ and insert- 4 ing ‘‘residents with mental illnesses or intellectual 5 disabilities’’; and 6 (2) in subparagraph (C)(ii)(IV) by striking ‘‘the 7 mentally ill and the mentally retarded’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘individuals with mental illnesses or intellectual dis- 9 abilities’’. 10 (n) GRANTS TO STATES FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE 11 PROGRAMS.—Title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 12 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) is amended— 13 (1) by striking ‘‘intermediate care facility for 14 the mentally retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘intermediate 15 care facility for individuals with intellectual disabil- 16 ities’’ each place it appears; 17 (2) by striking ‘‘intermediate care facilities for 18 the mentally retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘intermediate 19 care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabil- 20 ities’’ each place it appears; 21 (3) in section 1905(d)— 22 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) 23 by striking ‘‘the mentally retarded or persons 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3111 IH with’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals with intellec- 1 tual disabilities or’’; 2 (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘mentally 3 retarded individuals’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals 4 with intellectual disabilities’’; and 5 (C) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘mentally 6 retarded individual’’ and inserting ‘‘individual 7 who has an intellectual disability’’; 8 (4) in the section heading of section 1910 by 9 striking ‘‘THE MENTALLY RETARDED’’ and insert- 10 ing ‘‘INDIVIDUALS WITH INTELLECTUAL DIS- 11 ABILITIES’’; 12 (5) in section 1915(c)(7)(C) by striking ‘‘men- 13 tal retardation or a related condition’’ and inserting 14 ‘‘intellectual disabilities or related conditions’’; 15 (6) in section 1919— 16 (A) in subsection (b)(3)— 17 (i) in subparagraph (E)— 18 (I) by striking ‘‘mental retarda- 19 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘intellectual’’; and 20 (II) by striking ‘‘is mentally ill or 21 mentally retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘has 22 a mental illness or intellectual dis- 23 ability’’; and 24 (ii) in subparagraph (F)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3111 IH (I) in the subparagraph heading 1 by striking ‘‘MENTALLY ILL AND MEN- 2 TALLY RETARDED INDIVIDUALS’’ and 3 inserting ‘‘INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE 4 MENTAL ILLNESSES OR INTELLEC- 5 TUAL DISABILITIES’’; 6 (II) by striking ‘‘State mental re- 7 tardation’’ and inserting ‘‘State intel- 8 lectual’’ each place it appears; 9 (III) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘is 10 mentally ill’’ and inserting ‘‘has a 11 mental illness’’; and 12 (IV) in clause (ii)— 13 (aa) by striking ‘‘is mentally 14 retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘has an 15 intellectual disability’’; and 16 (bb) by striking ‘‘for mental 17 retardation’’ and inserting ‘‘for 18 such intellectual disability’’; 19 (B) in subsection (b)(4)— 20 (i) in subparagraph (A)(vii) by strik- 21 ing ‘‘mentally ill and mentally retarded 22 residents’’ and inserting ‘‘residents with 23 mental illnesses or intellectual disabilities’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3111 IH (ii) in subparagraph (C)(ii)(IV) by 1 striking ‘‘the mentally ill and the mentally 2 retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals with 3 mental illnesses or intellectual disabilities’’; 4 and 5 (C) in subsection (e)(7)— 6 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i) by striking 7 ‘‘mentally ill and mentally retarded individ- 8 uals’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals with men- 9 tal illnesses or intellectual disabilities’’; 10 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 11 (I) by striking ‘‘State mental re- 12 tardation’’ and inserting ‘‘State intel- 13 lectual’’ each place it appears; 14 (II) in clause (ii)— 15 (aa) in the clause heading 16 by striking ‘‘MENTALLY RE- 17 TARDED RESIDENTS’’ and insert- 18 ing ‘‘RESIDENTS WITH INTEL- 19 LECTUAL DISABILITIES’’; 20 (bb) in the matter preceding 21 clause (I) by striking ‘‘is men- 22 tally retarded’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘has an intellectual disability’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3111 IH (cc) in subclause (II) by 1 striking ‘‘mental retardation’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘an intellectual dis- 3 ability’’; and 4 (III) in clause (iii) by striking 5 ‘‘mentally ill or mentally retarded 6 resident’’ and inserting ‘‘resident who 7 has a mental illness or intellectual dis- 8 ability’’; 9 (iii) in subparagraph (C) by striking 10 ‘‘mental retardation’’ and inserting ‘‘intel- 11 lectual disability’’ in each place it appears; 12 (iv) in subparagraph (E)— 13 (I) by striking ‘‘are mentally re- 14 tarded or mentally ill’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘have an intellectual disability or 16 mental illness’’; and 17 (II) by striking ‘‘mental retarda- 18 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘intellectual dis- 19 ability’’; and 20 (v) in subparagraph (G)— 21 (I) in clause (i) by inserting ‘‘or 22 have a ‘mental illness’ ’’ after ‘‘ ‘men- 23 tally ill’ ’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3111 IH (II) in clause (ii) by striking ‘‘be 1 ‘mentally retarded’ if the individual is 2 mentally retarded or a person with’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘have an ‘intellectual 4 disability’ if the individual has an in- 5 tellectual disability or’’; and 6 (7) in the section heading of section 1922 by 7 striking ‘‘THE MENTALLY RETARDED’’ and insert- 8 ing ‘‘INDIVIDUALS WITH INTELLECTUAL DIS- 9 ABILITIES’’. 10 (o) PAYMENTS TO STATES.—Section 2002(a)(2)(A) 11 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397a(a)(2)(A)) is 12 amended by striking ‘‘the mentally retarded’’ and insert- 13 ing ‘‘individuals with intellectual disabilities’’. 14 (p) MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.—Section 12(d)(5) 15 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 16 U.S.C. 1760(d)(5)) is amended by striking ‘‘the mentally 17 retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals with intellectual dis- 18 abilities’’. 19 (q) CHILD NUTRITION DEFINITIONS.—Section 15(3) 20 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1784(3)) 21 is amended by striking ‘‘the mentally retarded’’ and in- 22 serting ‘‘individuals with intellectual disabilities’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3111.IH H3111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3111 IH (r) INSTITUTIONALIZED PERSONS DEFINITIONS.— 1 Section 2(1)(B) of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized 2 Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997(1)(B)) is amended— 3 (1) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘disabled, or re- 4 tarded, or chronically ill or handicapped’’ and insert- 5 ing ‘‘physically or intellectually disabled, or chron- 6 ically ill’’; and 7 (2) in clause (iv)(III) by striking ‘‘mentally ill 8 or disabled, mentally retarded, or chronically ill or 9 handicapped’’ and inserting ‘‘mentally ill, physically 10 or intellectually disabled, or chronically ill’’. 11 (s) PROGRAMS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOP- 12 MENTAL DISABILITIES.—Title I of the Developmental 13 Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 14 U.S.C. 15001 et seq.) is amended— 15 (1) by striking ‘‘Intermediate Care Facility 16 (Mental Retardation)’’ and inserting ‘‘intermediate 17 care facility for individuals with intellectual disabil- 18 ities’’ each place it appears; 19 (2) in section 109(a)(4)(B)(i) by striking ‘‘the 20 mentally retarded’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals with 21 intellectual disabilities’’; and 22 (3) in section [Text truncated for display. 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