[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2939 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2939
To strengthen and enhance the prevention and prosecution of crimes
using weapons of mass destruction, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 25, 2003
Mr. Forbes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy
and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To strengthen and enhance the prevention and prosecution of crimes
using weapons of mass destruction, 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 ``Weapons of Mass Destruction
Prohibition Improvement Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
(a) Expansion of Jurisdictional Bases and Scope.--Section 2332a of
title 18, United States Code, is amended by--
(1) amending paragraph (a)(2) to read as follows:
``(2) against any person or property within the United
States, and
``(A) the mail or any facility of interstate or
foreign commerce is used in furtherance of the offense;
``(B) such property is used in interstate or
foreign commerce or in an activity that affects
interstate or foreign commerce;
``(C) any perpetrator travels in or causes another
to travel in interstate or foreign commerce in
furtherance of the offense; or
``(D) the offense, or the results of the offense,
affect interstate or foreign commerce, or, in the case
of a threat, attempt, or conspiracy, would have
affected interstate or foreign commerce;'';
(2) in paragraph (a)(3), deleting the comma at the end and
inserting ``; or'';
(3) in subsection (a), adding the following at the end:
``(4) against any property within the United States that is
owned, leased, or used by a foreign government,'';
(4) in paragraph (c)(1), deleting ``and'' at the end;
(5) in paragraph (c)(2), deleting the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(6) in subsection (c), inserting the following at the end:
``(3) the term `property' includes all real and personal
property.''.
(b) Restoration of the Coverage of Chemical Weapons.--Section 2332a
of title 18, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), is
further amended by--
(1) in the caption, deleting ``certain'';
(2) in subsection (a), deleting ``(other than a chemical
weapon as that term is defined in section 229F); and
(3) in subsection (b), deleting ``(other than a chemical
weapon (as that term is defined in section 229F))''.
(c) Expansion of Categories of Restricted Persons Subject to
Prohibitions Relating to Select Agents.--Section 175b(d)(2) of title
18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (G) by--
(A) inserting ``(i)'' after ``(G)'';
(B) inserting ``, or (ii) acts for or on behalf of,
or operates subject to the direction or control of, a
government or official of a country described in this
subparagraph'' after ``terrorism''; and
(C) striking ``or'' after the semicolon.
(2) in subparagraph (H) by striking the period and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding the following new subparagraph to the end
thereof:
``(I) is a member of, acts for or on behalf of, or
operates subject to the direction or control of, a
terrorist organization as defined in section
212(a)(3)(B)(vi) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(vi)).''.
(d) Conforming Amendment to Regulations.--
(1) Section 175b(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``as a select agent in Appendix A'' and all
that follows and inserting the following: ``as a non-overlap or
overlap select biological agent or toxin in sections 73.4 and
73.5 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, pursuant to
section 351A of the Public Health Service Act, and is not
excluded under sections 73.4 and 73.5 or exempted under section
73.6 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations.''.
(2) The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall take effect
at the same time that sections 73.4, 73.5, and 73.6 of title
42, Code of Federal Regulations, become effective.
SEC. 3. PARTICIPATION IN NUCLEAR AND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
THREATS TO THE UNITED STATES.
(a) Section 57(b) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.
2077(b)) is amended by striking ``in the production of any special
nuclear material'' and inserting ``or participate in the development or
production of any special nuclear material or atomic weapon''.
(b) Title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in the chapter analysis for chapter 39, by inserting
after the item relating to section 831 the following:
``832. Participation in nuclear threats to the United States.'';
(2) by inserting after section 831 the following:
``Sec. 832. Participation in nuclear and weapons of mass destruction
threats to the United States
``(a) Whoever, within the United States or subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States, willfully participates in or
provides material support or resources (as defined in section 2339A) to
a nuclear weapons program or other weapons of mass destruction program
of a foreign terrorist power, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall
be imprisoned for not more than 20 years.
``(b) There is extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an
offense under this section.
``(c) As used in this section--
``(1) `nuclear weapons program' means a program or plan for
the development, acquisition, or production of any nuclear
weapon or weapons;
``(2) `weapons of mass destruction program' means a program
or plan for the development, acquisition, or production of any
weapon or weapons of mass destruction (as defined in section
2332a(c));
``(3) `foreign terrorist power' means a terrorist
organization designated under section 219 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act, or a state sponsor of terrorism designated
under section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 or
section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; and
``(4) `nuclear weapon' means any weapon that contains or
uses nuclear material as defined in section 831(f)(1).''; and
(3) in section 2332b(g)(5)(B)(i), by inserting after
``nuclear materials),'' the following: ``832 (relating to
participation in nuclear and weapons of mass destruction
threats to the United States)''.
<all>