1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees Act or the SAVE Act . 2. Prevention of violence against hospital personnel (a) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) The incidence of assault and intimidation against hospital employees poses a serious national problem. (2) The problem of assault and intimidation against hospital and health care employees preceded the COVID–19 pandemic. According to an April 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the health care and social service industries experienced the highest rates of injuries caused by workplace violence and were 5 times as likely to suffer a workplace violence injury than workers overall in 2018. That report also found that the incidence rate for workplace violence against health care workers had steadily increased since 2011. The COVID–19 pandemic exacerbated this growing problem. (3) Workplace violence in hospitals inhibits hospital employees from performing their duties and thereby disrupts the delivery of health care services and leads to adverse patient outcomes. Violence towards hospital workers also has been associated with decreased productivity and quality of care, employee absenteeism, and increased employee turnover. (4) State and local authorities are now and will continue to be responsible for prosecuting the overwhelming majority of violent crimes in the United States, including assault and intimidation against hospital employees. These authorities can address the problem of assault and intimidation against hospital employees more effectively with greater Federal law enforcement involvement. (5) Existing Federal law is inadequate to address this problem. (6) Assault and intimidation against hospital employees substantially affects interstate commerce in many ways, including the following: (A) Health care services are a significant part of the national economy. In 2021, expenditures on health care services accounted for 18.3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (or