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H.R. 1693 (117th): EQUAL Act of 2021

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About the bill

The ratio was 100:1 starting in 1986, then 18:1 starting in 2010. Should it be 1:1 now?

Context

Cocaine is federally classified as a Schedule II drug, the category with the second-highest potential for dependence and abuse, alongside the likes of Vicodin, Adderall, and meth.

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 created a 100:1 ratio for sentencing people who were caught with crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, black people are more likely to use crack cocaine, so the law had a disproportionate effect on nonwhites.

The law was partially crafted and advocated by then-Sen. Joe Biden, though he has subsequently walked back his support. “We were told by the experts that ‘crack, you never go back,’ that the two were …

Sponsor and status

Photo of sponsor Hakeem Jeffries

Hakeem Jeffries

Sponsor. Representative for New York's 8th congressional district. Democrat.

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Last Updated: Sep 29, 2021
Length: 5 pages
Introduced
Mar 9, 2021
117th Congress (2021–2023)
Status
Died in a previous Congress

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on September 28, 2021 but was never passed by the Senate.

Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).

Cosponsors

56 Cosponsors (30 Democrats, 26 Republicans)

Source
Congress.gov
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History

Mar 9, 2021
 
Introduced

Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.

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Jul 21, 2021
 
Ordered Reported

A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee.

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Sep 24, 2021
 
Text Published

Updated bill text was published as of Preprint (Suspension).

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Sep 27, 2021
 
Reported by House Committee on the Judiciary

A committee issued a report on the bill, which often provides helpful explanatory background on the issue addressed by the bill and the bill's intentions.

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Sep 28, 2021
 
Passed House (Senate next)

The bill was passed in a vote in the House. It goes to the Senate next.

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H.R. 1693 (117th) was a bill in the United States Congress.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.

Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 1693. This is the one from the 117th Congress.

This bill was introduced in the 117th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2021 to Jan 3, 2023. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.

How to cite this information.

We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:

“H.R. 1693 — 117th Congress: EQUAL Act of 2021.” www.GovTrack.us. 2021. September 27, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr1693>

Where is this information from?

GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.