Congress fixes broken law references to keep victim protections working
H.R. 4499 — To make technical amendments to update statutory references to provisions reclassified to title 34, United States Code, and to correct related technical errors. · Filed by Mark Harris (R-NC) · Introduced Jul 17, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
In 2018, the law moved crime rules to a new part of the law books. Many other laws still point to the old spot. This bill updates those broken links so laws work again. It fixes hundreds of citations across many laws. The bill covers victim help, DNA databases, and domestic violence programs.
Who it affects
This bill affects victims of crime and law enforcement offices. It also affects courts and groups that help people harmed by violence or abuse.
One thing to notice
Without this fix, hundreds of laws would point to rules that no longer exist. This could break victim help and law enforcement programs.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Jul 17, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 17, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
- Sep 10, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Sep 10, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote”
- Aug 31, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote”
- Aug 31, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Harris (NC) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- citations — Places in laws that point to other laws or rules
- domestic violence — Abuse or violence between people in a relationship or family
- DNA databases — Systems that store genetic information from people for identification
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (50,094 characters) on Jul 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-17.
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