[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 394 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 394

To restore the Federal civil remedy for crimes of violence motivated by 
                                gender.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2003

 Mr. Conyers (for himself, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Berman, Mr. 
Boucher, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Meehan, 
 Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Ackerman, 
Mr. Andrews, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Brown of Ohio, 
  Mr. Cardin, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Case, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. 
Cooper, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. DeLauro, 
  Mr. Dicks, Mr. Dooley of California, Mr. Engel, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. 
Farr, Mr. Filner, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. 
    Harman, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. 
Hoeffel, Mr. Holt, Mr. Honda, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mrs. 
   Jones of Ohio, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Larson of 
Connecticut, Ms. Lee, Mr. Levin, Mrs. Lowey, Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, 
 Ms. McCollum, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Millender-
McDonald, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Moore, Mrs. Napolitano, 
 Ms. Norton, Mr. Owens, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Ms. 
   Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. 
   Serrano, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Thompson of 
    California, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Towns, Ms. Watson, Mr. Waxman, Ms. 
Woolsey, Mr. Wu, Mr. Wynn, and Mr. Udall of New Mexico) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To restore the Federal civil remedy for crimes of violence motivated by 
                                gender.

    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 ``Violence Against Women Civil Rights 
Restoration Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL CIVIL REMEDY FOR CRIMES OF VIOLENCE MOTIVATED BY 
              GENDER.

    Section 40302 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 
13981) is amended--
            (1) so that subsection (c) reads as follows:
    ``(c) Cause of Action.--
            ``(1) Generally.--Whoever, in any circumstance described in 
        paragraph (2), commits a crime of violence motivated by gender 
        and thus deprives another of the right declared in subsection 
        (b) shall be liable to the party injured, in an action for the 
        recovery of compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and 
        declaratory relief, and such other relief as a court may deem 
        appropriate.
            ``(2) Circumstances.--The circumstances referred to in 
        paragraph (1) are that--
                    ``(A) in connection with the offense--
                            ``(i) the defendant or the victim travels 
                        in interstate or foreign commerce;
                            ``(ii) the defendant or the victim uses a 
                        facility or instrumentality of interstate or 
                        foreign commerce; or
                            ``(iii) the defendant employs a firearm, 
                        explosive, incendiary device, or other weapon, 
                        or a narcotic or drug listed pursuant to 
                        section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act, 
                        or other noxious or dangerous substance, that 
                        has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce;
                    ``(B) the offense interferes with commercial or 
                other economic activity in which the victim is engaged 
                at the time of the conduct; or
                    ``(C) the offense was committed with intent to 
                interfere with the victim's commercial or other 
                economic activity.''; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) Discretionary Authority of Attorney General.--Whenever the 
Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that any State or 
political subdivision of a State, official, employee, or agent thereof, 
or other person acting on behalf of a State or political subdivision of 
a State has discriminated on the basis of gender in the investigation 
or prosecution of gender-based crimes and that discrimination is 
pursuant to a pattern or practice of resistance to investigating or 
prosecuting gender-based crimes, the Attorney General, for or in the 
name of the United States, may institute a civil action in any 
appropriate United States district court against such party for such 
equitable relief as may be appropriate to ensure the elimination of 
such discriminatory practices.''.
                                 <all>