S. 4926 · 117th Congress

Respect for Child Survivors Act

Introduced on Sep 22, 2022 by John Cornyn (R-TX). 3 cosponsors, 2 of them from another party. Became Public Law 117-354.

Stage
Became law
Public Law 117-354
Introduced
Sep 22, 2022
Cosponsors
3
2 from the other party
Policy area
Crime and Law Enforcement
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Sent to the President
  6. Became law

Official title

A bill to amend chapter 33 of title 28, United States Code, to require appropriate use of multidisciplinary teams for investigations of child sexual exploitation or abuse, the production of child sexual abuse material, or child trafficking conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Subjects

  • Child health
  • Child safety and welfare
  • Community life and organization
  • Crime victims
  • Crimes against children
  • Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
  • Domestic violence and child abuse
  • Family services
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
  • Government information and archives
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Health programs administration and funding
  • Human trafficking
  • Law enforcement administration and funding
  • Mental health
  • Public-private cooperation
  • Sex offenses
  • Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Public Law, Jan 5, 2023). Public domain.

Respect for Child Survivors Act

This act requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to use a multidisciplinary team with investigations of child abuse and related crimes. The act also reauthorizes grants for children's advocacy centers (CACs). CACs use a multidisciplinary response to coordinate the investigation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse cases.

(Sec. 2) This section requires the FBI to use a multidisciplinary team with any investigation of child sexual exploitation or abuse, the production of child sexual abuse material, or child trafficking. The FBI must also use a trained child adolescent forensic interviewer in these investigations. These requirements do not apply if a multidisciplinary team or an interviewer is unavailable or is otherwise inconsistent with applicable federal law.

In implementing these requirements, the FBI must use and coordinate with multidisciplinary teams based at CACs.

(Sec. 3) This section modifies and reauthorizes through FY2028 grants for regional and local CACs, as well as for technical assistance and training. Grants for CACs are administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) within the Department of Justice.

It adds a finding stating that a key to a child victim healing from abuse is access to supportive and healthy families and communities.

The section modifies grant provisions for regional CACs, including by

  • directing the OJJDP to maintain (in addition to establish) regional CACs; • adding, as a new program objective, the provision of technical assistance, training, coordination, and organizational capacity support for state chapters; and • requiring the OJJDP to consider, as an additional selection criteria, proposals for regional CACs that best result in supporting state chapters. The section also modifies grant provisions for local CACs, including by adding as new grant purposes (1) the establishment and maintenance of a network of care for child abuse victims, and (2) the development and dissemination of practice standards for care and best practices in program evaluation.

Finally, the section modifies the criteria that the OJJDP may use to evaluate local CAC programs.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

John CornynR-TXSponsor

Democrats · 2

Republicans · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

  1. On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass
    Dec 21, 2022· House· Passage· Passed 385–28

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Sep 22, 2022Introduced in Senate
  2. Sep 22, 2022 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  3. Dec 13, 2022Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  4. Dec 13, 2022 · SenateSenate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  5. Dec 13, 2022 · SenateMeasure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S7149)
  6. Dec 13, 2022Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.(text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S7146-7147)
  7. Dec 13, 2022 · SenatePassed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S7146-7147)
  8. Dec 14, 2022 · SenateMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
  9. Dec 14, 2022 · HouseReceived in the House.
  10. Dec 14, 2022 · HouseHeld at the desk.
  11. Dec 21, 2022 · HouseMr. Nadler moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  12. Dec 21, 2022 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H9927-9931)
  13. Dec 21, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 4926.
  14. Dec 21, 2022 · HouseAt the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  15. Dec 21, 2022 · HouseConsidered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H9976-9977)
  16. Dec 21, 2022Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 385 - 28 (Roll no. 534).(text: CR H9927-9929)House · Roll call 534
  17. Dec 21, 2022 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 385 - 28 (Roll no. 534). (text: CR H9927-9929)House · Roll call 534
  18. Dec 21, 2022 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  19. Dec 28, 2022Presented to President.
  20. Dec 28, 2022 · HousePresented to President.
  21. Jan 5, 2023Signed by President.
  22. Jan 5, 2023Signed by President.
  23. Jan 5, 2023Became Public Law No: 117-354.
  24. Jan 5, 2023Became Public Law No: 117-354.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 5, 2026 · loaded Oct 5, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.