Sara’s Law and the Preventing Unfair Sentencing Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 7081 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7081 To authorize the court to depart from a statutory minimum in the case of a juvenile offender, youthful victim offender, and certain other minors, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 14, 2026 Mr. Westerman (for himself, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Valadao, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. Ross, and Mrs. Dingell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To authorize the court to depart from a statutory minimum in the case of a juvenile offender, youthful victim offender, and certain other minors, and for other purposes. 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 ``Sara's Law and the Preventing Unfair Sentencing Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. SENTENCING YOUTHFUL VICTIM OFFENDERS WHO HAVE BEEN TRAFFICKED, ABUSED, OR ASSAULTED. (a) Sentencing Youthful Victim Offenders.-- (1) In general.--Section 3553 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(h) Sentencing Youthful Victim Offenders.-- ``(1) Statutory minimums.--In the case of a youthful victim offender, the court shall have the authority to impose a sentence that is below a level established by statute as a minimum sentence so as to consider the effect of trauma on the offender's conduct. ``(2) Suspension of sentence.--In the case of a youthful victim offender, the court shall have the authority to suspend any portion of an imposed sentence. ``(3) Youthful victim offender defined.--In this subsection, the term `youthful victim offender' means an individual who-- ``(