{"format":1,"id":"117-hr-1693","congress":117,"number":"H.R. 1693","kind":"bill","group":"bills","title":"EQUAL Act of 2021","title_source":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","official_title":"To eliminate the disparity in sentencing for cocaine offenses, and for other purposes.","titles":[{"type":"Official Title as Introduced","title":"To eliminate the disparity in sentencing for cocaine offenses, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text","title":"Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text","title":"EQUAL Act of 2021"},{"type":"Display Title","title":"EQUAL Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","title":"EQUAL Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","title":"Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Reported to House","title":"Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"EQUAL Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Reported to House","title":"EQUAL Act of 2021"}],"outcome":"passed_house","law_number":null,"introduced":"2021-03-09","chambers":{"house":{"status":"roll_call","date":"2021-09-28","vote":{"id":"117-2021-h297","question":"On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended","title":"Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act","result":"Passed","yea":361,"nay":66,"present":0,"not_voting":4,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2021/roll297.xml"}},"senate":{"status":"na","date":null,"vote":null}},"president":{"status":"na","date":null},"vice_president_tie_breaker":null,"latest_action":{"text":"Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.","date":"2021-09-29"},"nominees":null,"amendments":[],"other_votes":[],"crs_summary":{"date":"2021-09-28","stage":"Passed House","blocks":[{"k":"h","t":"Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act of 2021 or the EQUAL Act of 2021"},{"k":"p","t":"This bill eliminates the federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine."},{"k":"p","t":"Currently, different threshold quantities of crack cocaine and powder cocaine (e.g., 28 grams of crack cocaine and 500 grams of powder cocaine) trigger the same statutory criminal penalties."},{"k":"p","t":"This bill eliminates the lower quantity thresholds for crack cocaine offenses. Under the bill, the same threshold quantities of crack cocaine and powder cocaine trigger the same statutory criminal penalties."},{"k":"p","t":"The change applies to future cases and cases pending on the date of enactment. With respect to past cases, the bill authorizes a sentencing court to impose a reduced sentence on a defendant who was convicted or sentenced for a specified crack cocaine offense before this bill's enactment. A defendant does not have to be present at the sentence reduction hearing. Finally, the bill prohibits the reduction of a sentence that was previously reduced."}],"words":165},"summary":{"main_subject":{"text":"Repeals the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act that set penalties for offenses involving cocaine base, and applies the change to pending and past cases.","cites":[{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693/text/eh#HB9D8726DBDC0469586BD79173CB2B190"}]},"core_areas":["Federal penalties for cocaine base offenses","Sentence reductions for past cocaine base convictions"],"what_it_does":[{"text":"Repeals clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(A) and clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(B) of the Controlled Substances Act.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693/text/eh#HB9D8726DBDC0469586BD79173CB2B190"}},{"text":"Repeals subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(1) and subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(2) of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693/text/eh#HB9D8726DBDC0469586BD79173CB2B190"}},{"text":"Applies the repeals to any sentence imposed after the date of enactment, regardless of when the offense was committed.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693/text/eh#HB9D8726DBDC0469586BD79173CB2B190"}},{"text":"Allows a sentencing court to impose a reduced sentence on a defendant sentenced on or before the date of enactment for a Federal offense involving cocaine base, on motion of the defendant, the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or the court itself, after considering the factors in section 3553(a) of title 18, United States Code.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693/text/eh#HB9D8726DBDC0469586BD79173CB2B190"}},{"text":"Provides that a defendant need not be present at a hearing on whether to impose a reduced sentence, and that a court may not consider a motion to reduce a sentence previously imposed or reduced under this Act.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693/text/eh#HB9D8726DBDC0469586BD79173CB2B190"}},{"text":"States that nothing in the past-cases provision requires a court to reduce a sentence.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693/text/eh#HB9D8726DBDC0469586BD79173CB2B190"}}],"unexpected":[],"version":{"type":"Engrossed in House","date":"2021-09-28","rule":"passed","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693/text/eh"},"current":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","approved":"2026-10-15","approved_by":"checks"},"sources":{"congress_gov":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693","text":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1693/text"},"card":{"image":"card/item/117-hr-1693.png","v":"943a25b9cb18","alt":"Votes on Record. H.R. 1693, 117th Congress: EQUAL Act of 2021. House: 361 Yea, 66 Nay. Outcome: Passed House, 28 Sep 2021."}}