[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4523 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4523

To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false communications 
        to cause an emergency response, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 19, 2021

Mr. Kustoff (for himself, Mr. Stauber, Mr. Cuellar, and Mr. Rutherford) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false communications 
        to cause an emergency response, 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 ``Preserving Safe Communities by 
Ending Swatting Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FALSE COMMUNICATIONS TO CAUSE AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE.

    Section 1038 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1), to read as follows:
            ``(1) In general.--Whoever engages in any conduct with 
        intent to convey false or misleading information--
                    ``(A) under circumstances where such information 
                may reasonably be believed and where such information 
                indicates that an activity has taken, is taking, or 
                will take place that would constitute a violation of 
                chapter 2, 10, 11B, 39, 40, 44, 111, or 113B of this 
                title, section 236 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 
                U.S.C. 2284), or section 46502, the second sentence of 
                section 46504, section 46505(b)(3) or (c), section 
                46506 if homicide or attempted homicide is involved, or 
                section 60123(b) of title 49; or
                    ``(B) using the mail or any facility or means of 
                interstate or foreign commerce, under circumstances 
                where such information may reasonably be expected to 
                cause an emergency response and the information 
                indicates that conduct has taken, is taking, or will 
                take place that constitutes a crime under State or 
                Federal law or endangers public health or safety or the 
                health or safety of any person,
        shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 
        years, or both. If serious bodily injury results, the defendant 
        shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 
        years, or both, and if death results, the defendant shall be 
        fined under this title or imprisoned for any number of years up 
        to life, or both.'';
            (2) in subsection (b), to read as follows:
    ``(b) Civil Action.--Whoever engages in any conduct with intent to 
convey false or misleading information--
            ``(1) under circumstances where such information may 
        reasonably be believed and where such information indicates 
        that an activity has taken, is taking, or will take place that 
        would constitute a violation of chapter 2, 10, 11B, 39, 40, 44, 
        111, or 113B of this title, section 236 of the Atomic Energy 
        Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2284), or section 46502, the second 
        sentence of section 46504, section 46505 (b)(3) or (c), section 
        46506 if homicide or attempted homicide is involved, or section 
        60123(b) of title 49; or
            ``(2) using the mail or any facility or means of interstate 
        or foreign commerce, under circumstances where such information 
        may reasonably be expected to cause an emergency response and 
        the information indicates that conduct has taken, is taking, or 
        will take place that constitutes a crime under State or Federal 
        law or endangers public health or safety or the health or 
        safety of any person,
is liable in a civil action to any party incurring expenses incident to 
any emergency or investigative response to that conduct, for those 
expenses.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Definition.--In this section, the term `emergency response' 
means any deployment of personnel or equipment, order or advice to 
evacuate, or issuance of a warning to the public or a threatened 
person, organization, or establishment, by an agency of the United 
States or a State charged with public safety functions, including any 
agency charged with detecting, preventing, or investigating crimes or 
with fire or rescue functions, or by a private not-for-profit 
organization that provides fire or rescue functions.''.
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