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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9679 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9679
To provide a private cause of action for exposure of personally
identifiable information of victims or victims' personal or medical
files or similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a
clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy in releasing documents
under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 14, 2026
Ms. Jayapal introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide a private cause of action for exposure of personally
identifiable information of victims or victims' personal or medical
files or similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a
clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy in releasing documents
under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
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 ``Recovery, Enforcement, and Damages
to Assure Confidential Treatment Act'' or as the ``REDACT Act''.
SEC. 2. PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION FOR EXPOSURE OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE
INFORMATION OF VICTIMS OR VICTIMS' PERSONAL OR MEDICAL
FILES OR SIMILAR FILES THE DISCLOSURE OF WHICH WOULD
CONSTITUTE A CLEARLY UNWARRANTED INVASION OF PERSONAL
PRIVACY IN RELEASING DOCUMENTS UNDER THE EPSTEIN FILES
TRANSPARENCY ACT.
Section 2 of the Epstein Files Transparency Act (Public Law 119-38;
139 Stat. 656) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Private Cause of Action.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Instance.--The term `instance', with respect
to a violation of this section, means each discrete act
constituting a violation of this section.
``(B) Violation of this section.--The term
`violation of this section' means a failure, in
releasing documents under this Act, to withhold or
redact personally identifiable information of a victim
or a personal or medical file of a victim or another
similar file of a victim the disclosure of which would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy.
``(2) Cause of action.--Any person aggrieved by a violation
of this section may bring a civil action against the United
States if the violation of this section was committed by an
officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any
Federal department or agency.
``(3) Relief.--
``(A) In general.--If a person prevails on a claim
under this subsection, the court shall award--
``(i) for each instance of a violation of
this section, the greater of statutory damages
of $50,000 or the amount of compensatory
damages, including damages for pain and
suffering and emotional distress;
``(ii) reasonable attorney's fees and costs
of litigation; and
``(iii) such injunctive or declaratory
relief as may be appropriate.
``(B) Preliminary relief.--Upon motion by a person
bringing a claim under this subsection, a court may
award such preliminary injunctive relief as the court
determines appropriate with respect to the claim.
``(4) Waiver of sovereign immunity.--The United States
expressly waives sovereign immunity with respect to actions
brought under this subsection.
``(5) Period of limitations.--A civil action under this
subsection may not be commenced later than--
``(A) 5 years after the applicable person first
obtains actual notice of the violation of this section;
or
``(B) for a violation of this section with respect
to which the applicable person first obtained actual
notice of the violation of this section before the date
of enactment of this subsection, 5 years after such
date of enactment.
``(6) Applicability.--This subsection shall apply to any
violation of this section occurring on or after November 19,
2025.''.
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