[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)''.
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