[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7428 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7428

   To require the Secretary of Transportation to publish a notice of 
  proposed rulemaking concerning seat belts on school buses, and for 
                            other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 9, 2026

 Mr. Gottheimer (for himself and Mr. Lawler) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Secretary of Transportation to publish a notice of 
  proposed rulemaking concerning seat belts on school buses, 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 ``Secure Every Child Under the Right 
Equipment Standards Act of 2026'' or the ``SECURES Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. PROPOSED RULEMAKING.

    (a) Requirements.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall publish a 
notice of proposed rulemaking on new Federal standards for school bus 
seat belt requirements on all new school buses, regardless of gross 
vehicle weight rating.
    (b) Considerations.--In the proposed rulemaking, the Secretary 
shall consider--
            (1) the safety benefits of a lap/shoulder belt system (also 
        known as a ``Type 2 seat belt assembly'');
            (2) the conclusion of the National Transportation Safety 
        Board that ``Lap/shoulder belts provide the highest level of 
        protection for school bus passengers'' and that ``Properly worn 
        lap belts provide some benefit,'' while ``Properly worn lap/
        shoulder belts provide greater benefit by reducing injuries 
        related to upper body flailing'';
            (3) the 2015 announcement by the Administrator of the 
        National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Mark Rosekind, 
        stating that the agency believes ``that every child on every 
        school bus should have a three-point seat belt'';
            (4) any innovative approaches to seat belt detection, seat 
        belt reminder systems, and seat belt violation alert systems 
        that could be incorporated into school bus designs; and
            (5) existing experience from the States that have already 
        required school buses to be equipped with seat belts.
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