To protect tenants in public housing and housing assisted under the rental assistance program under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 who are victims from eviction by reason of criminal activity.

March 25, 2003

Ms. LEE (for herself, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

To protect tenants in public housing and housing assisted under the rental assistance program under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 who are victims from eviction by reason of criminal activity.

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 `One Strike and You're Out! Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HOUSING TENANTS.

Paragraph (6) of section 6(l) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(l)(6)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: `; except that such criminal activity, engaged in by a member of a tenant's household or any guest or other person under the tenant's control, shall not be cause for termination of tenancy of the tenant if the tenant or immediate member of the tenant's family is a victim of domestic violence or dating violence and, as a result, could not control or prevent the criminal activity relating to domestic violence or dating violence; and except that nothing in this paragraph may be construed to limit the authority of a public housing agency to evict individuals who engage in criminal acts of physical violence against family members or others, and in all cases, a public housing agency shall consider the safety, security, and continued maintenance of victims of domestic violence to be of paramount importance'.

SEC. 3. TENANTS OF HOUSING ASSISTED UNDER SECTION 8 PROGRAM.

Clause (iii) of section 8(d)(1)(B) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: `; except that such criminal activity, engaged in by a member of a tenant's household or any guest or other person under the tenant's control, shall not be cause for termination of tenancy of the tenant if the tenant or immediate member of the tenant's family is a victim of domestic violence or dating violence and, as a result, could not control or prevent the criminal activity relating to domestic violence or dating violence; and except that nothing in this clause may be construed to limit the authority of a public housing agency to evict individuals who engage in criminal acts of physical violence against family members or others, and in all cases, a public housing agency shall consider the safety, security, and continued maintenance of victims of domestic violence to be of paramount importance'.

SEC. 4. REPORTING BY PHAS ON EVICTIONS FOR DOMESTIC AND DATING VIOLENCE.

Section 6 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d) is amended by inserting after subsection (o) the following new subsection:

`(p) REPORTS ON EVICTIONS FOR DOMESTIC AND DATING VIOLENCE- Each public housing agency shall submit a report annually to the Secretary on the number of persons whose tenancy in public housing of the agency was terminated, and the number whose tenancy in housing assisted by the agency with amounts made available under section 8 was terminated, because of criminal activity relating to domestic violence or dating violence.'.

END